Passive and automated sensing of fluvial sediment and wood transport
My project aims to investigate the fluvial bedload transport of cobbles and their interaction with large wood in a mountain river in Colorado through a large scale geomorphological tracer experiment. I will be using the novel approach of applying both passive and active integrative transponders for tracking individual grains and wood. The impact of large wood on bed-particle rest intervals and travel distances of cobbles will be explored in an environment which is experiencing anomalously high wood loading due to the infestation of the mountain pine beetle. Additionally, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will be used to survey and assess changes in wood loading to the stream, channel geomorphology and structural controls on particle movement.