A Model of the 3D Circulation, Salinity Distribution, and Transport Pattern in the Pearl River Estuary, China

Abstract

JONSSON, L.; CHEN, C, and SHI, P. 2005, A model of the 3D circulation, salinity distribution, and transport pattern in the pearl river estuary, China, Journal of Coastal Research, 21(5), 896-908, West Palm Beach (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208,The three-dimensional circulation, salinity distrihution, and overall transport pattern were simulated in the Pearl River Estuary, China, using a modified version of the Princeton Ocean Model (POM), The circulation in the estuary is mainly driven by tide, wind, and river runoff in a complex manner, where the relative importance of the different forcing factors varies over the year. Field data on currents from several locations in the estuary taken at different elevations through the water column were employed to validate the model together with measurements of the salinity distribution in the surface layer. Also, satellite images were utilized to qualitatively confirm the simulated overall transport pattern. Comparisons between measurements and calculations showed that the POM yielded satisfactory predictions without any particular calibration. However, for some events the coastal current outside the estuary induced by the large-scale circulation in the South China Sea affected the flow in the estuary, making it necessary to employ a more sophisticated boundary condition on the ocean side than what was initially implemented. The longterm objective of the numerical modeling of the flow and material transport in the Pearl River Estuary is to utilize the validated model for forecasting the circulation and water quality in the estuary in a comprehensive system where in-situ measurements and remote sensing are the other main components.

Spatial and temporal variations of picoplankton in three contrasting periods in the Pearl River Estuary, South China

“…The overall transport trend of diluted water from the estuary out into the SCS was along the western boundary of the estuary in both the summer and winter (Larson et al, 2005). Several studies have reported lower primary production due to high turbidity within the river plume (Hu et al, 2006;Yin et al, 2004b).…”

A dedicated tidal stream atlas of the stratified tidal flows near Stonecutters Bridge, Hong Kong, based on 3D numerical simulations with HLES

“…O1, Q1, P1, K1, N2, M2, MU2, NU2, S2, K2, M4 and MS4) and a compensation to include the coastal currents associated with the dry or wet season conditions by tilting the offshore model boundaries. The latter approach, introduced by Uittenbogaard and Hulsen (1999), helped to provide efficient estimates of the coastal currents, see also Larson et al (2005), while avoiding the application of larger-scale models, as for instance used by Wong et al (2003).…”

Tidal energy budget in the Zhujiang (Pearl River) Estuary

“…The Lingding Bay, called the "Zhujiang Estuary (ZE)" in this paper, receives about 60% of the total Zhujiang River discharge (Zhao, 1990) through four major inlets of Humen, Jiaomen, Hongqili and Hengmen (Figs 1a and b). The bell-shaped semi-closed ZE is the largest estuary of the Zhujiang River with an area of 2 500 km 2 (Larson et al, 2005). The northern end width of the ZE is only 5 km but 60 km for the southern end.…”

“…During the dry season, from October to April, northeast monsoon dominates the ZE and the mean rainfall is only about 3-4 cm/month (Ding, 1994;Harrison et al, 2008). In the wet season, from May to August, southwest monsoon brings the warm and humid air and leads to large rainfall amount to 30-40 cm/month (Larson et al, 2005). Thus, the mean fresh water discharged into the ZE is 1 500 m 3 /s in the dry season but 20 000 m 3 /s in the wet season (Zhao, 1990).…”

“…The interactions among freshwater inflow, sediment discharge, nutrient transport, tides, winds, varying topography, large-scale circulations and rotating effect make the ZE a rather complicated system (Wong et al, 2003a(Wong et al, , b, 2004Dong et al, 2004;Mao et al, 2004;Larson et al, 2005;Yin and Harrison, 2007;Twigt et al, 2009;Ou et al, 2009;Ji et al, 2011;Zu et al, 2014;Zheng et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2015). And complicated hydrodynamic characteristics of the ZE draw great interest in the past few decades.…”