MONITORING OF FLUVIAL TRANSPORT IN THE MOUNTAIN RIVER BED USING TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNING

Abstract

Abstract. The fluvial transport is the surface process that has a strong impact on the topography changes, especially in mountain areas. Traditional hydrological measurements usually give a good understanding of the river flow, however, the information of the bedload movement in the rivers is still insufficient. In particular, there is limited knowledge about the movement of the largest clasts, i.e. boulders. This investigation addresses mentioned issues by employing Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) to monitor annual changes of the mountain river bed. The vertical changes were estimated based on the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of difference (DoD) while transported boulders were identified based on the distances between point clouds and RGB-coloured points. Combined RGB point clouds allowed also to measure 3D displacements of boulders. The results showed that the highest dynamic of the fluvial process occurred between years 2012-2013. Obtained DoD clearly indicated alternating zones of erosion and deposition of the sediment finer fractions in the local sedimentary traps. The horizontal displacement of the rock material in the river bed showed high complexity resulting in the displacement of large boulders (major axis about 0.8 m) for the distance up to 2.3 m.