Effective Modelling of Sediment Generation and Transport

Improperly planned human activities such as large scale logging, agriculture, construction, surface disturbance and urbanization have the potential to cause disturbance to soil surfaces that may result in severe soil loss. This soil loss in turn will pollute nearby rivers, estuaries and lakes and other water bodies with sediments. Sediment reduces water storage capacity and negatively impacts aquatic life by burying aquatic habitats, spawning areas and bottom dwelling macro invertebrates, a primary food source for fish. Sediment can also clog the gills of fish and other aquatic life causing them to suffocate. Heavy metals and harmful bacteria are often bound to sediment particles and are washed into surface waters resulting in significant negative water quality impacts. An increase in the concentration of suspended sediment may reduce water resources with negative impacts to human, animal, and other wildlife. This study attempts to evaluate the impact of coastal reclamation and artificial island engineering projects, particularly the spread of suspended sediment plume at Gurney Drive and Tanjung Tokong, Penang. The distributions of suspended sediment plume concentration and settling are simulated by AQUASEA, a two-dimensional numerical model. Changes to tidal currents and water quality due to coastal reclamation and artifiCial island will be assessed.