Movie:Sand bed River Bar Migration

Information Page: Sand bed River Bar Migration

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Sand Bed River with Bar Migration

Key Attributes

Domain:	terrestrial
Keywords:	river model, bar migration, vegetation
Model name:	HSTAR
Name:	Andrew, Nicholas
Where:	Large-scale sandbed river
When:	345 years in model time

Short Description

Grade level: Under graduate (13-16), Graduate / Professional

Statement: Sand bed river bar evolution in a coarse-grained river system

Abstract: The HSTAR model is developed to investigate the morphological change in large-scale river systems. It uses the shallow water equations and nested sediment transport and erosion algorithms to control the changes in the river due to varying water transport. The model has a unique ability to mimick the growth of vegetation on river bars that are not inundated anymore. This simulation runs for 350 years (in modeled time) and you can see the river system evolve. This simulation is set up for a coarse-grained sediment (grainsize 0.4 mm).

In the simulation mid channel bars form and persist. This pattern is commonly observed in nature (perhaps a close example is the Brahmaputra river). You can also see bar migration, compound bar evolution (where bars are merging). New deposition happens in the leeward side of vegetated bars, where flow velocities are lower. These simulations have a feedback between the growth of vegetation and bar accretion- the vegetated bars will experience slower flow rates and thus more sediment can settle on top of them.

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