A mathematical model to simulate hourly water temperature and salinity
of a well-mixed marine aquaculture pond has been developed. Energy ex
changes between the pond's surface and atmosphere are calculated with
theoretical and empirical relationships. Water exchange is considered
significant and is included in the model. The model can predict water
temperature accurately and salinity reasonably well for a period of on
e month. Water exchange causes significant heat change, but the inflow
and outflow heat approximately cancel out, so the net effect of water
exchange on pond temperature is not significant. Water exchange is do
minant in causing variations in pond salinity. Sensitivity analysis sh
ows that cloud cover and relative humidity affect water temperature si
gnificantly. PEST, a parameter estimation model, has proved useful in
providing best estimations of parameters that quantify simultaneous pr
ocesses. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.