Understanding pollutant transport in estuaries and coastal rivers (ARC Discovery Project administered by the Queensland University of Technology) (2019-2022)

This Project aims to investigate water quality of estuaries and coastal rivers under pressure from urban growth by advancing pollutant transport modelling. The Project expects to generate a new capability for quantitative particle concentration predictions through detection and innovative analysis of Lagrangian Coherent Structures. The expected outcome of the Project is a new particle transport modelling framework and algorithms for shallow water systems that effectively exploits extensive datasets becoming available from GPS-enabled drifters. This should provide significant benefits such as reliable assessment of possible effects of catchment and waterway changes on pollutant and sediment concentration which can impact waterway health.