Field Measurements of Reynolds Stress near a Riverbank

Abstract

The Reynolds stress field was measured near the bank of the Powder River in southeastern Montana. The measurements were made from the bank using an aluminum I-beam cantilevered over the water to support a carriage system for positioning an acoustic doppler velocimeter in a vertical plane perpendicular to 1) the bank and 2) the streamwise velocity field. During quasi-steady flow at the peak (71 m3s-1) of the spring snowmelt runoff in May 1996, turbulent velocities were measured at 25 Hertz along six vertical locations spaced 0.5 m apart and within about 3.5 m of the riverbank. When the turbulent velocities are transformed to the ray-isovel coordinate system appropriate for this two-dimension problem, the turbulent characteristics near the bed are consistent with similar field measurements made by others for the one-dimensional problem of uniform flow over a horizontal bed far from lateral boundaries. The three turbulent intensities, (u???2) 1/2, (v???2)1/2 and (w??? 2)1/2, normalized by the local shear velocity, u*, were essentially constant with distance above the bed along a ray and the average values were 2.1, 1.4, and 1.2. Future turbulence measurements could be improved by measuring the streamwise flow first, then determining the approximate location of the rays and isovels so that the turbulence measurements could be made along the approximated rays rather than along verticals. In addition, to improve the possibility making turbulence measurements during steady, uniform flow, the site should be carefully selected to minimize local flow accelerations caused by spatial variability of the riverbank. Also, the measurements should be made at times when the stage is constant, no local erosion or deposition of sediment occurs, and when wind velocities are small.