Turbulence Characteristics of New Zealand Gravel-Bed Rivers
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 123, Issue 9
Abstract
Gravel-bed river turbulence is investigated on the basis of field measurements in New Zealand rivers. The data include instant longitudinal velocities obtained by two methods: point measurements and vertical profile measurements. In both cases, fast-response electronic Pitot tubes were used. Analysis of vertical distribution of velocity, velocity pulsation skewness and kurtosis, structure functions, spectra, turbulence scales, and energy dissipation is presented. In most cases, the investigated velocity spectra and structure functions are characterized by the existence of the inertial subrange. The frequency spectra and structure functions satisfy the Kolmogorov “−5/3” and “2/3” laws in the range of the scales from the smallest up to (2–2.5) river depths. Using theoretical considerations and the field data, relationships for the vertical distribution of relative turbulence intensity, scale, and turbulent energy dissipation are derived. A new characteristic turbulence scale representing the upper bound of the inertial subrange is proposed and investigated. The influence of bottom roughness on relative turbulence characteristics is shown.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Anwar, H. O.(1986). “Turbulent structure in a river bend.”J. Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, 112(8), 657–667.
2.
Bergeron, N. E., and Abrahams, A. D.(1992). “Estimating shear velocity and roughness length from velocity profiles.”Water Resour. Res., 28(8), 2155–2158.
3.
Cardoso, A. H., Graf, W. N., and Gust, G.(1989). “Uniform flow in a smooth open channel.”J. Hydr. Res., Delft, The Netherlands, 27(5), 603–616.
4.
Clifford, N. J., and French, J. R. (1993). “Monitoring and analysis of turbulence in geophysical boundaries: some analytical and conceptual issues.”Turbulence. Perspectives on flow and sediment transport, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y., 93–120.
5.
Ferguson, R. I., and Ashworth, P. J. (1992). “Spatial patterns of bedload transport and channel change in braided and near-braided rivers.”Dynamics of gravel-bed rivers, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y., 477–496.
6.
Ferro, V., and Baiamonte, G.(1994). “Flow velocity profiles in gravel-bed rivers.”J. Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, 120(1), 60–80.
7.
Grinvald, D. I. (1974). Turbulence of open channel flows. Hydrometeoizdat, Leningrad, Russia (in Russian).
8.
Grinvald, D. I., and Nikora, V. I. (1988). River turbulence. Hydrometeoizdat, Leningrad, Russia (in Russian).
9.
Grishanin, K. V. (1979). Dynamics of alluvial flows. Hydrometeoizdat, Leningrad, Russia (in Russian).
10.
Iwasa, Y., and Asano, T. (1980). “Characteristics of turbulence in rivers and conveyance channels.”Proc., 3rd Int. Symp. on Stochastic Hydraulics, International Association of Hydraulic Research (IAHR), Delft, The Netherlands, 565–575.
11.
Kironoto, B., and Graf, W. H. (1989). “Decelerating flow in a gravel bed flume.”Rapport Annuale Lab. de Recherches Hydrauliques, Ecole Polytechniqne Federale (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, 1–14.
12.
Klaven, A. B., and Kopaliani, Z. D. (1973). “Laboratory investigations of the kinematic structure of turbulent flow over a very rough bed.”Proc., State Hydrological Inst., Vol. 209, Hydrometeoizdat, Leningrad, Russia, 67–90 (in Russian).
13.
Li, R., Shall, J. D., and Simons, D. B.(1980). “Turbulence prediction in open channel flow.”J. Hydr. Div., ASCE, 106(4), 575–587.
14.
McLean, S. R., and Smith, J. D.(1979). “Turbulence measurements in the boundary layer over a sand wave field.”J. Geophys. Res., 84(12), 7791–7808.
15.
McQuivey, R. S. (1973). “Summary of turbulence data from rivers, conveyance channels, and laboratory flumes.”Geological Survey Prof. Paper No. 802B, United States Geological Survey (USGS), Washington, D.C., B1–B66.
16.
Monin, A. S., and Yaglom, A. M. (1971). Statistical fluid mechanics: mechanics of turbulence. Vol. 1, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
17.
Monin, A. S., and Yaglom, A. M. (1975). Statistical fluid mechanics: mechanics of turbulence. Vol. 2, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
18.
Muller, A.(1973). “Turbulence measurements over a movable bed with sediment transport by laser anemometry.”Proc., 15th Congr., International Association of Hydraulic Research (IAHR), Delft, The Netherlands, 1, 43–50.
19.
Nabotov, D. N. (1970). “An investigation of velocity field in flows with high bottom roughness.”Sediment transport in open channels, Nauka, Moscow, Russia, 105–111 (in Russian).
20.
Nakagawa, H., Nezu, I., and Ueda, H.(1975). “Turbulence of open-channel flow over smooth and rough beds.”Proc. Japan Soc. Civ. Engrg., Tokyo, Japan, 241, 155–168.
21.
Nakagawa, H., Tsujimoto, T., and Shimizu, Y. (1991). “Turbulent flow with small relative submergence.”Fluvial hydraulics of mountain regions. Lecture Notes in earth sciences, Vol. 37, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 33–44.
22.
Nezu, I., and Nakagawa, H. (1993). Turbulence in open-channel flows. A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
23.
Nikora, V. (1985). “On the turbulence structure of river flows with sand wave bottom.”Meteorology and Hydro., Russia, 6, 74–84 (in Russian).
24.
Nikora, V. I. (1991). “A physical model of fluvial turbulence.”Proc., 24th IAHR Congr., International Association of Hydraulic Research (IAHR), Delft, The Netherlands, C548–C556.
25.
Nikora, V. (1992). Channel processes and hydraulics of small rivers. Shtiintsa, Moldova, USSR (in Russian).
26.
Nikora, V., and Ekhnich, M. (1991). “On applicability of the frozen turbulence hypothesis in river flows.”Meteorology and Hydro., Russia, 3, 98–103 (in Russian).
27.
Nikora, V., Rowinski, P., Sukhodolov, A., and Krasuski, D.(1994). “Structure of river turbulence behind warm-water discharge.”J. Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, 120(2), 191–208.
28.
Raudkivi, A. J. (1990). Loose boundary hydraulics. Pergamon Press, Oxford, U.K.
29.
Reynolds, C. S. (1994). “The role of fluid motion in the dynamics of phytoplancton in lakes and rivers.”Aquatic ecology: scale, pattern and process, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, U.K., 141–187.
30.
Robert, A., Roy, A. G., and De Serres, B. (1993). “Space-time correlations of velocity measurements at a roughness transition in a gravel-bed river.”Turbulence. Perspectives on flow and sediment transport, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y., 165–183.
31.
Smart, G. M.(1991). “A P.O.E.M. on the Waiho (electronic gauging of rivers).”J. Hydro., New Zealand, 30(1), 37–44.
32.
Smart, G. M. (1994). “Turbulent velocities in a mountain river.”Proc., ASCE Nat. Conf. on Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, New York, 844–848.
33.
Smart, G. M., and Carter, G. S. (1995a). “Measuring river turbulence intensity with coarse-gravel bedload.”Proc., HYDRA 2000, 26th Int. Assn. of Hydro. Res. (IAHR) Congr., Vol. 1, Thomas Telford, London, U.K., 486–491.
34.
Smart, G. M., and Carter, G. S. (1995b). “A flow resistance meter.”IPENZ Innovative Technol. Conf., Vol. 1, Inst. of Profl. Engrs. (IPENZ), Wellington, New Zealand, 306–308.
35.
Wang, Z., and Larsen, P.(1994). “Turbulent structure of water and clay suspensions with bed load.”J. Hydr. Engrg., ASCE, 120(5), 577–600.
36.
Wilkinson, R. H.(1984). “A method for evaluating statistical errors associated with lagarithmic velocity profiles.”Geo-Marine Letters, 3, 49–52.
37.
Wolman, M. G.(1954). “A method of sampling coarse river bed material.”Trans., Am. Geophys. Union, Washington, D.C., 35, 951–956.
38.
Yokosi, S.(1967). “The structure of river turbulence.”Bull. of Disaster Prevention Res. Inst., Kyoto, Japan, 17(2), 1–29.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 123 • Issue 9 • September 1997
Pages: 764 - 773
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1997
Published in print: Sep 1997
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.