2-D MODELING PROCEDURES FOR ICE COVER THERMAL DECAY

The computational procedures of a two-dimensional numerical model for ice cover thermal decay are presented. Applications to side discharge thermal effluents are used to test the model capability of evaluating and predicting the extent of ice cover melting under varying hydrodynamic and thermal conditions. The theoretical formulation of the model is based on the application of the heat conservation law where thermal exchanges between the river, ice cover, and the atmosphere are accounted for. The 2-D time-dependent shallow water equations govern the river flow hydrodynamics, while the heat transport process is simulated using the unsteady 2-D energy equation. In order to properly account for the effects of river flow on the melting process, mass, momentum and heat conservation laws are fully coupled. The two-dimensional character of the equations is required by the nature of the physical phenoman involved in ice cover melting and thermal decay.