TY - JOUR
T1 - Flow and wake characteristics associated with riparian vegetation patches: Results from field-scale experiments
AU - Caroppi, Gerardo
AU - Västilä, Kaisa
AU - Järvelä, Juha
AU - Lee, Chanjoo
AU - Ji, Un
AU - Kim, Hyung Suk
AU - Kim, Sungjung
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the RIED 2018 campaign project of KICT‐REC (Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology – River Experiment Center), the International Matching Joint Research Project (Grant No. 20210485) of KICT, Aalto University, Maa‐ ja vesitekniikan tuki ry (Grant No. 33271), and Academy of Finland (Grant No 330217). The authors gratefully acknowledge Donggu Kim, Jongmin Kim, Myeonghui Ahn, Inhyeok Bae, Eun‐Kyung Jang, Mooyoung Na, and the technical staff of REC who participated in the extensive measurement campaign.
Funding Information:
This research was supported by the RIED 2018 campaign project of KICT-REC (Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology ? River Experiment Center), the International Matching Joint Research Project (Grant No. 20210485) of KICT, Aalto University, Maa- ja vesitekniikan tuki ry (Grant No. 33271), and Academy of Finland (Grant No 330217). The authors gratefully acknowledge Donggu Kim, Jongmin Kim, Myeonghui Ahn, Inhyeok Bae, Eun-Kyung Jang, Mooyoung Na, and the technical staff of REC who participated in the extensive measurement campaign.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Hydrological Processes published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - Riparian vegetation patches growing on river banks and floodplains influence in-channel and overbank hydromorphological processes. The current knowledge on patch-scale hydrodynamics is largely based on laboratory flume experiments with simplified vegetation. The aim of this study is to provide new understanding of the flow and wake characteristics for real riparian vegetation patches based on field-scale experiments with natural willows, in order to inform hydromorphological and ecological modelling. The focus was placed on the effects of foliage as the main driver of the seasonal changes in vegetation and on the influence of the flexibility-induced reconfiguration on the flow in the wake and around the patches. The patch drag, defined by its flow blockage factor, was increased by 3.0–4.4 times by the presence of foliage and decreased by up to 60% because of the streamlining and reconfiguration of foliage with increasing flow velocity. Such large changes in the patch drag altered the flow and wake characteristics, affecting the onset of a patch-scale vortex street. Seasonality and flexibility modified the patch sheltering effect, that is, the magnitude of velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and bed shear stress reduction in the wake, relative to the background level. In the presence of foliage, mean flow velocity and bed shear stress in the wake were reduced on average by ~50% and ~70%, respectively. The sheltering effect was lower for the leafless conditions than for the foliated conditions. For the foliated cases, the spatial extents of the over-depth and the near-bed sheltered region were on average 1.5 and 1.8 times larger than in the corresponding leafless cases, respectively. Overall, seasonal changes in vegetation and flexibility-induced mechanisms were identified as key controls for the flow associated with patches of riparian vegetation, with major implications on developing models for predicting hydromorphological processes and the potential to preserve and create habitats.
AB - Riparian vegetation patches growing on river banks and floodplains influence in-channel and overbank hydromorphological processes. The current knowledge on patch-scale hydrodynamics is largely based on laboratory flume experiments with simplified vegetation. The aim of this study is to provide new understanding of the flow and wake characteristics for real riparian vegetation patches based on field-scale experiments with natural willows, in order to inform hydromorphological and ecological modelling. The focus was placed on the effects of foliage as the main driver of the seasonal changes in vegetation and on the influence of the flexibility-induced reconfiguration on the flow in the wake and around the patches. The patch drag, defined by its flow blockage factor, was increased by 3.0–4.4 times by the presence of foliage and decreased by up to 60% because of the streamlining and reconfiguration of foliage with increasing flow velocity. Such large changes in the patch drag altered the flow and wake characteristics, affecting the onset of a patch-scale vortex street. Seasonality and flexibility modified the patch sheltering effect, that is, the magnitude of velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and bed shear stress reduction in the wake, relative to the background level. In the presence of foliage, mean flow velocity and bed shear stress in the wake were reduced on average by ~50% and ~70%, respectively. The sheltering effect was lower for the leafless conditions than for the foliated conditions. For the foliated cases, the spatial extents of the over-depth and the near-bed sheltered region were on average 1.5 and 1.8 times larger than in the corresponding leafless cases, respectively. Overall, seasonal changes in vegetation and flexibility-induced mechanisms were identified as key controls for the flow associated with patches of riparian vegetation, with major implications on developing models for predicting hydromorphological processes and the potential to preserve and create habitats.
KW - reconfiguration
KW - seasonal variability
KW - turbulence
KW - vegetation patch
KW - wake flow
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124837130&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/hyp.14506
DO - 10.1002/hyp.14506
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85124837130
SN - 0885-6087
VL - 36
SP - 1
EP - 15
JO - Hydrological Processes
JF - Hydrological Processes
IS - 2
M1 - e14506
ER -