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Reach-scale experiments simulating the physical characteristics of natural woody plants are required for the improved modeling of flow resistance in channels with instream and floodplain vegetation. The first aim of this study was to investigate the flow resistance caused by patches of foliated woody vegetation at low volumetric blockage factors (4% to 10%) under emergent conditions, as most studies on the effect of patchiness are limited to submerged aquatic plants. Experiments with nature-like willow patches were performed in a reach-scale outdoor flume, where the density and layout of the patches were altered. The bulk friction factors were based on the friction slopes, calculated using the water surface slopes and velocity heads measured by a set of high-accuracy pressure sensors under several flow conditions. Compared to unvegetated conditions, the patches increased the bulk friction factor by 1.7–5.5 times, depending on the patch density and blockage factor. The second aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of four momentum-based models in estimating the bulk friction factors in flows with such flexible patches. For this process, a methodological approach suited for patchy woody vegetation at reach scale was developed to determine the input parameters required in each model. Estimation results using the newly modified and parameterized formulas compared favorably to the experimental data, demonstrating more reliable performance for models explicitly addressing the reconfiguration of vegetation. Overall, this study provides a practical methodology for estimating flow resistance caused by complex distributions of woody riverine vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural riparian vegetation generally presents a complex hydrodynamic behavior governed by plant morphology and flexibility. By contrast, hydrodynamic processes in partly vegetated channels are conventionally simulated by using simplified model vegetation, such as arrays of rigid cylinders. The aim of this study is to investigate the impacts of embedding natural plant features in the experimental simulation of flow in partly vegetated channels. Unique comparative experiments were carried out with both reconfiguring vegetation made of natural‐like shrubs and grasses, and with rigid cylinders. While the lateral distributions of flow properties presented a high similarity governed by the shear layer differential velocity ratio, the bulk vegetative drag, and the presence of large‐scale vortices, the flexibility‐induced mechanisms of natural‐like vegetation markedly affected the flow at the interface. Differences in plant morphology and spacing, and the dynamic motion of flexible foliated plants induced deeper vortex penetration into the vegetation. The normalized shear penetration was 6–10 times greater than observed for rigid cylinders, resulting in wider zones significantly exchanging momentum with the adjacent open water. The efficiency of lateral momentum transport for flexible foliated vegetation was up to 40% greater than the corresponding rigid cylinder case. Overall, the results indicated that improving the representativeness of model vegetation is a critical step toward the accurate simulation of hydrodynamic and transport processes in natural settings. Key Points: Dynamically similar shear layers shared analogous lateral distributions of flow velocity and derived quantitiesHigher shear penetration within the vegetation was observed for flexible foliated plants in comparison to rigid cylindersVegetation morphology and flexibility were found to affect key exchange processes across the vegetated interface [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Novel flume setup combining high-accuracy pressure and force sensors. • Extension of LAI-based modelling of vegetative resistance to low and high densities. • Flow resistance contribution by the understory grasses should not be neglected. River flows are greatly influenced by floodplain vegetation with implications on hydrological and hydraulic conditions from cross-sectional to river reach scales. Flow models need to reliably reflect changes in the riverine environment, such as vegetation growth associated with altered flow regimes, increased sediment loads and eutrophication. Leaf area index (LAI) based approaches are increasingly used as tools to predict the flow resistance caused by natural vegetation. However, current LAI-based modelling involves uncertainty at low and high vegetation densities and flow velocities due to a lack of research and validation at the outer ranges. The aim of this paper is to investigate the flow resistance for a mixture of flexible floodplain vegetation consisting of woody plants and understory grasses of low to high densities (LAI = 1–5) over a wide range of mean flow velocities (0.05–1.2 m/s) at low relative submergences of 1–2. A novel flume setup was designed by using high-accuracy pressure sensors to measure flow resistance and force sensors to measure plant drag forces. Flow resistance decreased by 35–90% when the submergence H / h v increased from 1 to 2, which is a highly relevant range for floodplain flows. The results provided new evidence that LAI-based modelling of vegetative friction factors can be reliably extended from low to high LAI values for non-submerged vegetation. However, adjustments to existing LAI-based approaches are required for water stages higher than the vegetation height. Furthermore, the friction by the understory grasses cannot be neglected as often assumed in literature especially for cases of low plant densities and low relative submergences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the interplay between the flow, suspended sediment concentration (SSC), and net deposition at the lateral interface between a main channel and riverbank/floodplain vegetation consisting of emergent flexible woody plants with understory grasses. In a new set of flume experiments, data were collected concurrently on the flow field, SSC, and net deposition using acoustic Doppler velocimeters, optical turbidity sensors, and weight-based sampling. Vegetation largely affected the vertical SSC distributions, both within and near the vegetated areas. The seasonal variation of vegetation properties was important, as the foliage strongly increased lateral mixing of suspended sediments between the unvegetated and vegetated parts of the channel. Foliage increased the reach-scale net deposition and enhanced deposition in the understory grasses at the main channel–vegetation interface. To estimate the seasonal differences caused by foliation, we introduced a new drag ratio approach for describing the SSC difference between the vegetated and unvegetated channel parts. Findings in this study suggest that future research and engineering applications will benefit from a more realistic description of natural plant features, including the reconfiguration of plants and drag by the foliage, to complement and replace existing rigid cylinder approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Experiments on flow resistance of foliated woody vegetation patches at reach-scale. • Reach-scale flow resistance controlled by patch geometry, less by canopy density. • Quantitative relationships for predicting flow resistance using blockage factors. Woody riparian vegetation typically clusters in patch form and increases flow resistance more significantly than individual plants. In this study, we examined the patchiness effects in non-submerged (emergent) conditions on the reach-scale flow resistance in field-scale experiments involving nature-like artificial willow patches. The patchiness characteristics of woody vegetation were systematically defined and classified using the canopy density, patch geometry described by cross-sectional and planar blockage areas, cross-sectional and volumetric blockage factors of the patches, and patch location in the cross-section. We developed quantitative relationships as empirical equations for estimating the vegetative flow resistance using blockage factors, that is, the area or volume fraction of canopy occupation. The results revealed that flow resistance due to emergent willow patches under relatively densely foliated and low volumetric blockage conditions was mostly explained by the blockage parameters and to a lower degree by the canopy density. In addition, it reveals the effects of the spatial distribution of flow and velocity by the relative position of patches, i.e., the flow resistance varies with different tendencies according to hydraulic conditions as the patch shifts from the channel centerline toward the bankside. This study provides reliable and practical relationships for estimating the flow resistance induced by riparian vegetation patches under reach-scale field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Riparian shrubs and trees present a complex, seasonally variable morphology, with flexible stems and leaves efficiently adapting to the flow forcing (reconfiguration). The aim of this paper is to investigate how foliage and reconfiguration affect the flow and mixing in a partly vegetated channel. Specific attention was placed on the velocity statistics, onset and coherence of turbulent structures, and lateral momentum transport at the horizontal interface between vegetation and open water. The experimental flume arrangement was novel in that it allowed investigating the lateral shear layer induced by flexible riparian plants. The natural-like vegetation consisted of emergent woody plants and a grassy understory, with density, morphology and reconfiguration behavior comparable to those found in real riparian areas. Investigations were conducted under foliated and leafless conditions to determine the seasonality effects. The mean and turbulent flow structure was determined with acoustic Doppler velocimetry, and dynamic plant motions were investigated from video footage. The presence of foliage enhanced the drag discontinuity at the interface, resulting in more pronounced velocity gradients between the vegetated and open areas compared to the leafless conditions. Foliation induced stronger shear layer-scale mixing, whereas, under leafless conditions, the local mixing induced by stems was more important. The reconfiguration decreased the coherence of the two-dimensional large-scale vortices at the interface while their characteristic frequency was consistent with the canonical mixing layer theory. Our results indicated that shear layer dynamics in partly vegetated channels was influenced strongly by morphology and reconfiguration of complex plants, with more efficient lateral momentum transport at the interface in the foliated conditions than previously reported for shear layers induced by simpler vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the structural properties of four common riparian tree species and their reconfiguration under hydrodynamic loading in a towing tank in foliated and defoliated conditions. 3D tree models were generated by digitizing twenty 0.8–3.3 m tall specimens at branch level. Branch diameters and lengths were measured in order to calculate the one-sided stem area and stem volume over the plant height. The novelty of the investigations originated from the characterization of the reconfiguration which was achieved by combining the contracted width, the deflected height, and the underwater projected area in order to determine the porosity at different velocities. The results showed that the basal diameter could be used to predict the entire total one-sided stem area, although this method was not capable of reproducing the observed non-linear vertical distributions. The flow-induced width contraction contributed significantly to the reduction of the rectangular cross-sectional area occupied by the plant. The porosity of the foliated trees increased at the lower velocities, and then decreased at the higher velocities. Overall, detailed spatial–structural analyses of woody vegetation provided valuable information about plant behaviour under load, and thus are helpful for improving the determination of the physically based parameters of complex vegetative elements which is highly relevant for environmental modelling in order to fill the gap of knowledge concerning the hydrodynamic and aerodynamic flow around trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]