MEASURING CHANNEL PLANFORM OF MEANDERING RIVERS |
| |
| Authors: | Robert Andrle |
| |
| Institution: | Department of Geography , University of Connecticut , Storrs, Connecticut 06269-2148 |
| |
| Abstract: | The traditional measure of river-channel sinuosity, P, is shown to vary with scale of measurement, the geometric character of the particular reach, and the starting point of the divider walk. Meander wavelength, L, suffers from non-reproducibility caused by the subjective identification of inflection points, a problem compounded by the irregularity of river meanders. Applicability of the angle measure technique (AMT) to the measurement of meander planform is demonstrated. The AMT considers variations in the complexity of meandering with scale, eliminating the dependence of results on scale of measurement. The AMT also samples the river at random points rather than sequentially, unlike the divider walk used to calculate P, avoiding the dependence of P on the starting position of the divider walk. The AMT also does not require subjective identification of inflection points as wavelength L does. Additionally, the traditional measures P and L are difficult to apply to manifestly underfit rivers. In this study, the AMT is applied to two underfit rivers and measures of meander size and sinuosity are calculated for each set of meanders. Key words: sinuosity, meanders, wavelength, underfit river, fluvial geomorphology.] |
| |
| Keywords: | Acer rubrum Acer saccharum canopy gap dendroecology Liriodendron tulipifera Cumberland Plateau |
|
|
