Modeling WindDriven Circulation and Chlorophyll Concentration in Lake Valencia

The goal of this research is to describe circulations patterns and chlorophyll concentration in Lake Valencia. The hydrodynamics of episodic events are simulated with a shallowwater model, coupled with an advectiondiffusion equation. This model uses a MacCormackTVD numerical scheme to solve the continuity and momentum equations simultaneously while the advectiondiffusion equations determine the time dependent pollution dispersion, in particular the chlorophyll concentration. An analysis of chlorophyll concentration is completely developed and validated with satellite images of Lake Valencia. Although the use of shallow water models is a fairly standard in the study of lake circulation and chlorophyll concentration, its application to Lake Valencia is new. Therefore, the circulation and chlorophyll patterns developed in this numerical study represent an original contribution.