A validation concept for cohesive sediment transport model and application on Lianyungang Harbor, China

Morphology evolution and hydro-sedimentological interactions in muddy coastal environments are long term processes. These processes are closely related to suspended sediment transport driven by waves and tidal currents. In the traditional calibration/verification methodology for cohesive sediment transport models, time-series data of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) measured during one or several tidal periods are commonly used as major validation references. But the disadvantage of this approach includes that it cannot filter the noises caused by the stochastic nature of short term hydrodynamics induced by waves and the varying properties of bottom sediments; besides a phase-lag phenomenon is often observed between sediment transport and hydrodynamics in the short term. On the contrary, a stable relationship between sedimentation and hydrodynamics is usually found in the long term. For a specific weather, the SSC values often agree well with local wave heights for muddy coasts. Therefore, in this paper a conceptual quantity defined as “representative SSC” was brought forward, and a model validation concept, including calibration and verification approaches, was proposed, in which calibration is performed against yearly-representative SSC values and the long term transport trend, and verification by using representative SSC values corresponding to different wave conditions. A numerical simulation was set up, and a real-life engineering application, Lianyungang Harbor, China, was executed to elaborate the proposed validation concept. Finally, the characteristics of SSC distribution around Lianyungang Harbor were discussed.