Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have revolutionised the availability of high resolution topographic data in many disciplines due to their relatively low-cost and ease of deployment. Consumer-grade Real Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite System (RTK-GNSS) equipped UAVs offer potential to reduce or eliminate ground control points (GCPs) from SfM photogrammetry surveys, removing time-consuming target deployment. Despite this, the removal of ground control can substantially reduce the georeferencing accuracy of SfM photogrammetry outputs. Here, a DJI Phantom 4 RTK UAV is deployed to survey a 2 × 0.5 km reach of the braided River Feshie, Scotland that has local channel-bar relief of c.1 m and median grain size c.60 mm. Five rectangular adjacent blocks were flown, with images collected at 20° from the nadir across a double grid, with strips flown in opposing directions to achieve locally convergent imagery geometry. Check point errors for seven scenarios with varying configurations of GCPs were tested. Results show that, contrary to some published Direct Georeferencing UAV investigations, GCPs are not essential for accurate kilometre-scale topographic modelling. Using no GCPs, 3300 independent spatially-distributed RTK-GNSS surveyed check points have mean z-axis error −0.010 m (RMSE = 0.066 m). Using 5 GCPs gave 0.016 m (RMSE = 0.072 m). Our check point results do not show vertical systematic errors, such as doming, using either 0 or 5 GCPs. However, acquiring spatially distributed independent check points to check for systematic errors is recommended. Our results imply that an RTK-GNSS UAV can produce acceptable errors with no ground control, alongside spatially distributed independent check points, demonstrating that the technique is versatile for rapid kilometre-scale topographic survey in a range of geomorphic environments.

This paper provides novel observations linking the connections between spatially distributed bed load transport pathways, hydraulic patterns, and morphological change in a shallow, gravel bed braided river. These observations shed light on the mechanics of braiding processes and illustrate the potential to quantify coupled material fluxes using remotely sensed methods. The paper focuses upon a 300 m long segment of the Rees River, New Zealand, and utilizes spatially dense observations from a mobile acoustic Doppler current profiler (aDcp) to map depth, velocity, and channel topography through a sequence of high‐flow events. Apparent bed load velocity is estimated from the bias in aDcp bottom tracking and mapped to indicate bed load transport pathways. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) of exposed bar surfaces is fused with the aDcp surveys to generate spatially continuous digital elevation models, which quantify morphological change through the sequence of events. Results map spatially distributed bed load pathways that were likely to link zones of erosion and deposition. The coherence between the channel thalweg, zone of maximum hydraulic forcing, and maximum apparent bed load pathways varied. This suggests that, in places, local sediment supply sources exerted a strong control on the distribution of bed load, distinct from hydraulic forcing. The principal braiding mechanisms observed were channel choking, leading to subsequent bifurcation. Results show the connection between sediment sources, pathways, and sinks and their influence on channel morphology and flow path directions. The methodology of coupling spatially dense aDcp surveys with TLS has considerable potential to understand connections between processes and morphological change in dynamic fluvial settings.

Numerical morphological modeling of braided rivers, using a physics‐based approach, is increasingly used as a technique to explore controls on river pattern and, from an applied perspective, to simulate the impact of channel modifications. This paper assesses a depth‐averaged nonuniform sediment model (Delft3D) to predict the morphodynamics of a 2.5 km long reach of the braided Rees River, New Zealand, during a single high‐flow event. Evaluation of model performance primarily focused upon using high‐resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of Difference, derived from a fusion of terrestrial laser scanning and optical empirical bathymetric mapping, to compare observed and predicted patterns of erosion and deposition and reach‐scale sediment budgets. For the calibrated model, this was supplemented with planform metrics (e.g., braiding intensity). Extensive sensitivity analysis of model functions and parameters was executed, including consideration of numerical scheme for bed load component calculations, hydraulics, bed composition, bed load transport and bed slope effects, bank erosion, and frequency of calculations. Total predicted volumes of erosion and deposition corresponded well to those observed. The difference between predicted and observed volumes of erosion was less than the factor of two that characterizes the accuracy of the Gaeuman et al. bed load transport formula. Grain size distributions were best represented using two φ intervals. For unsteady flows, results were sensitive to the morphological time scale factor. The approach of comparing observed and predicted morphological sediment budgets shows the value of using natural experiment data sets for model testing. Sensitivity results are transferable to guide Delft3D applications to other rivers.

Numerical morphological modelling of braided rivers is increasingly used to explore controls on river pattern and for applied environmental management. This article reviews and presents a taxonomy of braided river morphodynamic models and discusses the challenges facing model development and use, illustrating these challenges with a case example. The taxonomy is contextualised by an initial discussion of the physical mechanisms of braiding. The taxonomy differentiates between reach‐scale and catchment‐scale models. Reach‐scale models are usually physics‐based, which are further divided based upon the mathematical approach used to solve equations (analytical or numerical) and their dimensionality (1D, 2D or 3D). Cellular automata models are one type of numerical model that replace at least some physical processes with expedient rules. A 2D physics‐based approach encapsulates sufficient process complexity to provide behavioural predictions. Predictions from catchment‐scale landscape evolution models have potential for providing boundary conditions. Future progress in physics‐based modelling needs to address three challenges: (i) representation of flow and sediment transport; (ii) temporal and spatial scaling; and (iii) model calibration, sensitivity, uncertainty and validation. The key problem for addressing these is the dearth of laboratory or natural experiment datasets. To show that progress can be made by comparing reach‐scale predictions to high‐resolution observations, a case study of monitoring and modelling, conducted in the Rees River, New Zealand, is presented. Hydraulic predictions of cellular automata and shallow water equation (Delft3d) models are compared to observed inundation extent. The efficacy of high‐resolution, multi‐temporal morphological data for assessing 2D physics‐based morphodynamic model predictions is also demonstrated.

[1] Gravel‐bed braided rivers are characterized by shallow, branching flow across low relief, complex, and mobile bed topography. These conditions present a major challenge for the application of higher dimensional hydraulic models, the predictions of which are nevertheless vital to inform flood risk and ecosystem management. This paper demonstrates how high‐resolution topographic survey and hydraulic monitoring at a density commensurate with model discretization can be used to advance hydrodynamic simulations in braided rivers. Specifically, we detail applications of the shallow water model, Delft3d, to the Rees River, New Zealand, at two nested scales: a 300 m braid bar unit and a 2.5 km reach. In each case, terrestrial laser scanning was used to parameterize the topographic boundary condition at hitherto unprecedented resolution and accuracy. Dense observations of depth and velocity acquired from a mobile acoustic Doppler current profiler (aDcp), along with low‐altitude aerial photography, were then used to create a data‐rich framework for model calibration and testing at a range of discharges. Calibration focused on the estimation of spatially uniform roughness and horizontal eddy viscosity, ν_H, through comparison of predictions with distributed hydraulic data. Results revealed strong sensitivity to ν_H, which influenced cross‐channel velocity and localization of high shear zones. The high‐resolution bed topography partially accounts for form resistance, and the recovered roughness was found to scale by 1.2–1.4 D₈₄ grain diameter. Model performance was good for a range of flows, with minimal bias and tight error distributions, suggesting that acceptable predictions can be achieved with spatially uniform roughness and ν_H.