Universitat Politècnica de València. Instituto de Investigación para la Gestión Integral de Zonas Costeras - Institut d'Investigació per a la Gestió Integral de Zones Costaneres, Universitat Politècnica de València. Departamento de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Medio Ambiente - Departament d'Enginyeria Hidràulica i Medi Ambient, Universidad de Alicante, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, European Regional Development Fund, Conesa-García, Carmelo, Puig-Mengual, Carlos, Riquelme, Adrián, Tomás, Roberto, Martinez-Capel, Francisco, García-Lorenzo, Rafael, Pastor, José L., Pérez-Cutillas, Pedro, Cano Gonzalez, Miguel, Universitat Politècnica de València. Instituto de Investigación para la Gestión Integral de Zonas Costeras - Institut d'Investigació per a la Gestió Integral de Zones Costaneres, Universitat Politècnica de València. Departamento de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Medio Ambiente - Departament d'Enginyeria Hidràulica i Medi Ambient, Universidad de Alicante, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, European Regional Development Fund, Conesa-García, Carmelo, Puig-Mengual, Carlos, Riquelme, Adrián, Tomás, Roberto, Martinez-Capel, Francisco, García-Lorenzo, Rafael, Pastor, José L., Pérez-Cutillas, Pedro, and Cano Gonzalez, Miguel
[EN] Stream power represents the rate of energy expenditure along a stream reach and can be calculated using topographic data acquired via structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). This study sought to quantitatively relate morphological adjustments in the Azohia Rambla, a gravel-bed ephemeral stream in southeastern Spain, to stream power (omega), critical power (omega(c)), and energy gradients ( partial differential omega/ partial differential s), along different reference channel reaches of 200 to 300 m in length. High-resolution digital terrain models (HRDTMs), combined with ortophotographs and point clouds from 2018, 2019, and 2020, and ground-based surveys, were used to estimate the spatial variability of morphological sediment budgets and to assess channel bed mobility during the study period at different spatial scales: reference channel reaches (RCRs), pilot bed survey areas (PBSAs), and representative geomorphic units (RGUs). The optimized complementary role of the SfM technique and terrestrial laser scanning allowed the generation of accurate and reliable HRDTMs, upon which a 1-D hydrodynamic model was calibrated and sediment budgets calculated. The resulting high-resolution maps allowed a spatially explicit analysis of stream power and transport efficiency in relation to volumes of erosion and deposition in the RCR and PBSA. In addition, net incision or downcutting and vertical sedimentary accretion were monitored for each flood event in relation to bedforms and hydraulic variables. Sediment sources and sinks and bed armoring processes showed different trends according to the critical energy and stream power gradient, which were verified from field observations. During flows exceeding bankfull discharges (between 18 and 24 m(3) s(-1) according to channel reach), significant variations in partial differential omega/ partial differential s values and omega/omega(c) ratios (e.g., -15 < partial differential omega/ partia