| dc.description.abstract | In this study, the X-Beach model was used to model the hydrodynamics in laboratory-scale estuaries simulated in the metronome. The metronome is a tilting flume in which estuaries are simulated and studied. This estuarine research is performed as these highly dynamic areas are important for both nature and humans because they provide a place where species can thrive and cities and harbours can flourish. To protect estuaries from changes in the system, their processes are studied both with laboratory experiments and numerical models. By combining these two, a more complete spatial and temporal data set of the experiments can be gathered as well as providing possibilities for upscaling of the laboratory experiments in the model. Initially, the modelled metronome experiments showed large floods. Numerous model test runs were conducted which can be grouped in five categories: 1) Runs with adaptations to the bed level, 2) Runs with different bed roughness, 3) Runs with different tidal inputs, 4) Runs with an additional seaside discharge and 5) Runs with adaptations to the source code. Most tests showed similar floods to the initial runs. However, by implementing a new boundary condition the floods were solved. This new boundary condition forces the tidal inputs to the whole seaside instead of only the corners of the modelled domain. The model was then validated using water level and flow velocity measurements from the metronome experiments by using different bed roughness values. The X-Beach results are quite close to the measured values with errors of a few millimetres for the water levels and a few centimetres per second for the flow velocity. These errors are in the same range as errors found when modelling the metronome using the Nays2D model. Expressed as a Brier Skill Score the X-Beach model performs reasonable to excellent with values in the same range as other X-Beach studies of normal scale coasts. Besides these promising results, some improvements can still be made concerning the new boundary condition and flow velocity measurements. In future studies, waves and morphology can be added to the model which makes the model a valuable addition to the metronome experiments and estuarine research. | |
