Calibration of a 2D Hydrodynamic Model in Paranaguá Estuarine Complex Considering Tide Generated by HYCOM Model

The Paranaguá Estuarine Complex, located in Paraná State (Southern Brazil), is highly important for the economy of this region – due to fishing, industry, and tourism developed in the region, as well as by the fact that two harbors (Antonina and Paranaguá) are located in this estuarine complex. Therefore, knowledge of the circulation is important for all the activities of this region and also for environmental purposes, such as water quality control and monitoring of climate change effects. The calibration of hydrodynamic models depends on the correct definition of the boundary conditions – in the case of coastal waters, the correct definition of the tides forced by astronomical and meteorological effects. In this work, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model is calibrated considering both astronomical and meteorological tides. One of the objectives of the HYCOM (HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model) model is the provision of boundary conditions for coastal and regional models – then, for the meteorological tide, HYCOM estimates are used. For the astronomical tide, eleven harmonic constants are used to calculate tidal elevations. Measurements of river inflow are used for the definition of river boundary conditions. Meteorological forcing is taken from the Weather Research and Forecasting System (WRF model), which is a mesoscale numerical weather prediction system, designed for both atmospheric research and operational forecasting applications. In this model, the horizontal spatial resolution is 7,5 km and temporal resolution is 1 hour. The Paranaguá Estuarine Complex is weakly stratified, therefore, a two-dimensional (2DH) model is used to simulate the hydrodynamics of this region. The model used is SisBaHia, (in Portuguese: Sistema Base de Hidrodinâmica Ambiental), developed by the Costal and Oceanographic Engineering area of the Oceanic Engineering Program, at COPPE/UFRJ, in Brazil. SisBaHia is a system of models in finite elements to simulate hydrodynamics and transport processes in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, estuaries, bays and coastal waters. The calibrated model results are compared with data measured in the Paranaguá Estuarine Complex, and the use of HYCOM data to define the coastal boundary condition is assessed.