Modeling of suspended sediment by coupled wave-current model in the Zhujiang(Pearl) River Estuary

A three-dimensional wave-current-sediment coupled numerical model is developed to understand the sediment transport dynamics in the Zhujiang(Pearl)River Estuary(ZRE),China.The model results are in good agreement with observed data,and statistics show good model skill scores.Numerical studies are conducted to assess the scenarios of suspended sediment in the ZRE under the effects of different forcing(river discharges,waves,and winds).The model results indicate that the estuarine gravitational circulation plays an important role in the development of estuarine turbidity maximum in the ZRE,particularly during neap tides.The increased river discharge can result in a seaward sediment transport.The suspended sediment concentration(SSC)in the bottom increases with both wave bottom orbital velocity and wave height.Because of the shallow water depth,the effect of waves on sediment in the west shoal is greater than that in the east channel.The southwesterly wind-induced wave affects the SSC more than those resulting from the northeasterly wind,while the northeasterly wind-driven circulation has a slightly greater influence on the SSC than that of the southwesterly wind.However,a steady southwesterly wind condition favors the increase of the SSC in the Lingding Bay more so than a steady northeasterly wind condition.If the other forcings are same,the averaged SSC under a steady southwesterly wind condition is about 1.1 times that resulting from a steady northeasterly wind.

A Coastal Ocean Model of Semi-Implicit Finite Volume Unstructured Grid

A two-dimensional coastal ocean model based on unstructured C-grid is built, in which the momentum equation is discretized on the faces of each cell, and the continuity equation is discretized on the cell. The model is discretized by semi-implicit finite volume method, in that the free surface is semi-implicit and the bottom friction is implicit, thereby removing stability limitations associated with the surface gravity wave and friction. The remaining terms in the momentum equations are discretized explicitly by integral finite volume method and second-order Adams-Bashforth method. Tidal flow in the polar quadrant with known analytic solution is employed to test the proposed model. Finally, the performance of the present model to simulate tidal flow in a geometrically complex domain is examined by simulation of tidal currents in the Pearl River Estuary.

Modeling the circulation and sediment transport in the Beibu Gulf

Water circulation and sediment transport in the Beibu Gulf are important for its environmental protection and resource exploitation.By employing the Regional Ocean Modeling System（ROMS）,we studied the seasonal variation of circulation,sediment transport and long-term morphological evolution in the Beibu Gulf.The simulation results show that the circulation induced by tide and wind is cyclonic both in winter and summer in the gulf and that the wind-driven circulation is stronger in winter than that in summer.The sediment concentration is higher in the Qiongzhou Strait,west of the Hainan Island and the coast of Vietnam and the Leizhou Peninsula.The sediment is transported westwards in winter and eastwards in summer in the Qiongzhou Strait.The west entrance of the Qiongzhou Strait is dominated by westward transport all the year round.The sediment discharged by rivers is deposited near the river mouths.The simulated result demonstrates that the sediment transport is mainly controlled by tidal induced bottom resuspension in the Beibu Gulf.Four characteristics are summarized for the distribution patterns of erosion and deposition.（1） The erosion and deposition are insignificant in most area of the gulf.（2） Sediment deposition is more significant in the mouths of Qiongzhou Strait.（3） The erosion is observed in the seabed of Qiongzhou Strait.（4） Erosion and deposition occur alternatively in the west of Hainan Island.

Simulation of the Fate of Faecal Bacteria in Estuarine and Coastal Waters Based on A Fractionated Sediment Transport Model

A two-dimensional depth-integrated numerical model is refined in this paper to simulate the hydrodynamics, graded sediment transport process and the fate of faecal bacteria in estuarine and coastal waters. The sediment mixture is divided into several fractions according to the grain size. A bed evolution model is adopted to simulate the processes of the bed elevation change and sediment grain size sorting. The faecal bacteria transport equation includes enhanced source and sink terms to represent bacterial kinetic transformation and disappearance or reappearance due to sediment deposition or re-suspension. A novel partition ratio and dynamic decay rates of faecal bacteria are adopted in the numerical model. The model has been applied to the turbid water environment in the Bristol Channel and Severn estuary, UK. The predictions by the present model are compared with field data and those by non-fractionated model.

Development of a High-Resolution Coastal Circulation Model for the Ocean Observatory in Lunenburg Bay

An advanced ocean observatory has been established in Lunenburg Bay of Nova Scotia, Canada as part of an interdisciplinary research project of marine environmental prediction. The development of a high-resolution coastal circulation model is one of important components of the observatory. The model horizontal resolution is 60 m and the vertical resolution is about 1 m. The coastal circulation model is used to simulate the semi-diurnal tidal circulation and associated nonlinear dynamics with the M2 forcing specified at the model open boundaries. The model is also used to simulate the storm-induced circulation in the bay during Hurricane Juan in September 2003, with the model forcing to be the combination of tides and remotely generated waves specified at the model open boundaries and wind stress applied at the sea surface. The model results demonstrate strong interactions between the local wind stress, tidal forcing, and remotely generated waves during this period. Comparison of model results with the surface elevation and current observations demonstrates that the coastal circulation model has reasonable skills in simulating the tidal and storm-induced circulation in the bay.

Numerical simulation of sediment transport in coastal waves and wave-induced currents

Prediction of coastal sediment transport is of particularly importance for analyzing coast erosion accurately and solving the corresponding coast protection engineering problems.The present study provided a numerical scheme for sediment transport in coastal waves and wave-induced currents.In the scheme,the sand transport model was implemented with wave refraction-diffraction model and near-shore current model.Coastal water wave was simulated by using the parabolic mild-slope equation in which wave refraction,diffraction and breaking effects are considered.Wave-induced current was simulated by using the nonlinear shallow water equations in which wave provides radiation stresses for driving current.Then,sediment transport in waves and wave-induced currents was simulated by using the two-dimensional suspended sediment transport equations for suspended sediment and the bed-load transport equation for bed load.The numerical scheme was validated by experiment results from the Large-scale Sediment Transport Facility at the US Army Corps of Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg.The numerical results showed that the present scheme is an effective tool for modeling coastal sediment transport in waves and near-shore currents.

Model-Simulated Coastal Trapped Waves Stimulated by Typhoon in Northwestern South China Sea

In this paper, we apply an unstructured grid coastal ocean model to simulate variations in the sea level and currents forced by two typhoons in the northwestern South China Sea(SCS). The model simulations show distinct differences for the two cases in which the typhoon paths were north and south of the Qiongzhou(QZ) Strait. In both cases, coastal trapped waves(CTWs) are stimulated but their propagation behaviors differ. Model sensitivity simulations suggest the dominant role played by alongshore wind in the eastern SCS(near Shanwei) and southeast of Hainan Island. We also examine the influence of the Leizhou Peninsula by changing the coastline in simulation experiments. Based on our results, we can draw the following conclusions: 1) The CTWs stimulated by the northern typhoon are stronger than the southern CTW. 2) In the two cases, the directions of the current structures of the QZ cross-transect are reversed. The strongest flow cores are both located in the middle-upper area of the strait and the results of our empirical orthogonal function analysis show that the vertical structure is highly barotropic. 3) The simulated CTWs divide into two branches in the QZ Strait for the northern typhoon, and an island trapped wave(ITW) around Hainan Island for the southern typhoon. 4) The Leizhou Peninsula plays a significant role in the distribution of the kinetic energy flux between the two CTW branches. In the presence of the Leizhou Peninsula, the QZ branch has only 39.7 percent of the total energy, whereas that ratio increases to 72.2 percent in its absence.

Water Contamination Modeling—A Review of the State of the Science

This paper reports on the current state of surface water and ocean contamination models—based on the needs of US Government agencies, their Information Technology (IT) systems, and business processes. In addition, down-selection and evaluation criteria were applied in a two-step process. In Step 1, sixty five surface water and ocean models were identified and researched. In Step 2, the following criteria were explored for each model: 1) model environment (river, lake estuary, coastal ocean and watershed);2) degree of analysis (screening model intermediate model, advanced model);3) availability (public domain, proprietary);4) temporal variability (steady state or time variable/dynamic);5) spatial resolution (one, two or three dimensional);6) processes (flow, transport, both flow and transport in an integrated system);7) water quality (chemical, biological, radionuclides, sediment);and 8) support (user support/training available, user manuals/documents available).

Suspended sediment concentration mapping based on the MODIS satellite imagery in the East China inland, estuarine, and coastal waters

The purpose of this research is to improve the retrieval accuracy for the suspended sediment concentration(SSC) from in situ and satellite remote sensing measurements in turbid East China estuarine and coastal waters. For this aim, three important tasks are formulated and solved: 1) an estimation of remote-sensing reflectance spectra R_(rs)(λ) after atmospheric correction; 2) an estimation of R_(rs)(λ) from the radiometric signals above the air-water surface; and 3) an estimation of SSC from R_(rs)(λ). Six different models for radiometric R_(rs)(λ) determination and 28 models for SSC versus R_(rs)(λ) are analyzed based on the field observations made in the Changjiang River estuary and its adjacent coastal area. The SSC images based on the above-mentioned analysis are generated for the area.

Mapping sea surface velocities in the Changjiang coastal zone with advanced synthetic aperture radar

Range Doppler velocities derived from the Envisat advanced synthetic aperture radar（ASAR） wide swath images are analyzed and assessed against the numerically simulated surface current fields derived from the finite volume coastal ocean model（FVCOM） for the Changjiang Estuary. Comparisons with the FVCOM simulations show that the European Space Agency（ESA） Envisat ASAR based Doppler shift anomaly retrievals have the capability to capture quantitative information of the surface currents in the Changjiang Estuary. The uncertainty analysis of the ASAR range Doppler velocity estimates are discussed with regard to the azimuthal and range bias corrections, radar incidence angles, inaccuracy in the wind field corrections and the presence of rain cells.The corrected range Doppler velocities for the Changjiang Estuary area are highly valuable as they exhibit quantitative expressions related to the multiscale upper layer dynamics and surface current variability around the East China Sea, including the Changjiang Estuary.

Numerical modeling of the seasonal circulation in the coastal ocean of the Northern South China Sea

The Finite Volume Community Ocean Model(FVCOM)was adapted to the Northern South China Sea(NSCS)to investigate the seasonality of coastal circulation,as well as along-shelf and cross-shelf transport.In fall and winter,southwestward current dominates the NSCS shelf,while the currenfs direction shifts to northeast in summer.The circulation pattern in spring is more complicated:both southwestward and northeastward currents are detected on the NSCS shelf.The mean shelf circulation pattern in winter does not show the permanent counter-wind South China Sea Warm Current(SCSWC)along the 100-200 m isobaths.Meanwhile,the model results indicate a northeastward current flowing along 50-100 m isobaths in spring.Southwestward along-shelf transport varies from 0.30-1.93 Sv in fall and winter,and it redirects to northeast in summer ranging jfrom 0.44—1.09 Sv.Onshore transport is mainly through the shelf break segment southeast of the Pearl River Estuary.

Investigation and numerical simulation of summer sedimentation in Jiaozhou Bay, China

In recent years,development activities have had a significant impact on the environment of the Jiaozhou Bay,China.To ensure the sustainable economic and social development of the Jiaozhou Bay area,it is necessary to strengthen corresponding control measures.The important prerequisite is to properly understand the environmental conditions laws of natural change,especially the dynamic processes of sediment and the characteristics of landform evolution.Based on the data of continuous observation at 6 stations in Jiaozhou Bay for 25 hours,the Hydrodynamic Eutrophication Model(HEM-3D)was used to simulate the sediment erosion and deposition.The results show that the maximum suspended sediment concentration in the sea area of Jiaozhou Bay is about 40 mg/L,which appears in the northwestern area of the bay top and the Cangkou watercourse area,and the low concentration is located in the area of the central Jiaozhou Bay towards the bay mouth.The suspended sediment is 6?10 mg/L.Affected by a decrease in seawater material,the direction of the prevailing current in the Jiaozhou Bay area is different from that of the sediment transport.The velocity of the flood current is higher than that of the ebb current.However,during flood tide,the flux of resuspended seafloor sediment outside and at the mouth of the bay is limited and cannot contribute significantly to the suspended sediment in the bay.During ebb tide,the resuspended sediment at the shallow-water bay head and the east and west sides spreads toward the bay mouth with the ebb current,although it extends beyond the bay through the bay mouth.The research results can provide scientific support for the Jiaozhou Bay project construction and environmental protection.

Characteristics of Suspended Particulate Matter and the Coastal Turbidity Maximum Areas of the Mekong River

This paper presents the results of application of a 3D （three-dimensional） numerical model to study on MTZ （maximum turbidity zone） in the coastal zone of Mekong River Delta. In this study, a 3D system model with combination of hydrodynamics--wave and suspended sediment transport was set up and validated with measured data in the study area. Based on calculated scenarios for the flood and the dry season, the results have shown appearance of MTZs in the coastal zone of Mekong River with suspended sediment concentration prevalent of 0.04-0.07 kg·m^3 （the dry season） and 0.05-0.1kg·m^3 （the flood season）. The position and MTZs scale change with the interaction between fresh water and tidal oscillations. The MTZ occur more in the dry seasons compared to the wet season. The MTZs are prevalent located far away from estuaries about in 12-22 km （in the dry season）, and 5-15 km in the flood season.

Geomorphology visualization modeling and tidal current virtual reality for coastal ocean

The new technology of geomorphology visualization modeling and virtual reality for tidal current numerical simulation are the important methods utilized in coastal ocean research. In the project of studying the evolutionary trend of radial sand ridges in South Yellow Sea of China, this method becomes the key to reveal the correlation betweenthe seabed topography and the hydrodynamic factor——tidal current. It is proved that using the geomorphology visualization and tidal virtual reality techniques, oceanog-raphers might be able to intuitively discover the interaction pattern of sand ridges and tidal current, predicting the development of sand ridge stability in the future. Furthermore,a prototypic software system——VROcean was designed andimplemented to examine the performance of the new visualization technology on the contrast to traditional methods.

考虑海岸植被影响的水沙动力数学模型研究进展

介绍了植被模型的不同考虑方式,分别从水流阻力、床面阻力、植被消长等方面展开讨论。基于工程尺度和实验室尺度水沙动力数学模型的研究,综述了植被影响下的流速、紊动能、拟序结构,不同波浪形态的传播特征以及悬沙浓度、地形演变等相关的研究进展。结合大量数学模型研究,提出了未来的研究趋势。

岱山—洋山跨海通道水沙环境影响数值模拟研究

杭州湾是世界闻名的强潮河口,具有不规则的岸线边界、独特的地形地貌特征和复杂的水动力泥沙环境。岱山—洋山跨海通道位于杭州湾湾口水域,将岱山与洋山近35km连通,实现了上海—洋山—岱山—舟山—宁波跨海通道的全线贯通,其建设具有非常重要的意义。基于考虑波浪作用的潮流泥沙数值模型,讨论了岱山—洋山跨海通道几种工况对杭州湾大范围海域水沙环境的影响。研究结果表明:跨海通道实施后潮位变化在大桥轴线附近较为敏感,远离则基本没有影响,高低潮位变化幅度大多在2 cm以内。杭州湾涨落潮量减小小于0.6%。水流流态和水下地形仅在大桥附近水域存在明显变化。从对杭州湾水沙环境影响角度考虑,岱山—洋山跨海通道几种工况均可行,建议关注桥墩和人工岛附近的局部冲刷问题。

福岛以东放射性核素进入中国海关键途径的三维数值模拟研究

准确刻画放射性核素在海洋中的扩散及输运过程是监测及预防的关键。利用北太平洋区域高分辨率海洋动力模式,结合被动示踪实验,模拟了福岛排放入海的放射性核素在5 a左右时间的分布情况。结果表明,放射性核素在排海后主要随黑潮延伸体向东移动,但仍有部分放射性核素由于西南向回流、涡旋活动及模态水潜沉过程,向西南方向抵达中国海外缘。在中国近海与外海的物质交换通道中,放射性核素主要通过中国台湾以东最早进入中国东海,后经过吕宋海峡入侵南海,进而通过陆架环流输送到黄海与渤海中。研究结果系统地给出了放射性核素由北太平洋进入中国海的三维途径及动力机制,并表明高浓度的放射性核素在5 a时间内并未影响中国海域。

沿海声层析数据在印尼巴厘海峡的同化研究

沿海声层析(Coastal Acoustic Tomography,简称CAT)是利用高频声信号实现近海大范围流场观测的有效手段,但其直接观测范围仍然有限。海洋数值模式提供了一种存在仿真误差的大范围海洋背景场,将CAT观测结果与海洋背景结果同化,可以提高流场结果的分辨率和准确度。本文提出一种利用流函数拟合海洋模式流场结果并使用集合卡尔曼滤波算法同化CAT数据的方法,获得更大范围的海洋水平二维流场结果。同化研究以非结构化网格有限体积海洋数值模式(Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model,简称FVCOM)作为背景场,以2016年6月1日至3日在印度尼西亚巴厘海峡(Bali Strait)进行的4站CAT实验作为观测数据。经过背景场流函数拟合和CAT数据同化,获得巴厘海峡二维流场。同化结果分别与同期观测结果和潮位数据对比,发现流函数拟合同化后的流场能更准确地描述巴厘海峡涨落潮和流量情况,通过引入CAT数据与流场的函数关系,可以有效地降低海洋模式的误差和原观测数据的稀疏性。

A GPU accelerated finite volume coastal ocean model

With the unstructured grid, the Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model（FVCOM） is converted from its original FORTRAN code to a Compute Unified Device Architecture（CUDA） C code, and optimized on the Graphic Processor Unit（GPU）. The proposed GPU-FVCOM is tested against analytical solutions for two standard cases in a rectangular basin, a tide induced flow and a wind induced circulation. It is then applied to the Ningbo＇s coastal water area to simulate the tidal motion and analyze the flow field and the vertical tide velocity structure. The simulation results agree with the measured data quite well. The accelerated performance of the proposed 3-D model reaches 30 times of that of a single thread program, and the GPU-FVCOM implemented on a Tesla k20 device is faster than on a workstation with 20 CPU cores, which shows that the GPU-FVCOM is efficient for solving large scale sea area and high resolution engineering problems.

Measuring and modeling suspended sediment concentration profiles in the surf zone

Time-averaged suspended sediment concentration profiles across the surf zone were measured in a large-scale three-dimensional movable bed laboratory facility (LSTF:Large-scale Sediment Transport Facility). Sediment suspension under two different types of breaking waves, spilling and plunging breakers, was investigated. The magnitudes and shapes of the concentration profiles varied substantially at different locations across the surf zone, reflecting the different intensities of breaking-induced turbulence. Sediment sus- pension at the energetic plunging breaker-line was much more active, resulting in nearly homogeneous concentration profiles throughout most of the water column, as compared to the reminder of the surf zone and at the spilling breaker-line. Four suspended sediment concentration models were examined based on the LSTF data, including the mixing turbulence length approach, segment eddy viscosity model, breaking-induced wave-energy dissipation approach, and a combined breaking and turbulence length model developed by this study. Neglecting the breaking-induced turbulence and subsequent sediment mixing, suspended sediment concentration models failed to predict the across-shore variations of the sediment suspension, especially at the plunging breaker-line. Wave-energy dissipation rate provided an accurate method for estimating the intensity of turbulence generated by wave breaking. By incorporating the breaking-induced turbulence, the combined breaking and turbulence length model reproduced the across-shore variation of sediment suspension in the surf zone. The combined model reproduced the measured time-averaged suspended sediment concentration profiles reasonably well across the surf zone.