Determinations of the morphodynamic state of beach and surf zone were made on four beaches in Rio de Janeiro state, with two beaches located northward and two westward of Cabo Frio. Twenty four monthly measurements of beach and surf zone profiles associated to measurements of wave height and period, sediment settling velocity as well as swash climate were made during low spring tide. The beaches were classified by their modal morphodynamic state, a differentiation due to different wave climate and sediment characteristics. With exception for the reflective state, low correlation between the predicted and observed Morphodynamic State were obtained using Dean's parameter (Ω). This is a consequence of the low correlation between the grain size (and settling velocity) of the beach face sediments and the topographic gradient, when applied to a single beach. A new approach for the identification of the Morphodynamic State is proposed by inferring the beach and nearshore morphology through the comparison of the wave height and period in the outer breaker zone to the height and semi-period of wave in the swash zone.
Beach morphodynamic; Beach state model; Swash climate; Rio de Janeiro State; Brazil