The Rhine-Meuse Delta is a low-lying delta in the Netherlands that is subject to both salt intrusion events and storm surges. Typically, storm surges only temporarily cause increased salt intrusion and do not cause severe problems for freshwater availability. However, during the storm surge of December 2013, salt reached the closed southern branch of the delta and higher salinities were observed for weeks after the storm surge. The purpose of this study is to examine the mechanisms controlling salt intrusion in the Rhine-Meuse Delta during and after a severe storm surge event. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model (Delft3D-FM) of the Rhine-Meuse Delta was developed that successfully reproduces salt intrusion for both normal and storm surge conditions. During the storm, high water levels in the northern branch caused a salt flux toward the southern branch. The southern branch of the Rhine-Meuse Delta is closed off by an estuarine dam, consequently salt was retained landward of the dam. Local stratification in the southern branch caused salt to remain in the deeper parts, limiting the effectiveness of flushing after the storm surge. In the post-storm period, salt was gradually released from the southern branch, raising salinity levels in an adjacent channel. The river discharge was only just below the yearly average, showing prolonged salt intrusion can also occur outside of dry periods.@en

Sea surface currents are of significant importance in various scientific and maritime applications. There are several measurement techniques available to study surface currents, however, they have limitations in spatial coverage and resolution. This study presents a proof-of-concept for a new measurement principle that relies on the difference between a ship's speed relative to water and land. The approach involves estimating the ship speed vector relative to water from optical satellite imagery of Kelvin wakes. This ship speed vector is subtracted from the ship speed over ground, which is determined from Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, to estimate the surface current. A case study in the Strait of Gibraltar was performed using two months of Sentinel-2 imagery, which yielded 81 visible Kelvin wakes over 25 images. Surface currents were estimated in directions parallel and perpendicular to the ship's sailing line for each Kelvin wake. The estimated currents were validated with respect to surface currents derived from High-Frequency Radars (HFRs) and modelled currents from the Copernicus Marine Environmental Monitoring Service (CMEMS). The uncertainty in the two surface current components was estimated using triple collocation. After removing 12 data points with large ship course variability, standard deviations of 0.14 and 0.16 m s⁻¹ were estimated for the surface currents along and across the sailing line, respectively. Despite limitations in measurement frequency due to satellite revisit times, cloud cover and Kelvin wake visibility, this new method can provide accurate estimates of sea surface currents in regions with high vessel density.

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Deltas are home to billions of people and are often highly developed and engineered systems. Extreme weather events such as droughts are a threat to deltas worldwide. During droughts salt can intrude far inland and threaten the drinking, agricultural and industrial water supply of many people. Under climate change the frequency of extreme events is expected to increase and the threat of salt intrusion may intensify. Here we use data and models to explore salt intrusion in the Rhine-Meuse Delta (RMD) during the severe European drought in the summer of 2022. The RMD is one of the most highly managed deltas in the world, with numerous interconnected waterways and an open connection to the sea at the mouth of the Rotterdam Waterway. The outflow of the Rhine River through the Rotterdam Waterway generates the strongly stratified Rhine River plume. Under normal conditions a salt wedge intrudes about 16-18 km inland on every tide. In contrast, under drought conditions in summer 2022, observations show salt intruding over 42 km inland and the Rhine River plume diminished in size. We explore the changes in estuarine dynamics during the drought using velocity, salinity and temperature data from various field campaigns near the mouth of the Rotterdam Waterway and within the delta, together with numerical models. We also compare drought condition observations with data from prior field campaigns during normal discharge conditions. Shifts in the relative strength of the dominant mechanisms of landward salt flux throughout the drought are explored and linked to the changes in estuarine response.@en

Tidal river plumes dominate many shelf seas, transporting freshwater, sediment, nutrients, pollutants and larvae downstream. The Rhine River Plume is one of the largest in Europe, under typical discharge conditions it is dominated by tidal plume fronts in the near to mid-field plume and by tidal straining in the mid- to far field plume. Moreover, in agreement with other tidal river plumes discharging onto the shelf, internal waves generated ahead of tidal plume fronts are an important source of mixing in the river plume. We compare field data collected downstream of the mouth of the Rhine River in 2013 and 2014 under typical discharge conditions, with data collected in the near field plume during 2022 during a major drought. Together with numerical models we explore how extreme variations in freshwater discharge impact both tidal straining and the formation and strength of tidal plume fronts. Furthermore we explore how in turn, this influences the structure and mixing of the near to far-field Rhine River Plume. We use a 3D hydrostatic model of the Rhine River Plume and a potential energy anomaly analysis to explore changes in the mixing. We explore how the river plume adjusts to extremely low discharge conditions and discuss the possible impact on the transport of freshwater, tracers, larvae and fine sediment.@en

We investigate the changes in surface water salinity intrusion lengths for estuaries around the world under influence of climate change. To do this, we make use of information from global data sets on present river geometry and present and predicted future river discharges, mean sea levels and tidal ranges, which we combine with various models for salt intrusion lengths. The used predictions are based on the RCP8.5 climate scenario and we use 2050 as time horizon, with the 10-percentile lowest discharge as representative value used as input in the intrusion length calculations. The salt intrusion models are two parametric descriptions and a semi-analytical model. With this, we calculate absolute and relative changes in salt intrusion length for a selection of estuaries around the world, to eventually scale up the analysis and develop a global map of changes in salt intrusion around the world under influence of climate change. The results so far indicate that many estuaries may be expected to experience a relative increase of salt intrusion length of over 10%. We also investigate which of the changing forcings most strongly affects the intrusion lengths and what type of estuary is most sensitive to changes. For most systems, the changes in river discharge characteristics are the most influential change, exceeding the influence of sea level rise. This study highlights the importance of studying the effect of climate change on estuarine salt intrusion in more detail, both in global analyses as in system specific detailed studies.@en