Abstract
Abstract
This work focused on developing an approach for laboratory sediment oxygen demand (SOD) experiments conducted with undisturbed sediment core samples, where the measured results were incorporated into a water quality model to simulate the dissolved oxygen (DO) distribution in the main Danshuei River estuary of northern Taiwan. Measured results reveal that a higher freshwater discharge results in a lower SOD and that the SOD during the spring tide is lower than that during the neap tide. Throughout a 1-year observation, the measured SOD ranged from 0.63 to 1.81 g/m2/day at the temperature of 20°C, which is within the usual range compared with other systems. Mean values of the measured SOD at each station were adopted in a vertical (laterally averaged) two-dimensional water quality model to simulate the DO distribution along the main stream of the Danshuei River estuary. Modeling results accurately reflect the field-measured DO distribution during the dry and wet seasons. Model sensitivity analyses were also conducted with increasing and decreasing SODs for the dry and wet seasons. The present work with field measurements and numerical modeling will assist in estuarine water quality management in tidal estuaries.