Francisco Campuzano

Advances in Modeling of Water Quality in Estuaries

Water quality models are in great demand to complement studies about the status of estuarine waters. However, local models do not perform well when boundary conditions are not properly defined and when biogeochemical processes are not described with adequate detail. This chapter presents advanced modeling applications to perform water quality studies in Portuguese estuaries. Boundary conditions for hydrodynamics and biogeochemistry are provided by the Portuguese Coast Operational Model, downscaled by using nested domains with increasing resolution from the regional to the local scale. The nested models of the estuaries are described, and case studies are presented for specific estuaries to compute sediment transport (Tagus estuary), to calculate residence time of water (Mondego estuary), to forecast quality of bathing waters (Estoril Coast), and to quantify nutrient fluxes between estuaries and the open ocean (Ria de Aveiro). The level of detail used to represent biological processes in water quality models is also addressed, including the description of a case study about modeling of species vulnerable to water quality, such as Zostera noltii in Ria de Aveiro. The need for high level of detail to represent microbial loop and carbon cycle in estuaries is discussed with the application of a complex biological model to the Tagus estuary.

A Management Tool for Assessing Aquaculture Environmental Impacts in Chilean Patagonian Fjords: Integrating Hydrodynamic and Pellets Dispersion Models

This article introduces a management tool for salmon farming, with a scope in the local sustainability of salmon aquaculture of the Aysen Fjord, Chilean Patagonia. Based on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) principles, the tool combines a large 3-level nested hydrodynamic model, a particle tracking module and a GIS application into an assessment tool for particulate waste dispersal of salmon farming activities. The model offers an open source alternative to particulate waste modeling and evaluation, contributing with valuable information for local decision makers in the process of locating new facilities and monitoring stations.

Coupling watersheds, estuaries and regional ocean through numerical modelling for Western Iberia: a novel methodology

An original methodology for integrating the water cycle from the rain water to the open ocean by numerical models was set up using an offline coupling technique. The different components of the water continuum, including watersheds, estuaries and ocean, for Western Iberia were reproduced using numerical components of the MOHID Water Modelling System (http://www.mohid.com). This set of models, when combined through this novel methodology, is able to fill information gaps, and to include, in a realistic mode, the fresh water inputs in terms of volume and composition, into a regional ocean model. The designed methodology is illustrated using the Tagus River, estuary and its region of fresh water influence as case study, and its performance is evaluated by means of river flow and salinity observations.

Wave Energy Resources Along the European Atlantic Coast

Ocean wave energy has become the focus of governments and energy companies over the past decade. In spite of its unpredictability, this untapped source of energy appears to be a sustainable alternative to traditional sources of energy such as thermic and nuclear energies, or hydropower, all of which pose significant environmental and geopolitical problems. Open to the Atlantic Ocean at latitudes between 35°N and 65°N, the Atlantic Coast of Europe is blessed with one of the highest wave powers in the world—estimated to be between 33 and 76 kW/m wave crest. The European Commission has taken a proactive attitude towards encouraging and promoting the development of marine renewable energy during the near future. In this context, the European transnational project EnergyMare was commissioned to investigate the potential of marine renewable energy resources on the European Atlantic Coast as well as test innovative measurement techniques and promote the development of test sites. The targeted wave energy resources were assessed via a 10-year hindcast, using state-of-the-art spectral wave models WaveWatch III and SWAN set up on unstructured meshes or fine-resolution regular grids. The hindcasts were combined to simultaneously provide a holistic view of the wave energy distribution across the European continental shelf and fine-resolution maps of specific areas, in particular around archipelagos and complex coastlines, where wave characteristics can be affected by the presence of small islands, headlands, or irregular bathymetry, and at wave energy test sites. The domain size and timescale of the hindcasts enable a comprehensive description of the wave climate along the European Atlantic Coast , both in terms of its distribution and its seasonal and interannual variations. In particular, a comparison of wave activity at various coastal locations shows its dependence on latitude and arguably its more significant dependence on exposure to open Atlantic waters. Wave activity during the winter months is clearly predominant, but dominant peak activity was also occasionally observed during spring and autumn. In spite of increased winter wave activity over the past couple of years, data are insufficient to enable conclusions to be made about a persistent trend in the international wave climate. Continental-scale mapping of wave energy resources together with fine-resolution mapping of coastal areas provides an overview of the wave resources to help identify the best areas for energy or test sites. Such mapping also provides information about local wave characteristics and resources that can be used for diminishing installation risks or optimising a site by selecting the most appropriate devices or array configurations. In addition to evaluating wave resources, fine estimates of energy yield from a site may require a good understanding of the wave interaction in an array of converters where significant wave interference may be induced. Finally, long-term trend estimates or periodic re-evaluations of wave resources to address potential wave climate change will probably be necessary to achieve sustainable wave energy exploitation.

Subtidal variability of the Tagus river plume in winter 2013

The subtidal variability of surface plume response to local wind and river runoff is studied off central Portugal using a hindcast model for the Tagus Estuary (TE) plume. In addition to the model, the main patterns of variability of the TE plume were extracted in an automated mode using Self Organizing Maps (SOM). Three characteristic spatial patterns are extracted in a 3 × 2 SOM array: in synoptic time scales, northward and southward propagation of the plume and transitional periods. Results suggest that river runoff and wind induce strong variability in the coastal ocean, and that the TE plume has a rapid response to their changes. Under high river runoff there is a southern propagation of the plume, even during downwelling favorable winds, revealing bi-directional patterns due to the combined effect of estuarine outflow, wind direction and coastline in establishment the plume direction. The same is found during transitional periods, revealing that the TE plume has significant influence both north and south of the estuary mouth. SOM was applied for the first time to extract spatial and temporal features of the TE plume and prove to be a reliable tool to study large quantities of data in addition to the model results analysis.

Improving the response to operational pollution in the South Iberian coast: A Super-Ensemble backtracking approach

Although for the general public marine oil pollution happens when an oil tanker sinks in the ocean or an accident occurs in an oil platform, most of the oil entering the world ocean does it along less obvious paths. This research work focus on operational spills. It provides a first indication of the uncertainty associated to backtracking simulations using solutions from several operational models available on the internet for the South Iberia region. The suitability of using a Super-Ensemble approach as a way of minimizing the uncertainty was also investigated. The methodology was validated using drifting buoys available for the region. Results show the advantages of using the Super-Ensemble while pointing out for the importance of the atmospheric forcing in this region due to its characteristic mesoscale activity. The absence of more trajectories sparse in time and geographic coverage was a limitation found.

AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR NEAR-REAL TIME PREDICTION OF OIL SPILLS FROM EU SATELLITE-BASED DETECTION SERVICE

ABSTRACT 2017-244: The state-of-the-art in both operational oceanography, remote sensing, and computational capacity, enables now the possibility of developing near-real time, holistic automated se...