Pre-operational forecasting of sea level height for the Rio de la Plata

Abstract This paper presents the implementation and calibration of a pre-operational numerical model for the Rio de la Plata river. This model is capable of predicting sea level variations in the Rio de la Plata, and therefore constitutes a numerical tool of great value for the fluvial–maritime navigation and regional environmental management. A two-dimensional model (MOHID) with nested domains was used to simulate the hydrodynamics. This model was forced with a meso-scale atmospheric model (WRF) and a global tidal model (FES2004). The results obtained include astronomic and meteorological sea level variations in the Rio de la Plata. Comparisons of modeled water levels with data have shown very good qualitative and quantitative agreement. The pre-operational test presented in this paper, a 4-day hydrodynamic forecast, was conducted in approximately 18 h.