La conferencia (en idioma inglés) se dará en el marco de la pasantía de Sjoerd Wester en el Instituto de Investigación e Ingeniería Ambiental (3iA-UNSAM). Sus supervisores en la Argentina son el Dr. Rafael Grimson (Escuela de Ciencia y Technología; UNSAM) y la MSc. Priscilla Minotti (3iA-UNSAM). En Holanda, sus directores son el Dr. M.J. Booij y el Dr. M.F. Brugnach (University of Twente, Department of Water Engineering and Management).

Esta actividad se desarrolla en el marco del Ciclo de Conferencias 2016, cuyo objetivo es difundir los estudios sobre las ciencias ambientales y temáticas asociadas, hacia la comunidad del instituto, en particular, y la comunidad científica, en general.

Resumen:

Coastal wetlands are characterized by two main incoming fluxes; the discharge of a river and the incoming tide and wind driven waves from an estuary. Describing the dynamics forced by the incoming fluxes within coastal wetlands would enable scientists, practitioners and policymakers to better predict how changes in wetland management might alter the behaviour of the hydrological regime. This is of main importance since it is particularly the flood extent, timing, frequency, duration and flood peaks that determine the physical, chemical and biological properties of wetlands (Mitsch & Gosselink, 2000). There is therefore significant potential for models that can accurately represent the often complex hydraulic situations found in wetlands (Thompson et al., 2004). However, the complexity of the structural network in combination with the inaccessibility of the area, hinder the data acquisition and makes modelling the dynamics within the system a challenge.

This study aims to add to the knowledge of hydraulic modelling in wetland systems by applying a quasi-2D model on the Lower Paraná Delta. The model not only takes into account the water processes in the main rivers and streams in the area, but also accounts for the dynamics in the rural areas of the wetland system. Since the study is not finished yet, this presentation will focus on describing which data sets, assumptions and modelling techniques are used to be able to set up the hydraulic model. Besides, it will include some notions about the next steps of the project and the desired end result.

Ciclo de Conferencias 2016