HYDRODYNAMICS OF A MUDDY ESTUARINE ENVIRONMENT: SUMMERTIME VS WINTERTIME CONDITIONS

The hydrodynamics of an estuarine environment characterized by cohesive sediments, has been studied through a pair of experimental campaigns performed at the mouth of the Misa River. The Misa River flows from the Apennine Mountains and enters the Adriatic Sea in Senigallia, a tourist town located on the Mid-East coast of Italy. The estuary of the Misa River has characteristics of a field-scale laboratory; the final reach is highly engineered with containment structures. Consequently, it was chosen as a suitable site for the experiments undertaken during the EsCoSed (“Estuarine Cohesive Sediment”) Project. The estuarine environment of the Misa River was observed during both summertime and wintertime experiments. The hydrodynamics was monitored using both Eulerian (e.g., bottom moored platforms at both the river-bed and sea-bed with high-resolution ADCPs recording velocity profiles) and Lagrangian (e.g., surface drifters) instrumentation, allowing for the characterization of the flow field during very different flow conditions. The climate occurring before and during the investigated periods has also been analyzed through use of numerical simulations, wave buoy measurements, and tide gauges. A comparative analysis between summertime and wintertime conditions, focused on wave-current forcing and local estuarine hydrodynamics, is underway. The preliminary results highlight the control of wind direction on the observed hydrodynamics. During the summertime the wind frequently changes direction. Conversely, during wintertime the wind direction remains fairly constant leading to severe storms. The extreme wintertime events generate intense sediment transport driving morphologic change.