From topographies generated by Wavecams® technology, Waves’n see establishes diagnostics revealing the health state of a beach, by measuring the erosion during stormy events, and the accretion during the following recharges.

First, a straightforward approach consists in extracting topography at points of interest, located for example in the upper/lower part of a beach, and on each sides of a groyne, in order to evaluate the different erosion and accretion phases. Then, in order to assess alongshore and cross-shore sediment transport, a joint analysis of topography evolution along transects (cross-shore and along-shore) is carried out.

At a larger scale, global statistics of topography (mean height, successive height and volume difference, cumulative height and volume difference) of the intertidal area are computed. Last, the computed beach slope along cross-shore transects can be a good indicator of beach health too (there can be a slope threshold not to exceed).