Wave-induced drag force on vegetation under shoaling random waves

•A practical method for estimating the drag force on a vegetation field is provided.•Valid for shoaling conditions beneath non-breaking and breaking random waves•Achieved by using simple drag formulas for regular waves in conjunction with a stochastic approach•An example of calculation is also provided to demonstrate the application of the method.

This paper provides a practical method for estimating the drag force on a vegetation field in shoaling conditions beneath non-breaking and breaking random waves. This is achieved by using a simple drag formula based on two empirical drag coefficients given by Méndez et al. (1999) and Méndez and Losada (2004), respectively, in conjunction with a stochastic approach. Here the waves are assumed to be a stationary narrow-band random process and propagating in shallow waters. The effects of shoaling and breaking waves are included by adopting the Méndez et al. (2004) wave height distribution. Results are presented and discussed for different slopes, and an example of calculation is also provided to demonstrate the application of the method.