Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Watershed Physical Processes Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #130636
Title: USING SIMULATED EMERGENT VEGETATION TO ALTER STREAM FLOW DIRECTION WITHIN ASTRAIGHT EXPERIMENTAL CHANNEL

Author
item Bennett, Sean
item PIRIM, T - UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI
item BARKDOLL, B - UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

Submitted to: American Geophysical Union
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2001
Publication Date: 12/12/2001
Citation: Bennett, S.J., Pirim, T., Barkdoll, B. 2001. Using simulated emergent vegetation to alter stream flow direction within astraight experimental channel. American Geophysical Union Abstracts, v. 82, p. F415.

Interpretive Summary: IS is not required for Abstract.

Technical Abstract: River restoration programs often use vegetation to enhance the biological functionality, recreational opportunities, and aesthetic beauty of degraded stream corridors. Yet none has used vegetation for the purpose of inducing a straight channel to meander. A flume-based study was designed to alter the flow pattern within a straight, degraded stream corridor by using simulated emergent vegetation of varying density placed at key locations within the channel. Placement of vegetation zones was determined using an empirical relation for equilibrium meander wavelength based on the imposed flow rate. Surface flow velocities were quantified using particle image velocimetry. The study showed that (i) flow velocity can be markedly reduced within and near the vegetation zones, (ii) flow can be diverted toward the opposite bank, and (iii) vegetation density controlled the magnitude of these effects.