Numerical Simulation of Hydrodynamic Processes in Rivers, Estuaries, and Coastal Embayments

Technical solutions to the problem of investigating and managing waste movement and disposal in regulated rivers, estuaries, and embayments require qualitative and quantitative assessment of the interactions between waste constituents undergoing dynamic transport. Mathematical, numerical, computer-simulation models offer one very powerful solution. Because water is both the vehicle by which the waste constituents are transported and the media in which the constituent interactions occur, the temporal and spatial variations of the flow appreciably govern the interactions both qualitatively and quantitatively. Design of the desired simulation models depends in large measure upon accurate mathematical/numerical representation of the hydrodynamics of the transient flow process. The broad objectives of this study are to thoroughly explore the hydrodynamics of one, two, and three-space dimensional transient flows in waterways and waterbodies (including the transport and interaction of constituents), and to develop the mathematical/numerical techniques with which to simulate these processes. The ultimate goal is to provide the hydrologist with a simulation system comprised of rational mathematical/numerical models with which to evaluate the effect of past, present, and projected changes in prototype waterbody systems.

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