Hydrodynamic and ecological 3D modeling in tropical lakes

Abstract

Conservation and improvement of water quality in water bodies is an important matter to maintain all of its uses as well as other human necessities like microclimate regulation and leisure. Lakes and reservoirs have a complex circulation behavior with vertical temperature profiles changes along the time, resulting in differences in water density and a vertical stratification condition. This characteristic can directly affect the water quality conditions perturbing its main indicators. This study aims to evaluate the quasi-3D models' capacity to represent the hydrodynamic behavior of a tropical lake and its effects on the main variables that characterize its water quality. To achieve this objective, high-frequency monitoring data were collected, the lake was represented in a quasi-3D model, and the accuracy of the result was evaluated by applying statistical indices. The evaluation showed good agreement between field measures and simulated results when compared with other applications. The connections between hydrodynamic behavior and water quality were seen with the simulations results analysis, which showed that mixing events and long stratification periods perturb the water quality, the first with re-suspended bed material and the second blocking the surface and bottom exchanges. The application of a 3D model gives the capacity to reproduce the reservoir spatial variability and its vertical profiles, which is necessary to study the constituents' distributions across the water column. Therefore, the hydrodynamic and water quality behavior of lakes was accurately represented by the model, as well as the importance of improving high-frequency monitoring techniques.