An empirical model for salinity intrusion in alluvial estuaries

The main parameters that affect the salinity intrusion in estuaries are their geometric, hydrologic and hydrodynamic characteristics. The recognition of effective parameters and understanding their roles in the salinity intrusion are required for estuarine water management. In this study, the governing equations of the salinity intrusion processes were scaled to derive the effective dimensionless parameters. Then, a previously verified model, CE-QUAL-W2, was utilized as a virtual laboratory to investigate the effects of different governing parameters on the salinity intrusion. Analysis of the results showed that logarithmic functions can be used to describe the effect of dimensionless parameters obtained by scaling of governing equations. Finally, a formula was suggested to predict the salinity intrusion length based on geometrical and hydrodynamic characteristics of alluvial estuaries.