See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324517849

The use of the SHYFEM numerical model to

assess the improvement in the hydrodynamics
and in the water renewal of the Nad....

Poster · April 2018

CITATIONS READS

0 52

6 authors, including:

Francesco Maicu Abdellaoui Benyounes

Italian National Research Council Institut National de Recherche Halieutique T…
20 PUBLICATIONS 50 CITATIONS 24 PUBLICATIONS 24 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Karim Hilmi Georg Umgiesser

Institut Nationale de Recherche Halieutique Italian National Research Council
48 PUBLICATIONS 157 CITATIONS 183 PUBLICATIONS 2,363 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Shear stress assessment over a movable sand bed with varying bottom roughness View project

Monitoring of seas View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Abdellaoui Benyounes on 14 April 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Geophysical Research Abstracts
Vol. 20, EGU2018-12657, 2018
EGU General Assembly 2018
© Author(s) 2018. CC Attribution 4.0 license.

The use of the SHYFEM numerical model to assess the improvement in

the hydrodynamics and in the water renewal of the Nador Lagoon
(Morocco) after the construction of a new inlet
Francesco Maicu (1), Benyounes Abdellaoui (2), Marco Bajo (1), Adil Chair (2), Karim Hilmi (2), and Georg
Umgiesser (1)
(1) CNR – ISMAR, Institute of Marine Sciences – National Council for the Researches, Italy, (2) INRH – Institute National de
Recherché Halieutique, Morocco

The numerical model are useful instruments to assess quickly and with a high rate of reliability the changes in
morphology of the water bodies. For this reason, a numerical model of the Nador Lagoon (Morocco) based on the
SHYFEM code (a finite elements shallow water equations model) was implemented and calibrated to assess the
improvement of the water circulation inside the lagoon and the exchange with the sea.
Two numerical grids where created, one with the new inlet configuration and another with the old inlet configura-
tion, differing only in a restricted area where the inlets were changed to avoid calculation errors due to different
grid representation. A one-year long period (measured tide and wind from Jul 2016-June2017) was simulated with
a 3D hydrodynamic setup, the water renewal time (WRT) was calculated every 40 days and model (new inlet con-
figuration) was calibrated with current measurements in the inlet. The same period with the same model setup was
simulated with the old inlet configuration.
The new inlet generates a tidal prism 4 times bigger than the old one and the resulting current field is a dipole
structure, clearly visible even in the residual circulation. The hydrodynamic field is a more lively with respect to
the past, nevertheless during spring tide in the 65% of the lagoon area the the current speed does not exceed 5 cm
s-1. The damping of the tidal range is strongly reduced from 60% to 5% and the tidal signal is propagated in 15
minutes, with basically no modification, from the inlet to the outermost areas of the lagoon.
After the construction of the new inlet the average WRT decreased from 60 to 16 days with an increasing trend
during summer periods when the prevailing wind is a moderate NE breeze, and the variability was halved. Despite
the lower WRT values with respect to the past, their pattern is basically the same. Lowest values are present in a
restricted area close to the inlet where tidal flushing is highest. A steep gradient lead to higher WRT values toward
the northern and southern basin where the residual circulation is negligible and the WRT variability is highest.

View publication stats