Hydrodynamics and Cohesive Sediment Transport in the IJzer Estuary, Belgium: Case Study
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 4
Abstract
The quantification and monitoring of sediment dynamics in estuaries has received plenty of attention in recent years due to both economic and environmental interests. Numerical models have been widely applied for predicting the morphodynamic evolution of these areas. However, the degree of uncertainty of these models is often very high due to the lack of measurements necessary for a complete model calibration and validation. In this paper, different methods have been integrated to overcome these limitations. The hydrodynamics and suspended sediment transport in the IJzer estuary were estimated by means of field data and with the use of a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model coupled to a morphodynamic model. Tidal pumping was recognized as the main driving mechanism of sediments inside the estuary. Erosion-deposition areas calculated with the numerical model were compared to the locations and volumes of dredged material. Model results and measurements were generally in good agreement. Additional support for the morphodynamic model results came from airborne hyperspectral images acquired in 2001 and 2005.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The study was conducted within the framework of the MONAIJ project (Monitoring Natuurherstel IJzermonding), financed by the Nature Department of AMINAL, Ministry of the Flemish Community. The writers wish to thank the European Community for the financial support through the LIFE project, which enabled the monitoring work. Additional support was provided by the Research Foundation Flanders Project No. G.0477.04, by the projects ALGASED (Remote Sensing for Characterization of Intertidal Sediments and Microphytobenthic Algae) in the framework of the STEREO II program (Support to the Exploitation and Research of Earth Observation data), and QUEST4D in the framework of Science for Sustainable Development program, both supported by the Belgian Science Policy. The writers gratefully acknowledge Flanders Hydraulics (Waterbouwkundig Laboratorium), GEMS, and IMDC for the different data and measurements they supplied. Bathymetric data were provided by the Flemish Ministry of Mobility and Public Works (Vlaams ministerie van Mobiliteit en Openbare Werken), Coastal Division (Agentschap voor Maritieme Dienstverleningen en Kust). Airborne images were collected in the framework of the research program for earth observation STEREO. Tidal data were collected by the same division, but were accessed through the database supported by the Flemish Maritime Institute (VLIZ). Additional data were collected within the framework of the CISS project (Bio-physical Characterization of Indicators of Sediment Stability in mudflats using Remote Sensing), financed by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). Thanks are extended to the master students Boudewijn Decrop, Indira Nolivos, Ahbar Choudhury, Xinyao Yang, and Revai Baloyi for their work in setting up the numerical models and analyzing the measurements. Many thanks go to Luc Willems for the data collection and to Sam Provoost for his valuable remarks on the field data analysis. The writers are also grateful to Mark Henry for his comments and corrections which resulted in an improved manuscript.
References
Beaven, S. G., Stein, D., and Hoff, L. E. (2000). “Comparison of Gaussian mixture and linear mixture models for classification of hyperspectral data.” Proc., IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society, IEEE, New York, 1597–1599.
Biernacki, C., Celeux, G., Govaert, G., and Langrognet, F. (2006). “Model-based cluster and discriminant analysis with the MIXMOD software.” Comput. Stat. Data Anal., 51(2), 587–600.
Brenon, I., and Le Hir, P. (1999). “Modelling the turbidity maximum in the Seine estuary (France): Identification of formation processes.” Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci., 49(4), 525–544.
Brière, C., Abadie, S., Bretel, P., and Lang, P. (2007). “Assessment of TELEMAC system performances, a hydrodynamic case study of Anglet, France.” Coastal Eng., 54(4), 345–356.
Deboeuf, C., and Herrier, J. L. (2002). “The restoration of mudflats, salt marshes and dunes on the eastern bank of the Yzer Rivermouth, Niewpoort.” Littoral 2002: 6th Int. Symp. Posters: A Multi-Disciplinary Symposium on Coastal Zone Research, EUROCOAST/EUCC, Porto, Portugal, 201–202.
Dyer, K. R. (1997). “Tides in estuaries.” Estuaries: A physical introduction, 2nd Ed., Wiley, Chichester, U.K., 33–40.
Dyer, K. R., and Manning, A. J. (1999). “Observation of the size, settling velocity and effective density of flocs, and their fractal dimensions.” J. Sea Research, 41(1–2), 87–95.
Fettweis, M. (2008). “Uncertainty of excess density and settling velocity of mud flocs derived from in situ measurements.” Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci., 78(2), 426–436.
Flanders Hydraulics (Waterbouwkundig Laboratorium). (2006a). “Meetcampagne in kader van aanslibbingsproblematiek haven en jachthavens van Niewpoort.” Project No. 16EB/04/19, Waterboukundig Laboratorium, Antwerpen, Belgium (in Dutch).
Flanders Hydraulics (Waterbouwkundig Laboratorium). (2006b). Model 712/07: Berekenen van debieten van IJzer en Kanaal Duinkerke-Nieuwpoort naar de havengeul van Nieuwpoort (Ganzepoot), Waterbouwkundig Laboratorium, Antwerpen, Belgium (in Dutch).
Hervouet, J.-M., and Bates, P. (2000). “Special edition on the TELEMAC modeling system (10 contributed papers).” Hydrolog. Process., 14(13), 2207–2363.
Hoffmann, M. (2006). “Monitoring natuurherstel Ijzermonding 2001–2005.” Final Rep., Research Project No. AN.GKB/2001/nr.1, Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek, Brussel, Belgium, 1–386.
Jiménez, J. A., and Madsen, O. S. (2003). “A simple formula to estimate settling velocity of natural sediments.” J. Waterway, Port, Coastal, Ocean Eng., 129(2), 70–78.
Kerouedan, C. (2006). “Recent and historical changes in landscape of the Flemish Nature Reserve “De IJzermonding,” through analogue and digital analysis of aerial photographs.” Rep. of Training Course, Master 2 Professionel Sciences de la Mer et du Littoral, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, France.
Kranenburg, C. (1994). “The fractal structure of cohesive sediment aggregates.” Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci., 39(5), 451–460.
Krestenitis, Y. N., Kombiadou, K. D., and Savvidis, Y. G. (2006). “Modelling cohesive sediment transport in the marine environment: The case of Thermaikos Gulf.” J. Ocean Sci. Disc., 3(4), 701–733.
Krone, R. B. (1962). “Flume studies of the transport in estuarine shoaling processes.” Final Rep., Hydraulics Engineering Laboratory and Sanitary Engineering Research Laboratory, Univ. of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, Calif.
Lien, R.-C., McPhaden, M. J., and Hebert, D. (1994). “Intercomparison of ADCP measurements at 0°, .” J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol., 11(5), 1334–1349.
Manning, A. J., and Bass, S. J. (2006). “Variability in cohesive sediment settling fluxes: Observations under different estuarine tidal conditions.” Mar. Geol., 235(1–4), 177–192.
Maxwell, A. R., Papanicolaou, A. N., Strom, K. B., and Fox, J. F. (2004). “Erosion strength parameters: An experimental investigation.” Geological Society of America for the Rocky Mountain (56th Annual) and Cordilleran (100th Annual) Joint Meeting, Vol. 36, GSA, Boise, Idaho, 78.
Nolivos, I., and Choudhury, A. (2004). “2D hydrodynamic modelling of a tidal inlet using TELEMAC. Case study of ‘De Ijzermonding.’” Master thesis, Katholieke Univ. Leuven—Vrije Univ. Brussels, Leuven, Belgium.
Partheniades, E. (1965). “Erosion and deposition of cohesive soils.” J. Hydr. Div., 91(1), 105–139.
Soulsby, R. L. (1997). Dynamic of marine sands, Telford, London, 1–249.
Toorman, E., Provoost, S., De Belder, W., Monbaliu, J., and Adams, S. (2006). “Monitoring van condities: Sedimentatie, erosie en topografie.” Monitoring Natuurherstel IJzermonding 2001–2005, M. Hoffmann, ed., Eindrapport Onderzoeksopdracht AN.GKB/20021/nr.1, Ministry of the Flemish Community, AMINAL, Nature Division, Brussels, Belgium.
Toorman, E. A. (2001). “Cohesive sediment transport modelling: European perspective.” Proc., Marine Sciences, Coastal and Estuarine Fine Sediment Processes, W. H. McAnally and A. J. Mehta, eds., Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 3, 1–18.
Toorman, E. A., Bruens, A. W., Kranenburg, C., and Winterwerp, J. C. (2002). “Interaction of suspended cohesive sediment and turbulence.” Proc., Marine Sciences, Fine Sediment Dynamics in the Marine Environment, Vol. 5, J. C. Winterwerp and C. Kranenburg, eds., Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 7–23.
Uncles, R. J., Stephens, J. A., and Smith, R. E. (2002). “The dependence of estuarine turbidity on tidal intrusion length, tidal range and residence time.” Cont. Shelf Res., 22(11–13), 1835–1856.
Vanhonacker, T. (2004). “In-situ meting van de erosie-karakteristieken van slikken en schorren.” Master thesis, Dept. Burgerlijke Bouwkunde, Katholieke Univ. Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 1–126 (in Dutch).
Van Rijn, L. C., Walstra, D. J. R., Grasmeijer, B., Sutherland, J., Pan, S., and Sierra, J. P. (2003). “The predictability of cross-shore bed evolution of sandy beaches at the time scale of storms and seasons using process-based profile models.” Coastal Eng., 47(3), 295–327.
Verney, R., Deloffre, J., Brun-Cottan, J.-C., and Lafite, R. (2007). “The effect of wave-induced turbulence on intertidal mudflats: Impact of boat traffic and wind.” Cont. Shelf Res., 27(5), 594–612.
Villaret, C. (2004). “SISYPHE Release 5.4.” User’s Manual, Rep. No. P75G17, EDF/LNHE, Chatou, France, 1–69.
Winterwerp, J. C. (2002). “On the flocculation and settling velocity of estuarine mud.” Cont. Shelf Res., 22(9), 1339–1360.
Xia, X. M., Li, Y., Yang, H., Wu, C. Y., Sing, T. H., and Pong, H. K. (2004). “Observations on the size and settling velocity distributions of suspended sediment in the Pearl River estuary, China.” Cont. Shelf Res., 24(16), 1809–1826.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 4 • July 2009
Pages: 176 - 184
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 22, 2008
Accepted: Dec 10, 2008
Published online: Jun 15, 2009
Published in print: Jul 2009
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.