Abstract
A quantitative assessment of channel planform changes on the 600-km channel of the Kamchatka River was carried out. Possibilities of semi-automatic GIS-interpretation of satellite images were used for retrospective analysis of such an extended section of a large river. It was estimated that 37% of the left bank length and 44% of the right bank length are eroded. The amount of material coming into the channel due to riverbanks erosion significantly exceeds the sediment runoff, which determines channel type and regime of channel changes. Processes of bank erosion vary on the scale of the longitudinal profile and different channel types. Downstream according to decrease of channel slope, a decrease of bank erosion intensity is observed. The most important factor of bank erosion on the river local section is the volume of material coming from the upstream sections. A quantitative analysis and forecast of planform changes of a river section requires a differential assessment for different morphodynamic channel types, taking into account characteristics of channel processes in the upstream river sections. The bank erosion prognostic equations obtained for the meandering channel and the floodplain-channel multiple branches of the Kamchatka River are discussed.
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