Modelling the Humber Estuary catchment and coastal zone

摘要

The Humber Estuary is one of the largest UK estuaries and the major UK freshwater input to the North Sea (250 m~3s~(-1) annual average). It has a catchment area of 24,000 km_2 drained by two major river systems, the Trent and Ouse, and several minor rivers. These river systems and the estuary itself are subject to extensive industrial and sewage inputs, and agricultural runoff. The steep chemical gradients and complex dynamics within the estuary itself can result in major transformations in the amount, chemical nature and timing of the flux of these and other materials to the adjacent North Sea coastal waters. The UK Land Ocean Interaction Study (LOIS) (1993-2000), combining extensive physical and biogeochemical measurements with an integrated modelling programme, was established to examine the transport and fate of contaminants (including nutrients, metals and micro-organic species) through the land - sea boundary. Three regimes are modelled: the catchment system (comprising land surface and in-stream components), the estuary, and the coastal zone, with interaction between them through a one-way coupling from catchment to coastal ocean. The inputs and the fate of suspended matter and nitrate are examined through the modelled system with emphasis on the component entering the coastal zone.