Morphodynamic modelling for Thuan An inlet, Vietnam

Thuan An is a tidal inlet located in Vietnam in a tropical monsoon area. The inlet is very dynamic and variable under the influences of not only tides and waves from the sea but also flows and floods from upstream rivers. Therefore, morphodynamic behaviour of the inlet is very complicated and not well understood. Studies on inlet are also facing with problems of data insufficient. As an effort to gain more understanding on the tidal inlet behaviour, this paper presents a study of the inlet morphodynamics using a numerical modelling approach with the applications several modelling packages including DELFT3D and SOBEK-RURAL developed by WL|Delft Hydraulics. SOBEK has been used to simulate properly the floods in the rivers and on the floodplain. DELFT3D has been used to simulated hydrodynamics of the coastal waters and morphodynamics of the inlet. From the results of the numerical modelling experiments, some behavioural patterns of the inlet, like migration of the inlet channel, can be explained.