Sediment Transport at Density Fronts in Shallow Water

Abstract

The goal of this research is to quantify through observations and modeling how density fronts in shallow estuarine flows impact the mobilization, redistribution, trapping, and deposition of suspended sediment. The objectives of this research program are to implement a high-resolution, 3-dimensional, finite-volume hydrodynamic model of tidal flats field site including advanced sediment transport algorithms, integrate and test a set of field instruments to measure density, velocity, and suspended sediment concentration at density fronts in shallow water (< 1 m), characterize flow and suspended sediment at a density front through the tidal inundation cycle as it travels across the intertidal zone, and combine the observations and model results to (1) quantify sediment suspension, trapping, and lateral circulation at the front and (2) evaluate and improve the sediment transport model.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA527241

Entities

People

  • David K Ralston

Organizations

  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Backscattering
  • Bathymetry
  • Calibration
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Detectors
  • High Resolution
  • Measurement
  • Regions
  • Sedimentation
  • Sediments
  • Shallow Water
  • Simulations
  • Suspended Sediments
  • Three Dimensional
  • Transport Ships
  • Underwater Acoustics
  • Water

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Aerosol Science/Aerosol Physics
  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Coastal and Marine Engineering/Sediment Transport/Hydraulic Engineering