SSFATE (Suspended Sediment Fate)
The dredging of harbors and other shallow
water bodies is often necessary to create
deeper channels for vessel traffic. Before
such operations can proceed in the United
States, a regulatory review of dredging
operations is required to define “environmental
windows,” time periods during which
the dredging operation will have the lowest
impact on biological resources in the area.
These environmental windows are intended
to protect biological resources and their
habitats.
SSFATE is a system created by ASA
and U.S. Army Engineer Research
and Development Center (ERDC), Vicksburg,
Mississippi. SSFATE is an integrated
system combining a Geographic Information
System (GIS) with a computational
model that predicts the transport,
dispersion, and settling of suspended
sediments released into the water
column as a result of dredging operations.
Suspended sediments are a primary
concern for resource agencies, as
elevated suspended sediment concentrations
have a negative impact on aquatic
organisms. Likewise, re-deposition
of suspended sediments can be harmful
to sensitive bottom-dwelling organisms
(e.g., oysters or sea grasses) that
are present in the vicinity of a
dredging project. The effects on
aquatic organisms are related to
both the concentration and duration
of the organisms’ exposure
to these concentrations.
The SSFATE system consists
of a map-based user interface and Geographic
Information System (GIS) similar to other
ASA software, an underlying particle transport
model, and animation and viewing tools.
The user interface and GIS system allow
the user to describe the physical environment
for the model application, describe the
location, timing and localized sediment
distribution of dredging operations, simulate
the advection of these sediments, and visualize
the resultant in-water movement and on-bottom
deposition of these sediments and the affected
biology.
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Sample output
from SSFATE using HydroMap currents. |
SSFATE was developed to provide ERDC with
a modeling tool that can be easily customized
to simulate a broad spectrum of dredging
scenarios, accommodating essentially any
hydrodynamic setting and most typical dredge
plants. SSFATE is fully compatible with
ASA's widely used oil spill model, OILMAP;
water quality model, WQMAP; and mild slope
equation wave model, WAVEMAP. ASA’s
globally re-locatable hydrodynamic model,
HYDROMAP, generates reliable predictive
current data quickly for any area that can
easily be linked to SSFATE.
An extension of SSFATE to account for biological
responses to sediments in the water column
and deposited on the bottom is now under
testing. A calibration effort will be undertaken
this fall in the Providence River, in concert
with federal and local environmental agencies.
ASA at ECM7
The 7th International Conference on Estuarine
and Coastal Modeling (ECM7) was held 5-7
November 2001 at the Tradewinds Sirata Beach
Resort Hotel, St. Pete Beach, Florida. The
focus of the conference was on the application
of numerical models to solve engineering
and environmental assessment problems. A
total of 107 papers were presented in 28
breakout sessions during the conference.
The presentation topics covered the development,
testing, application, calibration, and verification
of hydrodynamic, sediment transport, water
quality, and wave models and forecast/nowcast
systems for estuarine and coastal waters.
The ECM7 Conference had an attendance of
151, including 50 participants from 12 foreign
countries, and ASA was well represented.
Malcolm Spaulding continued to serve
as conference co-chair, as he has since
its inception in 1989. He also was session
moderator for the Innovative Computational
Techniques session and presented An Integrated
System for Real-Time Observation, Modeling
and Data Distribution for Shelf, Coastal
Sea and Estuarine Waters, co-authored by
Thomas Opishinski, University of Rhode Island.
Craig Swanson was session moderator
for the Hydrodynamic Modeling of the Coastal
Ocean session and presented Linking Landside
Nutrient Loading and Water Quality Models:
Application to Nantucket Waters.
Daniel Mendelsohn was session moderator
for the Water Quality Modeling of Estuaries
session and presented two papers: Development
of a Water Quality Model for Northeast Estuarine
Systems: Calibration and Verification using
an Experimental Eutrophication Study, co-authored
by Deborah French, Tatsusaburo
Isaji and Aimee Keller (University of
Rhode Island), and A Simplified Model for
Marsh Inundation Modeling in Hydrodynamic
and Water Quality Models with Application
to Savannah River Estuary (GA) and Cooper
River Estuary (SC), co-authored by Eduardo
Yassuda (ASATM Brazil) and Steve Peene
(TetraTech).
Matthew Ward was moderator for the
Water Quality of Modeling of Estuaries session
and presented A Nowcast/Forecast System
of Circulation Dynamics for Narragansett
Bay, co-authored by Malcolm Spaulding.
Tatsusaburo Isaji presented A Stepwise-Continuous-Variable-Rectangular
Grid, co-authored by Eric Anderson,
Eoin Howlett and Colleen Dalton.
Hyun-Sook Kim presented A Model Application
to Double Flood Phenomena in Shallower Waters,
co-authored by Craig Swanson.
S. Sankaranarayanan presented Effect
of Grid Non-Orthogonality on the Solutions
of Shallow Water Equations using Boundary-Fitted
Grids.
Conference papers are currently in peer
review and a conference proceeding will
be distributed to the participants in late
Spring 2002. The proceedings will also be
available for purchase from the American
Society of Civil Engineers. Planning is
currently in progress for ECM8, which will
be held in October or November 2003.
CHEMMAP Atmospheric Model
In the event of a chemical release,
what are the possible impacts on
human beings? This is the first
question that teams responding to
a chemical spill ask themselves.
ASA’s three-dimensional chemical
discharge model, CHEMMAP, can help
responders answer this question.
CHEMMAP predicts the trajectory,
fate and biological effects for
wide variety of chemical substances,
including floating, sinking, soluble
and insoluble chemicals and product
mixtures. CHEMMAP’s atmospheric
dispersion model calculates the
concentration of chemical in the
atmosphere with time at various
heights. It also calculates average
exposure concentrations for the
affected region that can be compared
to human health criteria to determine
any potential risk to humans. CHEMMAP’s
atmospheric model can be used in
conjunction with the 3-D trajectory
and fates model for water, or on
its own for both water and land
releases.
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CHEMMAP contains ASA’s embedded Geographic
Information System (GIS) and a spill model
that predicts the movement of chemicals
on the water surface and the distribution
of chemicals in the surrounding environment.
The spill model relies on environmental
data such as wind and currents, physical
data such as the proximity of shorelines,
and chemical data. The extensive chemical
database contained within CHEMMAP provides
physical, chemical, toxicity and human health
data for over 900 chemicals. Recently CHEMMAP
has also incorporated data from ChemWatch,
which provides the CHEMMAP user with access
to ChemWatch’s large database of Material
Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for more than
40,000 pure substances and 75,000 common
mixtures.
Vertical Analyst
Vertical Analyst is a new extension
for ArcView developed by ASA and
Science and Technology of Japan.
This visualization tool allows users
to examine the 3-D nature of various
water bodies (rivers, lakes and
oceans) within seconds for anywhere
in the world. The user imports measured
profiled data such as temperature,
density, and salinity as a function
of depth and then selects sites
of interest using the mouse. An
interpolation routine creates a
cross section of the selected sites.
Vertical Analyst is available in
both English and Japanese.
The Japanese version of the Vertical
Analyst shows a vertical temperature
profile.
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Personnel News
Craig Swanson represented ASA, one
of the founding corporate partners, at the
Kickoff Meeting for the Rhode Island Corporate
Wetlands Restoration Partnership held in
Providence on 22 October. This partnership
among public and private sector organizations
is dedicated to the restoration of degraded
wetlands around the state. ASA will contribute
staff resources to help in the analysis
of alternatives to increase circulation
and flushing in these ecologically important
areas.
The week of October 22, Deborah French
McCay, Chris Galagan and Nicole
Whittier provided Minerals Management
Service (New Orleans and Headquarters) staff
with training on ASA’s two spill models:
SIMAP for oil and CHEMMAP of chemicals.
MMS worked with oil and chemical fates and
effects models in hindcast and probabilistic
mode. Database tools, including importing
GIS data, were also described during the
training. Thus, it was a busy week for all
involved!
On 6-8 November, Deborah French
McCay, assisted by Eduardo
Yassuda, provided technical
training on ASA’s oil spill
impact model SIMAP to Petrobras
scientists in Rio de Janeiro. Petrobras,
assisted by ASA, will develop databases
covering Guanabara Bay for input
to the model and enable Petrobras
scientists to evaluate impacts of
real and hypothetical spills. The
photo shows (left to right) Maria
de Fatima Guadalupe Meniconi, Talita
de Azevedo Aguiaro Pereira, Deborah
French McCay, Cristina Bentz, and
Eduardo Yassuda unwinding after
the course.
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On 13 November, Deborah
French McCay presented a paper entitled:
“Probabilistic Modeling to Evaluate
Ecological Consequences of Chemical Spills
in the Gulf of Mexico” at the 22nd
Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology
and Chemistry (SETAC). This analysis was
performed with ASA’s chemical spill
model CHEMMAP.
Nicole Whittier and Colleen Dalton
attended the EPA Chemical Emergency Preparedness
and Prevention Conference held in Baltimore
on 10 - 12 December. They demonstrated CHEMMAP
as a response and contingency planning tool
for both marine and land-based chemical
releases.
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Colleen Dalton and Roddy
Thomas delivered and provided
training on the latest version of
OILMAP to the Isle of Man Coast
Guard, 28-29 November. Working closely
with the UK mainland, the Isle of
Man Coast Guard is responsible for
oil spills in their waters. They
use OILMAP and its British Admiralty
Raster Charts viewing capabilities
for their response and contingency
planning.
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New Faces
ASA
is pleased to welcome several new faces
to our offices in Rhode Island and Brasil.
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Jill Jennings
joined ASA as a Scientist in December
2001. Originally from Michigan, Jill
received her Masters of Science in
Marine Biology from the University
of Charleston in Charleston, South
Carolina in November 2001, and her
Bachelor of Arts from DePauw University
in Greencastle, Indiana in May 1996.
Her Master’s thesis was on the
abundance, biomass and diversity of
fishes on the continental shelf and
upper slope of the southeastern Atlantic
coast of the US, and included analyzing
thirty years of fishery-independent
data using GIS and statistics. She
will primarily be working with Debbie
French McCay on the biological aspects
of SIMAP, and has begun reviewing
bird restoration/scaling procedures
to be applied to San Francisco Bay. |
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Holly Palaia
is ASA’s new office manager.
Holly comes to us from Otis Elevator
Co. of Providence, Rhode Island. She
has recently relocated from Bristol,
CT to the village of Wickford, RI,
fulfilling a longtime dream of living
by the ocean. |
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In addition to Eduardo
Yassuda, the ASATM Brasil Team has
five new members (2 Ph.D’s, 1
Ph.D Candidate, and 2 M.Sc.’s,
all in the field of Oceanography and
Coastal & Oceanographic Engineering).
From left to right in the photo: José
Edson Pereira, Leandro Calado, Marco
Antonio Correa, Hemerson Tonin, and
Eduardo. Not shown is Andrea Gallo
Xavier, who is working in Rio de Janeiro,
where she is also finishing her Ph.D.
at the COPPE/UFRJ University. |
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