Modelling of Suspended Sediment Transport in Coastal Areas Under Waves and Currents

A coupled hydrodynamic/suspended sediment transport model including waves and currents was developed. Four models, a nested grid circulation model (2-D and 3-D), a refraction-diffraction-dissipation wave propagation model, a wave-current bottom boundary layer model and a quasi-3-D suspended sediment concentration (SSC) model are integrated. The model system has been applied to Cleveland Bay, Australia to study SSC in January and March 1993 when two high SSC events (>100 mg l−1) were observed during an intensive field monitoring programme. The swell has been found to be the dominant suspension mechanism and thus an important factor of high SSC in the bay. The model was able to predict the high SSC events in January and March 1993. A net deposition rate in Cleveland Bay was estimated to be about 0•1 mm year−1, a figure consistent with geological evidence.