Seminar by Guest Researcher, Francisco Pedocchi

Francisco Pedocchi, Professor at the University of Montevideo (Uruguay), is hosted in our DYNECO/DHYSED laboratory from May 20 to June 20, as part of a research collaboration initiated in 2022 between Francisco's IMFA laboratory and our laboratory.

He will present his recent work on the Río de la Plata in Uruguay: near-bed cohesive sediment dynamics and remote sensing in turbid waters, on Thursday June 13, 2024 from 1:30 to 3:00 pm in Amphi D of IEUM, Plouzané.

Presentation Summary

The presentation will cover two different efforts that I have led in recent years to understand the cohesive sediment dynamics in the Rio de la Plata. The Rio de la Plata is a very wide estuary in South America with an average water discharge of 670x10⁹ m³/yr and an average sediment discharge of 160x10⁹ kg/yr, mostly composed of silt and clay.

First, I will present near-bed suspended sediment measurements performed during storms using multifrequency acoustics. These measurements allowed us to observe, for the first time in the Rio de la Plata, the formation of a hyper-concentrated layer of sediment near the bed that lasted for several hours due to the stirring effect of waves and self-stratification. This work was part of the PhD thesis of Rodrigo Mosquera.

Next, I will show some recent work on remote sensing. This work focused on estimating low levels of chlorophyll a (below 10 µg/L) in the very turbid waters of the Rio de la Plata. The work also showed that the inherent optical properties (IOPs) of the suspended sediment had a seasonal pattern. We related this variation to the seasonal arrival of “fresh” sediments from the upper Rio de la Plata basin. This work was part of the PhD thesis of Fernanda Maciel.

Short Bio of Francisco Pedocchi

 I was born in 1976 in Montevideo, Uruguay. In 2001 I graduated as a Civil Engineer with specialization in Hydraulics and Environmental Engineering from the School of Engineering of Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay, under the supervision of Prof. Ismael Piedra Cueva. In 2005 I obtained a Master of Science degree and in 2009 a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA, under the supervision of Prof. Marcelo H. Garcia.
Since 2009 I have been working in the Instituto de Mecanica de los Fluidos e Ingenieria Ambiental (IMFIA) at the School of Engineering of Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay, currently as Full Professor. My research and outreach work relates to the Rio de la Plata estuary dynamics, including cohesive sediments and their interaction with waves and currents, flow and sediment measurement in the field and in the laboratory using both acoustic and optical instrumentation, and more recently remote sensing. My work takes place in close collaboration with other members of IMFIA River and Coastal Hydraulics Division and I maintain permanent interaction with researchers from computing science, applied mathematics, and biology.
I am using my sabbatical year in 2024 to strengthen IMFIA’s international connections. My email is kiko@fing.edu.uy.