Application of an explicit upstream FEM in estuary study

The Explicit Upstream FEM (EU-FEM) proposed in this paper not only possesse s the advantages of saving memory and CPU time for FDM, but also fits bound ary easily, arranges nodal points flexibly and makes local grids fine down conveniently. The software package, which consists of EU-FEM models and pre /post-processing skills, has been widely used to estuary, near-shore, bay, lake and complex waters with many islands and channels. In addition to flow field, this model can be used to calculate the distribution fields of poll utants, temperature, salinity, sediment, and oil spill, and can be used to case study of estuary regulation projects. Some practical applications are presented and some problems discussed.