Beach Change Differences Between the Active 2023-2024 El Niño and the 2024-2025 La Niña Winter
Brian Tecpanecatl
Co-Presenters: Samuel Gunther
College: The Dorothy and George Hennings College of Science, Mathematics and Technology
Major: Biotechnology/Molecular Biology - STEM 5 Year B.S./M.S.
Faculty Research Mentor: Jun Cheng
Abstract:
Monthly to bimonthly beach profile measurements have been conducted at Ortley Beach over the past 1.5 years. Ortley Beach, located at an erosional hotspot, has been experiencing significant erosion, with extensive dune and beach scarps. The differing climate conditions of the winters of 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 present an opportunity to investigate beach change patterns under El Niño and La Niña conditions. Offshore wind, waves and other climate parameters were collected and extracted from NOAA websites. The El Nino winter of 2023-2024 experienced more energetic wave condition with a few strong Nor’easters, while the La Nina winter of 2024-2025 experienced smaller waves associated with a mostly westerly wind. Preliminary results suggest that the winter of 2023-2024, with significantly larger waves, caused considerably more erosion than the winter of 2024-2025.Keywords: El Niño, La Niña, Beach Change Patterns, Environmental Science, Winter Season