Fine sediment in open water. From fundamentals to modeling / Мелководные отложения в открытой воде. От основ к моделированию

The current book continues the work of Winterwerp and Van Kesteren (2004) and Mehta (2013). Our main objective is to provide guidelines for good modeling practice to quantify the transport and fate of fine sediment in open water, with emphasis on the marine environment. We emphasize that a (numerical) model should never be an objective by itself. It is always a tool to help answering managerial or engineering questions, or to enhance our understanding of nature. Yet, in this book we do not elaborate on how to use a model as a tool, as this is too unique an issue. We argue that the single most important requirement for good modeling is a thorough understanding of the physico-biological system to be studied — we refer to system understanding (Chapter 13). Such system understanding is imperative for developing a conceptual model of the aquatic system at hand, which then forms the basis for any further (numerical) modeling and setup of field surveys. This includes understanding of all relevant processes at various temporal and spatial scales, which are discussed in the first ten chapters of this book. A numerical model is therefore to be regarded as a mathematical formalization of a conceptual model. We elaborate extensively on the hydrodynamic, sedimentological and soil mechanic (and sometimes biological) time scales as these govern the dynamics in estuarine and coastal systems. We repeat some of the most important concepts presented earlier in Winterwerp and Van Kesteren (2004) to contain all relevant information in one volume. Moreover, hydrodynamic processes are discussed in detail, as it is water movement that transports fine sediment in open waters (Chapters 9 and 10). In Chapter 10, we also touch upon large-scale driving forces, governing coastal processes, such as the effects of earth rotation. <...>