Abstract
A hydrodynamic numerical study at the mouths of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers and the upper Río de la Plata is presented in this paper. Water Quality Mapping numerical model was implemented and realistic and very simple boundary conditions were specially developed for this complex estuarial system. A set of numerical experiments were carried out using different constant discharges for the Paraná and Uruguay rivers but unrealistic currents were generated. In order to obtain more realistic results, a set of numerical simulations were carried out imposing water level timeseries at the open boundaries. M 2, S 2, K 1 and O 1 harmonic constants were used to generate water levels at Zárate (Paraná river), Nueva Palmira (Uruguay river) and the eastern boundary of the domain (La Plata–Colonia). A mean water level equal to zero was set between La Plata and Colonia. Positive mean water levels (0.3–0.4 m) were imposed at Zárate and Nueva Palmira to simulate the hydraulic slope of both rivers and, consequently, to generate realistic and unsteady discharges. These boundary conditions, built by means of the addition of a mean water level and the astronomical tide, significantly improve the simulated currents at the northernmost region of the RDP estuary.
Highlights
The Río de la Plata (RDP) is a shallow and extensive estuary located on the eastern coast of South America, between 34° and 36°S and 54.5° and 58.5°W (Fig. 1)
The aim of this paper is to present a realistic and very simple boundary condition for the Paraná and Uruguay discharges which is implemented in a numerical model to simulate the complex hydrodynamics of the system formed by the Paraná and Uruguay river mouths and the upper RDP estuary
This work constitutes the first effort in simulating the complex hydrodynamic system formed at the mouth of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers and the upper Río de la Plata estuary forced by the astronomical tide and the Paraná and Uruguay river discharges. It has been widely documented (Introduction) that steady discharges implemented as boundary conditions at the Paraná and Uruguay rivers do not affect the hydrodynamic solutions at the intermediate and outer RDP
Summary
The Río de la Plata (RDP) is a shallow and extensive estuary located on the eastern coast of South America, between 34° and 36°S and 54.5° and 58.5°W (Fig. 1). All the aforementioned studies had particular and specific objectives and even though they were carried out using different numerical models and techniques they presented a common and unrealistic feature: the discharge of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers have been imposed like constant flows (non-variable with the tide) These simple boundary conditions do not affect the hydrodynamic solution neither in water levels (tide and storm surges) nor in currents in the intermediate and outer RDP, that is to say, in the regions of the RDP where the models were widely validated. It covered a short lapse of 24 h and was gathered during very fair weather conditions and spring tidal state. These reanalyses were complemented with hourly intensities and directions gathered at the Jorge Newbery Airport (very close to Palermo station) in Buenos Aires City (Fig. 2)
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