Saltwater Intrusion in Estuaries

Andy Plater Liverpool PI

GII-funded project with NOC-Liverpool, University of Florida (lead partner) and the Universidad Federal de Pernambuco.  

This proposal addresses the priority area “1. Energy, climate change and the environment.” The main outcome of this proposal will be a quantitative assessment of the extent of salt intrusion into estuaries from sea level rise, storms, and changing rainfall and runoff.  The assessment will be developed from a thoroughly tested and calibrated relationship between salt intrusion length (dependent variable) and tidal elevation, non-tidal water level, and river input (independent variables).  This will be developed for prototypical tropical (Brazil: Capibaribe), subtropical (USA: Suwannee), and temperate (UK) Mersey) estuaries to assess its generality.  With the assessment of salt intrusion into estuaries and an improved understanding of the relationship between salt intrusion and river salinization, environmental managers will be able to plan different scenarios of increased water level combined with changes in precipitation and river input associated with climate change. 

Data for the project can be found at:

http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/~coastobs/GII_data.html