Modelling how sediment suspension controls the morphology and evolution of sand-bed rivers

This NERC funded project (NE/L00738X/1) generated field and model datasets to investigate the interactions between processes of flow, sediment transport and river bed evolution in sand-bed rivers. The project involved a collaboration between investigators at the Universities of Birmingham, Brighton, Exeter and Hull. Field data collection was carried out in the South Saskatchewan River, Canada, between 2015 and 2017. Field datasets included: high resolution imagery for two sections of the river; digital surface models of river bed and valley floor elevations generated by image processing and structure from motion photogrammetry; estimates of sediment transport rates derived from bedform migration measurements; and direct measurements of river bed elevation, flow depth and velocity obtained using acoustic instrumentation (single-beam echosounder and acoustic Doppler current profiler). Model datasets include high resolution, three-dimensional simulations of flow structure for a short (400 m) section of the study site, and two-dimensional simulations of river evolution for a multi-km section of river over decadal timescales.