A Wet/Dry Point Treatment Method of FVCOM, Part II: Application to the Okatee/Colleton River in South Carolina

Abstract

The wet/dry point treatment method of FVCOM was applied to simulate the tide-induced flooding/drying process in the estuarine–tidal-creek–saltmarsh complex of the Okatee/Colleton River Estuary, South Carolina. The simulation results were compared with observed currents at three mooring sites and flooded areas observed from remote-sensing hypsometric measurements, demonstrating that FVCOM can robustly reproduce tidal and residual currents in the river and the flooding process onto the intertidal saltmarsh. The simulated flow field reveals that the Okatee/Colleton River Estuary is characterized by multiple residual eddies. Driven by the periodic tidal forcing, this estuarine system features a chaotic water transport process. Numerous residual eddies around the barrier complex in the Colleton River likely enhance the water exchange between the Okatee/Colleton River Estuary and the outer Broad River. A sensitivity study of flooding speed to the slope of the inter-tidal zone suggests that the saltmarsh bathymetry considerably influences the water elevation near low slack water but not on the maximum water coverage area at high slack water.