Hydro-meteorological processes driving solute transport in Lake Victoria

Abstract

This study explores by a vertically integrated tracer transport model, hydro-meteorological event characteristics and their influence on solute transport. Changes in Hydro-meteorological processes and increasing frequency of extreme weather events are responsible for changing the lake water balance, influencing streamflow variations, and lake tracer transport. We compare historical data over a long time with model data from a vertically integrated model in COMSOL Multiphysics. We consider water balance, sources of data uncertainty, correlations, extreme rain and inflow years, and seasonal variations. The lake transport model has estimated soluble loading and transportation. The results showed there are strong correlations between tributary inflows and precipitation, and between lake outflow and water level. It was found that “events” influence lake level fluctuations. The solute transport was shown to vary more in wet periods. Modeled transportations were higher in Kenya and Uganda lake zones than in Tanzanian zones. The major inflow, from the Kagera river, appears to strongly influence lake solute transportation, so the composition of this river must be considered.

Keywords

• Advection-dispersion equation
• uncertainty
• correlation: hydro-meteorological parameters
• inconsistency of river discharges and seasonal variations
• concentrations