Impact of the improvement project of Deep-Water Channel on flow field of the Yangtze Estuary

A two-dimensional numerical model was created to simulate the flow field at the Yangtze estuary.Through the verification of real-surveyed water level and current velocity data in March and September of 2002,it was found that the result from the numerical model fits the real-surveyed data.The numerical model was used to calculate the flow field of the Yangtze estuary before and after the project construction.Results show that the project only makes larger effect on part of Yangtze estuary flow field.Comparing and analyzing the changes of water level and velocity at different observation posts,it shows that the project has bigger impact on current velocity than on water level.The influence of the project focuses on the water area such as the northern channel and the construction site.However,the impact has less on the flow field at the upper stream of Yangtze estuary and further area.