Collaborative Research: Linking turbulent flow dynamics to meandering river migration

在美国，河流是生命的主要通道。它们是航运的要道，基础设施和制造业的中心，以及娱乐和野生动物的绿洲。河流通常作为一种自然过程迁移，这一过程具有深远的影响：它对桥梁和其他基础设施构成危害;改变洪水模式;在地质时期，形成地下资源，包括地下水和碳氢化合物。该项目通过建立新的工具来预测河流迁移和为大学科学课程提供新的相关课程来推进地球表面科学领域。该项目将通过支持一个从西部山区到东海岸的男女团队来进一步促进科学的多样性，他们共同代表两所州立大学和一所部落学院。这些模拟将捕捉水流和泥沙输运之间的相互作用，在一个前所未有的范围内的河流形状。模型预测将进行测试和完善，使用实验在一个蜿蜒的河流比例模型，并通过比较地质数据集。该研究成果将帮助地质学家、工程师和河流科学家减轻河流灾害、管理野生动物栖息地，并确定跨越国家不断变化的景观的自然资源。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Rivers are central conduits for life in the US. They are thoroughfares for shipping, focal points for infrastructure and manufacturing, and oases for recreation and wildlife. Rivers often migrate as a natural process, one which has far-reaching consequences: it poses hazards to bridges and other infrastructure; shifts flooding patterns; and over geologic time, shapes underground resources, including groundwater and hydrocarbons. This project advances the field of Earth-surface science by building new tools to forecast river migration and a new, related curriculum for college science classes. The project will further diversity in the sciences by supporting a team of women and men from the mountain west to the east coast, who together represent two state universities and one Tribal College.A foundation of the research is a new set of state-of-the-art mathematical simulations using higher-performance computing techniques. These simulations will capture interactions between water flow and sediment transport across an unprecedented range of river shapes. Model predictions will be tested and refined using experiments in a scale model of a meandering river, and by comparison to geologic data sets. The research findings will help geologists, engineers, and river scientists to mitigate river hazards, manage wildlife habitat, and identify natural resources spanning the changing landscapes of the nation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.