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Stamou, A.I., Memos, C. and Spanoudaki, K., 2007. Estimating water renewal time in semi-enclosed coastal areas of complicated geometry using a hydrodynamic model. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 50 (Proceedings of the 9th International Coastal Symposium), 282 – 286. Gold Coast, Australia, ISSN 0749.0208 A methodology is presented to determine water renewal time in semi-enclosed coastal areas with artificial peninsulas or islands of complicated geometry. The methodology is applied in Durrat Alkhobar development in Saudi Arabia. The coastal area consists of the inner and the outer region. The inner region will be dredged and a fingerlike alignment will emerge. A hydrodynamic model was applied to illustrate the future conditions of the Bay regarding water circulation and renewal due to wind and tidal forcing. The model employs the fundamental hydrodynamic equations of continuity and momentum. The inner region of the coastal area was divided into 21 compartments. The communication of the inner region with the outer region is performed via two openings. Calculations showed that average renewal times ranged from 2.3 to 10.1 days for the wind conditions tested; in 12 compartments renewal times were less than 10 days. Furthermore, tide contributed significantly to the renewal of waters. Renewal time decreased with increasing wind velocity; southerly winds were beneficial for water renewal, because they created flow fields with relatively high exchange of flow via the openings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hydrodynamic model was applied to calculate the flow field and the renewal time in Salman Bay, a semi-enclosed coastal water body of particular environmental significance in the region of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Initially the model was calibrated with field data. It was then applied to assess the effect of a series of engineering modifications of Salman Bay, involving enlarging of the cross-section of a link channel to the Red Sea, dredging of the bay, and reclamation of islands inside the bay, on the flow characteristics and the renewal of waters. Calculations showed that the channel upgrading would significantly improve the renewal of the bay waters. For tidal calculations the renewal time was reduced from 48$6 days to 12$7 days, whereas for a wind-driven regime it was reduced from extremely large values to 13-34 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]