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Numerical modelling of circulation and dispersion processes in Boulogne-sur-Mer harbour (Eastern English Channel): sensitivity to physical forcing and harbour design

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Abstract

The MARS-3D model in conjunction with the particle tracking module Ichthyop is used to study circulation and tracer dynamics under a variety of forcing conditions in the eastern English Channel, and in the Boulogne-sur-Mer harbour (referred to hereafter as BLH). Results of hydrodynamic modelling are validated against the tidal gauge data, VHF radar surface velocities and ADCP measurements. Lagrangian tracking experiments are performed with passive particles to study tracer dispersal along the northern French coast, with special emphasis on the BLH. Simulations revealed an anticyclonic eddy generated in the harbour at rising tide. Tracers, released during flood tide at the Liane river mouth, move northward with powerful clockwise rotating current. After the high water, the current direction changes to westward, and tracers leave the harbour through the open boundary. During ebb tide, currents convergence along the western open boundary but no eddy is formed, surface currents inside the harbour are much weaker and the tracer excursion length is small. After the current reversal at low water, particles are advected shoreward resulting in a significant increase of the residence time of tracers released during ebb tide. The effect of wind on particle dispersion was found to be particularly strong. Under strong SW wind, the residence time of particles released during flood tide increases from 1.5 to 6 days. For release during ebb tide, SW wind weakens the southward tidally induced drift and thus the residence time decreases. Similar effects are observed when the freshwater inflow to the harbour is increased from 2 to 10 m3/s during the ebb tide flow. For flood tide conditions, the effect of freshwater inflow is less significant. We also demonstrate an example of innovative coastal management targeted at the reduction of the residence time of the pathogenic material accidentally released in the harbour.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge funding support by the French Water Agency (Agence de l'Eau Artois-Picardie), the Region Nord-Pas de Calais, and the technical support provided by IFREMER. The authors gratefully thank all people who took part in this study by providing the data or time, and particularly, Alain Lefevbre, Phillipe Verley, Jean-Michel Brylinski and Konstantin Korotenko. The authors also thank the reviewers for their thoughtful comments and many constructive suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences, UMR8187, Univ. du Littoral Côte d’Opale, Wimereux, France

    Nicolas Jouanneau & Alexei Sentchev

  2. Dyneco/Physed, IFREMER, Plouzané, France

    Franck Dumas

Authors
  1. Nicolas Jouanneau
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  2. Alexei Sentchev
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  3. Franck Dumas
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Correspondence to Nicolas Jouanneau.

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Responsible Editor: Martin Verlaan

This article is part of the Topical Collection on the 16th biennial workshop of the Joint Numerical Sea Modelling Group (JONSMOD) in Brest, France 21-23 May 2012

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Jouanneau, N., Sentchev, A. & Dumas, F. Numerical modelling of circulation and dispersion processes in Boulogne-sur-Mer harbour (Eastern English Channel): sensitivity to physical forcing and harbour design. Ocean Dynamics 63, 1321–1340 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-013-0659-4

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