Modeling the thermal dynamics of Mediterranean reservoirs. Amadorio Reservoir application case (Alacant, Spain)

Abstract

Water quality in lakes and reservoirs is influenced by several physical, chemical and biologicalprocesses. Among them, the thermal stratification cycle is one of the most influential factors.Increased water temperature leads to less solubility of oxygen and an increase in microbialactivity. Therefore, modeling is highly important to the study of water quality in lake andreservoirs. This study presents the use of the DYRESM hydrodynamic reservoir model tosimulate the thermal structure of the Amadorio reservoir during a six-year period. TheAmadorio reservoir is a typical Mediterranean reservoir with high summer releases. Thecalibration and sensitivity analyses developed demonstrate the importance of the method tocalculate cloud cover and the extinction coefficient in the results of the model. Otherwise, inthis case and considering what is usual, wind velocity is not one of the determinant factors.Finally it is demonstrated that turbulence processes generated by high summer releases leadto hypolimnion temperatures, which are difficult to model using this tool.