• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.13-29
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• 2021

A 3-D hydrodynamic model is applied in the Han River Estuary system, Gyeonggi Bay, to understand the mechanisms of salt transport. The model run is conducted for 245 days (January 20 to September 20, 2020), including dry and wet seasons. The reproducibility of the model about variation of current velocity and salinity is validated by comparing model results with observation data. The salt transport (FS) is calculated for the northern and southern part of Yeomha channel where salt exchange is active. To analyze the mechanisms of salt transport, FS is decomposed into three components, i.e. advective salt transport derived from river flow (QfS0), diffusive salt transport due to lateral and vertical shear velocity (FE), and tidal oscillatory salt transport due to phase lag between current velocity and salinity (FT). According to the monthly average salt transport, the salt in both dry and wet seasons enters through the southern channel of Ganghwa-do by FT. On the other hand, the salt exits through the eastern channel of Yeongjong-do by QfS0. The salt at Han River Estuary enters towards the upper Han River by FT in dry season, whereas that exits to the open sea by QfS0 in wet season. As a result, mechanisms of salt transport in the Han River Estuary depend on the interaction between QfS0 causing transport to open sea and FT causing transport to the upper Han River.