Sediment transport models for estuaries

This paper is a review of numerical models for studying sediment transport with special emphasis on the applicability of methods to estuarine conditions. The main features of estuaries are the wide range of sediments present, the absence of erodible material in some places, a combination of unsteady and nonuniform flow and lateral as well as longitudinal variations in the flow and suspended solids concentrations. Saline stratification can also be present. Not surprisingly no single model has so far been presented to simulate all the estuarine sediment processes but many models are described which can be used to study certain aspects. The models are separated into potential load models primarily geared to studying bed load transport, suspended sand models and suspended mud models. The review covers the most significant papers published in recent years, supplemented by some case studies of projects carried out in the Hydraulics Research Station, Wallingford