Analytical solutions for sediment concentration in waves based on linear diffusivity

Abstract Two kinds of analytical solutions are derived through Laplace transform for the equation that governs wave-induced suspended sediment concentration with linear sediment diffusivity under two kinds of bottom boundary conditions, namely the reference concentration (Dirichlet) and pickup function (Numann), based on a variable transformation that is worked out to transform the governing equation into a modified Bessel equation. The ability of the two analytical solutions to describe the profiles of suspended sediment concentration is discussed by comparing with different experimental data. And it is demonstrated that the two analytical solutions can well describe the process of wave-induced suspended sediment concentration, including the amplitude and phase and vertical profile of sediment concentration. Furthermore, the solution with boundary condition of pickup function provides better results than that of reference concentration in terms of the phase-dependent variation of concentration.