A two-dimensional numerical model of estuarine circulation using cubic splines

Abstract

A two-dimensional, laterally integrated, numerical model has been developed to represent the velocity and salinity distribution along an estuary. The governing equations, which express the conservation of mass, momentum, and salt or heat content, are solved by a finite difference method in combination with spline functions.The model has been applied to the estuary of the Great Whale River in the James Bay region and results of the simulation are presented and compared with tide gauge data. The sensitivity of the model to various values of the stratification parameters that influence vertical diffusion has been studied and some preliminary results presented.The use of the cubic spline formulation in computational hydraulics has been found to be promising and warrants further development.