Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Investigation and prediction of pollution in coastal and estuarine waters, using experimental and numerical methods

King, Jonathan Auryn 2019. Investigation and prediction of pollution in coastal and estuarine waters, using experimental and numerical methods. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
Item availability restricted.

[thumbnail of 2019KingJAPhD.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version
Download (184MB) | Preview
[thumbnail of Cardiff University Electronic Publication Form] PDF (Cardiff University Electronic Publication Form) - Supplemental Material
Restricted to Repository staff only

Download (219kB)

Abstract

In recent years, society has become more aware and concerned with the environmental and human health impacts of population growth and development. In response, a number of legislative measures have been introduced within Europe (and globally), which have sparked much cross-disciplinary research aimed at predicting and quantifying these impacts, and suggesting mitigation measures. This thesis is focussed on improving current understanding of, and simulating pollutant transport, in the aquatic environment. In particular, bacterial pollution. A number of 2D and 3D hydro-environmental models were developed to predict faecal bacterial levels for a pilot study in Swansea Bay, UK, in order to further current understanding of bacterial processes and evaluate beach management practices. Of these, a 2D model with an improved method of representing beach sources, and a 3D model with a depth-varying decay rate, were found to improve bacterial concentration predictions in the nearshore zone. These are therefore proposed as the preferred approaches when studying a shallow gradient beach located in in a macro-tidal region (such as Swansea Bay). Furthermore, it has been shown that the designation of a single monitoring point for Swansea Bay bathing water may not be best practice, as the current sampling point is not representative of the whole bathing water. In addition, an experimental study was conducted to monitor turbulent diffusion in a uniform channel under low Reynolds number steady ow conditions by tracking the position of oating particles. It was shown that the aspect ratio of a ow and the bed roughness play an important role in governing the scale of turbulent diffusion and, in the experiential set-up, were more indicative than the measurable turbulent ow properties. Results from this experiment were crossvalidated with 2D numerical model simulations and the findings may assist in the prediction of pollutant transport in surface waters.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Date Type: Completion
Status: Unpublished
Schools: Engineering
Uncontrolled Keywords: Faecal Indicator Organisms (FIOs); Pollution; Telemac; Water Quality; Decay; Turbulence.
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 9 October 2019
Last Modified: 23 Jul 2020 02:12
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/125923

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics