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| Titel |
River salinity on a mega-delta, an unstructured grid model approach. |
| VerfasserIn |
Lucy Bricheno, Akm Saiful Islam, Judith Wolf |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2014
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 16 (2014) |
| Datensatznummer |
250091008
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2014-5273.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| With an average freshwater discharge of around 40,000 m3-s the BGM (Brahmaputra
Ganges and Meghna) river system has the third largest discharge worldwide. The BGM river
delta is a low-lying fertile area covering over 100,000 km2 mainly in India and
Bangladesh. Approximately two-thirds of the Bangladesh people work in agriculture
and these local livelihoods depend on freshwater sources directly linked to river
salinity.
The finite volume coastal ocean model (FVCOM) has been applied to the BGM delta in
order to simulate river salinity under present and future climate conditions. Forced by a
combination of regional climate model predictions, and a basin-wide river catchment model,
the 3D baroclinic delta model can determine river salinity under the current climate, and
make predictions for future wet and dry years. The river salinity demonstrates a strong
seasonal and tidal cycle, making it important for the model to be able to capture a wide range
of timescales.
The unstructured mesh approach used in FVCOM is required to properly represent the
delta’s structure; a complex network of interconnected river channels. The model extends 250
km inland in order to capture the full extent of the tidal influence and grid resolutions of 10s
of metres are required to represent narrow inland river channels. The use of FVCOM to
simulate flows so far inland is a novel challenge, which also requires knowledge of the shape
and cross-section of the river channels. |
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