Open AccessA Numerical Model of the Vertical Circulation of Tidal Estuaries and its Application to the Rotterdam Waterway
Author(s) -
Hamilton Peter
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
geophysical journal of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.302
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0016-8009
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1975.tb01601.x
Subject(s) - estuary , circulation (fluid dynamics) , current (fluid) , geology , elevation (ballistics) , salinity , finite volume method , finite difference , momentum (technical analysis) , ocean general circulation model , grid , meteorology , finite difference method , environmental science , mechanics , oceanography , geodesy , geometry , general circulation model , mathematics , geography , physics , mathematical analysis , climate change , finance , economics
Summary A two‐dimensional numerical model has been developed to represent the vertical structure of current and salinity along an estuary of varying width and depth but with a rectangular cross‐section. The governing equations, which express the conservation of volume, momentum and salt content, are solved by a finite difference initial‐value method. The finite difference grid is arranged to cover the vertical profile of the estuary so that the free surface moves vertically through the grid points. Thus the surface elevation and the profiles of current and salinity are determined throughout the tidal period as the equations are integrated stepwise through time. The model has been applied to the Rotterdam Waterway and the resulting distributions have been compared with field data from surveys by the Rijkswaterstaat of the Netherlands, made available for this study by the late Dr J. J. Dronkers. Reasonable agreement has been obtained and to this extent the ability of the model to reproduce the general features of estuarine circulation has been established.