A comprehensive multi-year field campaign, the North Passage Channel Measurements (NP-ChaM), was designed and executed to enhance our understanding of the hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics in the North Passage, the primary navigation channel of the Changjiang Estuary, China. The NP-ChaM campaign comprised eight observational sites and spanned 50 d, distributed over 4 years, including two dry seasons and two wet seasons. A series of tripod systems, equipped with multiple instruments, were deployed on the seabed to monitor near-bed physical processes reliably.

The resulting dataset comprises the following: (i) fluid motions, encompassing pressure, flow velocity and direction (at the bottom and throughout the entire water column), and wave patterns; (ii) near-bed environmental conditions, including temperature, salinity, and turbidity (at the bottom and across a near-bed 1-meter range); (iii) supplementary meteorological data sourced from credible providers; and (iv) preliminary results from post-processing, showcasing the practical application of the data, such as lateral flows and turbulent kinetic energy characterizations.

This dataset is especially valuable due to its extensive temporal and spatial coverage, as well as the high concentrations characterizing many of the observations (from several grams per liter to tens of grams per liter). Conducted annually from 2015 to 2018, the NP-ChaM campaign facilitated detailed observations of seasonal variations in environmental conditions and associated physical processes. The eight observational sites, positioned on either side of the deep channel, enable quantifications of channel–shoal exchanges, along-channel flow dynamics, and saltwater intrusion. This dataset is suitable for advancing our understanding of along-channel and cross-channel dynamics in a channel–shoal system and for calibrating numerical models. The dataset has undergone rigorous quality control to ensure reliability and accuracy.@en

Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) are increasingly being used in various scientific disciplines. However, dealing with non-stationary physical processes remains a significant challenge in such models, whereas fluid motions are typically non-stationary. In this study, a PINN-based method was designed and optimized to solve non-stationary fluid dynamics with shallow water equations in a polar coordinate system (PINN-SWEP). It was developed and validated with a classic circular basin case that is well-documented in scientific literature. In the validation case, the wind-induced water surface fluctuations are less than 1 cm, posing challenges in modeling. However, our PINN-SWEP model can accurately simulate such tiny water surface fluctuations and resolve complex fluid motions based on limited and sparse data. A boundary discontinuity problem associated with the use of a polar coordinate system is further discussed and improved, thereby enhancing the applicability of PINN in water research. The methodology can provide an alternative solution for numerical or analytical solutions with high accuracy.

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Existing knowledge about groyne-induced effects is primarily based on riverine or coastal environments where salinity gradients are absent or limited. However, in estuaries, salinity gradients drive physical processes such as longitudinal and lateral residual flows. The effect of groynes is much more complex because they can modulate channel hydrodynamics and directly affect lateral salinity gradients. In this study, an idealized model is applied to investigate the effects of groyne layouts in estuarine environments, including effects on (1) channel hydrodynamics, (2) lateral water exchange, (3) Coriolis effects, and (4) saltwater intrusion. Model results show that the aspect ratio (the width of groyne fields to the length of groynes) of groyne fields plays an important role. Groynes also induce asymmetry of lateral flows, for example, increasing near-bottom shoal-to-channel flows during low water slack. The aspect ratio has opposite effects on horizontal and vertical components of water exchange. A large aspect ratio strengthens horizontal exchange and weakens density-driven currents. For a large-scale groyne field (several kilometers), Coriolis effects introduce a substantial difference in exchange mechanisms along the north and south banks. A medium range of aspect ratio (2.0-3.0) leads to the strongest saltwater intrusion during both neap and spring tides.

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Intertidal flats are of great socio-economic and ecological importance in defending the coastal cities from flooding, providing resources for land reclamations and habits for wildlife. On the intertidal flats, milder profiles are usually featured with finer sediment. However, we find the opposite relationship between the alongshore variation in intertidal slope and sediment grain size on the intertidal flat along the Jiangsu Coast. With a conceptual figure of the hydrodynamics and shoreline evolution on this coast, we hypothesize that the unexpected pattern is caused by the alongshore gradient in hydrodynamic forcing. In order to test our hypothesis, we carry out a series of numerical model simulations in a highly schematized manner to investigate the real mechanism behind this unexpected pattern. Through the analysis, we find that only the southwards coarsening pattern is inconsistent with the shoreline evolution pattern. This inconsistency is not induced by alongshore hydrodynamic gradient, and can only be explained by different sediment provenances. We also find that the alongshore shoreline evolution pattern is not only determined by the alongshore gradient in hydrodynamic forcing, but also influenced by the alongshore variation in bed composition. In the erosion/sedimentation transition zone, the bed composition factor plays the major role.@en

Lateral flows redistribute sediment and influence the morphodynamics of channel-shoal systems. However, our understanding of lateral transport of suspended sediment during high and low water slack is still fairly limited, especially in engineered estuaries. Human interventions such as dike-groyne structures influence lateral exchange mechanisms. The present study aims to unravel these mechanisms in a heavily engineered, turbid channel-shoal system in the Changjiang Estuary, using a high-resolution unstructured-grid three-dimensional model and in situ observations. Analysis of model results reveals two typical transport patterns during slack-water conditions, that is, shoal-to-channel transport during low water slack and channel-to-shoal transport during high water slack. A momentum balance analysis is carried out to explain mechanisms driving the lateral transport of suspended sediment during high water slack, revealing the importance of lateral pressure gradients, Coriolis force, and the curvature-induced term. Groyne fields play a crucial role in sediment transport, especially during low water slack. A model scenario in which one groyne is removed reveals that groyne fields strongly influence lateral sediment transport. The decomposition of the sediment transport flux reveals that the turbidity maximum is shaped by a balance between seaward advection by residual flows, and landward transport by tidal pumping and gravitational circulation. Within the turbidity maximum, sediment is laterally redistributed by lateral flows during slack-water conditions, greatly influencing estuarine channel morphology.

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Tidal flats play an important role in promoting coastal biodiversity, defense against flooding, land reclamation and recreation. Many coastal tidal flats, especially the tide-dominant ones, are muddy. However, the number of studies on the profile shape and surficial sediment distribution of muddy tidal flats is small compared to sandy beaches. Based on high spatial-resolution measurements along the tide-dominant Jiangsu Coast, China, we analyzed the morphology and sediment characteristics of the unvegetated intertidal flats along the Jiangsu Coast. The Jiangsu Coast can be divided into an eroding northern part (north coast) and an accreting southern part (south coast). The beach slope of the north coast shows a southward flattening trend, apart from some outliers related to rocky parts of the coastline. We found alternating very fine and coarse sediment (depending on the local clay content) for different locations along the north coast, which can be explained from consolidation and armoring-induced erosion resistance. In the south coast, we found gradual coarsening of bed surface sediment and gradual flattening of beach slopes to the south. This seemingly unexpected pattern is explained by the flood-dominant current causing landward sediment transport, larger tidal range in the south part, sheltering effect of the Radial Sand Ridges, and contribution of different sediment sources, viz. the Abandoned Yellow River Delta and the Radial Sand Ridges. In the cross-shore direction, the sediment grain size decreases landward. Waves are only of secondary importance for the sediment dynamics at the unvegetated tidal flats along the Jiangsu Coast.@en