Papers

A morfologia, a hidrodinâmica, a dinâmica sedimentar e a qualidade da água do estuário do rio Ave foram caracterizadas através da compilação e análise de dados históricos, da colheita e análise de sedimentos de fundo e da aplicação de modelos numéricos.O caudal fluvial controla em grande parte a hidrodinâmica porque o prisma de maré é restringido pela reduzida dimensão do estuário, em largura e em comprimento (a propagação da maré é limitada por açudes). A fraca intensidade das correntes de maré provoca condições deficientes de auto-manutenção de profundidades na embocadura, agravadas pelo constante afluxo de areia proveniente da praia a sul. Na zona superior do estuário, os sedimentos predominantemente silto-argilosos são responsáveis por taxas de sedimentação moderadas em zonas abrigadas. A qualidade da água afluente ao estuário é má, com níveis muito elevados de coliformes, fosfatos e matéria orgânica (CBO5), o que é agravado pelo lançamento de águas residuais no próprio estuário.

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O objectivo do presente trabalho é o da divulgação da actividade de normalização com interesse para a construção metálica, e do seu enquadramento no seio do Sistema Português da Qualidade. São abordadas três vertentes de normalização, portuguesa, europeia e internacional, e fornecidas informações sobre a sua organização e funcionamento. De modo a facilitar o acesso aos documentos normativos com interesse para a Construção Metálica em Portugal, são fornecidas informações sobre Comissões Técnicas cuja actividade se considera relevante neste domínio, bem como sobre algumas das normas produzidas no seio destas Comissões.

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Three alternative methods to remove oscillations in two-dimensional Eulerian-Lagrangian salt transport simulations are compared: a Flux-Corrected Transport (FCT) scheme, a non-linear filter (NLF) and the explicit introduction of diffusion. The three formulations are implemented in a high-accuracy Eulerian-Lagrangian model (ELM), and are applied to the salinity propagation in the Guadiana estuary (Portugal). This test allows both for a stringent comparison in a real setting where adequate field data is available, and to assess the practical consequences of the choice of the numerical scheme. The evaluation of the schemes confirms a previous analysis showing that the FCT-based method provides the best results, closely followed by the non-linear filter. For these methods, oscillations are removed with minimal numerical damping, and the agreement with field data is good. The performance of the base model with non-zero diffusion coefficients is case-dependent, improving its results as the mixing of the front increases due to larger river flows. For the Guadiana estuary, the choice of the numerical scheme is crucial: important indicators, such as the domain-integrated residence time and the limit of salinity intrusion, may have errors up to 25%, if an artificially diffusive method is used to avoid numerical oscillations.

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Probabilistic seismic hazards maps have been prepared either for the archipelago of the Azores in general terms, or for the islands of the Central Group using updated seismic information for the region, including a revision of the earthquake catalogue for the period 1522-1998. Two different approaches were used: (i) a standard seismic source model and (ii) a semi-zonified source model based on spatially smoothed seismicity where no delineation of seismic sources is needed. Preliminary data point out that high PGA values were obtained for an area located to the west of the Central Group and for an area between Terceira and the São Miguel Islands. Deaggregation of hazard for some counties was evaluated and results are presented in terms of mean and modal values of magnitude and distance, showing that the main contributions to hazard in all counties are from close-in and not very severe earthquakes.

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Barotropic tides in the Iberian Atlantic shelf were simulated using a finite element model. The model was validated with data from twelve coastal gauges. The model reproduces the known behavior of semi-diurnal tides, which propagate northward as Kelvin waves, and predicts the existence of amphidromes in the Strait of Gibraltar for the diurnal waves. Model results were then used to specify boundary conditions for a tidal model of the Guadiana estuary. Results show that the spatial variability of tidal boundary conditions in estuarine models can be necessary for the accurate representation of the mixing between estuarine and ocean waters.