Papers

The present paper focuses on the issue of thermal comfort adaptive criteria and its relevance to the implementation of passive design strategies, in the context of a

Thewater and the ecosystem dynamics of the Ria de Aveiro, a shallow, multi-branch lagoon located on the northwest coast of Portugal, are simulated using a newfully coupled 3Dmodeling system. This model couples the hydrodynamic model SELFE (semi-implicit Eulerian-Lagrangian finite element) and an ecological model extended from EcoSim 2.0 to represent zooplankton dynamics. The model application is based on an unstructured grid spatial discretization, which is particularly appropriate for this system given its complex geometry. The baroclinic circulation is calibrated and validated for different environmental conditions, leading to velocity errors smaller than 5 cm/s across the lagoon. Ecological simulations, focused on zooplankton dynamics represented by a site-specific formulation, are then presented and compared against field data for two contrasting environmental conditions: Autumn 2000 and Spring 2001. Results show that the fully coupled model is able to reproduce the dynamics of the ecosystem in the Spring 2001, fitting the model results inside the range of data variation. During this period zooplankton differences between data and model results are of about 0.005mgC/l (60%), while other ecological tracers

The relative impacts of tidal (neap, spring) and river discharge (including a flood event) forcing upon water and sediment circulation have been examined at the rock-bound Guadiana estuary. Near-bed and vertical profiles of current, salinity, turbidity, plus surface suspended sediment concentrations (SSC, at some stations only), were collected at the lower and central/upper estuary during tidal and fortnightly cycles. In addition, vertical salinity and turbidity profiles were collected around high and low water along the estuary. Tidal asymmetry produced faster currents on the ebb than on the flood, especially at the mouth. This pattern of seaward current dominance was enhanced with increasing river flow, due to horizontal advection that was confined within the narrow estuarine channel. The freshwater inputs and, at a degree less, the tidal range controlled the vertical mixing and stratification importance. Well-mixed (spring) and partially stratified (neap) conditions alternated during periods of low river flows, with significant intratidal variations induced by tidal straining (especially at the partially stratified estuary). Highly stratified conditions developed with increasing river discharge. Intratidal variability in the pycnocline depth and thickness resulted from current shear during the ebb. A salt wedge with tidal motion was observed at the lower estuary during the flood event. Depending on the intensity of turbulent mixing, the residual water circulation was dominantly controlled either by tidal asymmetry or gravitational circulation. The SSC was governed by cyclical local processes (resuspension, deposition, mixing, advection) driven by the neap-spring fluctuations in tidal current velocities. More, intratidal variability in stratification indicated the significance of tidal pumping at the partially and highly stratified estuary. The estuary turbidity maximum (ETM) was enhanced with increasing current velocities, and displaced downstream during periods of high river discharge. During the flood event, the ETM was expelled out of the estuary, and the SSC along the estuary was controlled by the sediment load from the drainage basin. Under these highly variable river flow conditions, our observations suggest that sand is exported to the nearshore over the long-term (>years).

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Technical requirements and economical impactsof flow measurements in sewer systems are a issue concern intoday

Resumo. A agitação marítima é um factor determinante na segurança das operações einfra-estruturas portuárias. A agitação dentro de um porto pode ser estimada pormodelos numéricos apropriados que utilizam como condições de fronteira previsões daagitação ao largo produzidas por modelos numéricos de escala regional.O projecto MOIA, em curso, tem por objectivo o desenvolvimento de uma ferramentaintegrada para apoio às actividades de gestão portuária levando em conta os efeitos daagitação marítima em infra-estruturas portuárias, na navegação portuária e nasoperações de carga e descarga de navios.Esta comunicação descreve o trabalho realizado até agora no âmbito deste projecto, como objectivo último de avaliar os efeitos da agitação marítima nos navios amarrados nointerior do porto de Praia da Vitória, na ilha Terceira, Açores. Componente fundamentaldeste trabalho, apresentada nesta comunicação, é a validação do procedimento paraprevisão das características da agitação marítima na zona de entrada do porto que sebaseia na utilização do modelo numérico SWAN. Para tal comparam-se os valores dascaracterísticas dos estados de agitação previstos por aquele modelo com valores medidospor uma bóia-ondógrafo instalada nas imediações do referido porto. Dos resultadosobtidos conclui-se ser necessário incluir o efeito do vento na propagação das ondas.