Implications of river restoration for geomorphic diversity and flood risk

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Drawing on a decade-long dataset of repeat topographic surveys from 6 rivers across Scotland and North-Western England, this PhD project will offer an opportunity to explore the mid-term impact of river restoration schemes in upland catchments in the UK. Using a comparative approach across catchments which exhibit different hydrological and morphological regimes, the project aims to understand if river restoration projects can be implemented as an effective form of flood management while restoring a more 'natural' hydrological regime to support ecosystem recovery. Using the repeat topographic surveys, the successful candidate will use 2D hydraulic modelling and geomorphic change detection (GCD) software to appraise the river restoration schemes in terms of changes to river morphology and hydraulics. For example, by combining 2D flood model results with GCD output, the candidate can analyse the effect of the river restoration on the distribution of bed shear stress in time and compare outputs to GCD results which highlight regions of geomorphic change. The numerical model will be calibrated against hydrological data from the National River Flow Archive, satellite imagery of historical flood events, and field surveys.