Work

Diagnostics of the Average Long-Term Water Discharge of Freely Meandering Rivers Based on Morphological Analysis of Their Channel Configurations

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Freely meandering rivers flow through gently sloping plains composed of loess and fluvial sediments. Alluvial fans are formed without the influence of landscape features such as rock outcrops or other features that distort the flow path. The channel configurations of such rivers, and in particular the size of meanders and oxbow lakes, de-pend on the average long-term water discharge. Large rivers form large meanders, while small rivers form correspondingly small ones. Morphological analysis of river channel configurations can offer a metric for estimating the average long-term water content of a river based solely on the sinuosity of its channel. The study examined six freely meandering rivers in Kazakhstan, with discharges ranging from 4.5 to 760 m3/sec and channel slopes from 0.005 to 0.06%. The morphological analysis of river channels was based on the Relative Elevation Model, specifically its version based on the Copernicus Global Digital Elevation Model, with a spatial resolution of 30 meters. River channel configurations were approximated using a set of inscribed circles, the diameters of which formed the basis for the river's water content metric. The largest diameter circles, which could support the river channel with a sector of at least 135°, were expertly inscribed into river bends. The diameters of the inscribed circles within these sets varied from four times for small rivers to ten times for large rivers. These sets of circles, sorted by size, can characterize the average long-term water content of the analyzed rivers. For example, a sample of average median values of inscribed circle diameters has a high correlation with the average long-term water discharge, with a linear approximation reliability of R2 = 0.997. The scope of the developed method for assessing the water content of freely meandering rivers includes retrospective analysis of changes in average long-term water discharge. This can provide significant historical depth of analysis, spanning centuries and millennia, since the analysis is based on describing the results of very slow processes of natural deformation of river channels. Thus, the method proposed in this study for assessing the water content of freely meandering rivers based on morphological analysis of their channel configurations expands the arsenal of tools for reconstructing certain paleoclimate elements related to the hydrology of territories.

Source: Hydrology

DOI: 10.3390/hydrology13070196

Authors: Alexey Terekhov, Ravil Mukhamediev, Gulshat Sagatdinova, Igor Savin

Institutions: Institute of Information and Computational Technologies, Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Satbayev University, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute

Language: English

Topic: Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes

Subfield: Ecology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Clean water and sanitation

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,172