Advances in Coastal Hydrodynamics and Wetland Modeling

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Physical Oceanography".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2020) | Viewed by 14817

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
Interests: hydroecological modeling; estuarine and coastal processes; hydrodynamic modeling and simulation; sea-level rise; wetland ecosystem assessment; computational fluid dynamics

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Guest Editor
Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Science (PIES), University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148, USA
Interests: estuarine physical processes; wetland creation; environmental fluid mechanics; human impacts in coastal environments; sustainable design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wetlands along coastal margins provide numerous ecosystem services, from supporting fisheries and transforming nutrients to sequestering carbon and attenuating wave action. These ecosystems are also impacted by climate change, accelerating rates of sea level rise, and human activity. As communities implement or currently rely on nature and nature-based coastal defences, tools are needed for predicting how wetlands change in response to these drivers. This special issue will focus on predictive modeling of wetland change and the data that informs these models.

We invite submissions on coastal modeling from a range of disciplines (e.g., hydrodynamics, ecology, and/or geomorphology) and techniques, as well as fieldwork and observational research that supports modeling efforts. These include research using numerical and computer-based models, experimental modeling, remote sensing, or other types of assessments in the coastal regions.

Dr. Karim Alizad
Dr. Madeline Foster-Martinez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Coasts
  • Estuaries
  • Wetlands
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Sea level rise
  • Climate change

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 15949 KiB  
Article
A UAV-Based Dye-Tracking Technique to Measure Surface Velocities over Tidal Channels and Salt Marshes
by Daniele Pinton, Alberto Canestrelli and Luca Fantuzzi
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2020, 8(5), 364; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse8050364 - 21 May 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3727
Abstract
An accurate description of hydrodynamic processes in coastal wetlands is needed to improve their management and conservation. As a consequence, higher knowledge of the connected morphological and ecologic processes is achievable. However, it is very costly to collect spatially distributed values of flow [...] Read more.
An accurate description of hydrodynamic processes in coastal wetlands is needed to improve their management and conservation. As a consequence, higher knowledge of the connected morphological and ecologic processes is achievable. However, it is very costly to collect spatially distributed values of flow velocities over tidal channels and intertidal areas by means of in situ sensors. Also, when deploying sensors, humans perturb the ecosystem, which takes time to recover. In this study, a new low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based method to measure surface velocities is proposed and validated. The study area is a salt marsh system on the southeast coast of Little Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA. Two unmanned aerial vehicles were used in the survey. A first UAV released a fluorescent dye tracer on marshes and tidal creeks, while a second one tracked its movement by collecting RGB images. Flow direction and magnitude were calculated from the images using a newly developed algorithm. A comparison with velocities measured with an acoustic Doppler current profiler confirmed the effectiveness of the method. Our results indicate that the calculated flow field is affected by vegetation, marsh morphology, and marsh width. In particular, a non-negligible velocity component perpendicular to the creek axes is detected both in ebb and in flood. Our technique proves to be an effective, non-intrusive, low-cost way to survey the two-dimensional hydrodynamics on salt marsh environments at a km scale. Collected data would be beneficial for calibrating and validating numerical models with accurate water flux information. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Coastal Hydrodynamics and Wetland Modeling)
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17 pages, 3442 KiB  
Article
Ship Wakes and Their Potential Impacts on Salt Marshes in Jamaica Bay, New York
by Hoda El Safty and Reza Marsooli
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2020, 8(5), 325; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse8050325 - 03 May 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3309
Abstract
Aerial photographs and field studies have revealed a rapid deterioration of salt marshes in Jamaica Bay, New York. Past studies have linked marsh deterioration to sediment supply, water quality, storms, and sea level rise. Yet ship wakes and their potential impacts on marsh [...] Read more.
Aerial photographs and field studies have revealed a rapid deterioration of salt marshes in Jamaica Bay, New York. Past studies have linked marsh deterioration to sediment supply, water quality, storms, and sea level rise. Yet ship wakes and their potential impacts on marsh edge erosion are not understood. Here, we study ship wake transformation in Jamaica Bay and their potential impacts on salt marsh erosion. We apply short-time, Fourier transform (spectrogram) on existing water level measurements collected during 2015 and 2016. Our analysis reveals the existence of typical wake components. Among the observed wake components is a long wave component which propagates over shallow areas where short wind waves do not reach. We further implement a phase-resolving wave model to study wake transformation in the vicinity of salt marsh islands Little Egg and Big Egg and the consequent morphological changes. The selected marshes are located near a deep shipping channel and a ferry station, making them exposed to wakes of vessels with different size and sailing speed. A series of numerical experiments show that ship wakes can result in erosion spots near the border of deep shipping channels and their banks, i.e., edges of mudflats and marsh substrates. We show that the cumulative erosion increases rapidly with the number of vessels that pass through the study area. For instance, the magnitude of final bed erosion after the passage of 10 vessels is two to three times larger than that after the passage of five vessels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Coastal Hydrodynamics and Wetland Modeling)
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17 pages, 4452 KiB  
Article
Estimating Connectivity of Hard Clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) and Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) Larvae in Barnegat Bay
by Jacob D. Goodwin, Daphne M. Munroe, Zafer Defne, Neil K. Ganju and James Vasslides
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2019, 7(6), 167; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse7060167 - 01 Jun 2019
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3821
Abstract
Many marine organisms have a well-known adult sessile stage. Unfortunately, our lack of knowledge regarding their larval transient stage hinders our understanding of their basic ecology and connectivity. Larvae can have swimming behavior that influences their transport within the marine environment. Understanding the [...] Read more.
Many marine organisms have a well-known adult sessile stage. Unfortunately, our lack of knowledge regarding their larval transient stage hinders our understanding of their basic ecology and connectivity. Larvae can have swimming behavior that influences their transport within the marine environment. Understanding the larval stage provides insight into population connectivity that can help strategically identify areas for restoration. Current techniques for understanding the larval stage include modeling that combines particle attributes (e.g., larval behavior) with physical processes of water movement to contribute to our understanding of connectivity trends. This study builds on those methods by using a previously developed retention clock matrix (RCM) to illustrate time dependent connectivity of two species of shellfish between areas and over a range of larval durations. The RCM was previously used on physical parameters but we expand the concept by applying it to biology. A new metric, difference RCM (DRCM), is introduced to quantify changes in connectivity under different scenarios. Broad spatial trends were similar for all behavior types with a general south to north progression of particles. The DRCMs illustrate differences between neutral particles and those with behavior in northern regions where stratification was higher, indicating that larval behavior influenced transport. Based on these findings, particle behavior led to small differences (north to south movement) in transport patterns in areas with higher salinity gradients (the northern part of the system) compared to neutral particles. Overall, the dominant direction for particle movement was from south to north, which at times was enhanced by winds from the south. Clam and oyster restoration in the southern portion of Barnegat Bay could serve as a larval supply for populations in the north. These model results show that coupled hydrodynamic and particle tracking models have implications for fisheries management and restoration activities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Coastal Hydrodynamics and Wetland Modeling)
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25 pages, 6262 KiB  
Article
Management Transition to the Great Lakes Nearshore: Insights from Hydrodynamic Modeling
by Chenfu Huang, Anika Kuczynski, Martin T. Auer, David M. O’Donnell and Pengfei Xue
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2019, 7(5), 129; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse7050129 - 04 May 2019
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3338
Abstract
The emerging shift in Great Lakes management from offshore to nearshore waters will require attention to complexities of coastal hydrodynamics and biogeochemical transformations. Emphasizing hydrodynamics, this work resolves transport processes in quantifying discharge plume and pollutant of concern (POC) footprint dimensions, the latter [...] Read more.
The emerging shift in Great Lakes management from offshore to nearshore waters will require attention to complexities of coastal hydrodynamics and biogeochemical transformations. Emphasizing hydrodynamics, this work resolves transport processes in quantifying discharge plume and pollutant of concern (POC) footprint dimensions, the latter being the portion of the plume where water quality standards are not met. A generic approach, isolated from pollutant-specific biokinetics, provides first-approximation estimates of the footprint area. A high-resolution, linked hydrodynamic-tracer model is applied at a site in the Greater Toronto Area on Lake Ontario. Model results agree with observed meteorological and hydrodynamic conditions and satisfactorily simulate plume dimensions. Footprints are examined in the context of guidelines for regulatory mixing zone size and attendant loss of beneficial use. We demonstrate that the ratio of the water quality standard to the POC concentration at discharge is a key determinant of footprint dimensions. Footprint size for traditional pollutants (ammonia, total phosphorus) meets regulatory guidelines; however, that for soluble reactive phosphorus, a presently unattended pollutant, is ~1–2 orders of magnitude larger. This suggests that it may be necessary to upgrade treatment technologies to maintain consistency with regulatory guidelines and mitigate manifestations of the eutrophication-related soluble reactive phosphorus POC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Coastal Hydrodynamics and Wetland Modeling)
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