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Effect of saltating sediment load on the determination of the mean velocity of overland flow
Author(s) -
Li Gang,
Abrahams Athol D.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/96wr02937
Subject(s) - turbulence , flume , geology , reynolds number , laminar flow , mechanics , sediment , geotechnical engineering , flow (mathematics) , hyperconcentrated flow , geomorphology , hydrology (agriculture) , sediment transport , bed load , physics
Where overland flow velocity is measured using dye or salt tracing, the mean velocity is often determined by multiplying the velocity of the leading edge of the tracer plume by a correction factor α. Flume experiments show that a varies with both Reynolds number and sediment load. For sediment‐free flow over a sand‐covered bed, α is less than the theoretical value of 0.67 in laminar flow and increases rapidly with Reynolds number in transitional flow and more slowly with Reynolds number in turbulent flow. For sediment‐laden flow, α decreases as sediment load increases in transitional and turbulent flows. Saltating sediment extracts momentum from the flow, causing velocities near the bed to decrease and α to decrease. A multiple‐regression equation is developed which can be used to predict the value of α from Reynolds number and sediment load in transitional and turbulent overland flows.