scholarly journals Settling Velocity of Microplastics Exposed to Wave Action

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 142
Author(s):  
Annalisa De Leo ◽  
Laura Cutroneo ◽  
Damien Sous ◽  
Alessandro Stocchino
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Settling Velocity ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Stokes Drift ◽  
Inertial Effects ◽  
Sea Waves ◽  
Heavy Particles ◽  
Analytical Formulation ◽  
Simplified Approach ◽  
Remote Areas

Microplastic (MP) debris is recognized to be one of the most serious threats to marine environments. They are found in all seas and oceanic basins worldwide, even in the most remote areas. This is further proof that the transport of MPs is very efficient. In the present study, we focus our attention on MPs’ transport owing to the Stokes drift generated by sea waves. Recent studies have shown that the interaction between heavy particles and Stokes drift leads to unexpected phenomena mostly related to inertial effects. We perform a series of laboratory experiments with the aim to directly measure MPs’ trajectories under different wave conditions. The main objective is to quantify the inertial effect and, ultimately, suggest a new analytical formulation for the net settling velocity. The latter formula might be implemented in a larger scale transport model in order to account for inertial effects in a simplified approach.

scholarly journals Liquid water infiltration into a layered snowpack: evaluation of a 3-D water transport model with laboratory experiments

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 5503-5515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Hirashima ◽  
Francesco Avanzi ◽  
Satoru Yamaguchi
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Water ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Preferential Flow ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Flow Paths ◽  
Preferential Flow Paths ◽  
Capillary Barriers ◽  
Wet Snow

Abstract. The heterogeneous movement of liquid water through the snowpack during precipitation and snowmelt leads to complex liquid water distributions that are important for avalanche and runoff forecasting. We reproduced the formation of capillary barriers and the development of preferential flow through snow using a three-dimensional water transport model, which was then validated using laboratory experiments of liquid water infiltration into layered, initially dry snow. Three-dimensional simulations assumed the same column shape and size, grain size, snow density, and water input rate as the laboratory experiments. Model evaluation focused on the timing of water movement, thickness of the upper layer affected by ponding, water content profiles and wet snow fraction. Simulation results showed that the model reconstructs relevant features of capillary barriers, including ponding in the upper layer, preferential infiltration far from the interface, and the timing of liquid water arrival at the snow base. In contrast, the area of preferential flow paths was usually underestimated and consequently the averaged water content in areas characterized by preferential flow paths was also underestimated. Improving the representation of preferential infiltration into initially dry snow is necessary to reproduce the transition from a dry-snow-dominant condition to a wet-snow-dominant one, especially in long-period simulations.

scholarly journals Tidal Variation in Cohesive Sediment Distribution and Sensitivity to Flocculation and Bed Consolidation in An Idealized, Partially Mixed Estuary

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarpley ◽  
Harris ◽  
Friedrichs ◽  
Sherwood
Keyword(s):  
Settling Velocity ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Tidal Flow ◽  
Sediment Concentration ◽  
Tidal Variation ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Sediment Distribution ◽  
Floc Size ◽  
Size Classes ◽  
Suspended Floc

Particle settling velocity and erodibility are key factors that govern the transport of sediment through coastal environments including estuaries. These are difficult to parameterize in models that represent mud, whose properties can change in response to many factors, including tidally varying suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and shear stress. Using the COAWST (Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport) model framework, we implemented bed consolidation, sediment-induced stratification, and flocculation formulations within an idealized two-dimensional domain that represented the longitudinal dimension of a micro-tidal, muddy, partially mixed estuary. Within the Estuarine Turbidity Maximum (ETM), SSC and median floc diameter varied by a factor of four over the tidal cycle. Downstream of the ETM, the median floc size and SSC were several times smaller and showed less tidal variation (~20% or less). The suspended floc distributions only reached an equilibrium size as a function of SSC and shear in the ETM at peak tidal flow. In general, flocculation increased particle size, which reduced SSC by half in the ETM through increased settling velocity. Consolidation also limited SSC by reduced resuspension, which then limited floc growth through reduced SSC by half outside of the ETM. Sediment-induced stratification had negligible effects in the parameter space examined. Efforts to lessen the computation cost of the flocculation routine by reducing the number of size classes proved difficult; floc size distribution and SSC were sensitive to specification of size classes by factors of 60% and 300%, respectively.

scholarly journals Using ship-borne observations of methane isotopic ratio in the Arctic Ocean to understand methane sources in the Arctic

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Berchet ◽  
Isabelle Pison ◽  
Patrick M. Crill ◽  
Brett Thornton ◽  
Philippe Bousquet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Isotopic Ratio ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Isotopic Ratios ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Remote Areas ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

Abstract. Due to the large variety and heterogeneity of sources in remote areas hard to document, the Arctic regional methane budget remain very uncertain. In situ campaigns provide valuable data sets to reduce these uncertainties. Here we analyse data from the SWERUS-C3 campaign, on-board the icebreaker Oden, that took place during summer 2014 in the Arctic Ocean along the Northern Siberian and Alaskan shores. Total concentrations of methane, as well as isotopic ratios were measured continuously during this campaign for 35 days in July and August 2014. Using a chemistry-transport model, we link observed concentrations and isotopic ratios to regional emissions and hemispheric transport structures. A simple inversion system helped constraining source signatures from wetlands in Siberia and Alaska and oceanic sources, as well as the isotopic composition of lower stratosphere air masses. The variation in the signature of low stratosphere air masses, due to strongly fractionating chemical reactions in the stratosphere, was suggested to explain a large share of the observed variability in isotopic ratios. These points at required efforts to better simulate large scale transport and chemistry patterns to use isotopic data in remote areas. It is found that constant and homogeneous source signatures for each type of emission in the region (mostly wetlands and oil and gas industry) is not compatible with the strong synoptic isotopic signal observed in the Arctic. A regional gradient in source signatures is highlighted between Siberian and Alaskan wetlands, the later ones having a lighter signatures than the first ones. Arctic continental shelf sources are suggested to be a mixture of methane from a dominant thermogenic origin and a secondary biogenic one, consistent with previous in-situ isotopic analysis of seepage along the Siberian shores.

scholarly journals A Methodology for Estimating the Parameters in Three-Dimensional Cohesive Sediment Transport Models by Assimilating In Situ Observations with the Adjoint Method

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1469-1482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daosheng Wang ◽  
Jicai Zhang ◽  
Ya Ping Wang ◽  
Xianqing Lv ◽  
Yang Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Transport ◽  
Adjoint Method ◽  
Settling Velocity ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Cohesive Sediment ◽  
Cohesive Sediment Transport ◽  
Resuspension Rate

AbstractThe model parameters in the suspended cohesive sediment transport model are quite important for the accurate simulation of suspended sediment concentrations (SSCs). Based on a three-dimensional cohesive sediment transport model and its adjoint model, the in situ observed SSCs at four stations are assimilated to simulate the SSCs and to estimate the parameters in Hangzhou Bay in China. Numerical experimental results show that the adjoint method can efficiently improve the simulation results, which can benefit the prediction of SSCs. The time series of the modeled SSCs present a clear semidiurnal variation, in which the maximal SSCs occur during the flood tide and near the high water level due to the large current speeds. Sensitivity experiments prove that the estimated results of the settling velocity and resuspension rate, especially the temporal variations, are robust to the model settings. The temporal variations of the estimated settling velocity are negatively correlated with the tidal elevation. The main reason is that the mean size of the suspended sediments can be reduced during the flood tide, which consequently decreases the settling velocity according to Stokes’s law, and it is opposite in the ebb tide. The temporal variations of the estimated resuspension rate and the current speeds have a significantly positive correlation, which accords with the dynamics of the resuspension rate. The temporal variations of the settling velocity and resuspension rate are reasonable from the viewpoint of physics, indicating the adjoint method can be an effective tool for estimating the parameters in the sediment transport models.

scholarly journals Formulation of the Settling Velocity of Small Particles Initially Situated inside an Inclined Vortex

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Urbano Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Settling Velocity ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Particle Diameter ◽  
Particle Separation ◽  
Small Particles ◽  
Theoretical Formulation ◽  
Heavy Particles ◽  
Elapsed Time ◽  
Escape Process ◽  
Separation Devices

Both the estimation of the time that small heavy particles remain inside a 3D vortex and the estimation of the average settling velocity of those particles are some important features in many practical situations. Previous works focused on the case of a horizontal 2D vortex. In this paper, we simulate the dynamics of heavy particles initially situated inside a three-dimensional vortex obtaining a formula for their average settling velocity. In a previous paper we obtained the trajectories of the particles and a formula that provides the time that they need to escape,Te⁎. This work simulates and analyses the escape process, and its main result is the obtaining, from numerical simulation, of a theoretical formulation of the average settling velocityVz⁎and its relationship with the elapsed time. We prove that the permanence time is of the order ofdp⁎-10(withdp⁎particle diameter) and that the average settling velocity is of the order ofTe⁎-1/5for sufficiently small particles. Some applications of the settling velocity formula developed in this work would be the design of mixture devices, the design of particle separation devices, and the prediction of the settling of pollutant particles, seeds, and pollen.

scholarly journals MEASURED AND COMPUTED COASTAL OCEAN BEDLOAD TRANSPORT

1982 ◽  
Vol 1 (18) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Alan William Niedoroda ◽  
Chen-Mean Ma ◽  
Peter A. Mangarella ◽  
Ralph H. Cross ◽  
Scott R. Huntsman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Stress ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Bedload Transport ◽  
Bottom Shear Stress ◽  
Local Measurements ◽  
Ocean Outfall

A comparison is made between the measured infilling of two test pits off the coastline of San Francisco and predictions using a coastal bedload transport model. The model, based on the work of Madsen and Grant (1967), relates the bedload transport to the bottom shear stress through an empirical relationship based on laboratory experiments. The bottom shear stress is estimated from the bottom currents created by waves and low frequency currents. The model applies beyond the breaker zone in contrast to littoral transport. The test pits, dredged as part of the Southwest Ocean Outfall Project for San Francisco, were located 1.6 km (1 mi) and 3.2 km (2 mi) offshore in 13' m (42 ft) and 16 m (53 ft) of water. The depth of the pits relative to the natural seabed was about 8.4 m (25 ft). The comparison was conducted for a period up to 2 months in the fall of 1978. The paper discussed the quality and scope of available data required as input to the model and shows how regional wave data were trans formed to augment local measurements. Uncertainties in model results stemming from limitations in the input data are presented. With suitable adjustment of the scale of the gravitational term in the expression for the Shields parameter, overall agreement between computed and measured bedload was accomplished within the limits of accuracy of the bathymetric surveys. A sensitivity analysis of selected input conditions and coefficients was also conducted.

scholarly journals Editorial—Physical Modelling in Hydraulics Engineering

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 2317
Author(s):  
Enrique Peña ◽  
Jose Anta
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Physical Modelling ◽  
Research Development ◽  
Analytical Formulation ◽  
Field Works ◽  
Hydraulic Processes

Laboratory experiments and field works play a crucial role in hydraulic research, development, and design as many hydraulic processes elude analytical formulation or, at least for the time being, are not readily nor accurately reproducible with numerical simulations [...]

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of local scour in the vicinity of circular side-by-side bridge piers with ice cover

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Reza Namaee ◽  
Jueyi Sui ◽  
Yongsheng Wu ◽  
Natalie Linklater
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Local Scour ◽  
Bridge Piers ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Scour Depth ◽  
Cold Regions

Local scour around piers is one of the primary causes of collapse of bridges that cross rivers. The most severe scouring occurs in cold regions where ice cover significantly changes the velocity profile. Having an accurate estimation of the maximum scour depth around bridge piers, especially in cold regions, is necessary for a safer design of piers. In this study, 3-D numerical models are compared to laboratory experiments to examine the process of local scour around bridge piers with and without smooth and rough ice cover. By using the equation of Meyer-Peter Müller, the sediment transport model is validated to approximate the transport of the sediment particles. Numerical results showed good agreements with experimental observations where the maximum scour depth and Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) around bridge piers were the highest under rough ice cover conditions.

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