Stratified Water Circulation Forecasting for Water Quality Management Planning in the Coastal Zone

Hydrodynamic and water quality models provide a capability to forecast the effects of coastal zone management decisions on waste-receiving coastal and estuarine waterways. This paper discusses the hydrodynamic component of the RAMSES Model, a management planning model designed to simulate stratified estuaries. The need for such a model to bridge the gap in complexity between the simple, but often limited, single layer models and the complex, but often expensive to apply, multi-strata models, is discussed. The model is described in terms of its basic hydrodynamic equations and its numerical solution approach. Processes incorporated in the model, including vertical entrainment and interfacial friction, are identified. The ability of the model to simulate stratified waterways is demonstrated by application to Penobscot Bay.