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Climate Projections of salt-wedge intrusions in a Po river branch (Northern Adriatic Sea)
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  • Giorgia Verri,
  • Sahameddin Mahmoudi Kurdistani,
  • Nadia Pinardi,
  • Giovanni Coppini,
  • Dario Conte
Giorgia Verri
CMCC Foundation

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Sahameddin Mahmoudi Kurdistani
CMCC Foundation
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Nadia Pinardi
University of Bologna
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Giovanni Coppini
CMCC
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Dario Conte
CMCC Foundation
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Abstract

Estuaries are the transitional systems between the riverine freshwaters and the ocean salt water. Increasing salt-wedge intrusions are mentioned as one of the major impacts of climate change in coastal areas. We propose a new methodology to predict salt wedge intrusions with an intermediate complexity model, so-called Estuarine Box Model (EBM), that allows to use hydrology and ocean climate scenarios to predict salt wedge intrusions. We apply this methodology to the Goro branch of the Po river flowing into the Northern Adriatic Sea. A 30 years’ period (1982-2011) is used to train and test the EBM that is then used to project the salt wedge in the (2021-2050) time period under the RCP8.5 emission scenario. The numerical results show that in the (2021-2050) period, the Po di Goro salt wedge intrusion length will increase by 15% on an annual basis (up to 50% in summertime) and the outflowing salinity will increase 9% on annual basis (up to 35% in summer). Finally, a statistical estimation of the extreme values of salt wedge and outflowing salinity shows return periods of 10 years for extremes twice the present mean values. It means that a 16 Km of salt-wedge intrusion, and outgoing salinity about 28 psu are highly expected as an extreme event with 10 years return period