The measurement of modern sedimentation in estuarine environments in New Zealand

Abstract

Concern about coastal sedimentation in New Zealand is widespread. As a result, many regional councils now undertake monitoring programmes to understand the rate of change that is occurring within estuarine environments. A variety of techniques are used to understand estuarine infill from short-term (fixed rods, marker layers, laser surveying) to long-term studies (coring). Short-term studies provide detailed but temporally restricted data sets, while coring studies provide long-term generalised data. This paper reviews the common methods used within New Zealand and suggests that a combination of both methods is the ideal for understanding sediment infill.

Guidance on Setup, Calibration, and Validation of Hydrodynamic, Wave, and Sediment Models for Shelf Seas and Estuaries

“…ese data can be used to determine net sediment budgets and transport pathways and assist model calibration (e.g., [103,104]). Repeat subtidal bathymetric surveys can provide valuable information on bedform mobility from which net sediment responses can be determined (e.g., [105]). At the scale of estuaries, Mason et al [77] illustrate how areas and volumes of sediment accretion and erosion can be estimated using the waterline method employing remote sensing and hydrodynamic modelling.…”