Using Video and GIS to Measure Two-dimensional Water Surface Elevations in the Swash Zone

This paper describes initial research into the use of video imaging technologies to provide high-resolution hydrodynamic measurements of two-dimensional cross-shore swash water surfaces. Data collected from a laboratory-based video system and a manual digitisation technique using a desktop GIS are compared with the results from a widely used kinematic model of run-up and backwash. A GIS is then used to produce water surfaces using the kinematic model and then to compare the two graphically. The two-dimensional video technique is believed to provide a novel application of video data for measurement of the swash zone water surface.