U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Bay Model(en.wikipedia.org) |
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Bay Model(en.wikipedia.org) |
Simulation used to be essentially impossible, something one dreamed of, or had to pay for time on a Cray or similar supercomputer/cluster.
Apparently, the Chesapeake Bay model was built just as that was becoming feasible:
https://easternshorebrent.com/2017/11/30/doomed-progress-the...
and has since been dismantled and a business park built on the site.
So, It’s neat to see something competent! Imagine if they modeled what cutting off the natural draining to the Everglades would do :p
More specifically, tidal flow obeys Froude similarity, not Reynolds. Matching the model's Froude number to the real Bay's requires enough depth for gravity waves and tides to scale correctly, which the vertical exaggeration provides.
But the distortion makes the flow too efficient, so copper strips are added throughout to achieve the right frictional resistance.
When I saw a demo, they had an easter egg of a Loch-Ness type monster in it.
There's also a topographical map of the harbour at St Ives showground but it's purely non-hydrographical. But it's almost disappeared now through neglect.