The moisture content w_s of a beach surface strongly controls the availability of sand for aeolian transport. Our predictive capability of the spatiotemporal variability in w_s, which depends to a large extent on water table depth, is, however, limited. Here we show that water table fluctuations and surface moisture content observed during a 10‐day period on a medium‐grained (365μm) planar (1:30) beach can be predicted well with the nonlinear Boussinesq equation extended to include run‐up infiltration and a soil–water retention curve under the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium. On the intertidal part of the beach the water table is observed and predicted to continuously fall from the moment the beach surface emerges from the falling tide to just before it is submerged by the incoming tide. We find that on the lower 30% of the intertidal beach the water table remains within 0.1–0.2 m from the surface and that the sand is always saturated (w_s≈20%, by mass). Higher up on the intertidal beach, the surface can dry to about 5% when the water table has fallen to 0.4–0.5 m beneath the surface. Above the high‐tide level the water table is always too deep (>0.5 m) to affect surface moisture and, without precipitation, the sand is dry (w_s < 5 − 8%). Because the water table depth on the emerged part of the intertidal beach increases with time irrespective of whether the (ocean) tide falls or rises, we find no need to include hysteresis (wetting and drying) effects in the surface‐moisture modelling. Model simulations suggest that at the present planar beach only the part well above mean sea level can dry sufficiently (w_s < 10%) for sand to become available for aeolian transport. ©2018 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Understanding the spatiotemporal variability of surface moisture on a beach is a necessity to develop a quantitatively accurate predictive model for aeolian sand transport from the beach into the foredune. Here, we analyze laser-derived surface moisture maps with a 1 × 1 m spatial and a 15-min temporal resolution and concurrent groundwater measurements collected during falling and rising tide at the barred Egmond beach, the Netherlands. Consistent with earlier studies, the maps show that the beach can be conceptualized into three surface moisture zones. First, the wet zone just above the low tide level: 18–25%; second, the intertidal zone: 5–25% with large fluctuations. In this zone, surface moisture can decrease with a rate varying between ∼2.5–4% per hour, and cumulatively with 16% during a single falling tide; and, third, the back beach zone: 3–7% (dry). The bar–trough system perturbs this overall zonation, with the moisture characteristics on the bar similar to the upper intertidal beach and the trough always remaining wet. Surface moisture fluctuations are strongly linked to the behavior of groundwater depth and can be described by a ’Van Genuchten-type’ retention curve without hysteresis effects. Applying the Van Genuchten relationship with measured groundwater data allows us to predict surface moisture maps. Results show that the predictions capture the overall surface moisture pattern reasonably well; however, alongshore variability in groundwater level should be improved to refine the predicted surface moisture maps, especially near the sandbar.

An open‐source quantitative model for predicting coastal foredune growth at monthly to multi‐annual (meso)temporal scales is developed. The model builds on the established fetch framework as a surrogate for the complex micro‐scale aeolian processes on the beach, to which rain and groundwater‐induced spatiotemporal surface moisture dynamics are added as factors limiting aeolian sand supply to foredunes. The model shows great skill in an application at Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands, with a predicted growth of 16.5 m³/m/yr comparing favourably to the observed growth of 17.3 m³/m/yr. Rain, surface moisture dynamics as well as beach width reduction by storm‐induced elevated sea levels are shown to be important factors that jointly reduce meso‐scale sand supply below the potential (i.e., unlimited) maximum, in our case study by almost 5 m³/m/yr. These factors are most relevant for strong (here, above 15.5 m/s) onshore winds. Consistent with expectations from the literature, meso‐scale foredune growth results primarily from moderately strong (9.5–12.5 m/s) shore‐oblique winds, which are frequent and do not result in supply‐limited conditions. At the study site these winds are most common in winter and hence foredune growth is predicted to vary seasonally, consistent with the observations. Because of the promising results we believe that our model has potential for quantifying how quickly a foredune can recover after an episodic erosion event because of storm waves.

Understanding hillslope runoff response to intense rainfall is an important topic in hydrology, and is key to correct prediction of extreme stream flow, erosion and landslides. Although it is known that preferential flow processes activated by macropores are an important phenomena in understanding runoff processes inside a hillslope, hydrological models have generally not embraced the concept of an extra parameter that represents ‘macropores’ because of the complexity of the phenomenon. Therefore, it is relevant to investigate the influence of macropores on runoff processes in an experimental small artificial hillslope. Here, we report on a controlled experiment where we could isolate the influence of macropores without the need for assumptions regarding their characteristics. Two identical hillslopes were designed, of which one was filled with artificial macropores. Twelve artificial rainfall events were applied to the two hillslopes and results of drainage and soil moisture were investigated. After the experiments, it could be concluded that the influence of macropores on runoff processes was minimal. The S90 sand used for this research caused runoff to respond fast to rainfall, leading to little or no development of saturation near the macropores. In addition, soil moisture data showed a large amount of pendular water in the hillslopes, which implies that the soil has a low air entry value, and, in combination with the lack of vertical flow, could have caused the pressure difference between the matrix and the macropores to vanish sooner and result in equilibrium being reached in a relatively short time. Nevertheless, a better outline is given to determine a correct sand type for these types of experiments and, by using drainage recession analysis to investigate the influences of macropores on runoff, heterogeneity in rainfall intensity can be overcome. This study is a good point of reference to start future experiments from concerning macropores and hillslope hydrology.