River Waal Research Articles

Uncertainty of design water levels due to combined bed form and vegetation roughness in the Dutch River Waal

AbstractTwo‐dimensional hydrodynamic models are frequently used for flood protection studies to compute inundation patterns and to estimate potential economic damage. However, the modelling of river processes involves numerous uncertainties. Knowledge of the type and magnitude of uncertainties is crucial for a meaningful interpretation of the model outcomes and its usefulness in decision making. The objective of this study was to quantify the uncertainty in the design water levels due to uncertain bed form and vegetation roughness for the Dutch River Waal. We quantified and combined these sources of uncertainty by means of a Monte Carlo simulation. The results showed that the 95% confidence interval of the design water levels is 0.49 m, 0.34 m and 0.12 m for bed form, vegetation classification and vegetation roughness parameterisation, respectively, and approximately 0.68 m for the combined roughness. These uncertainties are significant in view of Dutch river management practice.

Quantification of uncertainty in design water levels due to uncertain bed form roughness in the Dutch river Waal

AbstractHydrodynamic river models are applied to design and evaluate measures for purposes such as safety against flooding. The modelling of river processes involves numerous uncertainties, resulting in uncertain model results. Knowledge of the type and magnitude of these uncertainties is crucial for a meaningful interpretation of the model results. Uncertainty in the hydraulic roughness due to bed forms is one of the main contributors to the uncertainty in the modelled water levels. The aim of this study was to quantify the uncertainty in the bed form roughness under design conditions and quantify the effect on the design water levels in the Dutch river Waal. Five roughness models that predict bed form roughness based on measured bed form and flow characteristics were extrapolated to design conditions. The results show that the 95% confidence interval of the predicted Nikuradse roughness values under design conditions ranges from 0.32 to 1.03 m. This uncertainty was propagated through the two‐dimensional hydrodynamic model, WAQUA, by means of a Monte Carlo simulation for an idealized schematization of the Dutch river Waal. The uncertain bed form roughness results in an uncertainty in the design water levels, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.53 m, which is significant for Dutch river management practice. The uncertainty in the bed form roughness was mainly caused by a lack of knowledge about the physical process of bed form evolution that causes roughness. An improved estimation of bed form roughness can significantly reduce the uncertainty in the design water levels. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Improving riverbed sediment classification using backscatter and depth residual features of multi-beam echo-sounder systems

Riverbed and seafloor sediment classification using acoustic remote sensing techniques is of high interest due to their high coverage capabilities at limited cost. This contribution presents the results of riverbed sediment classification using multi-beam echo-sounder data based on an empirical method. Two data sets are considered, both taken at the Waal River, namely Sint Andries and Nijmegen. This work is a follow-up to the work carried out by Amiri-Simkooei et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 126(4), 1724-1738 (2009)]. The empirical method bases the classification on features of the backscatter strength and depth residuals. A principal component analysis is used to identify the most appropriate and informative features. Clustering is then applied to the principal components resulting from this set of features to assign a sediment class to each measurement. The results show that the backscatter strength features discriminate between different classes based on the sediment properties, whereas the depth residual features discriminate classes based on riverbed forms such as the "fixed layer" (stone having riprap structure) and riverbed ripples. Combination of these two sets of features is highly recommended because they provide complementary information on both the composition and the structure of the riverbed.

Reconstructing the early 19th‐century Waal River by means of a 2D physics‐based numerical model

AbstractSuspended‐sediment concentration data are a missing link in reconstructions of the River Waal in the early 1800s. These reconstructions serve as a basis for assessing the long‐term effects of major interventions carried out between 1850 AD and the early 20th century. We used a 2D physics‐based morphodynamic model accounting for the influence of floodplain vegetation to fill in this gap. Historical discharge hydrographs were derived from a correlation between flow discharge records at Cologne and water level measurements of the Rhine branches in the Netherlands, taking into account the discharge distribution between the branches. Historical floodplain sedimentation rates were estimated using old cartographic information and recent geomorphologic field work. The computed historical sedimentation rates are found to be within the range of measured data, which suggests that fine suspended sediment concentrations in the early 1800s were comparable to contemporary ones. The computations show also how vegetation enhances the formation of natural levees close to the main channel and at the same time decreases the sedimentation rates in farther areas of the floodplain. A sensitivity analysis shows suspended sediment composition to have a strong influence on the resulting quantities and patterns of floodplain deposition. The reconstruction has also provided validation of the modelling tools to reproduce the effects of vegetation on sediment dynamics, enabling their implementation to study other cases. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Flow Details near River Groynes: Experimental Investigation

Experiments have been carried out in a fixed-bed flume for a schematized straight river reach with groynes on one side to study the dynamics of the flow near groynes. The flume had a geometrical scale of 1:40, based on typical dimensions of the Dutch River Waal. Both emergent and submerged groynes were studied. The measurements demonstrate the differences in the nature of the turbulence between submerged and emerged groynes stages; and provide insight into the flow pattern in the vicinity of groynes, the shape and the extent of the mixing layer at different flow stages, and the dynamic behavior of the velocity along the mixing layer between the main channel and the groyne fields. A parameterization of the turbulence characteristics of the flow near groynes is presented. Large-scale velocity fluctuations are found in all test cases, with timescales that vary with the flow stage. The large-scale u and v velocity fluctuations are in phase in the center of the mixing layer and out of phase for the points on the boundaries of the mixing layer.

Sediment Exchange between a River and Its Groyne Fields: Mobile-Bed Experiment

Experiments have been carried out in a mobile-bed laboratory flume in order to study the sediment exchange process between the main channel and the groyne fields. The flume represented half the width of a schematized river reach with a series of groynes. The experiment was designed to represent typical dimensions of the Dutch River Waal at a geometrical scale of 1:100. The conditions were set to guarantee bed load as well as suspended load sediment transport. Conditions with submerged and emerged groynes were investigated. In addition to traditional measurements, viz., bed-level changes, suspended sediment concentrations, and flow velocities, bed-form propagation was measured in two dimensions using a the particle image velocimetry technique. The results were analyzed with focus on sediment exchange mechanisms and sediment transport patterns. The results demonstrate that under all flow conditions there is a net import of sediment into the groyne fields. The prevailing transport mechanisms vary with the fl...

Riverbed sediment classification using multi-beam echo-sounder backscatter data

A method has recently been developed that employs multi-beam echo-sounder backscatter data to both obtain the number of sediment classes and discriminate between them by applying the Bayes decision rule to multiple hypotheses [Simons and Snellen, Appl. Acoust. 70, 1258-1268 (2009)]. In deep water, the number of scatter pixels within the beam footprint is large enough to ensure Gaussian distributions for the backscatter strengths and to increase the discriminative power between acoustic classes. In very shallow water (<10 m), however, this number is too small. This paper presents an extension of this high-frequency methodology for these environments, together with a demonstration of its performance using backscatter data from the river Waal, The Netherlands. The objective of this work is threefold. (i) Increasing the discriminating power of the classification method: high-resolution bathymetry data allow precise bottom slope corrections for obtaining the true incident angle, and the high-resolution backscatter data reduce the statistical fluctuations via an averaging procedure. (ii) Performing a correlation analysis: the dependence of acoustic backscatter classification on sediment physical properties is verified by observing a significant correlation of 0.75 (and a disattenuated correlation of 0.90) between the classification results and sediment mean grain size. (iii) Enhancing the statistical description of the backscatter intensities: angular evolution of the K-distribution shape parameter indicates that the riverbed is a rough surface, in agreement with the results of the core analysis.

Estimating spawning habitat availability in flooded areas of the river Waal, the Netherlands

AbstractFish spawning habitat availability in the river Waal is significantly influenced by seasonal and annual variations in discharge. In this paper we develop habitat suitability models, based on a literature survey of spawning preferences of the commonly occurring species roach (Rutilus rutilus), bream (Abramis brama), pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) and bleak (Alburnus alburnus). Within the resulting models water depth, flow velocity, water temperature and vegetation type were the most significant environmental parameters. Spatial data for the parameters were derived from a 2‐D hydrodynamic model and detailed monitoring database. The area of suitable habitat available for spawning was calculated using the HABITAT software, based on species‐specific suitability models and the environmental characteristics of two study sites on the river Waal over a 3 year period (1997–1999). The predicted available spawning area was compared with field data on the recruitment of young fish of each species for the same years and locations. There was a positive relationship between predicted available habitat and observed young of the year (YOY) densities for bream, roach and pikeperch. A negative relationship was recorded between predicted available area and observed YOY densities for bleak. The results indicate that optimal hydrological and hydraulic conditions differ even for species that are widely considered eurytopic. Moreover, annual differences in habitat availability indicate a strong influence of hydrological variability on population dynamics. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

“Room for river” measures and public visions in the Netherlands: A survey on river perceptions among riverside residents

Dutch river management is moving from traditional dike reinforcements toward “room for river” measures to assure flood protection and to serve other societal goals. With that, the engineering paradigm shifts from mastership over nature to a more partnership‐like attitude toward nature. Are these values shared by Dutch riverside residents? Are the measures proposed under the new paradigm accepted? This paper investigates these two questions on the basis of semistructured interviews and a survey in communities along the floodplain of the river Waal (i.e., Rhine). The analyses show that even though their visions of nature are remarkably ecocentric, partnership with nature is not the dominant idea within that ecocentric realm. Partly as a consequence of that and partly because the respondents do not perceive the measures as natural, the investigated room for river measures are not endorsed.

Impact of value-driven scenarios on the geomorphology and ecology of lower Rhine floodplains under a changing climate

The biogeomorphological functioning of lowland floodplains will be altered strongly due to future landscaping measures that are necessitated by climate change. For many industrialized and urbanized river basins, the layout of the fluvial area depends on the human choices for landscaping measures, which reflect the dominant value system of the actors. We aimed at (1) designing scenarios for the future layout of the floodplains of the River Waal in the Netherlands for 2050 using a new value-based methodology, and (2) assessing the floodplain biogeomorphology under these scenarios and climate change. The scenarios are driven by transitions in human value systems and they are color-coded: green (personalistic-consensual), orange (scientific-rational), and yellow (integrated-systemic). Per scenario, the landscaping measures were translated into a future topography and ecotope distribution. Using various spatially explicit simulation models, we evaluated the scenarios regarding the biogeomorphology in 2050: (1) flood peak reduction (green 0.11, orange 0.65, and yellow 0.37 m), (2) year-average floodplain suspended sediment deposition (+114, +148, +143%), (3) food web exposure to heavy metals (4–5 out of 10 species for all scenarios) and (4) biodiversity value (+23, −4, +39%). We conclude that (1) analysis of value systems provides a broad interpretive framework for scenario development, which guides the choices for transitions and (2) the biogeomorphology is affected by climate change (+58% deposition), but the effects of the local landscaping measures are even stronger. None of the scenarios shows the ideal combination of high flood peak reduction, low sedimentation, and high biodiversity. Ecotoxicological risks seem less discriminative.

Sedimentation rates on embanked floodplains determined through quartz optical dating

We investigate the use of quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating for determining fluvial overbank sedimentation rates over decades to centuries. For the study we took 11 samples from three cores from an embanked floodplain along the River Waal (Rhine) near Neerijnen (The Netherlands). We propose a measurement protocol for young fluvial quartz based on the single-aliquot regenerative dose procedure. Parameters for the protocol are chosen to isolate the fast OSL component, eliminate an ultrafast OSL component and avoid thermal transfer. The protocol shows excellent dose recovery and recycling ratios. For each sample, a Gaussian is fitted to the lower part of the equivalent dose distribution to obtain an estimate of the burial dose. We discuss the validity of the OSL ages using internal and external controls, and conclude that there is no evidence for large systematic offsets in the OSL ages. OSL based sedimentation rates are between ∼3 and 8 mm/a, in line with previous estimates.

Human‐induced changes in bed shear stress and bed grain size in the River Waal (The Netherlands) during the past 900 years

AbstractHuman impact has changed the flow characteristics and bed‐sediment characteristics of lowland rivers, affecting channel stability, flood risk, navigability and biodiversity. We analysed the effect of human activities on the flow and bed‐sediment characteristics of the River Waal (The Netherlands). The objectives were: (a) to reconstruct the historical change in bed shear stress during the past 900 years; (b) to reconstruct the contemporary change in bed grain size; and (c) to identify the main causes of these changes. Various data types were used, such as borehole descriptions, historical river maps and modern hydraulic data. It was found that the bed shear stress in the River Waal strongly increased during the past 900 years. In the same period, the gravel content of the sandy river bed increased, causing a coarsening of the river bed. Before ad 1870 the shear stress increase and bed coarsening were mainly due to embankment (artificial levee construction). After ad 1870, the shear stress increase and bed coarsening were mainly due to river narrowing and dredging. The systematic grain‐size difference between present‐day and historical rivers should be taken into account in river restoration projects. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Stratigraphic analysis and paleoenvironmental implications of the Wijchen Member in the lower Rhine-Meuse Valley of the Netherlands

AbstractThe Late Pleistocene Wijchen Member (WM) and its informal stratigraphic precursors have been recognized for decades in the Rhine-Meuse Valley of the Netherlands. Although the WM marks the top of the Kreftenheye Formation (KF) at the boundary between Pleistocene and Holocene lithofacies and provides a confining bed for the regional alluvial aquifer, significant issues remain regarding WM depositional environment and processes of sedimentation. Regional WM chronology suggests a time-transgressive, millennium scale response of the Rhine River to Lateglacial climate oscillations. This paper compares interpretations of sedimentation process, stratigraphic pattern, and paleoenvironmental significance to prevailing viewpoints on the WM mode of origin.A flood basin in the Over Betuwe between the channel belts of the Neder Rijn and River Waal is investigated to characterize WM stratigraphy. The KF braided stream deposits (Kb) form a regionally extensive sandy to gravelly lithofacies. As Kb aggradation ceased, fluvial channels incised into local braid plain swales. The WM was deposited during episodes of fluvial activity as a suspended load mud drape across segments of the abandoned braid plain. The WM is a gray silty lithofacies that also contains local admixtures of sand. Explanations for the origin of the sand admixed into the mud include variability in hydrodynamic load across the flood plain, eolian mixing, and/or biogenic mixing. In the study area, eolian deposition of sand onto a wet flood plain surface is the most probable cause for the admixed sand fraction. Pedogenesis of the WM in the study area is limited to gleying under reduced wetland conditions and the development of organic rich vegetation horizons that formed on top of relatively unaltered fluvial strata. Similar reduced soil properties and limited pedogenic development occur downdip to the present coast, but updip of the study area, the WM is the parent material for poorly drained to well drained and oxidized profiles that range from Entisols to weakly expressed Alfisols.The presence of pumice granules in Kb deposits of the study area indicate that channel belt deposition continued after the Laacher See volcanic eruption in Germany at ~12,900 cal yr. Deposition of the WM occurred episodically throughout the Lateglacial and terminated by the early Holocene. The time interval between the end of WM deposition and subsequent burial by flood basin peat reflects a duration of exposure of at least 3500 yrs. Since regional water table rise affected the area ~5000 cal yrs ago, the early Holocene water table must have been maintained by spring fed ground water sources from nearby ice pushed ridges.Deposition of the WM is associated with transitional braided to meandering fluvial channels during times when the Rhine-Meuse Valley experienced a sensitive response to rapid climate change. The WM is regionally time transgressive and probably formed during flood plain transitions between permafrost and base-flow driven hydrologic regimes. Regional landscape dynamics suggest that WM deposition and subsequent preservation was driven by fluctuations of the southern limit of permafrost during Northern Hemisphere deglaciation.

Mapping of aggregated floodplain plant communities using image fusion of CASI and LiDAR data

Combined optical and laser altimeter data offer the potential to map and monitor plant communities based on their spectral and structural characteristics. A problem unresolved is, however, that narrowly defined plant communities, i.e. plant communities at a low hierarchical level of classification in the Braun-Blanquet system, often cannot be linked directly to remote sensing data for vegetation mapping. We studied whether and how a floristic dataset can be aggregated into a few major discrete, mappable classes without substantial loss of ecological meaning. Multi-source airborne data (CASI and LiDAR) and floristic field data were collected for a floodplain along the river Waal in the Netherlands. Mapping results based on floristic similarity alone did not achieve highest levels of accuracy. Ordination of floristic data showed that terrain elevation and soil moisture were the main underlying environmental drivers shaping the floodplain vegetation, but grouping of plant communities based on their position in the ordination space is not always obvious. Combined ordination-based grouping with floristic similarity clustering led to syntaxonomically relevant aggregated plant assemblages and yielded highest mapping accuracies.

Using the MBES for classification of riverbed sediments

For keeping the Dutch rivers suitable for commercial activities measures are required. For example, the bottom of the river Waal, connecting Rotterdam with German industrial areas, is subsiding. Since the subsidence varies along the river, dangerous shoals occur. Sediment suppletions are planned to counteract the subsidence. Appropriate suppletion material is expected to keep the bottom more stable. To monitor the suppletion effectiveness, multibeam‐echosounder (MBES) measurements are planned, allowing for simultaneous estimation of bathymetry and sediment composition. For the latter, we apply a method employing the MBES backscatter data. It estimates the number of sediment types present in the survey area and discriminates between them by applying the Bayes decision rule for multiple hypotheses, implicitly accounting for the backscatter strength ping‐to‐ping variability. The method's applicability was demonstrated in a well‐surveyed test area (North Sea). In 2007, MBES measurements were acquired at the Waal, accompanied with extensive sediment grabbing. Contrary to the test area, water depths are very shallow and significant bottom slopes exist, requiring corrections. The lower water depths correspond to smaller beam‐footprints, resulting in a higher ping‐to‐ping variability. Consequently the discriminating power between sediments will decrease. The performance of the classification method for this river environment is assessed.

Fast response of lake plankton and nutrients to river inundations on floodplain lakes

AbstractKey variables in ecosystems tend to operate on widely different time‐scales. These time‐scales become relevant when a disturbance rocks the ecosystem. Here we try to explain the fast dynamics of plankton and nutrients in the water column of floodplain lakes after disturbances (inundations). We take advantage of natural experiments, that is occasional massive overflow of floodplain lakes with river water. We sampled 10 lakes in two floodplains along the Dutch river Waal monthly for 3 years, capturing the impact of three inundation events. The inundations reset the plankton as well as chemical composition of most lakes to largely the same state. While biologically inert macro‐ion data reflected a large and long lasting impact of the river water, dynamics of nutrients, phytoplankton and zooplankton communities between lakes diverged in a few weeks to regimes characteristic for the different lakes. While one spring inundation synchronized plankton dynamics to let the subsequent clear water phase occur at the same moment in different lakes, winter inundations did not have the same effect and apparently dynamics quickly diverged. Our results showed that effects of inundations and other processes that affect the state of the ecosystem should be studied considering the level of the slow components such as the sediment nutrient pool, fish stock and macrophyte communities. Plankton communities and lake water nutrient status give a practically instantaneous reflection of the condition of these slow components. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Nature rehabilitation by floodplain excavation: The hydraulic effect of 16 years of sedimentation and vegetation succession along the Waal River, NL

The “Ewijkse Plaat” is a floodplain along the Waal River, NL. In 1988, the floodplain was excavated as part of a program for enlargement of the discharge capacity and was assigned as a nature rehabilitation area. This paper describes the combined geomorphological and vegetation evolution of the floodplain until 16 years after the initial excavation using elevation data and data on vegetation structure derived from detailed aerial stereographic imagery. The impact of these processes on flow velocity and water surface elevation was evaluated by using a hydraulic model. Within 16 years, the excavated amount of sediment was redeposited in the area. The dominant geomorphological process after excavation was vertical accretion of the floodplain which resulted in the formation of natural levees. The amount of sedimentation was correlated to the across-floodplain flow ( R 2 = 0.89). In the research period, 41% of the sedimentation took place during two single major flood events. The creation of pioneer stages by excavation promoted softwood forest establishment, which influenced the sedimentation pattern significantly. The landscape evolved toward structure-rich vegetation. Nine years after excavation the initial hydraulic gain was lost by the combined effect of sedimentation and vegetation succession. Implications for river and nature management are discussed.

Classification of floodplain vegetation by data fusion of spectral (CASI) and LiDAR data

To safeguard the goals of flood protection and nature development, a river manager requires detailed and up‐to‐date information on vegetation structures in floodplains. In this study, remote‐sensing data on the vegetation of a semi‐natural floodplain along the river Waal in the Netherlands were gathered by means of a Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI; spectral information) and LiDAR (structural information). These data were used to classify the floodplain vegetation into eight and five different vegetation classes, respectively. The main objective was to fuse the CASI and LiDAR‐derived datasets on a pixel level and to compare the classification results of the fused dataset with those of the non‐fused datasets. The performance of the classification results was evaluated against vegetation data recorded in the field. The LiDAR data alone provided insufficient information for accurate classification. The overall accuracy amounted to 41% in the five‐class set. Using CASI data only, the overall accuracy was 74% (five‐class set). The combination produced the best results, raising the overall accuracy to 81% (five‐class set). It is concluded that fusion of CASI and LiDAR data can improve the classification of floodplain vegetation, especially for those vegetation classes which are important to predict hydraulic roughness, i.e. bush and forest. A novel measure, the balance index, is introduced to assess the accuracy of error matrices describing an ordered sequence of classes such as vegetation structure classes that range from bare soil to forest.

The influence of floodplain morphology and river works on spatial patterns of overbank deposition

AbstractFloodplain topography and related hydraulic patterns of overbank flow constitute a major control on the amounts and patterns of sediment deposition on floodplains. We studied the differences in sediment deposition at two scales along two river branches of the lower River Rhine in the Netherlands: the Waal and IJssel River. Human alterations like levelling and embankment construction have severely impacted the floodplains along the Waal River branch (average discharge: 1500 m3·s‒1), whereas the relatively wide floodplains along the IJssel River (average discharge: 250 m3·s‒1) still exhibit their characteristic ridge-and-swale topography and natural levees. We found that, in general, the amounts of sediment deposited sediment decreases with increasing distance to the sediment source. Clay and organic matter content generally increase with decreasing floodplain elevation. These trends are, however, far less pronounced in the Waal River floodplains than in the IJssel River floodplains. Sediment deposited on the IJssel River floodplains also contains significantly more sand than the sediment deposited on the Waal River floodplains, probably because of the absence of minor embankments along the IJssel River and its higher sinuosity. Furthermore, during inundation the individual Waal River floodplains receive more sediment per unit area than the IJssel River floodplains. At the scale of the river branch, however, the conveyance losses in the Waal River are less than in the IJssel River, because of the larger surface area of the floodplains along the IJssel River relative to its water and sediment discharge during flood events. This discrepancy stresses that both the individual floodplain sections and the total river branch should be taken into account when studying the role of overbank deposition as part of a river’s sediment budget.

Ground-penetrating radar profiling on embanked floodplains

AbstractManagement of the Dutch embanked floodplains is of crucial interest in the light of a likely increase of extreme floods. One of the issues is a gradual decrease of floodwater accommodation space as a result of overbank deposition of mud and sand during floods. To address this issue, sediment deposits of an undisturbed embanked floodplain near Winssen along the river Waal were studied using ground-penetrating radar (GPR). A number of radar facies units were recognized. Boreholes were used to relate radar facies units to sedimentary facies and to determine radar velocity. The GPR groundwave is affected by differences in moisture and texture of the top layer and probably interferes with the first subsurface reflector. The architectural elements recognized in the GPR transects confirm earlier reported insights on human-influenced river behaviour. This is testified in the development of sand bars during flood regimes that are probably more widespread than previously established.