Modeling and simulations of pollutants dispersion in the Lagoa dos Patos

Abstract

The survival of life on planet Earth depends on essential natural resources, such as water. The growth of industrialization and urbanization has had a major impact on ecosystems and biodiversity, which, like people, need water bodies. This article presents a study on the dispersion of pollutants in aquatic environments, using mathematical modeling and computer simulations. The model used was built based on the diffusion-advection equation, an equation that deals with both the movement and dispersion of the pollutant. The numerical solutions were obtained via computational implementation of the finite difference method, in Python language. To apply the proposed model, Lagoa dos Patos, the largest lagoon in Brazil, located in the southern region of the country, was chosen as the domain. The simulations presented in this work mainly sought to explore different situations and, for this, some scenarios were created, considering different values for the diffusion coefficient and wind regime. The results allow us to observe how the pollutant behaves in the lagoon, explaining its movement, dispersion and concentration rate over time. Once results like these are obtained, it becomes possible to develop strategies to contain and clean the pollutant, contributing to minimizing damage caused to the aquatic environment.