The Study and Monitoring of Geomorphic Processes in Geosciences and Engineering

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrogeology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2021) | Viewed by 15249

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Infrastructure and Environment Research Division, School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Interests: sediment transport dynamics; monitoring environmental flows; geomorphic processes and instrumentation
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A range of geomorphic processes, such as the transport of granular material due to the action of gravity, geophysical flows, flow turbulence, interparticle collisions, thermal or pressure gradients or a combination of the above, are responsible for continuously shaping the surface of planets, such as Earth, Mars, Venus, and Titan, as well as their satellites. Specifically for the Earth’s surface, even though these key processes have been studied over many decades, our fundamental understanding of how they interact and impact the pedosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere (including the anthroposphere) is still progressing at a steady pace. Building our knowledge around the causes and dynamics of granular motion in fluvial, estuarine, coastal, and aeolian environments is one of the salient challenges in hydrological and Earth surface sciences, as well as engineering. At the same time, rapid advancements in our capacity to model these processes, both numerically (with faster and more efficient algorithms and more complex computational fluid dynamics codes, ranging from DNS to LES and RANS and their variations, including DEM–CFD), as well as physically at the lab or the field, with developments in instrumentation and monitoring equipment (spanning the fields of acoustic, particle tracking and laser velocimetry, as well as advanced, low-cost microsensors), offer an appreciation of these processes at unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution and scales.

The overarching goal of this Special Issue is to present and discuss the most recent advances in the sensing and (physical as well as numerical) modeling of environmental flows, across scales and environments, focusing on those capable of performing geomorphic work. This Special Issue aims to cover but is not restricted to the following themes:

  • Particle to reach scale transport processes (from incipient intermittent  entrainment to continuous/high sediment transport regimes);
  • Experimental and numerical modeling of geomorphic flows;
  • Monitoring the impact of geomorphic flows on infrastructure;
  • Particle–fluid momentum and energy exchanges;
  • Stochastic approaches for the diffusion of granular material;
  • Particle segregation and granular shorting processes;
  • Assessing critical hydraulic infrastructure failures due to extreme hydrologic events (such as bridge pier scour and dam collapses);
  • Optimizing the management of reservoir operation schemes while considering the response of fluvial systems;
  • Shallow water equations for modeling hydrosediment processes.

Dr. Manousos Valyrakis
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Sediment transport processes
  • Turbulence induced transport processes
  • Hydro-Sediment processes
  • Geomorphic flows
  • Granular flows
  • Hydraulic infrastructure sensing
  • Numerical modelling
  • Experimental eco-hydraulics
  • River mechanics
  • Water infrastructure monitoring
  • Environmental fluid mechanics
  • Flow instrumentation
  • Hydroinformatics

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 6055 KiB  
Article
A Fluid Dynamics Approach for Assessing the Intelligent Geomorphic Design of the Japanese Pufferfish Nest
by Abdulla Jailam Shameem, Manousos Valyrakis and Hossein Zare-Behtash
Geosciences 2021, 11(1), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11010022 - 1 Jan 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 7425
Abstract
Research into the geometric nests built by white-spotted pufferfish indicated the nest’s potential for flow control and reduction in flow velocity. However, studies to date have only focused on the construction process and behaviour of the male pufferfish. Hence, the form and functions [...] Read more.
Research into the geometric nests built by white-spotted pufferfish indicated the nest’s potential for flow control and reduction in flow velocity. However, studies to date have only focused on the construction process and behaviour of the male pufferfish. Hence, the form and functions of the unique features of the nest remain unclear. The present study aims to explore the flow features most useful in understanding the habitat conditions of the nest through a combination of photogrammetric reconstructions of the nest features and two-dimensional (2D) computational fluid dynamic simulations. The findings show the role of the nest structure in reducing the flow velocity and shear stress within the nesting site. Analysis of shear stress indicates that male pufferfish build the outer zones of the nest with coarser material that improves the overall shear strength of these areas. The study identified the function of the nest structure in the protection of the eggs through reduction in flow variations and improved aeration. The addition of shell fragments to the nest peaks by the male pufferfish contributes to the resiliency of the nest structure and ensures a stable bed surface at the central zone. Full article
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21 pages, 10953 KiB  
Article
Measuring Centimeter-Scale Sand Ripples Using Multibeam Echosounder Backscatter Data from the Brown Bank Area of the Dutch Continental Shelf
by Leo Koop, Karin J. van der Reijden, Sebastiaan Mestdagh, Tom Ysebaert, Laura L. Govers, Han Olff, Peter M. J. Herman, Mirjam Snellen and Dick G. Simons
Geosciences 2020, 10(12), 495; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10120495 - 9 Dec 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3273
Abstract
Backscatter data from multibeam echosounders are commonly used to classify seafloor sediment composition. Previously, it was found that the survey azimuth affects backscatter when small organized seafloor structures, such as sand ripples, are present. These sand ripples are too small to be detected [...] Read more.
Backscatter data from multibeam echosounders are commonly used to classify seafloor sediment composition. Previously, it was found that the survey azimuth affects backscatter when small organized seafloor structures, such as sand ripples, are present. These sand ripples are too small to be detected in the multibeam bathymetry. Here, we show that such azimuth effects are time dependent and are useful to examine the orientation of sand ripples in relation to the flow direction of the tide. To this end, multibeam echosounder data at four different frequencies were gathered from the area of the Brown Bank in the North Sea. The acoustic results were compared to video and tide-flow data for validation. The sand ripples affected the backscatter at all frequencies, but for the lowest frequencies the effect was spread over more beam angles. Using the acoustic data made it possible to deduce the orientations of the sand ripples over areas of multiple square kilometers. We found that the top centimeter(s) of the seafloor undergoes a complete transformation every six hours, as the orientation of the sand ripples changes with the changing tide. Our methodology allows for morphology change detection at larger scales and higher resolutions than previously achieved. Full article
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21 pages, 1132 KiB  
Article
Sediment Bed-Load Transport: A Standardized Notation
by Ulrich Zanke and Aron Roland
Geosciences 2020, 10(9), 368; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10090368 - 16 Sep 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3482
Abstract
Morphodynamic processes on Earth are a result of sediment displacements by the flow of water or the action of wind. An essential part of sediment transport takes place with permanent or intermittent contact with the bed. In the past, numerous approaches for bed-load [...] Read more.
Morphodynamic processes on Earth are a result of sediment displacements by the flow of water or the action of wind. An essential part of sediment transport takes place with permanent or intermittent contact with the bed. In the past, numerous approaches for bed-load transport rates have been developed, based on various fundamental ideas. For the user, the question arises which transport function to choose and why just that one. Different transport approaches can be compared based on measured transport rates. However, this method has the disadvantage that any measured data contains inaccuracies that correlate in different ways with the transport functions under comparison. Unequal conditions also exist if the factors of transport functions under test are fitted to parts of the test data set during the development of the function, but others are not. Therefore, a structural formula comparison is made by transferring altogether 13 transport functions into a standardized notation. Although these formulas were developed from different perspectives and with different approaches, it is shown that these approaches lead to essentially the same basic formula for the main variables. These are shear stress and critical shear stress. However, despite the basic structure of these 13 formulas being the same, their coefficients vary significantly. The reason for that variation and the possible effect on the bandwidth of results is identified and discussed. A further result is the finding that not only shear stress affects bed-load transport rates as is expressed by many transport formulas. Transport rates are also significantly affected by the internal friction of the moving sediment as well as by the friction fluid-bed. In the case of not fully rough flow conditions, also viscous effects and thus the Reynolds number becomes of importance. Full article
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