Rip current hazard assessment on a sandy beach in Liguria, NW Mediterranean
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Rip current hazard assessment on a sandy beach in Liguria, NW Mediterranean Mucerino Luigi1,3 · Carpi Luca1,3 · Chiara F. Schiaffino1 · Enzo Pranzini2 · Eleonora Sessa1 · Marco Ferrari1,3 Received: 10 April 2020 / Accepted: 2 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Rip currents are one of the most significant environmental hazards for beachgoers and are of interest to coastal scientists. Several studies have been conducted to understand rip current dynamics, and several approaches for rip hazard assessment have been proposed. In general, the purpose is to provide knowledge and tools to support authorities and lifeguards in rip current risk prevention. This study proposes the application of an expeditious methodology to evaluate rip current hazard and risk, based on probability theory. The tested area was located along the Alassio beach, a renowned tourist destination located on the western Ligurian coast (NW Italy). A coastal video-monitoring system was used for rip currents individuation, whereas wave data were collected thanks to an oceanographic buoy managed by Regione Liguria. In detail, a yearly analysis was performed to identify the correspondence between rip currents and wave parameters data. The results showed that rip currents occur, in the study area, under moderate wave conditions ( 0.5 ≤ Hs ≤ 1.34 m; 4.7 ≤ Tm ≤ 7.0 s; 150◦ N ≤ 𝜃m ≤ 227◦ N). Based on this analysis, an easy application of the probability theory was applied to evaluate the level of hazard. Moreover, considering the official tourist data, we also perform an expeditious rip currents risk evaluation. The results showed that the hazard level is considered high at annual time scale and moderate during the tourist season; the risk is related to seasonal presences. The study can propose a tool to support authorities and lifeguards in water safety planning and management. Keywords Rip current · Hazard · Video monitoring · Beach management · Probability
1 Introduction In Europe, more than 600 million people per year go to the beach during the summer period, when most of the 27.000/year drownings in coastal waters occur (Funari et al. 2016). In Italy, the death rate is attested to be between 50 and 100 cases. In 2014, 13 fatal drownings occurred along the Ligurian coast: three of those were local beachgoers and ten
* Mucerino Luigi [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
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were tourists (Funari et al. 2016). Italy has not official database on accidents and rescue. Additional information on accident dynamics is not described. The beachgoers risk exposure theme has a key role in coastal management practice (Ferrari et al. 2019). Even though official data are rare, it is obvious many people are potentially exposed to natural hazards along the Ligurian beaches-NW Italy. Among other natural hazards in this environment, rip currents are the greatest natural hazard for beachgoers, especially along wave-dominated coasts (Austin et al. 2012). Thes
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