Hydraulics and Environment Department
Projects - COALA - Nutrients and particulate matter dynamics. Exchanges between a coastal lagoon and the adjacent ocean through a multiple inlet system: the case of Ria Formosa, south of Portugal
The Ria Formosa is a lagoon system in the south coast of Portugal, having several permanent connections to the ocean. It is a highly productive ecosystem, of great ecological diversity and due to that it has been recognised very important at both a European and an International level by its acceptance as part of the Natura 2000 European network for nature conservation and a Ramsar wetland, included in the Special Bird Protection Area.
In order to deepen the knowledge about the global productivity of the Ria Formosa system it is imperative understand the dynamics of nutrients, chlorophyll a (as a proxy of phytoplankton) and particulate matter (organic and inorganic) and predict their spatial-temporal evolution. A key point of this dynamics is the mass exchanges that occur in the boundary water masses, in particular the exchanges between this system and the adjacent ocean through the inlets. There are some studies about this subject, despite not quantifying the exchanges between the Ria Formosa and the ocean, regardless the mention of the importance of this issue.
This study aims to characterize the spatial distribution and the temporal scales of variability of these key parameters (nutrients, chlorophyll-a and suspended matter concentrations) within the Ria Formosa. The main goals of this project are the understanding of the dynamic of these compounds, particularly related with the mass exchanges between the Ria Formosa lagoon and the ocean and its influence upon the biological productivity of this important ecosystem.
This project involves a multidisciplinary team, composed by two main groups: one integrates the Marine and Environmental Research Center of the University of Algarve (CIMA) having a lot of experience of field work and modelling, in several scientific areas such as Oceanography, Marine and Environmental Chemistry, Coastal Hydrodynamics and Morphodynamics and Remote Sensing. This experience has been acquired and applied in several scientific projects namely in the Ria Formosa. The other group is composed by investigators from the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC), working in environmental modelling, particularly in the development and application of coastal and estuarine circulation, ecological as well as particle tracking models. The LNEC team has conducted several works on the application of models to various coastal systems including Ria Formosa.
The objectives of this work will be reached through a methodology that involves a close connection between field work and modelling. This project will be innovative, integrating the analysed parameters simultaneously with water fluxes that will provide the tidal prisms and the global transports through the inlets. Several field campaigns in the main inlets of Ria Formosa, during spring and neap tides and during contrasting periods of the year will contribute to extend the knowledge about the spatial distributions and seasonal variability of those concentrations within the lagoon, the exchanges through the inlets and the major forcing factors. Field data will further be used to calibrate a 3D hydrodynamic model that will be able to predict distinct situations other than those of the field campaigns and to better understand this complex ecosystem. Moreover, the application of a hydrodynamic model to reproduce identified situations will help the rational planning of the field surveys, reducing both the financial budget and the global human effort of the project. The combined use of the hydrodynamic model with a particle tracking model will give a more detailed spatial-temporal characterization of the analysed parameters. This application will also strengthen the capacity of the team in the simulation and forecast of the study issues. Furthermore, the use of ocean colour satellite imagery will help the data analysis, particularly regarding the chlorophyll-a distributions in and out of Ria Formosa, which have a strong influence on the distribution as well as in the direction of the nutrient exchanges through the inlets. The satellite images will also give valuable information for the boundary conditions to use in the models applications.
The applied methodology gather a set of classical techniques along with other more recent which were never applied to the study of nutrients and particulate matter dynamics in the Ria Formosa. The successful of this approach will offer further insights to similar costal systems. The spatial-temporal characterization of the studied parameters in the inner areas and the exchanges through the inlets in different temporal scales, from tidal (semi-diurnal) to seasonal variability will provide a great contribution to the comprehension of the primary production as well as the global biological productivity of this important ecosystem in the south of Portugal.
Publications
West sector of Ria Formosa
In order to deepen the knowledge about the global productivity of the Ria Formosa system it is imperative understand the dynamics of nutrients, chlorophyll a (as a proxy of phytoplankton) and particulate matter (organic and inorganic) and predict their spatial-temporal evolution. A key point of this dynamics is the mass exchanges that occur in the boundary water masses, in particular the exchanges between this system and the adjacent ocean through the inlets. There are some studies about this subject, despite not quantifying the exchanges between the Ria Formosa and the ocean, regardless the mention of the importance of this issue.
This study aims to characterize the spatial distribution and the temporal scales of variability of these key parameters (nutrients, chlorophyll-a and suspended matter concentrations) within the Ria Formosa. The main goals of this project are the understanding of the dynamic of these compounds, particularly related with the mass exchanges between the Ria Formosa lagoon and the ocean and its influence upon the biological productivity of this important ecosystem.
This project involves a multidisciplinary team, composed by two main groups: one integrates the Marine and Environmental Research Center of the University of Algarve (CIMA) having a lot of experience of field work and modelling, in several scientific areas such as Oceanography, Marine and Environmental Chemistry, Coastal Hydrodynamics and Morphodynamics and Remote Sensing. This experience has been acquired and applied in several scientific projects namely in the Ria Formosa. The other group is composed by investigators from the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC), working in environmental modelling, particularly in the development and application of coastal and estuarine circulation, ecological as well as particle tracking models. The LNEC team has conducted several works on the application of models to various coastal systems including Ria Formosa.
The objectives of this work will be reached through a methodology that involves a close connection between field work and modelling. This project will be innovative, integrating the analysed parameters simultaneously with water fluxes that will provide the tidal prisms and the global transports through the inlets. Several field campaigns in the main inlets of Ria Formosa, during spring and neap tides and during contrasting periods of the year will contribute to extend the knowledge about the spatial distributions and seasonal variability of those concentrations within the lagoon, the exchanges through the inlets and the major forcing factors. Field data will further be used to calibrate a 3D hydrodynamic model that will be able to predict distinct situations other than those of the field campaigns and to better understand this complex ecosystem. Moreover, the application of a hydrodynamic model to reproduce identified situations will help the rational planning of the field surveys, reducing both the financial budget and the global human effort of the project. The combined use of the hydrodynamic model with a particle tracking model will give a more detailed spatial-temporal characterization of the analysed parameters. This application will also strengthen the capacity of the team in the simulation and forecast of the study issues. Furthermore, the use of ocean colour satellite imagery will help the data analysis, particularly regarding the chlorophyll-a distributions in and out of Ria Formosa, which have a strong influence on the distribution as well as in the direction of the nutrient exchanges through the inlets. The satellite images will also give valuable information for the boundary conditions to use in the models applications.
The applied methodology gather a set of classical techniques along with other more recent which were never applied to the study of nutrients and particulate matter dynamics in the Ria Formosa. The successful of this approach will offer further insights to similar costal systems. The spatial-temporal characterization of the studied parameters in the inner areas and the exchanges through the inlets in different temporal scales, from tidal (semi-diurnal) to seasonal variability will provide a great contribution to the comprehension of the primary production as well as the global biological productivity of this important ecosystem in the south of Portugal.
Publications
- JACOB J., CARDEIRA S., RODRIGUES M., BRUNEAU N., AZEVEDO A., FORTUNATO A., CRAVO A., ROSA M. (aceite, 2013). Experimental and numerical study of the hydrodynamics of the western sector of Ria Formosa. 12th International Coastal Symposium 2013.
- JACOB J., CARDEIRA S., RODRIGUES M., BRUNEAU N., AZEVEDO A., FORTUNATO A.B., CRAVO A., ROSA M. (2012). Contribuição para o estudo da propagação da maré no setor Oeste da Ria Formosa. 2ªs Jornadas de Engenharia Hidrográfica, Lisboa, 2012, 185-188.
Year: 2011-2014
Coordinator(s):
Universidade do Algarve
Funding:
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)
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