TY - JOUR
T1 - ASSESMENT AND APPLICATION OF BEDLOAD TRANSPORT EQUATIONS IN A COSTA RICAN RIVER
AU - Fernández, Roberto
AU - Vargas, Cristina Wahrmann
AU - Zúñiga, José Alberto
AU - García, Marcelo H.
N1 - Funding Information:
Participation of all authors in this study was made possible by funds generously provided by ‘Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad’ – ICE (Costa Rican Electricity Institute). We would like to thank all the field and lab technicians who contributed during the different stages of data collection and processing.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, IAHR.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - We assess the applicability of twelve bedload transport relations in a tropical mountain river in Costa Rica. The equations are initially evaluated based on the range of input variables for which they were developed. After discriminating based on these criteria, a subset of equations is then used to estimate bedload transport in the Peñas Blancas River, Costa Rica. In the absence of bedload transport measurements, we validate the results of the sediment transport equations by conducting a sediment balance using the suspended sediment concentration data measured at a gaging station, and bathymetric measurements available for a reservoir located in the watershed. Our results show that the sediment transport equations of Schoklitsch (1962), Rickenmann (2001), and Recking (2013), which are not based on a critical shear stress, are currently applicable to the Peñas Blancas River. Results with the latter equation were found to reproduce observed transport rates when using the specific discharge as main variable as opposed to the one based on hydraulic radius. Interestingly, grain size was found to have the largest effect on transport rate predictions.
AB - We assess the applicability of twelve bedload transport relations in a tropical mountain river in Costa Rica. The equations are initially evaluated based on the range of input variables for which they were developed. After discriminating based on these criteria, a subset of equations is then used to estimate bedload transport in the Peñas Blancas River, Costa Rica. In the absence of bedload transport measurements, we validate the results of the sediment transport equations by conducting a sediment balance using the suspended sediment concentration data measured at a gaging station, and bathymetric measurements available for a reservoir located in the watershed. Our results show that the sediment transport equations of Schoklitsch (1962), Rickenmann (2001), and Recking (2013), which are not based on a critical shear stress, are currently applicable to the Peñas Blancas River. Results with the latter equation were found to reproduce observed transport rates when using the specific discharge as main variable as opposed to the one based on hydraulic radius. Interestingly, grain size was found to have the largest effect on transport rate predictions.
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U2 - 10.3850/38WC092019-1696
DO - 10.3850/38WC092019-1696
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:85167786257
SN - 2521-7119
SP - 2997
EP - 3005
JO - Proceedings of the IAHR World Congress
JF - Proceedings of the IAHR World Congress
T2 - 38th IAHR World Congress, 2019
Y2 - 1 September 2019 through 6 September 2019
ER -