Geoinformation model of river meandering for predictive mapping

Abstract

An algorithm for predictive monitoring of the development of "tortuosity" of riverbed, called the process of meandering, is proposed. The algorithm is based on the statement that the riverbed is displaced from its current position along the normal to the dynamic axis of the flow in the direction from the center of curvature in a given alignment, and the displacement is proportional to the curvature, but the proportionality coefficient is not known in advance and must be determined in the process of cartographic monitoring. When using the proposed algorithm, such a well-known phenomenon in hydrology as the emergence, formation and development of meanders, which give the rivebed bizarre shapes, naturally turns out. The numerical implementation of the proposed algorithm, supplemented by predictive mapping of the riverbed deformation in previous years, is able to predict the channel displacement for future periods of time.