APRÈN. Portal de la producció docent del professorat de la UPC

This study focuses on analysing the hydrodynamics at the Ebro Delta, especially the salt wedge intrusion. The main objectives are to highlight the variation in river flows over time and how this affects saline intrusion. Using data collected by the Automatic Hydrological Information System (SAIH) since 1913 and employing Matlab modelling software, hydrodynamic models for salt wedge determination in estuaries have been applied. These models include both conceptual ones, like Schijf and Schönfeld, and experimental ones, such as Keulegan's model. Results regarding the salt wedge's penetration length have been statistically analysed through linear regressions and the Mann-Kendall test to discuss the findings. The key conclusions of this study are: • Despite their limitations, the Schijf and Keulegan models can be useful tools for estimating salt wedge penetration in estuaries like the Ebro. • There is a significant reduction in the Ebro River's flow over time, with an average decrease of 3.7% since 1913. • Due to this reduction, there is an observed increase of 2.57% in the average salt wedge penetration. • The current ecological flow of the Ebro River, as defined by the National Hydrological Plan, may be insufficient to stop the salt wedge's advance and ensure ecological balance due to a penetration of the salt wedge of 35 km. • The climate crisis and reduced river flow exacerbate the situation, threatening the delta's ecosystem and economy.

This project looks at the development of ocean freight forwarding between China and the United States before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, concentrating on significant disruptions and challenges in the global supply chain. The research includes critical periods such as trade growth from 1990 to 2015, pre-pandemic dynamics, the immediate impact of the pandemic, and the industry's prospects. Applying supply chain management theories like the Theory of Constraints (TOC), the study brings up areas of weakness in logistics operations and suggests ways to improve resilience and effectiveness. It also looks at how changes in regulations, geopolitical concerns, and technology developments have affected ocean freight forwarding as it is right now. The research combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to assess the difficulties with port congestion, infrastructural constraints, and trade policy changes. The results emphasise the need for flexibility and digital innovation to maintain effective logistics operations in the context of global disruptions. Better operating strategies are suggested, with a focus on automation, blockchain, and flexible supply chains to protect the China-U.S. trade route from unexpected future challenges.

This Master's Thesis aims to critically analyze the Método de Evaluación de Inversiones Portuarias (MEIPOR) developed by Puertos del Estado in 2015. In order to do so, a detailed description of the methodology will be carried out, which includes the realization of a practical case consisting of an economic-financial feasibility study of the expansion of the operational capacity for the transport of goods in the Port of Almería. Additionally, this investment analysis methodology will be compared with other methodologies used nationally and internationally.

Fangar Bay it's characterised by being small, shallow and with a microtidal regime, behaving in general terms as a bay with positive estuarine circulation. Its hydrodynamic, of local nature, is totally influenced by the present winds, which are the main inducers of surface currents, and the contributions of fresh water from the irrigation channels. Nevertheless, little more than this is known with respect to that. The experimental campaign carried out by IRTA, together with UPC members, on June 9th 2021, intended to put an end to this lack of information. Different experiments were conducted there: the launch of lagrangian buoys and the spill of a passive trace of rhodamine inside, along with obtaining surface measurements of temperature, salinity and concentration of that product via a fluorimeter. The present work takes this campaign as its starting point. By using Python programming language, all the information obtained has been interpreted, complementing it with meteorological observations from a nearby station. Based on this, it has been possible to determine how during the study period, the present winds, characterised at that moment by soft breezes from the SE, define the hydrodynamics of the bay based on their intensity and origin of incidence, setting the intensity and direction of propagation of the surface currents, as well as the mixing and dispersion capacities developed there. On the other hand, with respect to fresh water contributions, whose transport will depend on the currents present at that time, it has been proven how modify salinity's structure, giving rise to values below those typical from the Mediterranean. All of this has made possible,to characterise the circulation patterns in the bay, which, given the importance of the area, will be of great help for, in case of any spill event which occurs there, be able to interpret its direction of propagation and act effectively and precisely against it.

Este trabajo de fin de máster analiza los datos hidrodinámicos adquiridos durante la tercera campaña en el Archipiélago de las Perlas (República de Panamá). Dicha campaña ha estado apoyada por el Centro de Cooperación al Desarrollo (CCD) de la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), en colaboración con la Universidad Marítima Internacional de Panamá (UMIP). El proyecto pretende dar continuidad a los resultados obtenidos en dos proyectos CCD-UPC anteriores (2018-U013 y 2019-B011).

Els principals objectius del treball són analitzar la viabilitat de la instrumentació de baix cost per a l'observació en continu i el control de la qualitat de l'aigua marina, així com construir un prototip de sonda multiparamètrica per a desenvolupar aquesta tasca. Per culpa del canvi climàtic derivat de la contaminació per emissions de CO2, vessament de residus o del malbaratament de recursos, han sorgit diferents problemàtiques pel que respecta a l'estat de la qualitat de les aigües costaneres i oceàniques. En els darrers anys són molts els estudis i publicacions que proposen utilitzar els conceptes LOW COST (LC) i DO IT YOURSELF (DIY) per a desenvolupar diferents instruments de baix cost per a diferents camps de recerca oceanogràfica. En aquest projecte s'analitza la viabilitat d'utilitzar sensors de baix cost per tal de construir un dispositiu multiparamètric enèrgicament autònom, LC i DIY per a l'estudi de la qualitat de l'aigua marina. Els diferents resultats obtinguts en les proves puntuals i en continu realitzades en sistemes de tractament d'aigües residuals de baix cost, van assenyalar que els sensors presenten una major precisió realitzant mesures puntuals que no pas observacions en continu, però que, tot i això, podien servir per a ambdues funcions. Tot i que els resultats obtinguts en aquest treball final de grau, assenyalen la viabilitat de desenvolupar eines oceanogràfiques LC i DIY per al control de la qualitat de l'aigua marina, queden molts aspectes per explorar com l'aplicació de xarxes neuronals per a establir un millor calibratge dels sensors, el desenvolupament de sensor DIY més precisos o l'enviament telemàtic de dades a un servidor entre d'altres, poden ser el punt de partida de futurs treballs a desenvolupar

With climate change's effects being more obvious as time passes, the melting of ice caps has lured shipping and trading community into investigating the possibility of switching the main trading routes of today (Suez and Panama Canals) for alternative, shorter routes that discourse through the Arctic Ocean. This thesis aims to assess the accessibility and profitability of these routes using an A*-based ship weather routing algorithm, via the software SIMROUTE. The model takes into account the effects of ice on safety and navigation speed, already considered by other studies on the Arctic, as well as storms and waves, which are to become to main factor to consider with the retrieval of sea ice. A number of exercises and sensibility tests were be carried out varying the calculus parameters in a pre-established route in the North-Atlantic Arctic region. The methodology applied onto the software proved to be a challenge for the attainment of coherent results when taking ice into account. The changes needed to solve the limitations of the software were out of the scope of this thesis. Despite this, a series of qualitative conclusions could be drawn. In terms of navigation in ice, the academic tests indicated that ship weather routing could be applicable for PC6-type icebreakers and return significant profit in the form of time savings. The application of ship weather routing to PC6 tests in the Hudson Bay resulted in time savings ranging between 10\% and 25\% of the minimum distance route. The thesis also assesses the need to consider both waves and ice in the calculations and the effects on travel time and trajectory. In general, it is found that ship weather routing is an applicable methodology for Arctic shipping and that significant profits can be taken from it, especially in the future with the predicted increment of wave and storms size. However, the methodology and software should be changed to correctly solve problems with ice presence.

In recent years, multimodal transportation has achieved rapid development with the support of the governments and stakeholders. Multimodal transportation is characterized by high transportation efficiency, low transportation cost, energy saving and environmental protection. However, the existing transportation industry development indicators are defined and counted from the perspective of a single subsystem. This contribution establishes a performance evaluation index for three container multimodal transportation subsystem from four aspects: capacity, transportation cost, service quality and sustainable development based on system engineering techniques. In order to fully reflect the differences between the decision-makers' subjective experience and preference and objective information, this contribution uses the combination of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and entropy method to determine the weight of indexes. The methodology is applied to examine performance of three container multimodal transportation subsystems in Ningbo-Shaoxing (China) multimodal transportation system. The results show that: multimodal railway is superior to highways and multimodal inland waterway. The methodology and discussion of the AHP-entropy method may be useful for similar transport systems in a make decision framework.

The availability of new generation remote sensing data set in unprecedent resolution allows to investigate the dynamics of coastal areas with a long-term perspective. In this sense, Inhamabne Bay (Mozambique) is an unexplored area that deserves attention to establish strategies against climate change or human pressure. The objective of this project is to obtain and analyze multi satellite data of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Sea Surface Winds (SSW) in Inhambane Bay.

Since 1980, the cruise industry has recorded an impressive average annual passenger growth rate of approximately 7% per annum. The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most busiest markets in the world in terms of cruise passengers. The aim of this work is to characterize the cruise growth and to investigate future trends in the Mediterranean Ports. Different analytical tools will be used, such as, strategic positioning analysis, concentration indexes, compositional data approach and time-series prediction techniques.

The capacity of a dry bulk terminal is in function of the number of berths and the daily productivity of the load/unloading systems. Complementary, the level of service of the terminal is characterized by a berth occupancy ratio in function of the ship arrivals pattern. Queuing theory allows to modeling the terminal service in terms of averaged waiting time or the queue length. This project aims to investigate the service levels using standard design parameters (e.g. Spanish Recommendations of Maritime Works or UNCTAD) as a first steps of a terminal optimization process.

En este Trabajo Final de Máster se presenta el estudio realizado para el mercado de contenedores en los puertos de América Latina y Caribe (ALC). Este estudio tiene como objetivo principal conocer la evolución de la dispersión del tráfico de contenedores en los puertos (i.e. concentración), y analizar la tendencia futura el tráfico en los próximos cinco años. En dicho trabajo se presenta una visión regional del mercado, acompañado por la segregación en tres grandes sistemas: el Caribe, el Atlántico y el Pacífico. Cada uno de estos grandes sistemas se ha dividido a su vez en subsistemas según su línea costera y afinidad en su comercio exterior. El análisis de la evolución de tráfico de contenedores se han usado herramientas como la matriz Growth – Share del Boston Consulting Group, el índice de concentración Herindahl – Hirschman normalizado, análisis Shift – Share, las curvas de Lorenz y las proyecciones basadas en ARIMA. Gracias al SSA, pudimos observar aquellos puertos con mejor y peor desempeño en lo recorrido de este siglo. Dentro del subsistema de El Caribe se destacan el puerto de Caucedo que entre 2.002 y 2.008 creció 122 mil TEUS anuales por encima de lo esperado, así como el puerto de Cartagena, que creció entre 2.000 y 2.009 50 mil TEUS anuales por encima de lo esperado y después de 2.014 logró crecer 63 mil TEUS anuales por encima de lo esperado. Por parte del subsistema de el Atlántico, encontramos como protagonista a Itapoa, que después de 2.008 ha logrado aumentar en 65 mil TEUS anuales su crecimiento por encima de lo esperado. Por último, en el Pacífico se destaca Balboa, con cerca de 84 mil TEUS anuales por encima de lo esperado entre 2.000 y 2.006. Como resultado se observó que el mercado en general ha tendido a dispersarse, siendo excepciones las dos costas de Centro América, como resultado del papel protagónico que ha jugado el canal de Panamá en la historia de la región. Adicionalmente se observó como las inversiones juegan un papel importante para ganar cuota de mercado a pesar de que el mercado se disperse, como es el caso del puerto de Callao en Perú. Para el futuro se observa que en el 2.020, ALC alcanzará los 50 millones de TEUS y en 2.022 llegará a los 51 millones de TEUS, donde el Pacífico será protagonista con 39,1% de la cuota del mercado, seguido por el Caribe con el 38,5% y por último el Atlántico con el 22,4%. En este caso el método ARIMA ha presentado errores 0,49% Pàg. 4 Memoria y 5% para el primer año; y entre 1,1% y 13,5% para el segundo año, siendo estos errores aceptables de acuerdo con otros estudios de predicción.

In the recent years, forecasting or predictions of port freight have received an increasing attention in ports management and logistics. Two differentiate analytical approaches are used to predict port traffic: causal methods and time-series methods. This work is focussed in to investigate and apply forecasting techniques, based on time-series for Piraeus Port (Greece).

In the recent years, forecasting or predictions of port freight have received an increasing attention in ports management and logistics. Two differentiate analytical approaches are used to predict port traffic: causal methods and time-series methods. This TFG is focussed in to investigate and apply forecasting techniques, based on time-series and ecnonometric methods, for port management in order to optimize resources looking for smart port strategies.

The capacity of a dry bulk terminal is in function of the number of berths and the daily productivity of the load/unloading systems. Complementary, the level of service of the terminal is characterized by a berth occupancy ratio in function of the ship arrivals pattern. Queuing theory allows to modelling the terminal service in terms of average waiting time or the queue length. This project aims to investigate the service levels using standard design parameter as a first step of a terminal optimization process.