Simultaneous solution for water, heat and salt balances in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Mar Menor, Spain)

A modelling approach is proposed to evaluate the environmental dynamics of coastal lagoons. The water, heat and salt balances are addressed simultaneously, providing a better estimation of evaporation and water exchanges. Compared to traditional approaches, the model presented accounts for the effects of water salinity, heat storage and net energy advected in the water body. The model was applied daily to the Mar Menor coastal lagoon (SE Spain) from 2003 through 2006. Water exchanges with the Mediterranean Sea were estimated based on the monthly trend of the lagoon salinity and were correlated with monthly averages of wind speed. The mean daily water exchange with the sea was 1.77 hm3 d?1 . This exchange accounted for only 1% of the heat losses in the lagoon heat balance, and it is the most important flow in the water balance. The mean annual evaporation flux amounted to 101.3 W m?2 (3.55 mm d?1 ), while the sensible heat flux amounted to 19.7 W m?2 , leading to an annual Bowen ratio on the order of 0.19. To validate the model, daily water temperatures were predicted based on the daily heat balance of the water body and were compared with remote sensing data from water surface standard products.

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Martínez ÁlvarezV. Gallego Elvira b. Maestre Valero J.F. y Tanguy M. Simultaneous solution for water heat and salt balances in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Mar Menor Spain). Elsevier B.V., 2010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2010.10.030

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Resource type Article
Date of creation 2024-11-05
Date of last revision 2024-11-05
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Metadata identifier cfb1bfcc-0c4f-5d94-bfda-2f6d8629e637
Metadata language Spanish
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High-value dataset category Earth observation and environment
ISO 19115 topic category biota
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Name of the dataset creator Martínez Álvarez,V., Gallego Elvira, b., Maestre Valero, J.F. y Tanguy, M.
Name of the dataset editor Elsevier B.V.
Other identifier DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2010.10.030
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Email of the dataset creator victoriano.martinez@upct.es
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