Composing decompositions: Capturing estuarine salt transport using models of data and data of models

Summary

Estuaries are the transition zones between the ocean and rivers. Salt intrusion, the inland movement of saltwater in estuaries, is influenced by natural processes, human interventions, and climate change, For effective policy-making, e.g. to ensure the future availability of fresh drinking water, the phenomenon of salt intrusion requires a better understanding on the more scientific level. This dissertation uses "salt transport" as a interpretative framework, focusing on and formalizing two main notions: empirical (based on observations in the field) and physical-mechanistic (based on idealized models) salt transport analyses. These viewpoints share a common core: Some form of a decomposition of the salt budget in an estuary.