We have a new paper out now in the Journal of Ecohydraulics (https://doi.org/10.1080/24705357.2019.1573648 – open access).
The paper presents results from a series of numerical modelling experiments. In the first experiment, we modelled flow around three different plant specimens of the same species (Prunus laurocerasus). In the second experiment, the plant orientation was incrementally rotated to modify the flow-facing structure of the plant.
Results show that each plant introduces a unique disturbance pattern to the normalised downstream velocity field, resulting in spatially heterogeneous and irregularly shaped velocity profiles. The results question the extent to which generalised velocity profiles can be quantified for morphologically complex plants.
Normalised downstream (u–) velocity field for three plants of the same species.
As the flow-facing structure of the plant changes with incremental shifts in plant orientation, gradual changes to the downstream velocity field and a substantial ranges in the drag response are predicted.
Citation:
Boothroyd, RJ. Hardy, RJ. Warburton, J and Marjoribanks, TI. (2019). The importance of riparian plant orientation in river flow: implications for flow structures and drag. Journal of Ecohydraulics. 10.1080/24705357.2019.1573648
