Vegetation effects on radiation-induced natural convection in sloping water bodies.

In this work, vegetation effects on the characteristics of radiation-induced natural convection (isotherms, circulation patterns, exchange flow rate) in sloping water bodies are investigated numerically. The water body consists of (a) a sloping vegetated region (with a bottom slope equal to 0.1) and (b) a deep region with a horizontal bottom. The vegetation of porosity 0.85 (typical of aquatic plants found in lakes) has a length equal to the length of the sloping region. It can block (totally or partially) the radiation and as a result a non-uniform (differential) heating is developed along the free surface of the water body. The Volume-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations together with the Volume-Averaged Energy equation are solved numerically in the vegetated region. The radiation-induced natural convection in a water body with only a sloping region (with no vegetation) is also considered for validation purposes since numerical and scaling analysis results are available in literature. The results indicate significant vegetation effects on the thermal and flow patterns especially for vegetation which blocks completely surface heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]