Bottom sediment resuspension under wave orbital speeds. 

Ref/Dif stands for refraction and diffraction, two phenomena which are taken into account in the propagation equation of the waves. Waves thus undergo realistic transformations when approaching the shore even over complex bathymetries (refraction over rocky shelves or crescentic sand bars, diffraction by breakwaters or jetties...).

Reflection is not included, however. Since studied sites are dissipative beaches (i.e. beaches with weak slopes), this phenomenon is of a lesser importance.

Simulation of today's wave height around the Var region (south of France), courtesy of SurfOuest.