Numerical Age and Residence-Time Mapping for a Small Tidal Creek: Case Study
Publication: Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 4
Abstract
A numerical modeling study, using an Eulerian tracer and Lagrangian particle-tracking methods, was carried out to map the age of water and residence-time distribution in the tide-dominated East Scott Creek Estuary, South Carolina. A coupled hydrodynamic, solute-transport, and particle-transport model was developed. The flow and solute-transport models were based on depth-integrated conservation equations and the particle-transport model was quasi-three-dimensional. The equations were discretized using the total variation diminishing finite-volume method. The numerical model predictions were verified against a set of field-measured hydrodynamic data, with the model-predicted water elevations and velocities in good agreement with the field measurements. Different methods of computing the age of water and the residence time that are applicable to tide-dominated estuaries and suitable for high-resolution flow and transport numerical modeling setup were investigated. An Eulerian method, based on the tracer-age theory, and a Lagrangian particle-tracking method were each used to map the age and the residence-time distribution throughout the main channel of East Scott Creek. The performance of the two methods in the given tide-dominated environment was investigated through a series of numerical experiments. The effects of the particle and tracer release time and tidal amplitude in the computation of tidal exchange-time scales were also investigated. The residence time computed by the Eulerian method scaled well with that of the Lagrangian method and produces a relatively smooth monotonic profile of the residence time in space. The Lagrangian method, unlike the Eulerian method, consistently showed a more detailed distribution of significant and varying nonmonotonic profile of residence times; yet, the two methods produce, in the tidally averaged sense, reasonably comparable residence-time distributions. The residence time computed by the Lagrangian method is very sensitive to the phase of the tidal forcing at the beginning of the computation.
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Acknowledgments
The writers are thankful to Straud Armstrong, Brenda Hockensmith, Joe Gellici, Andy Wachob, and Scott Harder for their valuable help during field surveys. This study in part was supported by U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (DOC/NOAA) via a grant (Grant No. UNSPECIFIEDNA03NOS4630167) to David Whitaker of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Marine Resources Division. Any statements, opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the federal sponsors or the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and no official endorsement should be inferred.
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Published In
Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 4 • July 2010
Pages: 226 - 237
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 27, 2009
Accepted: Oct 8, 2009
Published online: Jun 15, 2010
Published in print: Jul 2010
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