A Simplification of the Einstein Equation for the Calculation of Suspended Sediment Transport in Rivers

Abstract

In this study, a simplified equation for estimating suspended sediment load is proposed, based on regression analysis and the concept presented by Einstein, Ackers and White, and Shields. Field data for 11 rivers located at different parts of the world were used for the calibration and validation of the proposed equation. The results show that the equation gives a good performance compared with Einstein's and Bagnold's equations when tested using field data for the Atchafalaya, Red, South American, Rio Grande and Al-Garraf rivers. The minimum and maximum values of mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) between the output of the proposed equation and field records were 0.005 to 0.007 and 0.09 to 0.289, respectively. For the above rivers, graphical comparisons show that the predicted values of suspended sediment load had a range of D50 0.2 gave a good prediction compared with the measured sediment load. The main advantages of the proposed equation are that it is easy to apply and the results obtained from its application have reasonable accuracy.