Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Two-Dimensional Analytic Tidal Model For A Narrow Estuary Of Arbitrary Lateral Depth Variation: The Intratidal Motion, Chunyan Li, Arnoldo Valle-Levinson

CCPO Publications

An innovative method is introduced to solve a two-dimensional, depth-averaged analytic model for narrow estuaries or tidal channels with arbitrary lateral depth variations. The solution is valid if the lateral variation of the amplitude of tidal elevation (\Delta a\) is small, i.e., \Delta a\ much less than a, where a is the amplitude of the tidal elevation. This assumption is supported by a 60-day observation of elevation in the James River Estuary using pressure sensors at both sides of a cross section of the estuary. The error introduced by the solution is of the order of \Delta a\/a, which has …