Journal of Hydro-environment Research最新文献

In this study, a series of laboratory tests were performed to investigate the effects of side ramp slope, crest length, and porous media properties on the flow regimes, water-surface profiles, discharge coefficients, and energy dissipation in embankment gabion weirs with upstream and downstream slopes. 24 physical models of solid and gabion weirs with three different upstream/downstream slopes (90°, 45° and 26.5°) were created. To investigate the complexity of flow over the porous-fluid interface and through the porous material, three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulations were developed. In numerical simulation, the standard k-ε turbulence model was utilized. A structured mesh domain was used to simulate the physical model. Water surface profiles above the porous weirs were used for comparison between the numerical simulations and measured data. These comparisons helped determine variables in the numerical simulations. Numerical simulation enables visualization of streamlines around and through the gabion weirs. In addition, mean stream wise velocity profiles above and within the porous structures were obtained. Numerical simulations showed that a reduction in the slope of the upstream face leads to an increased curvature of streamlines and the velocity distribution exhibits a non-uniform wavy shape due to the geometrical properties of the weirs. As the velocity profiles move downstream, the velocity distribution within the porous structures were more affected by the presence of the pores. The experimental results show that decreasing upstream slopes, from 90° to 26.5°, leads to decreased discharge coefficients. However, in all cases, gabion weirs lead to greater discharge coefficients than those of similar solid weirs. For milder side slopes, discharge ratios (flow passing through all faces of the gabion weirs over the inlet discharge) decreased nonlinearly. Moreover, with increasing the inlet discharge, relative energy dissipation was reduced up to 45% in gabion weirs.

The popular Natural Resources Conservation Service Curve Number (NRCS-CN) (earlier known as Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) method of rainfall-runoff modeling has often faced the criticism of exhibiting quantum jumps in runoff computations because of the sudden jumps appearing in CN-values derived from NEH-4 tables for three antecedent moisture conditions (AMC), viz., AMC-I, AMC-II, and AMC-III valid for dry, normal, and wet conditions, respectively. The variability of antecedent soil moisture within an AMC category is responsible for the abrupt jump and other deficiencies in the CN method for runoff estimation. This paper suggests a novel procedure to account for the antecedent moisture (M), preventing quantum jumps and eliminating deficiencies in determination of CN and, in turn, estimation of direct runoff. Its validity was verified utilizing the observed rainfall (P)-runoff (Q) events from 36 US watersheds, four sub-catchments of the Godavari basin, and small agricultural plots at Roorkee, India. The performance of the proposed model (M5) for runoff prediction was compared with the existing NRCS-CN (M1), Mishra and Singh (2002) (M2), Singh et al. (2015) (M3), and Verma et al. (2021) (M4) model using various performance indices. Using the CNs derived from observed events, model M5 was seen to have performed better than M1-M4 in terms of Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), and Percent Bias (PBIAS) for the data of US watersheds, and CN-P correlation improved as the coefficient of determination (R²) enhanced. Similarly, using the RS & GIS-based CNs on natural watersheds of the Godavari basin and considering AMC-I, the performance of M5 was again better than M1-M4 in terms of RMSE, Mean Bias Error (mBIAS), Mean Absolute Error (MAE), and Normalized-Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency (NNSE). Interestingly, there existed a significant (p < 0.05) relationship between the in-situ water content (w) measured for the experimental plots of Roorkee and the model input variable antecedent moisture (M), offering a physical touch to the conceptual model.

River restoration aims to apply environmentally-friendly structures for bank protection in meandering rivers to restore their natural habitat. Enhanced Permeable Groin (EPG) is a novel river restoration technique that can improve the fish habitat environment in a river system by creating a series of eco-friendly scour pools. This study reports the results of two groups of 3D velocity measurements in a 180-degree channel bend in cases with and without an EPG for clear water conditions to characterize the mechanisms leading to the primary stages of the scouring phenomenon. The analysis revealed that the presence of an EPG amplified the velocity magnitude in the regions near the tip of the vane and increased its value in the middle of the channel 1.13 times the bend without the structure. In addition, the comparison showed that the EPG reduced the velocity magnitude in the recirculation zone by an average of 38%. Secondary currents including main and outer bank cells were observed in the case without the structure. The presence of the EPG in the flow field effectively increased the outer-bank cell strength by 11 times compared to that without the structure. The low-value contours of the bed shear stresses were observed in the zone downstream of the structure for a distance of 6 times the effective length of the structure. Based on the results of this study, the generation of a recirculation zone with low-velocity and shear stress values can provide suitable conditions for aquatic habitats, deep-bodied fish assemblages, aquatic vegetation, shrub roots, and tree roots along the outer bank.

As an active ecotone between the surface stream and groundwater, hyporheic zone (HZ) plays a crucial role in hydrological and ecological processes. Previous numerical simulation and experimental studies have shown that hyporheic exchange can be affected not only by current but also by geometric characteristics of the streambed. However, the geometric characteristics that affect hyporheic exchange remain unclear. In this study, a one-way sequential coupling method was established to connect the river water flow and pore-water flow in the streambed. The change of flux at the interface, mass flux, depth, and area of hyporheic zone were investigated by altering the bed geometric characteristics, i.e. the depth, crest position, and shapes of bedforms. The results clearly demonstrate the following conclusions: (a) the hyporheic exchange flux, depth and area with wave-like bedform is greater than the triangular bedform. (b) The increase of the bed height accelerates the hyporheic exchange processes at the sediment–water interface. (c) A good linear relationship was found between the depth and area of the hyporheic zone. These results provide necessary theoretical understandings of hyporheic exchange, broadening the knowledge of mechanism of stream-streambed exchange processes.

This numerical study of scour process tested the skills of computational fluid dynamics in modeling the unsteady flow field during the scour development stage by two-dimensional turbulent wall jets under a sluice gate. The modeling was found to well describe the experimentally observed flow patterns, that is, the main jet diverged to a returning jet and a tail jet. The model also correctly predicts the evolution of the scour depth and length. We examined the self-similarity of the profiles of scour bed and overlying velocities throughout the entire scour development and equilibrium stages. We found self-preserved profiles of velocities and scour beds using local jet parameters. Four growth curves were compared in describing the temporal evolution of scour depth. Finally, non-dimensional scaling of the equilibrium maximal scour depth was investigated. We used the theory of wall jet, and suggested that a modified jet Froude number can be used to predict the equilibrium scour depth, which accounts for the attenuation of the jet velocities along the apron.

Many modeled and observed data are in coarse resolution, which are required to be downscaled. This study develops a probabilistic method to downscale 3-hourly runoff to hourly resolution. Hourly data recorded at the Poldokhtar Stream gauge (Karkheh River basin, Iran) during flood events (2009–2019) are divided into two groups including calibration and validation. Statistical tests including Chi-Square and Kolmogorov–Smirnov test indicate that the Burr distribution is proper distribution functions for rising and falling limbs of the floods’ hydrograph in calibration (2009–2013). A conditional ascending/descending random sampling from the constructed distributions on rising/falling limb is applied to produce hourly runoff. The hourly-downscaled runoff is rescaled based on observation to adjust mean three-hourly data. To evaluate the efficiency of the developed method, statistical measures including root mean square error, Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, and correlation are used to assess the performance of the downscaling method not only in calibration but also in validation (2014–2019). Results show that the hourly downscaled runoff is in close agreement with observations in both calibration and validation periods. In addition, cumulative distribution functions of the downscaled runoff closely follow the observed ones in rising and falling limb in two periods. Although the performance of many statistical downscaling methods decreases in extreme values, the developed model performs well at different quantiles (less and more frequent values). This developed method that can properly downscale other hydroclimatological variables at any time and location is useful to provide high-resolution inputs to drive other models. Furthermore, high-resolution data are required for valid and reliable analysis, risk assessment, and management plans.

EPANET is one of the most commonly used open-source programs in hydraulic modelling water distribution networks (WDNs), based on steady-state and extended period simulation approaches. These approaches effectively estimate flow capacity and average pressures in networks; however, EPANET is not yet fully effective in modelling incompressible unsteady flows in WDNs. In this study, the hydraulic solver capacity of EPANET 3 is extended with the Rigid Water Column Global Gradient Algorithm (RWC-GGA) to model incompressible unsteady flow hydraulics in WDNs. Moreover, we incorporated dynamically more accurate valve expressions than the existing ones in the default EPANET code and introduced a new global convergence algorithm, Convergence Tracking Control Method (CTCM), in the solver code. The RWC-GGA, CTCM, and valve expressions are tested and validated in three different WDNs varying from simple to sophisticated set-ups. The results show that incompressible unsteady flows can be modelled with RWC-CGA and dynamic valve representations. Finally, the convergence problem due to the valve motion and the pressure-dependent algorithm (PDA) is solved by the implemented global convergence algorithm, i.e. CTCM.

Experimental data and numerical predictions of steady and unsteady flow in a 4 m high, 86 mm internal diameter tube fishway were compared quantitatively, and reflected expected uncertainties characteristic of the experiments and flow hydraulics. We then measured the response of a neutrally-buoyant fluid sensor and the behaviour of live fish transported vertically within the tube fishway. Ten repeat tests using the sensor and tests with seventy individual live fish demonstrated transport with 100% reliability. No ill effects were observed over a post-test monitoring period for two species of Australian native fish (Australian bass (Percalates novemaculeata) and Silver perch (Bidyanus bidyanus)) or as a function of size of the Silver perch that can be related to their passage through the fishway. There may have been temporary bruising of a few of the largest Silver perch tested. The largest Silver perch averaged 137 mm in length. The spatial distributions of the inert sensor and fish relative to the moving front during the transport process were quantified. Consequently, the volumes of water required during each operational cycle to ensure reliable delivery of fish over vertical distances less than 4 m were determined. The sensor measurements indicated negligible interactions with straight pipe walls but exposure to significant accelerations at sharp bends. Further experiments with live fish are required to quantify the possible adverse effects of alternative pipe transition designs on animals transported through them. Safe transport of fish up to a fish length/tube fishway delivery diameter ratio of 1.6 is demonstrated.

The key features of the equilibrium scour depth $d_{\mathrm{se}}$, width $W_{\mathrm{se}}$, length $L_{\mathrm{se}}$ and the volume $V_{\mathrm{se}}$ with large abutment aspect ratios (i.e., abutment width $L_c$ divided by its length $L$) in floodplain are different compared to narrow abutments. Seven models with $L_c/L$ ranging from 0.125 (narrow abutment) to 4 (very wide abutment) were tested. The results show that the combined effect in terms of the abutment aspect ratio $L_c/L$ is a key parameter with wide abutments. Furthermore, the average equilibrium scour width observed was much larger than previous studies and extends up to 3.5 times the floodplain water depth. This implies the current guideline by FHWA (Federal Highway Administration), (2009) to provide a riprap countermeasure apron width for 2 times the floodplain water depth may be insufficient. The much wider scour formation is caused by the migration of the maximum scour location around wide abutments. The results show generally the scour hole dimensions for setback abutments in compound channel are less than that abutments in rectangular channel under the same flow conditions. To this end, empirical equations, which agree well with the data from the present and previous studies are proposed to predict these characteristics at the equilibrium state.

Shallow flows are common in natural and human-made environments. Even for simple rectangular shallow reservoirs, recent laboratory experiments show that the developing flow fields are particularly complex, involving large-scale turbulent structures. For specific combinations of reservoir size and hydraulic conditions, a meandering jet can be observed. While some aspects of this pseudo-2D flow pattern can be reproduced using a 2D numerical model, new 3D simulations, based on the unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations, show consistent advantages as presented herein. A Proper Orthogonal Decomposition was used to characterize the four most energetic modes of the meandering jet at the free surface level, allowing comparison against experimental data and 2D (depth-averaged) numerical results. Three different isotropic eddy viscosity models (RNG k-ε, k-ε, k-ω) were tested. The 3D models accurately predicted the frequency of the modes, whereas the amplitudes of the modes and associated energy were damped for the friction-dominant cases and augmented for non-frictional ones. The performance of the three turbulence models remained essentially similar, with slightly better predictions by RNG k-ε model in the case with the highest Reynolds number. Finally, the Q-criterion was used to identify vortices and study their dynamics, assisting on the identification of the differences between: i) the three-dimensional phenomenon (here reproduced), ii) its two-dimensional footprint in the free surface (experimental observations) and iii) the depth-averaged case (represented by 2D models).