Part of our measurements in Noordwijk for the ScanEx fieldwork campaign are ongoing. Thanks to the restrictions of the use of public beaches because of the Corona virus outbreak, the two shipping containers could remain on the beach until the end of April. The weekly scans with our mobile laser scanner around the containers are continuing, as well as some of the measurements of wave data with pressure sensors. We also continue the collection of meteorological data next to the laser scanner (after a short break at the end of March).

Thanks to the closure of the Delft University of Technology because of the Corona virus outbreak, we stopped recording data with the weather station and removed all reflectors. We have data on the reflectors during four weeks, which is enough to evaluate the stability and potential error sources. Some last scans with the mobile laser scanner were performed on 14 March. Measurements with pressure sensors and sampling with the sand scraper are ongoing, as long as permitted.

The continuing storms show huge effects on our containers and model containers. A lot of sand is moved around and constantly creates changing shapes and erosion around them. The access road to the beach needs to be cleared daily and the works as well as the sand accretion cause a new shape of the neighboring dunes every time we come to the beach for measurements.

We recorded wind speeds up to 12 bft in the first weeks of February 2020, the beginning of our fieldwork campaign ScanEx. The effects that the wind had on the beach, can clearly be seen around our shipping containers in the observation area. There has been (and continues to be) a lot of aeolian sand transport. The sand is blown away from the south side of the containers and accumulates on the north side. The two wooden boxes were placed directly on the sand before the storms. All sand from underneath was blown away and they appear more than 20 cm above the beach.

Several reflectors have been installed in the dunes and on the shipping containers on the beach. They will support the error analysis of our data from permanent laser scanning, allow calibration of our measurements and help with determining atmospheric effects on our measurements. The reflectors and supporting instruments have been provided and installed by DMT group and TU Freiberg.

For the ScanEx fieldwork we placed two shipping containers on the beach, just in time before storm Ciara hit. We are investigating erosion patterns around the containers as a model for buildings on the beach.

We are also interested in observing how much sand is transported towards the dunes and how much of it is blocked by our containers.