Author(s): Mohammad Assem Mayar; Silke Wieprecht; Markus Noack
Linked Author(s): Markus Noack, Silke Wieprecht
Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: Fine sediment infiltration and accumulation in riverbeds, also called clogging, can have a significant impact on interstitial habitats for aquatic organisms because it reduces the pore space, the hydraulic conductivity and hence, the supply of dissolved oxygen. Given this immense impact, sediment infiltration and accumulation has been studied intensively in field and laboratories. However, to measure infiltration masses only destructive methods have been applied so far. This study investigates the feasibility of Gamma Ray Attenuation (GRA) for undisturbed measurements of fine sediment infiltration masses. Therefore, preliminary experiments are conducted with a simplified setup consisting of a box filled with a central cubic packing of spheres, water and infiltrated sediments. For quantifying the accuracy, the measured masses are compared to the previously weighted mass of infiltrated fine sediments. The measured infiltration masses with GRA show a high agreement with the known infiltration mass providing promising results for future applications. Therefore, GRA represent a valuable opportunity to measure sediment infiltration masses without disturbing the riverbed allowing also for detailed studies on the dynamic behavior of clogging processes.
Year: 2018