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Advancements in measuring bed load transport with a magnetic detection system

University of British Columbia

A large number of bed load measuring devices have been developed in order to estimate sediment transport in rivers. In spite of that, the geomorphic and engineering communities do not have a reliable method to estimate bed material load. Available techniques suffer from insufficient temporal and spatial resolution to capture the variability inherent in bed load movement. This work involves the design and construction of an in situ magnetic detection device, which shows promise as a method capable of overcoming these limitations. The sensors work by inducing a magnetic dipole in naturally magnetic stones via magnets installed in the bed of the channel. These stones then pass over a coil of wire, inducing a small voltage, which is recorded. The system is installed in a five meter flume and is calibrated using video based particle tracking as well as manual sediment collection and sieving. Initial results indicate the new design performs significantly better than its predecessor.

Text

2012-04-24

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42232

Geography

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/