Réhabilitation de cours d'eau : complémentarité de la morphologie et de la qualité de l'eau

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Artificially generating sediment incipient motion in natural conditions

Incipient motion thresholds for gravel bed rivers are studied in flumes and natural rivers. Flume studies allow variables such as channel slope, water velocity, water depth, sediment size and sediment composition to be controlled. Meanwhile, in the field, the incipient motion of particles is studied in natural conditions allowing the structure of the bed and the flood characteristics to be considered. Though much less developed, an intermediate possibility also exists. By artificially accelerating near bottom velocity of the water flow in a small portion of the bed, it is possible to initiate sediment transport. This allows sediment incipient motion to be observed in natural conditions while controlling the water velocities. The Cemagref (HHLY) has developed a device which confines water flow in a small tunnel on the bottom of the riverbed. It was developed in order to create a boundary layer similar to the one generated by natural flow. Water is injected into a filter which smoothes the flow before it enters a Plexiglas tunnel where sediment motion is observed. The flow is accelerated by two large pumps that allow flow velocities of up to 2.5 m/s in a small area 40 cm long, 20 cm wide and 12 cm high. As the water flow is confined, large scale turbulence similar to that occurring in natural rivers cannot be reproduced using the device. The velocity profile in the tunnel is stable and in equilibrium with the riverbed. Sediment motion was observed using this device on three Belgian gravel bed rivers (3.5 cm <D50<8 cm). The incipient critical velocities measured were coherent in the three rivers sampled, ranging between 1.3 m/s and 1.7 m/s. A progressive increase in velocity in the tunnel permitted size selective entrainment to be observed. Analysis of the particle entrainment schemes and associated velocities allowed the role played by the armoured layer and the Di/D50 ratio to be more fully understood. Critical velocities measured using the device were also compared to critical velocities observed in natural conditions, determined during several pebble tracing campaigns. This revealed that incipient motion velocities of the largest particles recorded in artificial conditions were systematically larger than those observed in natural conditions. This demonstrates the roles played by large scale turbulence and the vertical component of the flow velocity in single particle entrainment. Due to its inherent characteristics, both of these flow components are weak in the artificial conditions generated by the device. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that this type of device is a useful tool in observing and studying incipient motion processes and, in particular, the role played by the bed structure (armouring, protrusion, etc.). However, some improvements are still required in order to more accurately measure critical velocities, allowing critical discharges to be determined

WaRM: A Roof Material Spectral Library for Wallonia, Belgium

peer reviewedThe exploitation of urban-material spectral properties is of increasing importance for a broad range of applications, such as urban climate-change modeling and mitigation or specific/dangerous roof-material detection and inventory. A new spectral library dedicated to the detection of roof material was created to reflect the regional diversity of materials employed in Wallonia, Belgium. The Walloon Roof Material (WaRM) spectral library accounts for 26 roof material spectra in the spectral range 350–2500 nm. Spectra were acquired using an ASD FieldSpec3 Hi-Res spectrometer in laboratory conditions, using a spectral sampling interval of 1 nm. The analysis of the spectra shows that spectral signatures are strongly influenced by the color of the roof materials, at least in the VIS spectral range. The SWIR spectral range is in general more relevant to distinguishing the different types of material. Exceptions are the similar properties and very close spectra of several black materials, meaning that their spectral signatures are not sufficiently different to distinguish them from each other. Although building materials can vary regionally due to different available construction materials, the WaRM spectral library can certainly be used for wider applications; Wallonia has always been strongly connected to the surrounding regions and has always encountered climatic conditions similar to all of Northwest Europe. Dataset: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7414740 Dataset License: CC-BY-ND-SA-1.

Introduction to the special issue in honor of Prof. François Petit

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La typologie et les caractéristiques hydromorphologiques des cours d'eau wallons

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Does turbulence affect the habitat choice of Atlantic salmon parr?

Habitat preferences of Atlantic salmon parr are commonly described using mean flow velocity, water depth, and substrate as habitat variables, and a variety of habitat models have been developed using these variables to predict habitat quality. However, Atlantic salmon parr live in highly turbulent streams and rivers, in which intense fluctuations of flow velocity occur. Habitat preferences that consider the high variability of flow velocity have not been studied, and this although it has been shown in laboratory experiments that turbulence may affect the behavior and energetics of fish. Consequently, we studied the use of turbulent flow by Atlantic salmon parr in Patapédia River, Québec, Canada using radio-telemetry. We analyzed summer habitat preferences of individual parr in relation to several dynamic hydraulic variables such as standard deviation of flow velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, Froude number, and shear stress, and compared them with the habitat availability within the river reach. Our results revealed that in a natural flow environment, parr display a high individual variability in habitat preferences in relation to flow turbulence. Such heterogeneous habitat preferences suggest that individuals are not constrained to single habitat types and exhibit flexible habitat use. Furthermore, no differences were observed in habitat preferences between the four daily periods (dawn, day, dusk, and night) within individual parr

Mise en évidence de la contribution des seuils d’épandage sur cours d’eau éphémère à la recharge des nappes aquifères au Burkina Faso

peer reviewedDans les vallées d’oueds des zones arides et semi-arides, les Etats mettent en place différentes techniques de conservation des eaux et des sols pour de meilleurs rendements. Parmi ces techniques, les seuils d’épandage qui produisent une inondation temporaire des surfaces latérales en amont et en aval. Ils contribuent à augmenter l’humidité du sol et la recharge locale de la nappe aquifère superficielle. Au Burkina Faso, dans le bassin versant de Wedbila, deux seuils d’épandage sont installés avec une étendue d’épandage de 71 Ha. Pour évaluer leur fonctionnement (recharge de la nappe), des équipements ont été installés. Les teneurs en eau dans le sol ont été corrélées avec les paramètres météorologiques (précipitation, évapotranspiration réelle, eau utile), les périodes d’épandages mais également les niveaux piézométriques mesurés dans différents piézomètres crépinés dans l’aquifère superficiel. Ces mesures permettent de mettre en évidence différents modes d’évolution des teneurs en eau dans la zone non saturée, fonction de la lithologie, de la profondeur de la nappe aquifère et de la lame d’eau stagnante. Les constats montrent une corrélation significative entre la teneur en eau et la pluviométrie. La réponse piézométrique quant à elle, est décalée des pics de teneur en eau s’expliquant probablement par le temps d’infiltration et le type de sols traversés. Les périodes d’épandage offrent une bonne humidification des premiers centimètres du sol. Les mesures faites sur dix (10) mois montrent qu’il faut un temps plus long pour déduire l’impact des seuils sur la recharge de la nappe.Caractérisation de l'impact des seuils d'épandage sur la recharge des eaux souterraines dans un contexte de bas-fonds aride: cas du sous bassin de Nariaré (Burkina Faso)6. Clean water and sanitatio

Flash floods and muddy floods in Wallonia: recent temporal trends, spatial distribution and reconstruction of the hydrosedimentological fluxes using flood marks and sediment deposits

Flash floods and muddy floods may cause severe human and material damage despite their small spatial extent and low occurrence. In late May 2008, a major event has affected the area of Liège. This paper describes the methodology used to reconstruct the hydrosedimentological parameters of the flood from the geomorphological evidences observed in the field. Bed load and suspended load transport rates estimated during this extreme event were compared to the average values observed in other Walloon rivers and more specifically in the Ardennes Massif. The spatial distribution and the temporal evolution of the flash flood and muddy flood events are then analysed across Wallonia based on several works compiling press archives since the early twentieth century. The biases associated with this type of historical sources and the consequences of flash floods and muddy floods on the vulnerability and the risk of flooding in Wallonia are finally addressed.Les crues éclairs et les coulées boueuses, malgré leur extension spatiale réduite et leur occurrence peu fréquente, peuvent être à l’origine de dégâts importants tant sur le plan matériel que sur le plan humain. Fin mai 2008, un événement majeur a affecté la région liégeoise. Ce papier décrit la méthodologie employée pour reconstituer, en milieu forestier, ses paramètres hydrosédimentologiques à partir des éléments géomorphologiques observés sur le terrain. Les taux de transport de la charge de fond et de la charge en suspension au cours de cet événement extrême sont comparés aux valeurs moyennes observées dans d’autres rivières wallonnes et plus spécifiquement dans le massif ardennais. La répartition spatiale et l’évolution temporelle des crues éclairs sont ensuite analysées à l’échelle de la Wallonie sur base de plusieurs travaux académiques compilant l’ensemble des événements recensés dans la presse depuis le début du XXème siècle. Les biais liés à ce type de sources historiques sont abordés ainsi que les conséquences des crues éclairs sur la vulnérabilité et le risque d’inondation soudaine en Wallonie

Shape and amount of the Quaternary uplift of the western Rhenish shield and the Ardennes (western Europe)

A good evaluation of the Quaternary uplift of the Rhenish shield is a key element for the understanding of the Cenozoic geodynamics of the western European platform in front of the alpine arc. Previous maps of the massif uplift relied on fluvial incision data since the time of the rivers' Younger Main Terrace to infer a maximum post-0.73 Ma uplift of ~290 m in the SE Eifel. Here, we propose a new interpretation of the incision data of the intra-massif streams, where anomalies in the terrace profiles would result from knickpoint retreat in the tributaries of the main rivers rather than from tectonic deformation. We also use additional geomorphological data referring to (1) deformed Tertiary planation surfaces, (2) the history of stream piracy that severely affected the Meuse basin in the last 1 Ma, and (3) incision data outside the Rhenish shield. A new map of the post-0.73 Ma uplift of the Rhenish shield is drawn on the basis of this enlarged dataset. It reduces the maximum amount of tectonic uplift in the SE Eifel to ~140 m and modifies the general shape of the uplift, namely straightening its E–W profile. It is also suggested that an uplift wave migrated across the massif, starting from its southern margin in the early Pleistocene and currently showing the highest intensity of uplift in the northern Ardennes and Eifel. These features seem to favour an uplift mechanism chiefly related to lithospheric folding and minimize the impact on the topography of a more local Eifel plume

Mapping error due to image geometric correction.

Nowadays, image processing and GIS tools are more accessible and available to all. Most of diachronical or historical studies use the image geometric correction with several documents like old maps, plans or aerial photographs. They are usually based on low-order polynomial equation to perfom these kinds of simplistic uses. Most of commercial softwares provide us a total or by ground control points RMSE but they don’t offer a overview of the spatial error distribution. More this does not guarantee that its significance for the other points of the image. Do not consider these errors can lead to erroneous observations and misinterpretations like historical moving streams or bank erosion rate. Using a least square adjustment (LSA), allow to recalculate the transformation equation from the pairs of control points coordinates. Assuming that residuals are spatially auto-correlated, we can build error vectors whose direction and magnitude symbolize the error at each point of the image. By another way, LSA manage the precision during transformation process by using a stochastic model in addition of the mathematical model during the transformation. This gives us variance on parameters of the transformation. Knowing the precision of all elements and variance/covariance matrix on transformation parameters, we apply variance propagation on the model. As an output, we obtain confidence ellipses on each transformed points, thus a spatial distribution of error for the entire image. Moreover, this leads us to determine statistically if observed movement are significant or not. The represent error is a complex problem that cannot be solved with a quick fix. In this work, we present an interesting example of using well-known topographic methods to solve image processing problems