Hydrodynamic Modelling Techniques for Bays and Estuaries: Simulation Methodology and Practical Application

Some countries grapple with data scarcity for calibration purposes when establishing current hydrodynamic models, which often require many parameters. In this context, this research presents a practical simulation methodology for hydrodynamic modelling suitable for application in bay and estuarine systems based on mass and momentum equations and requiring only one parameter for calibration—bed friction. The proposed simulation methodology is applied to a linear open channel measuring 200,000 m long. A sensitivity analysis of the bed friction is conducted to assess the proposed methodology’s response to the maximum water levels achieved. The results are compared to linear theory, indicating that the proposed simulation methodology effectively represents the water phase. In all simulations, the maximum root mean square error is less than 2.1% when neglecting bed friction and 4.69% when a bed friction of 0.005 is considered. The proposed simulation methodology can be a practical tool for hydrodynamic modelling in shallow waters.