THE HUMBER OBSERVATORY - MONITORING, MODELING AND MANAGEMENT FOR THE COASTAL ENVIRONMENT

The Humber Observatory consists of VHF receiving stations, and control and analysis computers located within the University which interrogat e one hundred sensors located in, around and off the Humber Estuary on the east coast of England. The sensors include a standard meteorologi cal station, tide gauges, oceanographic instruments and a ''flux curta in'' deployed on navigational marks across the mouth of the estuary me asuring tidal flows, sediment fluxes and some water chemistry paramete rs. Sensors are sampled at hourly intervals and up to 256 measurements are logged on each instrument during each sampling. Preliminary flux calculations suggest that Neap and Spring tides transport 0.8 and 1.6 km(3) of water on the flood and 0.9 and 1.6 km(3) of water on the ebb respctively and that the corresponding figures for suspended sediment transports are 80, 160, 90 and 160 x 10(6) kg respectively.