Alluvial connectivity in multi-channel networks in rivers and estuaries.

ABSTRACT: Channels in rivers and estuaries are the main paths of fluvial and tidal currents that transport sediment through the system. While network representations of multi-channel systems and their connectivity are quite useful for characterisation of braiding patterns and dynamics, the recognition of channels and their properties is complicated because of the large bed elevation variations, such as shallow shoals and bed steps that render channels visually disconnected. We present and analyse two mathematically rigorous methods to identify channel networks from a terrain model of the river bed. Both methods construct a dense network of locally steepest-descent channels from saddle points on the terrain, and select a subset of channels with a certain minimum sediment volume between them. This is

SUBMITTER: Sonke W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9299894 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature