Experimental investigation of channel flow through idealized isolated tree-like vegetation

Riparian and floodplain tree-like emergent vegetation alter significantly the flow field and lead to complicated three-dimensional flow patterns, characterized by increased turbulence production, with the potential to induce morphological changes. The canopy presence in tree-like vegetation leads to...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental fluid mechanics (Dordrecht, Netherlands : 2001) Netherlands : 2001), 2016-12, Vol.16 (6), p.1283-1308
Main Authors: Kitsikoudis, Vasileios, Yagci, Oral, Kirca, V. S. Ozgur, Kellecioglu, Dorukhan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Canopies
Channel flow
Classical Mechanics
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Emergent vegetation
Environmental Physics
Floodplains
Flow pattern
Fluid mechanics
Hydraulics
Hydrogeology
Hydrology/Water Resources
Oceanography
Original Article
Porosity
Riparian vegetation
Rivers
Trees
Vegetation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Riparian and floodplain tree-like emergent vegetation alter significantly the flow field and lead to complicated three-dimensional flow patterns, characterized by increased turbulence production, with the potential to induce morphological changes. The canopy presence in tree-like vegetation leads to the formation of lee wake vortices and can induce a strong subcanopy flow. The present experimental study employs artificial, rigid, tree-like emergent vegetation elements, with relatively simple structure, in order to investigate the canopy effects on the flow field. Specifically, the tree-like canopy is simulated by placing an element on top of a wooden rod simulating the trunk. Three elements with an equal encircling diameter of 16 cm are examined as canopy in tree-like vegetation, namely a circular cylinder and two hexagonal arrays comprising smaller circular cylinders with two different individual diameters. The experiments were conducted in a 26 m long laboratory flume and the velocity measurements were carried out with an acoustic Doppler velocimeter. The results show that the canopy porosity has a direct impact on the subcanopy flow intensity and on the required distance that the flow needs to recover. In addition, the subcanopy flow disrupts the formation of a steady wake region behind the entire porous element and inhibits the development of a recognizable von Karman vortex street.
ISSN:1567-7419
1573-1510
DOI:10.1007/s10652-016-9487-7