TR0263 PDF

HYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATION WITH
MIKE21 OF MELE BAY AND

PORT VILA, VANUATU
Robert Klein
SOPAC Secretariat
SOPAC Technical Report 263
August 1998
[2]
[SOPAC Technical Report 263 Klein]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The French Embassy for the funds that enabled me to have a placement at SOPAC.
The Director of SOPAC for granting the permission for my placement at the SOPAC Secretariat.
The SOPAC Staff for their support, especially Robert Smith my supervisor, thank you very
much.
The National Tidal Facility of The Flinders University of South Australia is acknowledged for the
provision of tidal data.
[3]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ 2
SUMMARY............................................................................................................................... 5
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................... 6
1. GENERALITIES................................................................................................................ 7
Port Vila, Vanuatu ............................................................................................................. 7
Hazards............................................................................................................................. 7
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY......................................................................................... 9
THEORETICAL MODEL ................................................................................................. 11
Mike 21 Package............................................................................................................. 11
Numerical Modelling........................................................................................................ 13
Shallow Water Equations ................................................................................................ 14
Numerical Formulation .................................................................................................... 20
2. SET UP OF THE BATHYMETRY MODEL OF PORT VILA-MELE BAY .......................... 22
Brief report of the bathymetric surveys ............................................................................ 22
Digitization of the maps under AutoCAD ......................................................................... 23
Geographic Transformation............................................................................................. 23
Correction of the bathymetric model ................................................................................ 24
Set up of a 100-meter interpolation grid........................................................................... 24
3. SET UP OF THE HYDRODYNAMIC MODEL FOR PORT VILA-MELE BAY................... 26
The bathymetry ............................................................................................................... 26
Selecting the model area................................................................................................. 28
Grid orientation................................................................................................................ 28
Model parameters ........................................................................................................... 29
Boundary conditions........................................................................................................ 30
Model calibration............................................................................................................. 35
[4]
4. RESULTS AND VALIDATION OF THE MODEL OF PORT VILA-MELE BAY.................. 36
Simulations using the Admiralty Chart data..................................................................... 36
Simulations of Mele Bay and Port Vila run with the measurements ................................. 42
5. MODEL OF PORT VILA.................................................................................................. 49
Set up of the bathymetry model with AutoCAD................................................................ 49
Set up of the hydrodynamic model under Mike 21........................................................... 51
Advection-dispersion modelling....................................................................................... 57
RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................... 59
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................... 59
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 60
ANNEX
Introduction to SOPAC.................................................................................................... 61
[5]
SUMMARY
In recent years with the development of powerful computers, numerical models are increasingly
being used to simulate the processes of nature. Mike 21 is but one example of professional
modelling software for 2D free surface flows and comes in modular form with four main
application areas, coastal hydraulics and oceanography, waves, sediment processes and
environmental hydraulics.
As harbours and lagoons are all subject to some, or all, pollution, wave action, storm surge,
seiching, tsunami, erosion and sedimentation, and sea-level rise studies linked to coastal
management are often limited by the data sets available, seasonal variations and cost.
Numerical modelling provides an opportunity to view and analyse coastal problems and risks
with minimal penalties for error as we are able to change the input parameters in the model and
observe the response, a valuable symbiosis between development and application.
Port Vila Harbour is but one example of many in the region that suffers from a number of
sources of pollution, is vulnerable to storm surges and tsunamis. In particular, seiching was
noted in the harbour during one earthquake event. Coastal areas are under pressure from
development and todays decision maker requires all the help he/she can get if development
and preservation of the environment are to be sustainable. The development of the hydraulic
models for Mele Bay and Port Vila provides the foundation from which quantitative predictive
models for many environmental issues can be addressed in particular the water quality of the
harbour.
Two hydrodynamic models were developed, one model encompassing both Mele Bay and Port
Vila with a grid resolution of 100 m and a smaller but more detailed model of Port Vila with a
grid resolution of 15 m. Good results were obtained from both models for the comparison of the
model water elevation with the National Tidal Facility recorded data. Although no calibration
data was available for currents the periodicity in the model current velocities and direction
correlate well with tide providing reasonable if not good evidence for the models correct
simulation of the hydraulic behaviour of Mele Bay and Port Vila.
Animated simulations produced from advection and dispersion modelling and based on the
hydrodynamic model clearly demonstrate the potential impacts that can be expected from an
inner harbour oil spill or with city growth the impacts of pollutants entering the harbour via
drainage and storm water runoff. With an economy dependent on tourism, protecting the
environment can only but contribute towards and promote positive growth.
[6]
INTRODUCTION
SOPAC (South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission), based in Suva (Fiji Islands), is in the
early stages of a project which is aimed at predicting the effects of natural disasters and the
degree of risk to life and property on Port Vila and Mele Bay (Vanuatu). The hazards that will be
considered range through earthquake, tsunami, cyclone, storm surge flooding, sea level rise,
foundation problems and harbour pollution. The development of numerical models is a tool in
which to assess the likely hazards. These predictions are essential to the efficiency of post-
disaster impacts and operations and, in the longer term, for the assessment of sustainable
urban planning of the city and surrounds.
The work carried out at the Coastal Unit and presented in this report has been mainly focused
on the development of a hydrodynamic model for Mele Bay and Port Vila (Vanuatu).
Developed by the DHI (Danish Institute of Technology), Mike 21 is two-dimensional depth
averaged hydrodynamic software. To perform all the different models like a water quality, a
sedimentary transport or a tsunami model for instance, it is essential to first set up the basic
hydrodynamic model where all the others will be based on. Then two hydrodynamic models
have been set up; one for the whole area of both Port Vila and Mele Bay and the other is a
smaller one containing Port Vila only.
Following a brief summary of the area studied here and the objectives of this project, the
assumptions used by Mike 21 and basic equations that form the basis of numerical modelling
are described. In all hydrodynamics situations, geographical configuration and bathymetry are
the principal controlling factors that determine the hydraulics.
Compilation of the bathymetry model was based on two bathymetric surveys 1990, and 1997
with the model compiled in AutoCAD 14. Boundary conditions are based on National Tidal
Facility (Flinders University of South Australia) tide data. Further calibration data is required to
validate the model.
The parameters specified in Mike 21 to run the simulations are described as well as the
parameters for the calibrations. The numerical results obtained and the measurements are
compared for the validation of both models.
[7]
1. GENERALITIES
Port Vila, Vanuatu
Vanuatu, formerly the New Hebrides, is a archipelago of about 80 islands. The total land
area is reported to be 11 880 km of which 75 percent comprises the four main islands of
Espiritu Santo, Malekula, Pentecost and Efate. In mid-1991 the population was estimated at
150864. The population of Port Vila, 1745S-16819E, the administrative capital, growing
at a faster rate than the rest of the country, is about 21000. The main island Efate
containing the capital is about 2250 km northeast of Sydney and about 800 km from Suva,
Fiji Islands.
The islands have a tropical climate with warm humid period from November to April and a
cooler drier period under the influence of SE trade winds between May and October. The
average maximum and minimum temperatures are 29C and 22,5C in summer, and 26C
and 20C in winter with extremes of 12,6C and 33,3C.
The thirty year mean annual rainfall at Port Vila was 2366mm with a maximum in March
(381) and a minimum in October (94mm), and the rainfall is generally in excess of the
evaporation.
Principal industry, is canning and copra oil production, centred on the larger Island of Efate.
Agricultural livestock, copra, fisheries, and tourism remain the largest sector of the
economy. Copra, tourism, and fishing are the principal export earnings respectively.
Tourism commenced around 1972 and has been described by Vanuatus Reserve Bank as
the locomotive of the economy. By late 1993 an additional 11 hotels in the greater Port
Vila area, offering some 536 rooms and 1220 beds have since become established with an
additional 100 beds elsewhere in the country.
Hazards
Port Vila now suffers from pollution from a number of sources, and remains vulnerable to
storm surge seiching and tsunamis and cyclones. Mele Bay is fronted by a high-energy
beach system that has been subjected to erosion, which can be attributed to both human
and natural causes. Bathymetry and high resolution seismic offshore surveys have
identified areas in Mele Bay where slumping has occurred (Ref [8]). Tourism is a major
industry, with Mele Bay and Port Vila having significant tourist amenities. Their attraction is
dependent on maintaining a pristine and healthy environment. Impacts from developing
infrastructure, the siting of sewerage outfall, city storm drainage, are important issues to be
considered in preserving this environment.
[8]
Earthquakes and Tsunamis
Like volcanic activity, earthquakes in the region occur largely in the countries which lie
within The Pacific Rim of Fire, associated with the plate boundary zone between the
Pacific and Tonga.
Damaging large earthquakes are not uncommon (Ref. [6]). Fortunately a large part of the
seismically active area of the region is rural and therefore effects are often minimal.
However earthquakes often trigger other events, like tsunamis, evident in historical records
of Port Vila. An earthquake on January 24
th
1927 with a recorded magnitude greater than
7.1 centered in south Malekula produced the worst tsunami. In 1985 an interview with Chief
Graham Kalsakou of Ifira Island clearly indicated that the seiche effect produced by the
tsunami entering the almost enclosed harbour resulted in flooding of the coastline to several
meters above normal tide. A more recent example is the tsunami that occurred in July 1998
in Papua New Guinea (same rim as Vanuatu) where 3000 people died.
An advantage of a tsunami model is developing scenarios from which predictions might be
made of the areas most likely to be affected, so that local authorities can use the
information in their building codes, or to make decisions about relocating highly vulnerable
communities to safer locations.
Erosion
Mele Bay is a large embayment in the southern of Efate (Figure 1) just adjacent to Port Vila.
The coastal plain at the head of Mele Bay is an extensive coastal alluvial fan bounded by
two main headlands, Devils Point to the west and Pongo point to the southwest.
Coastal erosion has been a recurring problem at Mele Bay, and there is evidence to
suggest that has been linked to the unregulated mining of beach sand at two sites in the
bay at an average rate of 450-500m per month (Ref. [9]).
Following the survey done by Robert Smith in 1990 (Ref [9]), the slope of the beach is
consistent for the entire bay, but near the beach mining sites, the beach is significantly
lower and narrower than at other parts of the bay, reflecting the damage to the beach by
removal of large quantities of sand. Coastal erosion during major storms increased, as
happened in 1986, because the buffering effect of a wider beach is reduced. There is no
fringing reef to protect the bay.
Seismic data show a variety of seafloor landforms which indicate significant instability of
bottom sediments on the shelf slopes. Factors contributing to this instability are very narrow
shelf, steep shelf-slopes gradients, active seismicity which generation of large quantities of
unstable sediment offshore by tropical cyclones. One such result event is a slide on the
shelf slopes off LaColle River delta interpreted from seismic data is estimated to have
resulted in between 90 000 and 180 000 m of sediment moved in one. Such sediment
slumping may generate a localized tsunami affecting the Mele Bay plain.
Studies of the coastal zone, show that the sediment input from the rivers is unable to keep
pace with the total amount of sand being removed by beach mining or by removal of
sediment offshore and natural process occurring.
[9]
Based in the hydrodynamic model, a sediment transport model can be developed from
which accretion and erosion rates may be determined as well as the areas where the
mining can be done.
Water quality
There has been little work done on the water quality of Port Vila, and the last water quality
surveys done show an increase of pollution levels in the coastal waters around Port Vila
(Ref.[2]). The principal results are:
The ship discharge within Port Vila Harbour reduces water quality there.
The water quality within the harbour tends to deteriorate with time due in a major part to
the human activity within the area.
Now, tourism both Mele Bay and Port Vila have significant tourist amenities, which are
dependent on maintaining a pristine and healthy environment. Then, the development of a
water quality model is essential to assess the circulation of pollutants and likely impacts on
the environment.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The first task in order to perform all these study, that will be done when all the essential
data will be available, is the set up of a hydrodynamic model, and it is mainly this work
which is presented in this report.
So that this report may be useful for any future Mike 21 user, the parameters specified for
the simulations are detailed as well as the problems that have occurred during this work.
Then two hydrodynamic model have been set up:
A model of Port Vila and Mele Bay together, with a 100-meter grid
A model of Port Vila only, with a 15-meter grid
The process is more detailed for the first model as we may see in the following two
chapters, whereas in the one of Port Vila, we present mainly the results.
At the end of the last chapter, an example of a water quality model is shown to give an idea
of the circulation of pollutants.
[10]
[11]
THEORETICAL MODEL
Sedimentology, long-term morphodynamics, water quality and contaminant dispersion, are
some of the many topics relying on a clear understanding of hydrodynamics. The latter
discipline is thus the corner stone of many studies involving floodplain processes. To predict
or explain the flow patterns in a river, to design bridges and dykes, engineers have long
been doomed to resort to empirical or simplified formulas, or to build scale models. Despite
the basic flaw of similitude, scale models have been widely used up to now. Their range
applications still very important, though shrinking every day. Scale models are now
gradually replaced by numerical simulation, but will still thrive for a long time, at least for
very complex problems like the assessment of dyke stability, or simply for validating
numerical models.
Mike 21 package
Among the numerous Hydrodynamic Modeling Software available today in the market, Mike
21, developed by DHI (Danish Hydrodynamic Institute), is a modelling system for 2-
dimentional, free-surface flows, and is used by the Coastal Section at SOPAC.
Application areas
Mike 21 can be applied to a wide range of hydraulic and related phenomena. These can be
divided into four main application areas:
Coastal hydraulics and Oceanography. This includes modeling of tidal hydraulics, wind
and wave generated currents, storm surges and flood waves.
Environmental Hydraulics. This encompasses everything from normal advection-
dispersion simulation of conservative pollutants to complex water quality simulations
including chemical reactions.
This means that we can investigate the impact on the marine environment from various
sources such as sewage, storm water and cooling water outfalls. The environment
parameters which could be studied are bacterial concentrations, eutrophication, algal
blooms, BOD-OD (bacteriological oxygen demand dissolved oxygen) and others.
Heavy metal dispersion and its influence on marine flora and fauna can also be
investigated.
Waves. This covers wave agitation in harbours, harbour seiche, hindcast and forecast,
design wave parameters, non-linear transformation and ship motions.
We can therefore use Mike 21 as a tool in the design of harbours and offshore
structures. It can be used to test the effects of new breakwater alignments, navigation
channels, wharf areas etc., and to produce design wave parameters for offshore
installations.
Sediment Processes on coast, in estuaries and rivers. These include sediment transport
investigations of navigation channels, harbour entrances, coasts, river ports, etc.
[12]
The computational Modules
The 13 computational modules of which Mike 21 consists have the following properties:
Hydrodynamic Module
Full non-linear equations of continuity and conservation of momentum
ADI finite difference solution of second-order accuracy
Smagorinsky eddy formulation
Advection-dispersion module
Conservation of mass equation
Transport of conservative, heat dissipating and linear decaying matter
Third-order explicit finite difference solution
Water quality module
BOD-DO, oxygen depletion and bacterial decay balances
Organic nitrogen, ammonia and nitrate balances
Eutrophication module
Phytoplancton, benthic algae, zooplancton, oxygen balances and mineralisation
estimates
Dependence on nutrient availability, light and temperature
Heavy Metals Module
Combined physical, chemical and biological processes
Uptake in organisms
Mud Transport module
Cohesive sediment erosion, transport and deposition
Sand transport
Non-cohesive sediment transport using Engelund-Fredsoes formulation under the
action of currents and waves, both breaking and non-breaking
Particle Module
Transport and fate of solutes or suspended matter
Pollutants are considered as particles
Lagrangian approach
Boussinesq Wave Module
Boussinesq equations with improved linear dispersion characteristics
Irregular, directional waves from deep to shallow water
Non-linear wave-wave interactions
Diffraction, partial reflection
Elliptic Mild-Slope Wave Module
Linear refraction-diffraction in sheltered areas
Harbour resonance and seiching
Radiation stress include diffraction and reflection
Monochromatic waves, wave breaking, reflection
Parabolic Mild-Slope Wave Module
Linear refraction-diffraction in larger coastal areas
[13]
No diffraction behind obstacles and no reflection
Superposition over frequency and direction
Nearshore Spectral Wind-Wave module
Discrete directions, parametric in frequency
Stationary wind fields
Wave breaking, wave-current interaction, radiation stresses
No diffraction, no reflection
Offshore Spectral Wind-Wave module
Discrete directions and frequency
Time varying wind fields
Second generation wind-wave model
Parametric wave-wave interaction
All these modules require at least the Hydrodynamic Module to be run. For this reason the
set up of the hydrodynamic model is by far the most important task for any study. Therefore,
the result of an advection-dispersion model or a sediment transport model, for instant, are
reliant on the quality of the hydrodynamic model.
In the study presented here, the body of the work was to set up two hydrodynamic models,
one for Mele Bay and Port Vila together and one for Port Vila only, in order to assess water
quality and erosion of the beaches for these areas. A number of simulations for a water
quality model will also be run to have an idea of the circulation of the pollutants within the
bay and harbour.
Therefore, the scientific background we will discuss here concerns only the hydrodynamic
and advection-dispersion part.
Numerical Modelling
Unlike other related disciplines, such as sedimentology and water quality, the basic
equations are well known in hydrodynamics. The only and difficult problem is to solve them.
All equations in Hydrodynamics stem from the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations
that read:
Continuity
Momentum
) 1 ( 0
z
w
y
v
x
u
) 4 (
1
) 3 (
1
) 2 (
1
2
2
2
2
2
2 2
2
2
2
2
2
2 2
2
2
2
2
2
2 2
g
z
w
y
w
x
w
y
p
z
w
y
vw
x
uw
t
w
z
v
y
v
x
v
y
p
z
vw
y
v
x
uv
t
v
z
u
y
u
x
u
x
p
z
uw
y
uv
x
u
t
u
,
_
,
_
,
_
[14]
Boundary conditions:
Free surface condition
Bottom condition
u=v=w=0 pour z=-h (6)
Where x, y, z denote the space coordinates, u, v, w represent the three components of the
velocity, is the density and p is the pressure.
The continuity equation expresses the mass conservation, while the momentum equation is
actually the fundamental law of dynamics, written for fluids. The only assumption in these
equations is that the fluid should be Newtonian and this is indeed an excellent
approximation for water. The main difficulty of the Navier-Stokes equations stems in the
non-linear terms that challenge the numerical algorithms and are also responsible for the
flow turbulence. As a matter of fact, it is important to note here that turbulence, with all its
complexity, is contained in the Navier Stokes equations.
For the time being, no industrial tool for directly solving the 3D Navier-Stokes equations for
free surface flows is available. One of the greater difficulties is the free surface itself, which
causes the computational domain to vary in time. Many kinds of simplifications have been
proposed, the most popular being the Shallow Water equations given by Barre de Saint
Venant one century ago, and Mike21 is based on it.
Shallow Water Equations
The 2D Shallow Water equations are obtained by means of averaging of the 3D Navier-
Stokes Equations over the depth. The new variables obtained are mean values over the
depth. Lets call:
Where is the free surface and h is the bottom elevation. Solving the equations will consist
of finding the values of U, V and h everywhere in a domain, during a given lapse of time, as
functions of initial conditions and the boundary conditions.
Full derivation of the equations
The derivation of the shallow water equations is mainly based on the Leibnitz rule, that
reads:
) 5 ( ) , , ( for z y x z
y x
u
t
w

h h
vdz z y x V udz t y x U ) 7 ( ) , , ( ) , , (
) 8 ( ) ( ) (
1
1
2
2
2
1
2
1
x
z
z u
x
z
z u dx
x
u
udz
t
z
z
z
z

[15]
Integration of the continuity equation:
Following the bottom and the free surface conditions, it remains:
Taking the average we finally obtain:
Integration of the vertical movement equation:
in order to obtain the pressure in z, the following is:
From the Leibnitz rule, we obtain the expressions:
) , , , (
~
) , , , ( t) z, y, (x,
:
~
term fluctuant a and term average an with divided be can function Any
t z y x t z y x

+
) 11 ( 0 ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (
) 10 ( 0
) 9 ( 0
+
,
_

h w w
y
h
h v
y
u vdz
x x
h
h u
x
u udz
x
dz
z
w
dz
y
v
x
u
z
w
y
v
x
u
h h
h h

) 12 ( 0
h h
vdz
y
udz
x t
) 13 ( 0
t
V
t
U
t
) 14 (
1
2
2
2
2
2
2 2

,
_
,
_
z z z z
gdz dz
z
w
y
w
x
w
dz
y
p
dz
z
w
y
vw
x
uw
t
w

z h
wdz
t
dz
t
w
) 15 (
[16]
The free surface condition shows that:
Moreover, the pressure at the free surface is taken to be equal to zero, i.e. p(z=)=0.
Summing up all the terms, we obtain:
) 20 ( ) (
) 19 ( ) ( ) (
) 18 ( ) ( ) (
) 17 ( ) ( ) (
) 16 ( ) ( ) (
2 2
2
2

z
z
z
z z
z z
z g gdz
z p p dz
z
p
z w w dz
x
w
y
w v vwdz
y
dz
y
vw
x
w u uwdz
x
dz
x
uw
) 21 ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (
2
w
y
v
x
u w
t
z w

,
_

) 22 ( ) ( ) (
1
) (
2

+ +
z z z z
wdz v h g z p z w vwdz
y
uwdz
x
wdz
t
) 23 ( 0

z z
dz w
t
wdz
t
flow. the facing are when they avoided be
should slopes steep that is e consequenc overlooked often an : 0 w that assume then we small,
remains velocity vertical that the assumption the making then equation; above the of mean the Taking
) 28 ( ) ( ) (
) 27 (
) ( ) (
) 26 (
~ ~ ~
)
~
(
) 25 (
~ ~ ~
)
~
(
) 24 ( 0
z g z g
z P z p
dz w v
y
dz w v v
y
vwdz
y
dz w u
x
dz w u u
x
uwdz
x
dz w v wdz v
z z z
z z z
z z

[17]
This gives the following result:
Integration of the horizontal momentum equations:
The derivation is detailed term by term for the first momentum equation:
When summing all these terms, it results in the following term that is equal to zero because
of the free surface condition:
The pressure at the free surface and the speed at the bottom are taken as zero. It remains:
) 29 ( ) (
~ ~ ~ ~
) (
) (
2
z w dz w v
y
dz w u
x
z g
z P
z z
) 35 ( ) ( ) (
) 34 ( ) ( ) (
) 33 ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (
) 32 ( ) ( ) (
) 31 ( ) (
) 30 (
1
2 2 2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2 2
x
p
t
h
h p pdz
t
dz
x
p
w u dz
z
uw
y
h
h v h u
y
v u uvdz
y
dz
y
uv
x
h
h u
x
u dz u
x
dz
x
u
t
u udz
t
dz
t
u
dz
z
u
y
u
x
u
dz
x
p
dz
z
uw
y
uv
x
u
t
u
h h
h
h h
h h
h h
h h h
,
_
,
_

) 36 ( 0 ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (
,
_
t y
v
x
u w u

) 39 (
) (
2

h h h h h
udz
x
h h p
dz
p
x
uvdz
y
dz u
x
udz
t
[18]
Taking the mean of each term:
We obtain the movement equation integrated on the vertical and averaged on a period
Two terms depend on the speed fluctuations:
Or for the second momentum equation:
) 43 ( ) ( ) (
2
1 p(-h)
: Hence
(42) h) g( - P(-h) p
: bottom at the pressure dynamic average the as defined is
) 41 (
) 40 (
~ ~
)
~
)(
~
(
) 39 (
~
)
~
(
) 38 ( )
~
(
2
2 2 2 2
x
h g h g
x x
h
p
x
h
p
dz u udz
dz v u
y
dz v u
y
dz v v u u
y
dz
y
uv
dz u
x
dz u
x
dz u u
x
dz u
x
t
U
dz u u
t
dz
t
u
h h
h h h h
h h h h
h h
+
,
_
+ +

) 45 ( ) (
) 44 (
~ ~
) (
2
1
~ 2 2
2
,
_
+ +
h
h h h h
udz
x
h
p
x
h g
dz v u
y
h g dz
p
u
x
dz v u
y
dz
t
u
x t
U
) 49 (
~ ~
) 48 ( h) (
2
g
2 2
+ +
h
yx
h
yy
dz u v S
dz v p S
) 47 (
~ ~
) 46 ( h) g(
2 2
+ +

h
yy
h
xx
dz v u S
dz u p S
[19]
A last assumption is made assuming that the mean horizontal velocities are constant along
the vertical.
This last assumption is clearly a limitation of the Shallow Water Equations: if the horizontal
velocity varies too much along the vertical, the average value will have no physical
meaning. For example, a contaminant will have the same velocity if it travels near the
surface or near the bottom. It is a property of long wave to have a constant velocity along
the vertical. For this reason the Shallow Water Equations are well suited for the
computation of floods, tides, and tsunamis.
Then we obtain the Shallow Water equations expressed in averaged velocity. Introducing
the wind and bottom friction stress components, the system of equations becomes:
stress. shear effective the of components the are terms The
ij
j
ij
x
S

) 51 ( (
(50) U u h) (
2 2
v U V u h) v u dz v u
u dz u
h
h
+
+
parameter Coriolis :
viscosity turbulent :
stress friction wind :
stress friction bottom :
stress shear effective of component :
with
) 54 (
h) (
) 53 (
h) (
) 52 ( 0
f
U f
y
V
y
x
V
x x
g
y
V
U
x
V
U
t
V
V f
y
U
y
x
U
x x
g
y
U
U
x
U
U
t
U
t
V
t
U
t
ij
wi
bi
ij
yy
xy
wy by yy yx
xy
xx
wx bx
xy
xx
,
_
,
_
+ + + + +
,
_
,
_
+ + + + +
[20]
The values of the bottom friction stress and of the turbulent viscosity terms are very
important in the stability of the numerical model. The bottom friction stress term is obtained
introducing the Chzy coefficient written C.
Numerical Formulation
The numerical model is a finite-difference schema using an A.D.I (Alternating Direction-
Implicit) technique to integrate the equation for mass and momentum conservation in the
space-time domain. The equation matrices are resolved by a Double Sweep (DS) algorithm.
Mike 21 HD has the following properties:
Zero numerical mass and momentum falsification and negligible numerical energy
falsification, over the range of practical applications, through centering of all difference
terms and dominant coefficients, achieved without resort to iteration.
Second to third-order accurate convective momentum terms, i.e. second and third
order respectively in terms of discretization error in a Taylor series expansion.
The difference terms are expressed on a staggered grid in x, y-space as shown below.
Where p and q are flux densities in x- and y-direction (m/s/m)=(uh,vh); (u,v)=depth
averaged velocities in x- and y-direction.
V
C
V U
g U
C
V U
g
C
V U
g
by bx b
2
2 2
2
2 2
2
2 2
+
+

[21]
Time centering of three equations in Mike 21 HD is achieved as sketched below.
The equations are solved in one-dimensional sweep, alternating between x and y
directions. In the x-sweep the continuity and x-momentum equations are solved, taking
from n to n+1/2 and p from n to n+1. n-1 and n+1/2. For the terms involving q, the two levels of
old, known values are used, i.e. n-1/2 and n+1/2.
In the y-sweep the continuity and y-momentum equations are solved, taking from n+1/2 to
n+1 and q from n from n+1/2 to n+3, while terms in p use the value just calculated in the x-
sweep at n and n+1.
Adding the two sweeps together gives time centering at n+1/2.
[22]
2. SET UP OF THE BATHYMETRY MODEL OF PORT
VILA-MELE BAY
The first step and by far the most important task in a modelling process was setting up the
bathymetry model. Data used for the compilation was sourced from two surveys completed
respectively in Mele Bay and Port Vila in 1990 and 1997.
Instead of setting up the model directly in Mike 21, we prefer using the software Quicksurf
that is a surface modelling system running inside AutoCAD 14. Quicksurf is a package used
for generation of contour maps, profiles, and interpolation grids.
Thus, after having generated an interpolation grid, the next step consists in exporting it into
Mike 21after having converted the grid data into a Mike 21 format using a Fortran program.
Brief report of the bathymetric surveys
Survey of 1990
In the nearshore zone of Mele Bay, thirty-two geophysical line profiles totaling
approximately 50 km were surveyed between 7 March and 19 March 1990. The base map
for navigation control was digitized from 1:2500 series DOS 065. A Del Norte microwave-
positioning system with all data logged and processed on laptop PCs provided vessel
position. A Raytheon De719e echo sounder with a digital depth output was recorded by a
laptop and files created were merged with the navigation data to produce computer
generated bathymetric maps. Admiralty tide table was used to reduce bathymetric data to a
common datum, in this case Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT). For the seabed morphology
and sub-bottom information a Data Sonic SBT220 3.5 kHz sub-bottom profiler was used to
produce analogue records for interpretation. A detailed account of survey techniques and
data processing can be found in Smith and Saphore (1990) and Smith (1991).
Survey of 1997
Bathymetric mapping was completed in Port Vila harbour and Mele Bay areas to a water depth
of 200 meters.
All navigation control was accomplished with a Del Norte1009+ Differential GPS in real time.
The reference station was sited at a number of known control points based on Bellevue
Transverse Mercator1977, local grid. An Echotrak precision echo sounder was used for profiling
the seabed, and the digital output logged by the 1009. All bathymetric data collected are to be
reduced to zero of the NFT tide station sited at Port Vila wharf.
A detailed account of survey techniques and data processing can be found in Smith
Shorten and Young (1997).
[23]
Digitization of the maps under AutoCAD
Due to the unavailability of all the 2-meter contour 1:2500 series DOS 065 maps for the
whole area, we have digitized with AutoCAD only about 50% of Port Vila-Mele Bay with the
maps available. The rest has been completed with a 1/50000 Ile Efate S.O map.
Due to the lack of a complete set of maps with 2-meter contour, the simulation of harbor
seiching, tsunamis or storm surge was not done. In representing flooding brought about by
such an event, detailed topography contour maps are necessary. A new digitization of the
topography will be made when maps with a 2-meter contour covering the whole area
become available.
Geographic transformation
To maintain geodetic correctness for all the maps and the bathymetric data files and
converting data sets to one common datum before digitalization and before importing the
ASCII point files within the model, a geographic calculator was used. The geographic
conversions were done using the software Geographic Calculator (version 3) under the
projection of the D.O.S maps. The following figures (Figure 1) shows an example of a
geographic conversion.
Figure 1. Efate Conversion with Geographic Calculator from the Projection Geodetic39 Bellevue to Efate
Bellevue
Figure 2. Result of the bathymetry surveys of Port Vila and Mele Bay.
[24]
Correction of the bathymetric model
Some corrections have been necessary to avoid the superposition of some data and to
have a coherent bathymetry according to the maps. These corrections have been done
mainly on the reef where data was difficult to collect during the survey because it was very
shallow. We have added some points near the open boundary where the bathymetry is very
deep (around 300 meters). Moreover the model has been reduced to the area of interest i.e.
to the area of Mele Bay and Port Vila.
Set up of a 100-meter interpolation grid
The choice of a 100-meter grid will be explained in the next chapter.
Mike 21 uses a finite difference method to solve the depth-integrated equations of
conservation of mass and momentum. This implies that the model must work with a discrete
representation of the bathymetry in the simulation area, i.e. with the depth values given in a
number of points. These points must be placed in a rectangular matrix, or in a
computational grid, with constant spacing in the two directions.
Thats why a 100-meter spacing interpolation grid is made under AutoCAD (Figure 3 and 4)
taking the precaution of writing down the grid origin and the number of cells that are
essential for the conversion into a Mike 21 format through a Fortran program.
The process is not detailed here, but requires a lot of manipulations in order to obtained the
most accurate grid.
Figure 3. Representation of the 100 meters grid spacing.
[25]
Figure 4. 3-D representation of the grid under AutoCAD.
[26]
3. SET UP OF THE HYDRODYNAMIC MODEL FOR
PORT VILA-MELE BAY
After having imported the bathymetry grid from AutoCAD into Mike 21, the next step
involves rectifying the grid following some rules, which will be given below. To run the
simulation, some parameters have to be specified, and often changed in order to obtain a
good calibration according to certain measures. Then, the purpose of this chapter is to give
the different steps followed for the set up and the calibration of the model giving the
property of the parameters that have to be specified.
For the description of the area, we have to remember that the basic assumptions on which
Mike 21 is built:
Two-dimensional flow
Vertically homogeneous
Slowly varying bathymetry
In this chapter, only the case of the model of Port Vila-Mele Bay will be discussed, knowing
that for the study of Port Vila only, the same steps will be followed.
The bathymetry
As mentioned before, describing the water depths in the model area for the hydrodynamic
model is without doubt the most important task in the modelling process A few hours less
spent in setting up the model bathymetry, might later mean extra days spent in the
calibration process.
Some water depth values interpolated through AutoCAD are aberrant (Figure 1). Then,
the first process is to clean the bathymetry under the Mike 21 grid in order to have a
coherent depth water (Figures 2 and 3). It can be done point by point into the grid editor.
The fact that the grid is 100-meter spacing, makes it difficult to represent the areas of
dimensions less than 100 meters, like a 50-meter offshore fringing reef, or a 30-meter
long wharf
[27]
Figure 1. Bathymetry imported from Autocad.
Figure 2. Bathymetry after rectification.
[28]
Figure 3. 3D-representation of the bathymetry.
Selecting the model area
For this model, the area of interest is both Port Vila and Mele Bay. To decide where to place
the open boundaries, some modelling guideline are followed in order to avoid many pitfalls
in the modelling process. For this particular model only, one open boundary was required
and the logical place was between Devils Point and Pongo Point.
The area or point of interest should lie well inside the model area, say at least 10 grid
points from the boundary but preferably more. As the area of interest is Port Vila and the
North coast of Mele Bay, the placement of the open boundary was more than 10 grid
points far from the study area. Therefore, not only the area immediately surrounding the
area or point of interest is included, but larger area is needed; for example, to compute a
wind surge properly.
In order to have a "well behaved" flow at the open boundary, the bathymetry is
smoothed close to it.
Grid orientation
After having determined the areas of interest and influence, we turned our attention to the
orientation of the model
Because of the way Mike 21 solves the equations, better results are normally obtained with
flow parallel to one of the coordinate axes. Therefore the model should be placed so that
the main flow direction is aligned with the grid.
[29]
From the bathymetry it must be assumed that the tide will generate a flow that is going
directly in and out of the bay, i.e. parallel with the coast. It can be seen from the Figure 4
that the x-axis is much better aligned with the dominant flow direction than in the Figure 2.
An other advantage in model rotation as in the case of Mele Bay resulted in one open
boundary.
Figure 4. Bathymetry model after a 62 degrees rotation.
Model Parameters
The grid spacing and the courrent number
In Mike 21 ngrid cell size and time step are predetermined to ensure a low courant number
is obtained.
The grid spacing is linked with the current number as follows:
where c is the celerity, t the time step and x the grid spacing. For a tidal wave the celerity
is
where g is gravity and h is the water depth.
x
t
c R c

h g c
[30]
In the same way Mike 21 calculates the water level and flow in a number of discrete points
in the computational grid. It also calculates them at a number of discrete time steps. And
just as the grid point should be placed equidistant so should the time step, i.e. the
computation should progress with a constant time increment.
As the information (for water levels and fluxes) in the computational grid travel at a speed
corresponding to the celerity, the Courant number is an expression of how many grid points
the information moves in one time step.
Normally we can have a maximum Courant number in the model of up to 5. The maximum
value, which can be used without having stability problems does however depend on the
bathymetry. For very smooth bathymetry, Mike 21 allows Courant numbers up to about 20.
Therefore, the grid spacing becomes a compromise between the purpose of the study, the
time step and the Courant number. For the model of Mele Bay, a grid spacing of 100 meters
produced a Courant number of 5.6.
Boundary conditions
If the description of the bathymetry is the most important task in the modelling process then
the description of the water levels and flow at the open boundaries (i.e. the "boundary
conditions") is the second most important task. The better the boundary conditions the
better the results and the fewer the instability problems.
MIKE 21 solves the partial differential equations that govern nearly horizontal flow and, like
all other differential equations, these need boundary conditions. As the unknown variables
are surface elevation and flux densities in the x-direction and y-direction one of these two
variables must be, in principle, specified in all grid points along the open boundary at each
time step. In this application, we will use the surface elevation through the boundary giving
the same elevation to each point of the grid.
For this, we use the file data containing the water level recorded during the last survey
between the 14
th
and the 31
st
of March 1997 (Figure 5). Even if the recordings have been
made in front of the main wharf in Port Vila, i.e. 10km from the open boundary, we will use
these measures as a boundary condition. According to the fact that the depth between the
open boundary and the main wharf varies between 300 m and 50 m, tides can be expecting
to propagate at speeds of the order of 20-50 m/s (formula above), thus traversing the bay in
less than 10 minutes. Period of which tidal levels used for the open boundary were
recorded at 6 minute intervals.
Boundary conditions can be either derived theoretically from tidal constituents or be
measured values.
[31]
Figure 5. Graph of the measured water elevation.
In Mike 21 using tidal constituents (Figure 6), a time series of water levels can be derived to
generate a boundary file.
Harmonic
constants
Phase
[deg]
Amplitude
[m]
M2 163 0.37
S2 182 0.11
K1 205 0.16
O1 171 0.09
Figure 6. Tidal constituents of Port Vila from the Admiralty Chart Table
Figure 7. Water elevation calculated from the Admiralty Tide Table constituents
Using both computed and measured time series for boundary conditions a comparison of
the two models simulation can be made.
[32]
Bed Resistance
A very important term in the equations, especially in river flows, is the bottom friction. The
general 1D expression of friction is given by the formula:
with units in kg/m/s, where is the density, u the velocity of the flow and Cf is the friction
coefficient (without dimension). The 2D equivalent of this formula is
The friction coefficient Cf is not frequently used in hydraulics and is generally replaced by
the Chzy coefficient which is defined as
Then (2) becomes
According to the Chzy lay, the friction force will then appear in the momentum equation as
a source term having the following form:
Another formulation for 2D flows is given by the Manning empirical law, which expresses C
as a function of the water depth h, that is
As in Mike 21 we specify the bed resistance as 1/m, we will call M the inverse of the
Manning number: M=1/m
According to Nikuradse, the Chzy coefficient may related to the grain size ks on the
bottom:
Mostly, the value of the friction coefficients will be unknown and will have to be estimated by
means of measurements or by using catalogues.
As Mike 21, there are two ways of specifying the bed resistance: either as a Chzy number
or as the inverse of a Manning number. One value is given to all grid points, or a map
similar to that of the bathymetry with a resistance value for each grid point can be made.
As there is not enough information about the bottom of the area (grain size of the
sediments, vegetation), the manning number will be specified following the recommended
values given under Mike 21. A default value of M=32 m/s will be applied for the first
, ) / (
2
u C 2 1 f
) ( ) / ( 2 u u C 2 1 f
). / / s m (in C g 2 C
1/2
f
2
C
u u g . .

2 2
2
2 2
2
v u v
hC
g
F and v u u
hC
g
F
y x
+ +
). s/m (in number Manning the is Where
1
3
1
6 / 1
m
h
m
C
,
_
s
k
h
C 11 ln 63 . 7
[33]
simulations. A user-defined map of bed resistance will be made as well to compare if better
results are obtained
From a depth 10m to 2m: 1/M=15
From 60 to 10m: 1/M=20
For a water level up to 60 1/M=32.
Turbulence and eddy viscosity
Turbulence remains one of the fundamental unresolved problems of physics, the complexity
of the problem being due essentially to the non-linearity of the convective terms of the
Navier-Stokes equations. But as far as we are concerned here, it is more of practical
problem, that is to say of how to model the influence of the flow turbulence on the mean
structure of the flow.
The effective shear stresses in the momentum equations contain momentum fluxes due to
turbulence and vertical integration. The terms are included using an eddy viscosity
formulation.
The formulation of the eddy viscosity in the equations has been implemented in two ways:
Flux based formulation
Velocity based formulation
Where u is the velocity in the x-direction and h the water depth.
Strictly speaking the first formulation is only correct at a constant depth and should be
applied with great care in order to avoid falsification of the flow pattern.
The velocity based formulation, which is more correct, is unfortunately also more difficult to
implement in the numerical algorithm. This is because the system uses the fluxes as the
unknown parameters and not the velocities. Therefore the velocity-based formulation is
implemented by using the velocities from the previous time step. This can, however, lead to
stability problems when the eddy viscosity coefficient E becoming large. The coefficient
must fulfil the criterion:
Specifying the eddy viscosity
The eddy viscosity coefficient E can be specified in three different ways:
As a constant value for the entire computational domain
momentum) - (x
'
'
y
P
E
y x
P
E
x
'
'
y
u
E h
y x
u
E h
x
2 / 1
.
x
t E
[34]
From a type 2 data file (grid matrix file) giving the value at each grid point
A time-varying function of the local gradients in the velocity field. This formulation is based
on the so-called Smagorinski concept, which yields
The Smagorinski facility is combined with the following formulation of the shear tresses:
For our studies, it was be sufficient to specify a constant turbulent viscosity for the whole
flow field. However, when turbulence becomes important, in more complex flow situations, a
constant eddy viscosity model is too simple.
Initial Surface Elevation
Since the model initializes the fluxes or current velocities to zero, it must be specified an
initial surface elevation that is in agreement with these conditions. This means that to avoid
instability at the first time steps of the simulation, we specify a value that matches the
boundary condition at the first time step. This allows the model to obtain stable solutions
faster.
Flooding and drying
A problem of numerical algorithms is drying zones where some terms in the equations have
divisions with h which tend to infinity, when h tends to 0.There are two solutions to avoid
these problems, but only the second one is implemented in Mike21:
Solving the equations everywhere and coping with spurious terms,
Removing the dry zones from the computational domain.
The first one is the simplest, but correction must be applied in the wetting and drying zones,
to avoid infinite terms and spurious values of the free surface gradient. As a matter of fact,
in dry areas, the free surface gradient is equal to the gradient of the bottom topography and
in that case must not act as a driving force in the momentum equation.
The second option, often referred to as the moving boundary technique, consists of
removing the dry zone from the domain, but this task increases the computational time, and
the disk space required.
MIKE 21 is capable of including and excluding computational areas dynamically during the
simulation or, in other words, compute the flow in an area, which sometimes dries out and is
sometimes flooded.
1.0. to 0.25 of interval in the chosen be o constant t a is
and spacing grid the is direction, - y and - in x components velocity average depth are V U, Where
2
1
2 2
2
2 2
s
s
c
y
V
x
V
y
U
x
U
c E
1
1
]
1
,
_
,
_
+
,
_
'
,
_
'
x
V
y
U
E h
y x
U
E h
x
2 / 1
[35]
Continuity is then preserved during the flooding and drying process. The water depths at
the points that are dried out are saved and then reused when the point becomes flooded
again.
As our model is driven by tidal forces we have included flooding and drying to both models.
Specifying flooding and drying
To enable the possibility of flooding and drying areas, we have to specify at what depth the
computational points should be taken out or reentered into the computations.
The minimum water depth before drying can normally be specified in the range 0.1 - 0.2 m
and the minimum water depth before flooding in the range 0.2 - 0.4 m. A difference between
the two depths of 0.1 m is recommended. If the water level variations occur very rapidly
(compared to the time step) we can increase the difference to 0.2 m or even more.
Model Calibration
The purpose of the calibration is to tune the model in order to reproduce satisfactorily
results which compare well with measured conditions for a particular period known as the
calibration period. It is rare that the first few simulations will provide good results as model
instability can result in the simulation ending prematurely, commonly called a blow up.
These usually become unstable and end the simulation prematurely, what we call usually a
blow up.
The main parameters to adjust during the calibration phase are:
Bed resistance
The bed resistance can be used to stabilize and calibrate the model. The shallower the
area, the more effective it is to change the bed resistance. Increasing/decreasing bed
resistance may be used to change amplitude and phase of a tidal wave..
Eddy viscosity
The eddy viscosity is mainly used to stabilize the solution. If the results are spurious with
high frequent oscillations in the water levels or wiggles in the flow field -zigzagging
current vectors in an area of the model, then the result can be smoothen by increasing
the eddy viscosity in the area.
Bathymetry
The bathymetry is far the most important calibration parameter. During the first numbers
of calibration simulations, the bathymetry should be inspected and possibly changed
before trying out the other calibration parameters. Sometimes, we have to revise the
bathymetry area with schematization many times before obtaining good results.
Boundary conditions
The boundary conditions can also be used to calibrate the model. Particularly the
selection of a tilt point can change the result quite dramatically.
Once these parameters specified, some simulations can be run. In the next chapter, the
exact values of the parameters will be given for each simulation, and calibration.
[36]
4. RESULTS AND VALIDATION OF THE MODEL OF
PORT VILA-MELE BAY
The purpose of the following simulations is to produce a basic hydrodynamic model (HD) that
can be used for the set-up of a water quality, sedimentary transport or tsunami model. It can
also give an idea of the current velocities and the flux in the model. Comparing the results with
measured sea level, assesses the validity of the hydrodynamic model. But, the fact that no
current or flux data are available does not allow us to completely validate the current velocity or
flux of the model.
As we will see later, some instability has occurred in the simulation using the measurements.
Thats one of the reasons why some simulations using the Admiralty tide table have been
performed. Moreover it is also interesting to make comparisons between the two models.
This chapter also gives the values of the parameters specified for each simulation and to
calibrate the model. In order to be helpful for another Mike 21-user, the blow-ups and the
calibration problems that have occurred during the simulations are discussed.
Simulations using the admiralty Chart data
Definition of the model
Here are the parameters specified for the first simulations:
The bathymetry
The bathymetry model selected is the one containing both Port Vila and Mele Bay. The
water depth at the open boundary is about 300 meters and is well smoothed.(see figure
chapter).
The flood and dry checking is done as a default value for a drying depth of 0.2 meter and a
flooding depth of 0.3 meter.
Area Description
The grid spacing is 100 meters, and the dimension of the grid is 1203150.
The grid is rotated of 628 in order to have a flow perpendicular to the open boundary.
The origin of the grid is given as 17,748S and 168.38E.
Simulation period
The simulation period is from the 14
th
to the 29th of March of 1997.
The calculated time step interval is 10 second, with the number of time step being 138240.
This produces a courant number of 5.1 which is a good indicator for model stability. Some
20 hours of computation have been necessary to complete the simulation.
Eddy viscosity
For the first simulations, no Eddy viscosity was specified. Later simulations, different
numbers for eddy viscosity were experienced with.
Open boundary
The only open boundary defined was a line between Pongo and Devils Point, at the head of
Mele Bay, grid points (0,48) and (0,132).
[37]
A file representing the water elevation as a function of time calculated under Mike 21 with
from Harmonic Constants given in the Admiralty Tide Table is taken for the open boundary.
The initial surface elevation for the whole model was given as the same value as the initial
surface elevation at the open boundary, i.e. 0.05m to avoid instability at the first time steps
and obtain stable results faster.
Wind
The Monthly Data Report of March 1997, edited by AusAID, gives a wind speed less than
10 knots for the whole period of the survey. The direction was very variable. For this reason
wind was not included in the simulations.
Obtaining results
In the first simulation, many blow-ups occurred ending the simulations prematurely. These blow-
ups came from certain grid points where bathymetry was not well smoothed, or where the slope
between two grid-points was too steep.
Then, after a few rectifications and schematizations in the bathymetry, the simulation can end,
and the model can now be verified.
The first process in verifying the model was to compare the computed water level at a number
of points in the model to the water level derived from the Admiralty Chart Data (Figure 1).
[38]
Figure 1. Example of difference in water level (in meter) between computed (in red)and Admiralty Tide
data (in black) at the passage of Port Vila for a high tide phase.
Figure 2. Aberrant flux vectors at the passage between Port Vila and Mele Bay.
[39]
We can see that the difference between the 2 graphs (Figure 1) representing the water
elevation at the point (60,33) compare well meaning that the model behaves well for the water
level used. When examining the flow in these areas especially in the passage between Port Vila
and Mele Bay (Figure 2), we see some instabilities in the flux (zigzagging), and some vectors of
the flux seem to be very often aberrant.
Without current and flux measurements, its very difficult to make a good interpretation of these
parameters. Meanwhile, in other areas, where the bathymetry is well smoothed, the vectors are
still confused where they should appear more linear.
Calibration
A way to obtain a more linear flow is to use the Eddy viscosity (E). If we had had measurements
of the velocities and flux, we could have changed it in order to obtain computational values
close to the measurements. As that is not the case, the Eddy viscosity has been chosen to
provide the minimum of instabilities.
Following a number of simulations with different Eddy viscosity values, a value of 5m/s
produced the best results.
Final results
Analysis of the water elevation
After the last calibration of Eddy Viscosity, there was almost no difference between the
computed water elevation, and the one from the Admiralty Tide Table (Figure 3). Therefore, we
can say that the model is well calibrated for the water elevation.
Figure 3. Comparison between the water elevation at the passage (grid point (56,22)) from
the simulation and the Admiralty tide table.
[40]
Analysis of the speeds and velocities
The graphs of the velocities within the passage between Port Vila and Mele Bay with E=5 m/s
and E=0 m/s (Figure 4) show that there are less instabilities when adding some viscosity. It can
be observed that the periodicity of the velocities corresponds to the tide periodicity.
The 3D-speed map (Figure 5) shows that the speed of the flow is higher near the shore then in
the passages. The difference of the amplitude of the speeds in the Figure 6 between the flow
close to the open boundary and the one in the passage is important. Moreover, the graph of the
speed near the open boundary is really better smoothed than in the passage. This observation
can be explained by the fact that the tidal waves have undergone transformations (diffraction,
reflection) when spreading into Port Vila Bay.
Figure 4. Velocities at the passage (grid point 60,33) between Port Vila and Mele Bay following an axis
parallel to the flow (in red E=0 m/s, in green E=5 m/s).
[41]
Figure 5. Distribution of the flow speed for the whole model at mid tide.
Figure 6. Speeds (in m/s) at the open boundary (in black) at the grid point (10,90), and in red in the
passage between Port Vila and Mele Bay (grid point 60,33).
[42]
Conclusion
The water level computed fit well with the one taken at the open boundary from the Admiralty
constituents with speeds corresponding to reality with a periodicity of the speed graph
corresponding to the periodicity of the tide.
We have presented here the results found in the main passage of Port Vila-Mele Bay because
the instabilities were more common to occur close to this area. Several other areas for the
whole model have been verified and produced acceptable results.
Simulations of Mele Bay and Port Vila run with the measurements
After performing the transformations necessary on the original file of the measurements in order
to be imported in Mike 21, the first simulations are run using the same specifications as in the
previous model, except at the open boundary. Considering the fact that both graphs of the water
levels (Figure 7) from the measurements and from the ones computed with the Harmonic
Constants are very similar (i.e. same mean value, amplitude and phase), a good calibration of
the model can be obtained with the same parameters.
Figure 7.Comparison between measured and calculated data from the Admiralty Tide Table
water elevation.
[43]
Obtaining results
Analysis of the water level
The Figure 8 shows that the computed water level are very close to the measured values.
Meanwhile, on examining the results in more detail (Figure 9), we can see that the difference
between the curves for NTF are larger than those for the simulation based on the Admiralty
derived boundary conditions.
Figure 8.Water elevation measured and computed at the grid point (60,33).
Figure 9. Zoom on the water elevation instabilities of the graph above.
[44]
Analysis of flux and velocities
The analysis of the 2D map representing the current vectors an anomaly in the model. Here, we
can observe that the direction of the vectors are changing direction almost at every time steps
(Figure 10), while these should be kept at nearly the same direction during a flooding or ebbing
tide.
This observation can be confirmed in the graph of the velocities (Figure 11), which appears
confused. The graph corresponds to the velocity of a grid point taken in the main passage of
Port Vila-Mele Bay, following an axis parallel to the main flow. Modelled velocity changes from
positive to negative almost at each time step, with no periodicity able to be identified.
Figure 10. Direction of the flow for two consecutive times steps during an ebbing tide.
[45]
Figure 11. Velocities at the grid point (60,33) following an axis parallel to the flow.
Calibration
The plots of the graphs of velocities for different grid points within the model presents also show
similar characteristics seen above, and even close to the open boundary. Though, when
viewing at the 2D map plots of velocity vectors, the flow appears linear with no zigzagging
vector as seen in the model using ATT as boundary driver with no viscosity. It proves that the
instabilities of the velocity graphs cant be solved with the Eddy Viscosity. But the fact that we
obtained bad results compared to the previous model run with the same bathymetry, viscosity,
bed resistance proves that the problem comes from the water elevation measurements used
at the open boundary. It seemed also surprising at first that small differences between the ATT
and the measurements could give such aberrant velocities.
A number of variables were experimented with to improve velocity results. The first idea was to
change the bed resistance (values given in the pervious chapter) in order to obtain a computed
water level close to the one using the ATT. The bed resistance can be used to change the
amplitude and phase, but the resulting graph of velocities shoed little variation from the first
plots.
In fact, when we do a zooming of the NTF (National tide Facilities) water elevation
measurements, we can see that the graph is not smoothed (Figure 12), whereas the water
elevation calculated with Mike 21 (ATT) shows the curve to be more smoothed.
Then the next idea was to smooth the NTF water elevation measurement file used for the open
boundary. Actually, the very small imperfections of the curve must be amplified during the
propagation of the flow. This may therefore explain aberrations in the results in particular with
the velocity plots.
[46]
Figure 12. Comparisons between smoothed and non-smoothed water elevation measurements graphs.
Results with a smoothed NTF boundary condition
Analysis of the water elevation
From a plot of water elevation at several points of the model, there is now almost no difference
between the numerical water elevation and the measured, the model is calibrated for water
elevation
Analysis of the speeds and velocities
Having taken the smoothed NTF boundary condition, there is no fluctuation of the flow at each
time step anymore, plots of the 2D map. Flow appears to behave correctly.
From the plots of speeds, good correlation with the periodicity of the tide is evident, and the
curve of the graph of the speed is clearly more smoothed (Figure 13). In contrast the model run
with the ATT for boundary, it was found that the velocities are higher around Port Vila and in the
main passage than in the middle of Mele Bay.
Having no speed measurements does not allow us to interpret the amplitudes of the speeds.
Model results show speeds that are of the magnitude lower than expected, with speeds as low
as 1/100 m/s in the main passage of Port Vila in comparison with other studies of the same
nature (Majuro), where velocities are of the order of 1/10 (m/s) in a passage. We can observe
again that the velocities are greater in the main passage of Port Vila-Mele Bay than at the open
boundary (Figure 14).
[47]
Figure 13. Comparison of the computed speeds at the main passage with the smoothed and non-
smoothed tide.
Figure 14. Comparison of the speed close the open boundary (10,90) and between the main
passage
[48]
Conclusion
The instabilities observed mainly in the velocities appear to have come from the imperfections
of the water elevation measurement curve used for the open boundary. It is good to keep in
mind that the quality of these data greatly influences the accuracy of the results, and that
smoothing of the data improves model stability.
An Eddy Viscosity of 5 m/s limits the numerical instabilities due to the turbulence which appear
mainly within the passages and close to the shore.
The model seems to be coherent if we consider the results of water level and velocity. But we
cant verify the velocity model especially concerning the amplitude since we dont have any
measurement of the velocity at any points of the area.
Apart from calibrate the model against measured current information, the hydrodynamic model
can be used to explore further water quality, eutrophication and sediment transport in Port Vila
and Mele Bay.
[49]
5. MODEL OF PORT VILA
The steps followed to set up the model of Port Vila follows the same procedure used for the one
of Port Vila-Mele Bay. An advantage of produced a model of Port Vila only, is a higher grid cell
resolution permits the inclusion with a smaller grid which would permit the inclusion in the model
of elements that are of the same dimension as a grid cell. The resolution of the model is
therefore improved. For instance, it was not possible with the previous model when the grid size
was 100 meters to study the influence of a 30-meter long dyke or wharf on the area.
The objectives for the setting up of a higher resolution hydrodynamic model for Port Vila proper
are at first the impacts of a number of coastal structures yet to be implemented could be
assessed.
Set up of the bathymetry model with AutoCAD
To set up the bathymetry model in AutoCAD, we make use of the previous model removing the
area of Mele Bay. As the grid is chosen at 15 meters spacing, to make the model more
accurate, some details in the bathymetry are added, like fringing reefs.
In developing the Port Vila Model, the number of open boundaries was taken into consideration.
With two open boundaries (which one drying during a tidal cycle) it may increase the risk of
instability, and moreover, in that case, no analysis may be done in an area close to the
passage. The influence of the two passages in the behavior of the flow is important. Thats why,
the open boundaries have to be far from the passages. Then, choosing an open boundary at 40
grid cells from the passages into Mele Bay reduces its number to one, and any study close to
the passages can now be done.
The Figures 1 and 2 respectively show the bathymetry and the grid of the model of Port Vila
under AutoCAD. The grid is later exported as ASCII points from AutoCAD and converted to the
Mike 21 format with the help of a FORTRAN program.
[50]
Figure 1. Bathymetry of Port Vila under AutoCAD
Figure 2. 15-meter grid represented the bathymetry of Port Vila under AutoCAD
[51]
Set up of the hydrodynamic model under Mike 21
The first step in building the bathymetry model imported from AutoCAD to Mike 21 requires
editing, cleaning and orientation to a flow the most perpendicular to the open boundary.
Having completed this task the model parameters required are defined as follows:
Parameters specified
The bathymetry
The bathymetry model selected is the one of Port Vila. The highest water depth at the open
boundary is about 50 meters. The open boundary is smooth in order to prevent instability of
the flow.
For flooding and drying the default values for a drying depth of 0.2 meter and a flooding
depth of 0.3meter are used.
Area description
A grid spacing is 15 and the dimension of the grid being 250350. A rotation of 18 anti
clockwise of the final grid is applied.
The origin of the grid is given as 17,74S and 168,3E
Simulation period
The simulation period is from the 14
th
to the 29
th
of March of 1997 which is the period of the
tide measurements.
For a time step interval of 7 seconds, it gives a total of time steps of about 180000 all
together. The courant number is then 10,4.
The computation takes about 35 hours to completion. But the first simulations are run for a
short period until the results are acceptable. Indeed so many simulations have to be run
before finding the right parameters that running each of them for the whole period could take
months. Thats why a period of a few days is taken for each simulation until the calibration is
done, and then the model is verified for the whole period.
Eddy viscosity
An Eddy viscosity of 5 was selected based on the good results obtained in the previous
model.
Open boundary
There is only one open boundary situated in Mele Bay at about 40 grid cells from the two
passages, from the point (0,8) to the point (0,213).
The water elevation measurement file is taken for the open boundary. An initial water elevation
was set to 0.14m for the whole model to limit the instabilities at the first time steps (effect of
waterfalls). This value corresponds to the first water elevation measured value
[52]
Figure 3. 2D-Bathymetry of Port Vila under Mike 21.
Figure 4. 3D Bathymetry of Port Vila under Mike 21.
[53]
Results of simulations
After having run several simulations and corrected the bathymetry in order to avoid blow ups
which end the simulations prematurely, output graphs of water elevation and velocities can be
analyzed.
Water elevation
The following graph compares the measured and the computed water elevation (Fig.5). It
clearly shows very little difference between the two curves. Additional points from the model
were examined and similar if not better correlation were produced between the measured and
the computed water elevation.
Figure 5. Correlation of measured and computed water elevations of point 60,33 located in the passage
leading into Mele Bay from Port Vila.
Velocities
An analysis of the 2D velocity maps shows that the flow is linear at almost every time steps. The
best results were obtained using an eddy viscosity value of 5 m/s. For no eddy viscosity the
vector in the 2D plots were confuse while without eddy viscosity, the vectors remain very messy.
In examining the velocities at different grid points in the model in the model, it can be observed
that the current follows the tide well. The graphs of the velocities at any point of the area are
well smoothed except in the small passage between Port Vila and Mele Bay where we observe
some peaks of velocity (Fig 7)
[54]
It is difficult to give an interpretation of the graph of the velocities in this small passage (Figure
7). The curve is in the phase opposite to the one in the main passage, and its amplitude is
sometimes much higher.
The fact that the velocities are more important in the small passage is not surprising because it
is narrower than the big passage. Concerning the shape of the curve, the large peaks observed
just before low tide or just after high tide may be due to the effect of flooding and drying in the
model. The point where velocity is analyzed is close to a flooding and drying area; then, just
before being dry (0.2m) some points of this area are removed from the calculation and replaced
when the water depth reaches a certain value (0.3m). Perhaps it is the effect of these
operations that creates the spurious results at this point.
Recommendations: A way to verify these assumptions would be to place a current meter at this
point in Port Vila to compare the velocity measurements to the computed results.
Apart from the anomalous results in this particular area, the whole model seems to reproduce
velocities that are coherent..
Figure 6. Flow through the small passage between Port Vila and Mele Bay during a flooding tide .
[55]
Figure 7. A comparison between the velocities from within the main ( 60,180) and the small passage
(61,188) between Port Vila and Mele Bay.
Comparison with the results of the model of Port Vila-Mele Bay
It is interesting to compare the results from the model of both Port Vila-Mele Bay, and the one of
Port Vila only.
Concerning the water elevations, its clear that the results are the same for both models, as
these are both close to the measurements.
When comparing the velocities of both models (Figure 8), amplitude and phase correlate well.
The most significant difference being that the curve of the graph of the model of Port Vila is
smoother.
[56]
Figure 8.Comparison of computed velocities of the model of Port Vila-Mele Bay and the one of Port Vila,
at the same point within the main passage of Port Vila to Mele Bay.
Figure 9. A 3D perspective showing velocity in the Port Vila area during a flooding tide.
Conclusion
Considering the results of the computed water elevation and velocities, the model appears
calibrated. An eddy viscosity of 5m/s seems to give the best results.
The distribution of the velocities seems to correspond to the reality since these are the most
important within the passages, and near the coast (Figure 9).
[57]
In comparison with the previous model representing Port Vila and Mele Bay with a 100-meter
grid spacing, we obtain more accurate results with a 15-meter grid spacing.
Graphs of velocity in a flooding and drying area are not very reliable.
Further measurements of velocity would however permit to verify the computed velocities and
especially the amplitude.
Advection-dispersion modelling
Next, we run a simulation of a catastrophic scenario of pollution close to the main wharf of Port
Vila (Figures 10 and 11). The decay of the pollutant is very weak. It may be a black tide caused
by spill from a tanker, for instance.
There is no recent data of the pollutant within Port Vila available at the moment, so fictitious
parameters have been taken for this simulation.
Figure 10. Propagation of oil after 5 hours.
[58]
Figure 11. Propagation of the oil at 3 hours interval.
[59]
RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to improve the accuracy of the computed velocities of the model, a survey recording the
water level, velocity and direction of the flow should be performed at several areas of Port Vila,
and especially, close to the passages.
If other studies dont require a 15-meter grid spacing, the grid spacing could be increase to
reduce the computational time and the memory requirement, because it was found that for the
15-meter grid CPU time was high.
In representing flooding brought by tsunami or flooding, detailed topography contour maps
are necessary.
Water quality survey should be done within Port Vila Harbour to assess the concentration of
pollutants to set up a water quality model.
CONCLUSION
Two hydrodynamics models have been set up through Mike 21. The first is covering the area of
Port Vial and Mele Bay together with 100-meter grid spacing and the other includes only Port
Vila with 15-meters grid spacing.
A major part of this study has been also concentrated on the set up the bathymetry of the
models under AutoCAD using the data of the two surveys done in 1990 and 1997 and several
maps.
The hydrodynamics simulations have been run using NTF water level measurements at the
open boundary and the calibration have been performed comparing the computed to the
measured water elevation.
Good results were easily obtained for the comparison of water elevation. Good results were
obtained for velocity after having taken an eddy viscosity of 5 m/s and after having smoothed
the water elevation graph used for the open boundary. Indeed, the few imperfections in the
curve of its graph could be amplified during the propagation of the flow giving aberrant
computed velocity results. The periodicity of computed velocities obtained correlate well with the
tide, and their intensity is higher in the different passages and close to the coast. Moreover,
when comparing the two models at a point in Port Vila, the results are more accurate with the
15-meter grid spacing.
The numerical models described herein are therefore an efficient tool for obtaining an overview
of the instantaneous currents and can be a good way to determine the long-term transport of
particles under tidal influence.
The next task is to collect velocity data to complete the calibration of the model and to include
the topography within the models to assess the impact of tsunami.
[60]
REFERENCES
[1] Bonnefille Ren, 1992. Cours dhydraulique Maritime, Ed. Masson.
[2] Carter R., 1990. Hydraulic and water quality studies, Erakor lagoons and Port Vila
Harbour, Vanuatu. Sopac Technical Report 117.
[3] Douillet P., 1997. Tidal dynamics of the South-West lagoon of News Caledonia:
observation and 2D numerical modelling. Orstom, Centre de Noumea.
[4] Hardisty J., 1990. Beaches Form & Process. Ed. Chapman & Hall.
[5] Hervouet J.-M. and L. Van Haren, 1996. Recent Advances in Numerical Methods for
Fluid Flows. Laboratoire National DHydraulique, Chatou, Paris, France.
[6] Howorth, R., 1985. Baseline coastal studies, Port Vila, Vanuatu. Holocene uplift record
and evidence for recurrence of large earthquakes. CCOP/SOPAC Technical Report
116.
[7] Molin B., 1997. Introduction a lhydronynamique. Esim.
[8] Smith, R. 1991. Nearshore bathymetry and sea bed morphology, Mele Bay, Efate,
Vanuatu. Sopac Technical Report 126.
[9] Smith, R. and Saphore, E. 1990. Geophysical cruise report for Mele Bay and Port
Havanah, Vanuatu. Sopac Preliminary Report 22.
[10] Svendsen Ib A. and Ivar G. Jonsson, 1980. Hydronynamic of Coastal Region,
Technical University of Danemark.
[61]
ANNEX
SOUTH PACIFIC APPLIED GEOSCIENCE COMMISSION (SOPAC)
An Introduction
BACKGROUND
The South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) is an independent, inter-governmental,
regional organisation established by a few South Pacific nations in 1972, originally as CCOP/SOPAC. Its
Secretariat is located in Suva, Fiji, and has about 40 professional and support staff.
Member countries are currently Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji Islands,
Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands,
Kingdom of Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. French Polynesia and New Caledonia are Associate Members.
Twelve members are developing Pacific Islands Countries. Australia and New Zealand do not receive
Work Program assistance but are major donors.
MISSION STATEMENT
To improve the well being of the peoples of Pacific island member countries through the application of
geoscience to the management and sustainable development of their non-living resources.
WORK PROGRAM
"It is difficult to think of any development of any country which hasn't benefited in some way from basic
geoscientific knowledge."
Through its Secretariat, SOPAC carries out a wide range of geoscience activities in the region. The
Secretariat's primary roles are to gather new data to assist member countries to assess their natural
resources, and to build national capacities in the geosciences towards self sufficiency in the long term.
Not all of the activities listed below are carried out at any one time, the balance of the Work Program
depending on member country priorities and on the level of funding available to SOPAC at the time.
Resource Development Program
Mineral Resources
mineral and aggregate assessments/surveys
deepsea mineral assessments/surveys
promotion of mineral potential
minerals legislation and policy development
hydrocarbons promotion
Water Resources
sector strategy and action planning
technological and equipment support
surface and groundwater resource assessment
water supply and waste disposal advice
sanitation (with SPC)
solid waste management (with SPREP)
[62]
Energy
policy and planning
small energy projects
renewable energy projects
monitoring alternative energy developments (OTEC, Wave & Geothermal)
Environmental Science Program
Coastal
physical environment monitoring
physical processes studies
coastal and shallow water seabed mapping
field equipment operation and maintenance
Hazard Assessment
geohazard studies
vulnerability assessments
protection and engineering advice
lagoon/shallow water circulation studies
Ocean
ocean environment monitoring
deep water and seabed mapping
cruise coordination
physical oceanography
LOS/EEZ issues (MSR, ISBA, Continental Shelf)
National Capacity Development Program
Human Resource Development
ESMG Certificate
fellowships
workshops and seminars
HRD advisory assistance
distance education development
Information Technology
computing services
communications, PEACESAT and data transfer
remote sensing and resource monitoring
database and GIS development
Disaster Reduction
regional coordination
research information
Publications and Library
editing
publications and reporting
library
public awareness
[63]
FUNDING
An annual budget of about F$5 million supports the implementation of the Work Program and the
operation of the Secretariat. SOPAC funding consists of Core Funding, for Corporate Services including
certain key technical support services derived primarily from member country contributions, and Project
Funding, derived from supporting donor governments and agencies for project activities which focus on
field work; data collection, processing and interpretation; promotion of results; technical advice and
assistance; and education and training.
In addition to the member countries, supporting governments include Canada, France, Japan, Korea,
Peoples' Republic of China, Taiwan and United States of America. The European Union, the
Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation and the United Nations Development Program are the
principal multilateral supporting agencies. In addition to levied contributions, member countries provide
considerable support during survey work. Research ship time is contributed by other countries from time
to time. Linkages are maintained with other regional organisations and with research institutes worldwide.
PUBLICATIONS
SOPAC publishes numerous technical reports and bulletins, an annual report, a Corporate Plan,
Proceedings of the Annual Session, a newsletter (SOPAC News), non-technical summaries of its work
(SOPAC Projects), and a publications list.
FURTHER INFORMATION
To find out more about SOPACs work, or to request any publications, contact:
The Director
SOPAC Secretariat
Private Mail Bag
Suva, FIJI
Street Address : Mead Road, Nabua, Suva
Telephone : +(679) 381377 or +(679) 381139
Fax : +(679) 370040
E-mail : postmaster@sopac.org.fj
Website : http://www.sopac.org.fj

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HYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATION WITH

MIKE21 OF MELE BAY AND

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