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Title: Hyporheic Exchange Driven by Submerged Rigid Vegetation: A Modeling Study

Journal Article · · Water Resources Research
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2019wr026675· OSTI ID:1852477
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]
  1. Hohai Univ., Nanjing (China). State Key Lab. of Hydrology—Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering
  2. Hohai Univ., Nanjing (China). State Key Lab. of Hydrology—Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering; Hohai Univ., Nanjing (China). College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering
  3. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Dept. of Geological Sciences
  4. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environment Engineering
  5. Desert Research Inst. (DRI), Las Vegas, NV (United States).Division of Hydrologic Sciences

Abstract Flow‐vegetation interaction affects fluid flow hydraulics and associated material transport in river corridors. Concomitant changes in pressure within the flow field due to the presence of vegetation may act as a driver for the formation of hyporheic flow across the sediment‐water interface. This potentially important process, however, has yet to be studied. In order to investigate vegetation‐induced hyporheic exchange, a series of numerical models of interlinked surface‐subsurface flow modified by plant stems was conducted. Periodically staggered plant stem arrays on a flat sediment bed were considered within a coupled multiphysics computational fluid dynamics approach. Plants were idealized as rigid cylinders and arranged in different streamwise and spanwise spacing distances. Each vegetation array was then subjected to a broad range of flow Reynolds Numbers ( Re ). The results showed that hyporheic flow occurs in all conditions with the presence of vegetation. The vegetation‐induced hyporheic flux is found to be a function of Re via a power law. The flux increases with interstem space until the space reaches the distance that rigid stems no longer affect the flow structures in the vicinity of each other. Larger intervegetation distances lead to a larger hyporheic zone. A direct comparison with bedform‐induced hyporheic flow showed that vegetation can induce higher hyporheic flux through relatively shallower exchange zones. The results of all the simulations were synthesized into predictive models for hyporheic flux, bulk residence time and exchange depth based on drag coefficient, vegetation density, and Reynolds Number.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Key Research and Development Program of China; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0018042; 2016YFC0402703; 41771033; 41401014; 41830752; DE‐SC0018042
OSTI ID:
1852477
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1806396
Journal Information:
Water Resources Research, Vol. 57, Issue 6; ISSN 0043-1397
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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