Suphat Vongvisessomjai, Phairot Chatanantavet and Patchanok Srivihok

pp. 531 - 538

Abstract

Nowadays, the study of interaction of the tide and the salinity barrier in an estuarine area is usually accomplished via numerical modeling, due to the speed and convenience of modern computers. However, numerical models provide little insight with respect to the fundamental physical mechanisms involved. In this study, it is found that all existing numerical models work satisfactorily when the barrier is located at some distance far from upstream and downstream boundary conditions. Results are considerably underestimate reality when the barrier is located near the downstream boundary, usually the river mouth. Meanwhile, this analytical model provides satisfactory output for all scenarios. The main problem of the numerical model is that the effects of barrier construction in creation of reflected tide are neglected when specifying the downstream boundary conditions; the use of the boundary condition before construction of the barrier which are significantly different from those after the barrier construction would result in an error outputs. Future numerical models should attempt to account for this deficiency; otherwise, using this analytical model is another choice

Keywords

• analytical model
• numerical model
• salinity barrier
• tide reflection