Estuarine Dynamics.

Summary of previous lessons.

Estuarine Dynamics
Equations format for Env. Modelling
) (
k k
j j
k
Si So
x
c
x dt
dc
+
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|
.
|

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|
c
c
c
c
= v
) (
k k
k
Si So
dt
dc
=
Isolated System:
Material System Moving with the flow (lagrangian formulation):
Fixe point (Eulerian formulation):
) (
k k
j j j
k j
k
Si So
x
c
x x
c u
t
c
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
c
c
=
c
c
+
c
c
v
) (
k k
j
k j
j
k
Si So
x
c
c u
x t
c
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c

c
c
=
c
c
v
Lotka Volterra
This model describes the dynamics, but it is quantitatively incorrect.
http://home.comcast.net/~sharov/PopEcol/
http://home.comcast.net/~sharov/PopEcol/lec10/lotka.html
Results: no interannual variability
Source and Sink terms. The Phyto Eq.

( ) ( ) 1 .
2
Z G P m e r
dt
dP
Z p p p p
=

Why to study an estuary in the course?
Estuaries are among the richest ecosystems,
Estuarine ecosystems require knowledge of a
large number of disciplines,
They are a adequate to introduce a general
ecosystem approach that can be simplified for
particular ecosystems.
Estuaries vs Coastal Lagoons
Fine (organic rich sediments settle in the upper estuary due to flocculation
induced by salinity
Estuary Definition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of
water with one or more rivers or streams flowing
into it, and with a free connection to the open
sea.
[1]

In the Water Framework Directive:
An estuary is a Transition Water ) from a fresh
water body into a coastal water body.





Estuarine Life

Estuaries are home to an astonishing variety of plants and
animals and important in the lifecycles of many more.
Salt Marshes importance
Salt marshes form in shallow, quiet water, where the water is salty and still enough
for the suspended particles to settle to the bottom. These marshes are some of the
most productive lands in the world and produce so many organic nutrients that
their influence can be seen far out into the coastal ocean waters. Marshes are
based on one plant, the Saltmarsh Cordgrass, which helps stabilize the
environment so that many other plants and animals to move in.
Why are Estuaries so much demanded
by people?
Because they generate opportunities:
Goods,
Navigation,
Recreation,
..
The estuarine ecosystem is biologically rich
because estuaries are rich in nutrients/primary
producers. They provide food and protection to
many species of juveniles (they are nursery
zones).
What about eutrophication?

Classification of Estuaries
http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/ocean/habitats/
estuaries1.htm
Coastal Plain Estuaries or Drowned river valleys,
Tectonic Estuaries,
Bar-built Estuaries or Lagoon type,
Fjords.
Coastal Plain Estuaries
1. Coastal Plain Estuaries are formed by the sea level rising
and filling an existing river valley. Examples of this are the
Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and the harbor in Charleston,
South Carolina
Tectonic Estuaries
2. Tectonic Estuaries are caused by the folding or faulting of
land surfaces. These estuaries are found along major fault
lines, like the San Francisco Bay area in California.
Bar-built Estuaries (Rias/Lagoas em
Portugus)
Bar-built Estuaries form when a shallow lagoon or bay is
protected from the ocean by a sand bar or barrier island.
Examples of these are found along the Eastern Seaboard
and the Gulf Coast of North America.
Fjords
Fjords are U-shaped valleys formed by glacial action. Fjords are
found in areas with long histories of glacier activity, like northern
Europe, Alaska and Canada.
Are this the only types of estuaries?
Most of today's estuaries formed because the
sea level has slowly risen during the last
18,000 years, drowning river valleys and filling
in glacial troughs.
This classification is relevant yes because it
helps us describing estuaries. It is not because
many estuaries do not fit in any of these
types.
Estuarine Hydrodynamics: Tides
http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/ocean/motion
/tides1.htm
Tides are the periodic rise and fall of the
ocean waters. They are caused by the
gravitational pulls of the Moon and (to a lesser
extent) Sun, as well as the rotation of the
Earth.

Classification based on water circulation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuary
Salt wedge
In this type of estuary, river output greatly exceeds marine input and tidal effects
have a minor importance. Fresh water floats on top of the seawater in a layer that
gradually thins as it moves seaward. The denser seawater moves landward along
the bottom of the estuary, forming a wedge-shaped layer that is thinner as it
approaches land. As a velocity difference develops between the two layers, shear
forces generate internal waves at the interface, mixing the seawater upward with
the freshwater. An example of a salt wedge estuary is the Mississippi River.
[5]

Partially mixed estuary
As tidal forcing increases, river output becomes less than the marine input. Here,
current induced turbulence causes mixing of the whole water column such that
salinity varies more longitudinally rather than vertically, leading to a moderately
stratified condition. Examples include the Chesapeake Bay and Narragansett Bay.
[5]

Vertically homogenous

Tidal mixing forces exceed river output, resulting in a well mixed water column and
the disappearance of the vertical salinity gradient. The freshwater-seawater
boundary is eliminated due to the intense turbulent mixing and eddy effects. The
lower reaches of the Delaware Bay and the Raritan River in New Jersey are examples
of vertically homogenous estuaries.
[5]

Fjord
Inverse estuary
Inverse estuaries occur in dry climates where evaporation greatly exceeds the inflow
of fresh water. A salinity maximum zone is formed, and both riverine and oceanic
water flow close to the surface towards this zone.
[6]
This water is pushed downward
and spreads along the bottom in both the seaward and landward direction.
[3]
An
example of an inverse estuary is Spencer Gulf, South Australia
Estuary Flow properties
Residual velocity
Residence Time
Tidal prism
Cohesive sediment dynamics
Intermittent Estuary

Estuary type varies dramatically depending on freshwater input, and is capable of
changing from a wholly marine embayment to any of the other estuary types.
[7][8]

(See also Estuarine water circulation)
Estuarine hydrodynamics
Shallow water equations:
Hydrostatic pressure,
Vertical velocity is much smaller than
horizontal velocity (coriolis),
Boussinesq approximation (density)
2D Depth Integrated Hydrodynamic
Model
( )
( )
0
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
2
2 2
1
2 1 2
1
1
2
2
1 2
1
1 1 1
2 2
1 1
=
c
c
+
c
c
+
c
c
+
c
c
c
c
+
c
c
= +
c
c
c
c
+
c
c
+
c
c
c
c
+
c
c
=
c
c
c
c
+
c
c
x
Hu
x
Hu
t
x
u
H
x x
gH fu
x
u Hu
x
u Hu
t
Hu
x
u
H
x x
gH fu
x
u Hu
x
u Hu
t
Hu
f s
j j
f s
j j
q
t t
q
t t
q
MOHID Bathymetry Module
Bathymetry
Defines the horizontal grid
The grid can be uniform or variable
The number of grid points is typically 200x200


Vertical grid (3D models)
Sigma coordinate
Cartesian coordinate
Boundary Conditions
Open boundary
Closed boundary
Moving boundary
MOHID main Modules
Hydrodynamic
Propriedades de escoamento (nives, velocidades, fluxos)
Waterproperties (Eulerian)
Propriedades de guas (temperaturua, salinidade, phytoplankton, etc)
Abordagem euleriana
Lagrangian
Propriedades de guas (temperatura, salinidade, phytoplankton, etc)
Abordagem lagrangiana
WaterQuality (Sources Sinks)
Processos de qualidade de gua (fontes e poos)
Funciona como um modelo 0D
Mohid Input Data File
Ficheiros ASCII
Palavras Chaves
Organizao por
blocos
2D Hydrodynamic model parameters
Physical parameters:
Bottom and surface friction coefficients,
Horizontal diffusivity (viscosity).

Bottom shear stress

( )
025 . 0
) (
.
2
3 / 4
2
2
~
= =
c
c
= =
n
mula ManningFor U
R
n
g U c
z
u
tg
h
f b
b
t
o t
Velocity Definition
The figure represents molecules of two fluids. The
velocity across the dashed line measures the volume of
molecules crossing the surface per unit of area.
If the velocity is null the volume crossing in one sense
is equal to the volume crossing on the opposite sense.
C
x
C
x+x

Diffusion
However even if there is no velocity, there is molecules
exchange and consequently there is mixing. This is called
diffusion.
If the molecules on one side of the surface are statistically
different from the molecules on the other side (different
concentration) there will be a mass fluxes of individual
constituents.
If molecules move due to Brownian movement diffusion is
called molecular diffusion.
If they move due to turbulence (eddies) it will be called
turbulent diffusion.
Turbulence is defined as the movements with space and
time scales to short to be described directly.





Difusive flux per unit of area
( )
b l l l d
u c c
A +
u
( )
l
c
l c c
l l l
c
c
A =
A +
l
c
u l
b d
c
c
A u .
x
c
dx
c
c
= u v
Along direction x:
C
x

C
x+
x

Horizontal diffusivity in
a hydrodynamic model
Hydrodynamic models consider velocity as being
uniform along the all grid cell. In fact it is not and
consequently there is a velocity part not resolved by
the advective transport. That part has to be accounted
by diffusion. Diffusivity is proportional to the grid size
and to the non-resolved velocity.
Initial and Boundary conditions
The system exchanges material with the neighbouring
areas and consequently after some time interior values
do not depend on the initial conditions.
Initial conditions can be any. The warming time
decreases with its realism.
In case of momentum there is dissipation and thus the
warming time is even shorter.
Boundary conditions have to be known, unless
transformation processes have the time to modify the
properties between the boundary and the region we
want to study.
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