Modeling Point Source Discharges in Tidal Waters
Author(s)
Roberts, Philip J. W.
Advisor(s)
Editor(s)
Hatcher, Kathryn J.
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Abstract
Discharges into highly unsteady flows, such as
tidal waters, create special problems for assessing their
environmental impact and compliance with mixing zone
regulations. Exposures to toxic materials at the edges of the
mixing zone are highly intermittent, and time series of
contaminant concentrations would be expected to contain
extended periods of zeros. The time-average value of such a
time series is likely to have little ecological significance,
despite the use of time-averaged values in regulatory
requirements. At the same time that environmental regulations have
become increasingly strict, the capability and instrumentation
for measurement of physical parameters in coastal and
estuarine waters has increased dramatically. This has placed
new demands on the abilities of mathematical models to use
these data to predict the behavior of discharged substances.
In this paper, we present the results of detailed modeling
of the behavior of sewage discharged into coastal waters.
The models use data measured from Acoustic Doppler
Current Profilers (ADCPs) and thermistor strings directly.
The ADCPs measure water velocity over the whole water
column, and the thermistor strings measure temperature, and
hence density, over the water column. These instruments
provide vastly more data than has been previously possible.
The data are used to compute environmental exposures
around the outfall, including the "visitation frequency" of the
plume at any location.
Sponsor
Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology
Date
1995-04
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Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Proceedings