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Numerical modeling of suspended matter transport in the North Sea

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Abstract

Knowledge about the distribution of suspended particulate matter (SPM) is an important prerequisite for the description and prognostication of the ecological conditions of the North Sea. SPM concentrations in the water column regulate the penetration depth of light and, therefore, is an important parameter influencing the primary production of plankton. Fine sediment in the bottom acts like a dynamical buffer representing sources and sinks for nutrients simultaneously. Moreover, the determination of the distribution of SPM and fine sediment provides evidence of the disposition of pollutants, adhered to the particles. In cooperation with GKSS Research Center, the transport model for dissolved conservative substances of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (Bundesanstalt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, BSH) was extended by a Suspended Particulate Matter module to take into account the processes of vertical exchange and horizontal distribution of SPM due to currents and waves. The success of such a model depends on an adequate description of the physical processes, as well as a careful preparation of maps of fine-grained sediment in the bottom and other sources of SPM (e.g., fluvial input and cliff erosion). In this paper, we examine quantitatively and qualitatively SPM distributions during two periods in 2000 and 2001. The results of a simulation during a storm at the beginning of 2001 are examined in detail to show the role of single exchange processes. Another application of the SPM transport model is presented as the simulation of dispersion of suspended material after a big river flood.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to Dr. Manfred Zeiler (BSH), who established maps of bottom sediment distribution, Peter König (BSH) for providing turbidity measurements in the German Bight, and Dr. Walter Puls (GKSS), as an inexhaustible source of information and for his effort to collect the fluvial SPM data of the Baltic Sea. Special thanks to H. Krasemann (GKSS) for his information about SPM data retrieved from satellite images and for analyzing MERIS images, and to A. Neumann, M. Hetscher, and H. Krawczyk (DLR) for providing the surface SPM concentrations retrieved from the MOS scene. This work was performed as part of a contract between BSH and the GKSS Research Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GKSS Research Center, Institute for Coastal Research, Max-Planck-Straße 1, 21502, Geesthacht, Germany

    Gerhard Gayer, Andrey Pleskachevsky & Wolfgang Rosenthal

  2. BSH, Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, Hamburg and Rostock, Bernhard-Nocht-Straβe 78, 20359, Hamburg, Germany

    Stephan Dick

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  1. Gerhard Gayer
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  2. Stephan Dick
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  4. Wolfgang Rosenthal
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Responsible editor: Han Winterwerp

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Gayer, G., Dick, S., Pleskachevsky, A. et al. Numerical modeling of suspended matter transport in the North Sea. Ocean Dynamics 56, 62–77 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-006-0070-5

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