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Capturing the residence time boundary layer—application to the Scheldt Estuary |
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| Authors: | Sébastien Blaise Benjamin de Brye Anouk de Brauwere Eric Deleersnijder Eric J M Delhez Richard Comblen |
| Institution: | 1. Center for Systems Engineering and Applied Mechanics (CESAME), Université Catholique de Louvain, Avenue Georges Lema?tre, 4, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium 2. Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium 3. MARE, Modélisation et Méthodes Mathématiques, Université de Liège, Sart Tilman B37, 4000, Liège, Belgium |
| Abstract: | At high Peclet number, the residence time exhibits a boundary layer adjacent to incoming open boundaries. In a Eulerian model, not resolving this boundary layer can generate spurious oscillations that can propagate into the area of interest. However, resolving this boundary layer would require an unacceptably high spatial resolution. Therefore, alternative methods are needed in which no grid refinement is required to capture the key aspects of the physics of the residence time boundary layer. An extended finite element method representation and a boundary layer parameterisation are presented and tested herein. It is also explained how to preserve local consistency in reversed time simulations so as to avoid the generation of spurious residence time extrema. Finally, the boundary layer parameterisation is applied to the computation of the residence time in the Scheldt Estuary (Belgium/The Netherlands). This timescale is simulated by means of a depth-integrated, finite element, unstructured mesh model, with a high space–time resolution. It is seen that the residence time temporal variations are mainly affected by the semi-diurnal tides. However, the spring–neap variability also impacts the residence time, particularly in the sandbank and shallow areas. Seasonal variability is also observed, which is induced by the fluctuations over the year of the upstream flows. In general, the residence time is an increasing function of the distance to the mouth of the estuary. However, smaller-scale fluctuations are also present: they are caused by local bathymetric features and their impact on the hydrodynamics. |
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