Numerical modeling of the Dutch Wadden Sea

The final goal of the PACE Project is to accurately model the transport of suspended sediment in the Wadden Sea in order to evaluate if the net sediment flux into the Wadden Sea is enough to keep up with local sea level rise. For this, a large effort is being mad to accurately model the hydrodynamics of the Wadden Sea is being carried out by several research groups at NIOZ (The Netherlands), Deltares (The Netherlands), and IOW (Germany). Both NIOZ and Deltares are in charge of modelling the focus region of the Dutch Wadden Sea.

High resolution, three-dimensional simulations are being carried out with two different models: GETM and Delft3D. The use of two models allows us to benchmark the results making them more reliable. Currently, the domain (as shown in the figure below)  is covered with a horizontal 200 m squared mesh with 30 sigma levels in the vertical. The horizontal mesh can be seen in more detail in the .kmz file for Google Earth available here. Eventually, higher resolution simulations will be carried out.

Extent of the numerical domain	Example of the grid resolution in the Marsdiep

The simulations are set up using a realistic bathymetry and realistic forcing including atmospheric forcing (precipitation, evaporation, atmospheric temperature, wind, and solar radiation), fresh water discharge from several sources (most importantly the sluices at the Afsluitdijk), and boundary conditions (sea-level height, temperature, and salinity) from a larger North-Sea model.

From the simulations, we obtain three-dimensional fields for the velocity, salinity, and temperature. These results are compared to different measurement data sets.

The results from these simulations can be highly valuable for several research groups in different fields.  For this reason, certain products will be made freely available as soon as the testing phase is concluded. The way that such products will be shared and the conditions for their use will be defined soon.

For any questions please contact:

Matias Duran Matute
T +31(0)222 369 518
@ matias.duran-matute(at)nioz.nl