Harbor, Waterway and Marinas Hydrodynamics

Dear Colleagues,

Harbour, waterway and marina domains are affected by weather events that can be extreme, such as storm surges and strong winds, affecting their infrastructures and their activity. These are expected to increase in the near future, according to climate change predictions, which will compound the challenge of characterising port impacts under accelerating sea-level rise, the enhanced vulnerability of coastal areas and stressed harbour operability.

In addition, water in harbours, waterways and marinas and their neighbouring areas can present pollution problems caused by a variety of sources, including those arising from the regular operation of ships, such as cleaning and bunkering; from land-based sources, such as runoff; and from point sources, such as discharges resulting from accidents. In parallel, water quality in harbours is also conditioned by the physical behaviour of the receiving environment, i.e., by its hydrodynamics and renewal capacity. The environmental impact also depends on the commercial activities carried out in the harbour domain. The great variety and diversity of locations, size, industrial activity, traffic volume, and local meteo-ocean conditions present a significant challenge in providing a unified response to sustainable development and environmental protection demands.

Characterising and being able to predict the different variables that define the hydrodynamics in harbour, waterway and marina domains and the water exchanges with the outer coastal zone is a critical factor for environmental and economic sustainable decisions. The proposed hydrodynamic characterization for restricted coastal domains must combine data obtained from numerical models, in situ and remote observations leading to a multi-source and multi-disciplinary assessment. The aggregated information makes it possible to characterise harbour, waterway and marinas hydrodynamics, and identify dominant processes and patterns, which can be the basis for an integrated harbour, waterway and marina management.

Papers tackling these challenges are invited to this Special Issue, considering how harbour, waterway and marinas areas can suffer stronger impacts under climate change scenarios due to the combined pressures of sea level rise, changing domains, modified wave conditions or impulsive river discharges. Because of these reasons, it is timely to prepare a set of papers that discuss recent advances in:

• Harbours, waterways and marinas coupled hydro-morpho-eco modelling;
• Aggregation of in situ/satellite/numerical data from different sources;
• Knowledge-based harbour, waterway and marina applications; 
• Ethical constraints for harbour, waterway and marina applications under large uncertainties. 

Prof. Dr. Manuel Espino
Dr. Manel Grifoll
Dr. Enrique Alvarez Fanjul
Guest Editors

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• observations in ports
• numerical modelling of harbour hydrodynamics dynamics and ecosystems
• circulation in shallow and sheltered environments
• wave, tidal and storm forcing of ports water environments
• mixing in ports
• climate change affecting port hydrodynamics
• port entrance hydrodynamics and morphodynamics
• water quality and light conditions
• residence, flushing and other hydrodynamic time parameters
• sedimentary processes, siltation and morphodynamics in harbour
• meteo-hydrodynamics and port operability