scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Topic

Stream power

About: Stream power is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1135 publications have been published within this topic receiving 51324 citations.


Papers
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2022-Catena
TL;DR: In this article , a series of rainfall simulation experiments (intensity of 90 mm h −1 ) were conducted under continual intermittent rainfall conditions (duration of 20 h) on a 0.8 m by 3.0 m soil flume packed with the four coarse-textured granite soils (sieved soils from the counties of Tongcheng, Ganxian, Changting, and Wuhua, China, defined as TCA, GXA, CTA and WHA, respectively) to measure the surface roughness, coarse grain coverage, soil erosion rate, stream power and sediment sorting.
Abstract: • Coarse-textured soil surface morphology evolution is studied by simulated rainfall. • Surface enriched coarse grains are quantified by photography and binarization. • Soil loss in inter-rill areas is controlled by surface coarse-grain coverage. • Soil clay content and stream power is shown to fit erosion prediction. The evolution of slope surface morphology directly affects the hydrological process and forms a dynamic feedback loop with the runoff and sediment production. However, the unique erosion processes and feedback mechanism for the surface morphological changes of coarse-textured granite soils have been rarely studied previously. Here, a series of rainfall simulation experiments (intensity of 90 mm h −1 ) were conducted under continual intermittent rainfall conditions (duration of 20 h) on a 0.8 m by 3.0 m soil flume packed with the four coarse-textured granite soils (sieved soils from the counties of Tongcheng, Ganxian, Changting, and Wuhua, China, defined as TCA, GXA, CTA and WHA, respectively) to measure the surface roughness, coarse grain coverage, soil erosion rate, stream power and sediment sorting. The results showed: 1) the coarse grain coverage of the four soils gradually increased with rainfall duration, with the final maximum (74.89%) for CTA soil, which corresponded to the enrichment of fine particles in the sediments; 2) the mean soil erosion rate of the four soils ranged from 0.090 to 0.76 kg m −2 min −1 with the decrease of clay content from 24.19% to 13.60% in the original soils, coinciding with the surface roughness controlled by rill erosion around the coarse grains; 3) the coarse grain cover provided a protective layer to reduce further soil loss in inter-rill areas; 4) the model of soil clay content and stream power was shown to be suitable for soil erosion prediction of coarse-textured soils (R 2 = 0.93). The results highlighted soil mechanical composition and coarse grain coverage on the surface as the key factors affecting the coarse-textured soil erosion. This study facilitates our understanding of the unique erosion processes and the erosion feedback mechanism of coarse-textured soils.

9 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
12 May 2001
TL;DR: In this article, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gauging data and simple hydrologic techniques were used to examine likely increases in discharge associated with varying levels of watershed imperviousness.
Abstract: Recent studies suggest that channel instability and aquatic ecosystem degradation occur at low levels of watershed imperviousness in humid regions of the U.S. In an effort to provide a more process-based explanation of observed thresholds of aquatic ecosystem degradation in urbanizing areas, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gauging data and simple hydrologic techniques were used to examine likely increases in discharge associated with varying levels of watershed imperviousness. The probable increases in these flow parameters for an annual flooding event were compared with analyses of a data set describing 270 stable and unstable channels from diverse geographic regions. Results suggest that a 10 - 20% increase in watershed imperviousness can result in a level of specific stream power that exceeds that corresponding to a high risk of instability for streams poised near a geomorphic threshold. Although risk of channel instability may be associated with different levels of watershed imperviousness, factors such as specific stream power relative to sediment caliber and channel entrenchment provide a more direct assessment of channel sensitivity to urbanization. Linking potential increases in specific stream power with the risk of channel instability establishes a more process-based connection between imperviousness and observed thresholds of aquatic ecosystem degradation.

9 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the patterns of vegetation recovery and recolonization following a large flood in a saline river that disturbed the system, and developed a conceptual model to describe spatial patterns of where different vegetation types had regrown and recovered in relation to controls exerted by streamflow salinity, surface texture characteristics, topography and reach morphology.
Abstract: The approaches used to manage rivers have been developed and adapted to many different problems and settings. Because of their relatively low cost, vegetation-based approaches implemented at the reach, landholder and catchment scales have become the foundation for river management in most landscapes. In many dryland agricultural catchments, secondary (anthropogenic) salinity caused by clearing native vegetation has resulted in rising saline groundwater, streamflow salinity values that exceed seawater and severe the degradation of riparian vegetation communities. The potential effectiveness of vegetation-based strategies in these landscapes remains largely unknown, yet these strategies are still widely pursued. This study initially investigated the patterns of vegetation recovery and recolonization following a large flood in a saline river that disturbed the system. A conceptual model was developed to describe spatial patterns of where different vegetation types had regrown and recovered in relation to controls exerted by streamflow salinity, surface texture characteristics, topography and reach morphology. Using this model, vegetation-based river management options for different reaches were developed, and their potential effectiveness in stabilizing reaches was investigated using a 1-D hydraulic modelling approach. This study finds that in a dryland catchment with high stream salinity (20000-93000mgL ), there is still a strong potential for successful vegetation-based management, but only in selected reaches. Results showed that changes in stream power and channel velocity were not associated with the areas of most severe vegetation degradation. Rather, there is a complex interplay between channel morphology, channel slope and places of potential vegetation growth within a reach. This paper outlines an approach to evaluate the potential success of vegetation-based river management in saline landscapes. It identifies the need to prioritize investment based on the following: an understanding of factors controlling revegetation potential, the likely impact of revegetation in mitigating adverse channel changes and the proximity of reaches to high-value infrastructure and biodiversity assets.

9 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an index of drainage network power is obtained as the volume of the channel network divided by the basin relief and this index expresses the potential energy of the network of channels in the basin and it may be directly related to flood potential.
Abstract: Although many indices of drainage basin characteristics have been devised and employed in previous studies, there is still a need to identify those indices which have an easily interpreted physical significance to be of use in explanatory models. Whereas stream power has been used in hydraulic studies of river channels, a comparable expression can be developed to denote the potential energy available in the stream network of a drainage basin. An index of drainage network power is obtained as the volume of the channel network divided by the basin relief and this index expresses the potential energy of the network of channels in the basin and it may be directly related to flood potential. The index is used in a study of 14 basins in Britain and it correlates well with mean annual flood obtained from a partial duration series.

9 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a catchment scale methodology is presented to quantify historic patterns of 2D channel planform adjustment and considers geomorphic controls on 2D river stability. But the methodology is applied to 18 rivers in the upland headwaters of the previously glaciated Wasdale catchment (45 km2), Lake District, northwest England.

8 citations


Network Information
Related Topics (5)
Surface runoff
45.1K papers, 1.1M citations
87% related
Sediment
48.7K papers, 1.2M citations
82% related
Groundwater
59.3K papers, 1M citations
82% related
Glacial period
27.3K papers, 1.1M citations
81% related
Vegetation
49.2K papers, 1.4M citations
78% related
Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202351
2022103
202154
202067
201952
201847