Ma Ronghua

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Ma
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Ronghua
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  • Article
    Impact of multichannel river network on the plume dynamics in the Pearl River estuary
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2015-08-21) Lai, Zhigang ; Ma, Ronghua ; Gao, Guangyin ; Chen, Changsheng ; Beardsley, Robert C.
    Impacts of the multichannel river network on plume dynamics in the Pearl River estuary were examined using a high-resolution 3-D circulation model. The results showed that during the dry season the plume was a distinct feature along the western coast of the estuary. The plume was defined as three water masses: (a) riverine water (<5 psu), (b) estuarine water (12–20 psu), and (c) diluted water (>22 psu), respectively. A significant amount of low-salinity water from Hengmen and Hongqimen was transported through a narrow channel between the QiAo Island and the mainland of the Pearl River delta during the ebb tide and formed a local salinity-gradient feature (hereafter referred to as a discharge plume). This discharge plume was a typical small-scale river plume with a Kelvin number K = 0.24 and a strong frontal boundary on its offshore side. With evidence of a significant impact on the distribution and variability of the salinity and flow over the West Shoal, this plume was thought to be a major feature of the Pearl River plume during the dry season. The upstream multichannel river network not only were the freshwater discharge sources but also played a role in establishing an estuarine-scale subtidal pressure gradient. This pressure gradient was one of the key dynamical processes controlling the water exchange between discharge and river plumes in the Pearl River estuary. This study clearly showed the role of the river network and estuary interaction on river plume dynamics.
  • Article
    Downwelling wind, tides, and estuarine plume dynamics
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2016-06-24) Lai, Zhigang ; Ma, Ronghua ; Huang, Mingfen ; Chen, Changsheng ; Chen, Yong ; Xie, Congbin ; Beardsley, Robert C.
    The estuarine plume dynamics under a downwelling-favorable wind condition were examined in the windy dry season of the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) using the PRE primitive-equation Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM). The wind and tide-driven estuarine circulation had a significant influence on the plume dynamics on both local and remote scales. Specifically, the local effect of downwelling-favorable winds on the plume was similar to the theoretical descriptions of coastal plumes, narrowing the plume width, and setting up a vertically uniform downstream current at the plume edge. Tides tended to reduce these plume responses through local turbulent mixing and advection from upstream regions, resulting in an adjustment of the isohalines in the plume and a weakening of the vertically uniform downstream current. The remote effect of downwelling-favorable winds on the plume was due to the wind-induced estuarine sea surface height (SSH), which strengthened the estuarine circulation and enhanced the plume transport accordingly. Associated with these processes, tide-induced mixing tended to weaken the SSH gradient and thus the estuarine circulation over a remote influence scale. Overall, the typical features of downwelling-favorable wind-driven estuarine plumes revealed in this study enhanced our understanding of the estuarine plume dynamics under downwelling-favorable wind conditions.