Coupling watersheds, estuaries and regional ocean through numerical modelling for Western Iberia: a novel methodology

An original methodology for integrating the water cycle from the rain water to the open ocean by numerical models was set up using an offline coupling technique. The different components of the water continuum, including watersheds, estuaries and ocean, for Western Iberia were reproduced using numerical components of the MOHID Water Modelling System (http://www.mohid.com). This set of models, when combined through this novel methodology, is able to fill information gaps, and to include, in a realistic mode, the fresh water inputs in terms of volume and composition, into a regional ocean model. The designed methodology is illustrated using the Tagus River, estuary and its region of fresh water influence as case study, and its performance is evaluated by means of river flow and salinity observations.