Application of the Method for Determining Bedload Discharge Based on the Thickness of the Moving Material Layer on the Amur River Model

The object of the study in this paper is the dune form of bed load transport. An accurate assessment of bed load discharge is important when considering river morphology, conducting dredging and river regulation works to ensure navigational conditions, as well as when designing various engineering structures. This paper analyses modern methods for measuring bed load discharge based on dune parameters. Considering the identified shortcomings and limitations of existing measurement methods, a new method for measuring bed load discharge is proposed. A distinguishing feature of the proposed method is the use of the mean thickness of the moving material layer when determining bed load discharge. This parameter is defined as the ratio of the area of the moving material to the length of the moving material layer. Essentially, the moving material consists of dunes identified after filtering out minor bottom protrusions. The advantage of this method lies in the use of the mean thickness of the moving material layer, which allows for all the dunes identified in the longitudinal profile to be accounted for when calculating the bed load discharge. To evaluate the accuracy of the developed method, experiments were carried out on a model of a section of the Amur River built in a hydraulic flume at the Channel Hydraulic Laboratory of the State Hydrological Institute. The channel bedforms consisted of three-dimensional dunes. The experiments have shown that the developed method provides the required level of accuracy.