Aspects of water quality and transport modelling in the Oder Estuary (Southern Baltic Sea): background, strategy and example

Various types of utilization, conflicting interests and environmental problems call for coastal water management as part of an integrated coastal zone management. This is especially necessary for the Oder (Odra) estuary at the German/Polish border. The river Oder causes severe, ongoing and large scale eutrophication, which limits the ecological and economic value of its adjacent coastal ecosystems. Simulation models are an important tool with which to tackle these practical problems and support management. We present a general concept of a decision support system with an integration of sub-models. Two types of models for long-term water quality forecasts and scenario simulations, as well as short-term prediction of water pollution are available at present. Spatial human-pathogenic virus transport and decay simulations are used as an example to demonstrate their practical use.