When Bill Dally of Surfbreak Engineering Sciences, Inc. initiated the Florida Coastal Forcing Project (FCFP), he turned to Teledyne RD Instruments for its innovative, yet field-proven Workhorse Waves Array to supply high-resolution directional wave spectra, tides, and current profiles in a compact, easily installed instrument package.

Conducted under the auspices of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the data needs of the FCFP include 1) ongoing collection of in situ near-shore wave and wind information for direct study and characterization of Florida’s coastal forcing, and 2) high-quality directional wave data for use in calibrating and validating wave transformation models used to develop historical, 50-year-long Synthetic Wave Records for Florida’s coasts.

“It has been remarkable to have a single instrument that provides tides, current profiles, and high resolution directional spectra, all in one small package. Without the Workhorse, we simply could not achieve our scientific goals and still operate within our budget.”
Bill Dally
Surfbreak Engineering Sciences, Inc. The first year of the FCFP was devoted to testing and comparing commercially available wave measuring technologies.

Teledyne RDI’s Waves Array was selected for its ability to deliver high-resolution directional wave spectra, its compact design, and its reliability.

Surfbreak Engineering continues to conduct side-by-side tests as new instruments come on the market, yet the RDI Workhorse continues to be the standard to beat.

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About Surfbreak Engineering Sciences
Surfbreak Engineering Sciences, Inc. (SES) is a coastal engineering and research company that specializes in rigorous measurement, modelling, and analysis of coastal processes, including waves, currents, wind, sediment transport, beach morphology, and inlet dynamics. With offices in Indialantic/Melbourne Beach & Winter Park, Florida, the firm has over 20 years of experience in:

• Measurement & modelling of inlet hydrodynamics and sediment transport processes.
• Beach erosion pathology and the roles played by nearshore reefs and coastal structures.
• Analysis of beach nourishment performance.
• Development of techniques for assessing the extent and degree of inlet impacts to beaches.
• Development & application of state-of-the-art hydrodynamics and sand transport models for the surf zone.
• Generation and utilization of long-term synthetic wave records for the nearshore.
• Analysis of surfbreak in support of surfing recreation.

With its established reputation for bridging the gap between scientific research and practical coastal engineering, SES is particularly well-suited for designing, implementing, and evaluating innovative technologies for the coastal zone.

About Bill Dally:
William Dally, Ph.D., P.E. is the principal coastal engineer and President of Surfbreak Engineering Sciences, Inc. Dr. Dally received a Bachelor degree in civil engineering and Master degree in coastal engineering the University of Delaware, and a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Florida. He has a wide range of experience in his 29-year career, including project engineer at the Wilmington District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, research engineer at the CorpsÕ Coastal Engineering Research Center (now the Coastal & Hydraulics Laboratory), associate professor at the Florida Institute of Technology, and founder of the consulting/R&D company, Surfbreak Engineering Sciences, Inc. in 1999. His coastal engineering expertise includes numerical modelling, physical modelling, field data collection and archiving (waves, currents, tides, surveying), and marine & oceanographic engineering. He has long worked in the arena of beach-inlet interaction and inlet management, particularly during his tenure as lead consulting engineer for the Sebastian Inlet District (1993-2005). Dr. DallyÕs major projects include the development and maintenance of a Survey-Based Sediment Budget for Sebastian Inlet (1995-2005), the generation of 50-year-long synthetic nearshore wave records for several coastal counties in Florida for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Corps of Engineers (2000-present), and forensic analysis and overland wave modelling of Hurricane Katrina in coastal Mississippi (2006-present).

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