David Hurther

A Correction Method for Turbulence Measurements with a 3D Acoustic Doppler Velocity Profiler

Abstract A method is proposed to reduce the noise contribution to mean turbulence parameters obtained by 3D acoustic Doppler velocity profiler measurements. It is based on a noise spectrum reconstruction from cross-spectra evaluations of two independent and simultaneous measurements of the same vertical velocity component over the whole water depth. The noise spectra and the noise variances are calculated and removed for the three fluctuating velocity components measured in turbulent, open-channel flow. The corrected turbulence spectra show a −5/3 slope over the whole inertial subrange delimited by the frequency band of the device, while the uncorrected turbulence spectra have flat high-frequency regions typical for noise effects. This method does not require any hypothesis on the flow characteristics nor does it depend on device-dependent parameters. The corrected profiles of turbulence intensities, turbulent kinetic energy, shear stress, and turbulent energy balance equation terms, such as production, t...

Double-averaging analysis and local flow characterization of near-bed turbulence in gravel-bed channel flows

This investigation focuses on the characteristics of near-bed turbulence in fully rough gravel-bed open-channel flows. The analysis combines results obtained with the double-averaging methodology and local flow characterization, using velocity measurements provided by a high-resolution three-axis Acoustic Doppler Velocity Profiler (ADVP). As a result of the flow heterogeneity induced by the bed topography, the flow is not locally uniform in the near-bed region, and a double-averaging methodology is applied over a length scale much greater than the gravel size. In smooth- and rough-bed flow conditions, without macro-roughness bed elements, maximum turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) production occurs very close to z = 0, while in our case with fully rough flows with macro-roughness elements, maximum turbulence activity is found to occur at gravel crest levels z c ( z c / h = 0.1). Turbulent diffusion also reaches a maximum at this elevation. The characteristics of the spatially averaged TKE budget are in good agreement with those obtained in flows over canopies. The hydrodynamic double-averaged properties have strong similarities with mixing layers and reattached mixing layers in flows over backward facing steps. Local time-averaged velocity profiles can be split into three typical classes, namely log, S-shaped and accelerated. It appears that the S-shaped class profiles, located in the wakes of the macro-roughness elements, exhibit an inflectional profile typical of mixing layers. They are of major importance in the double-averaged TKE budget, as they provide a local high contribution to the double-averaged TKE flux, TKE production and dissipation compared to the log class profiles. Consequently, double-averaged TKE production is roughly 75% greater than the dissipation rate at the point of maximal TKE production. Moreover the macro-roughness bed elements imply mixing-layer-type hydrodynamics that play a dominant role in the overall structure of mean near-bed turbulence of gravel-bed channel flows.

Turbulent transport in the outer region of rough-wall open-channel flows: the contribution of large coherent shear stress structures (LC3S)

Author Posting.

Acoustic inversions for measuring boundary layer suspended sediment processes

Although sound has been applied to the study of sediment transport processes for a number of years, it is acknowledged that there are still problems in using the backscattered signal to measure suspended sediment parameters. In particular, when the attenuation due to the suspension becomes significant, the uncertainty associated with the variability in the scattering characteristics of the sediments in suspension can lead to inversion errors which accumulate as the sound propagates through the suspension. To study this attenuation propagation problem, numerical simulations and laboratory experiments have been used to assess the impact unpredictability in the scattering properties of the suspension has on the acoustically derived suspended sediments parameters. The results clearly show the commonly applied iterative implicit inversion can lead to calculated sediment parameters, which become increasingly erroneous with range, as the sound propagates through the suspension. To address this problem an alternative approach to the iterative implicit formulation is investigated using a recently described dual frequency inversion. This approach is not subject to the accumulation of errors and has an explicit solution. Here the dual frequency inversion is assessed and calculated suspended sediment parameters are compared with those obtained from the iterative implicit inversion.

Improved Turbulence Profiling with Field-Adapted Acoustic Doppler Velocimeters Using a Bifrequency Doppler Noise Suppression Method

Abstract A novel noise reduction method and corresponding technique are presented for improving turbulence measurements with acoustic Doppler velocimeters (ADVs) commonly used in field studies of coastal and nearshore regions, rivers, lakes, and estuaries. This bifrequency method is based on the decorrelation of the random and statistically independent Doppler noise terms contained in the Doppler signals at two frequencies. It is shown through experiments in an oscillating grid turbulence (OGT) tank producing diffusive isotropic turbulence that a shift in carrier frequency of less than 10% is sufficient to increase the resolved frequency range by a decade in the turbulent velocity spectra. Over this spectral range, the slope of the velocity spectra agrees well with the universal inertial range value of −5/3. The limit due to spatial averaging effects over the sample volume can be determined from the abrupt deviation of the spectral slope from the −5/3 value. As a result, the relative error of the turbulen...

Bed load and suspended load contributions to migrating sand dunes in equilibrium

Dunes dominate the bed of sand rivers and are of central importance in predicting flow roughness and water levels. The present study has focused on the details of flow and sediment dynamics along migrating sand dunes in equilibrium. Using a recently developed acoustic system (Acoustic Concentration and Velocity Profiler), new insights are obtained in the behavior of the bed and the suspended load transport along mobile dunes. Our data have illustrated that, due to the presence of a dense sediment layer close to the bed and migrating secondary bedforms over the stoss side of the dune toward the dune crest, the near-bed flow and sediment processes are significantly different from the near-bed flow and sediment dynamics measured over fixed dunes. It was observed that the shape of the total sediment transport distribution along dunes is mainly dominated by the bed load transport, although the bed load and the suspended load transport are of the same order of magnitude. This means that it was especially the bed load transport that is responsible for the continuous erosion and deposition of sediment along the migrating dunes. Whereas the bed load is entirely captured in the dune with zero transport at the flow reattachment point, a significant part of the suspended load is advected to the downstream dune depending on the flow conditions. For the two flow conditions measured, the bypass fraction was about 10% for flow with a Froude number (Fr) of 0.41 and 27% for flow with Froude number of 0.51. This means that respectively 90% (for the Fr = 0.41 flow) and 73% (for the Fr = 0.51 flow) of the total sediment load that arrived at the dune crests contributed to the migration of the dunes.

On the structure of shear stress and turbulent kinetic energy flux across the roughness layer of a gravel-bed channel flow

This study examines the structure of shear stress and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) flux across the roughness layer of a uniform, fully rough gravel-bed channel flow ( k s + ≫ 100, δ/ k = 20) using high-resolution acoustic Doppler velocity profiler measurements. The studied gravel-bed roughness layer exhibits a complex random multi-scale roughness structure in strong contrast with conceptualized k - or d -type roughness in standard rough-wall flows. Within the roughness layer, strong spatial variability of all time-averaged flow quantities are observed affecting up to 40% of the boundary layer height. This variability is attributed to the presence of bed zones with emanating bed protuberances (or gravel clusters) acting as local flow obstacles and bed zones of more homogenous roughness of densely packed gravel elements. Considering the strong spatial mean flow variability across the roughness layer, a spatio-temporal averaging procedure, called double averaging (DA), has been applied to the analysed flow quantities. Three aspects have been addressed: ( a ) the DA shear stress and DA TKE flux in specific bed zones associated with three classes of velocity profiles as previously proposed in Mignot, Barthelemy & Hurther ( J. Fluid Mech. , vol. 618, 2009, p. 279), ( b ) the global and per class DA conditional statistics of shear stress and associated TKE flux and ( c ) the contribution of large-scale coherent shear stress structures (LC3S) to the TKE flux across the roughness layer. The mean Reynolds and dispersive shear structure show good agreement between the protuberance bed zones associated with the S-shape/accelerated classes and recent results obtained in standard k -type rough-wall flows (Djenidi et al ., Exp. Fluids , vol. 44, 2008, p. 37; Pokrajac, McEwan & Nikora, Exp. Fluids , vol. 45, 2008, p. 73). These gravel-bed protuberances act as local flow obstacles inducing a strong turbulent activity in their wake regions. The conditional statistics show that the Reynolds stress contribution is fairly well distributed between sweep and ejection events, with threshold values ranging from H = 0 to H = 8. However, the TKE flux across the roughness layer primarily results from the residual shear stress between ejection and sweep of very high magnitude ( H = 10–20) and of small turbulent scale. Although LC3S are seen to penetrated the interfacial roughness layer, their TKE flux contribution is found to be negligible compared to the very energetic small-scale sweep events. These sweeps are dominantly produced in the bed zones of local gravel protuberances where the velocity profiles are inflexional of S-shape type and the mean flow properties are of mixing-layer flow type as previously shown in Mignot et al . (2009).

Investigation of sheet-flow processes based on novel acoustic high-resolution velocity and concentration measurements – ERRATUM

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Investigation of sheet-flow processes based on novel acoustic high-resolution velocity and concentration measurements Thibaud Revil-Baudard, Julien Chauchat, David Hurther, Pierre-Alain Barraud

Using multi-frequency acoustic attenuation to monitor grain size and concentration of suspended sediment in rivers

Multi-frequency acoustic backscatter profiles recorded with side-looking acoustic Doppler current profilers are used to monitor the concentration and size of sedimentary particles suspended in fluvial environments. Data at 300, 600, and 1200 kHz are presented from the Isère River in France where the dominant particles in suspension are silt and clay sizes. The contribution of suspended sediment to the through-water attenuation was determined for three high concentration (> 100 mg/L) events and compared to theoretical values for spherical particles having size distributions that were measured by laser diffraction in water samples. Agreement was good for the 300 kHz data, but it worsened with increasing frequency. A method for the determination of grain size using multi-frequency attenuation data is presented considering models for spherical and oblate spheroidal particles. When the resulting size estimates are used to convert sediment attenuation to concentration, the spheroidal model provides the best agreement with optical estimates of concentration, but the aspect ratio and grain size that provide the best fit differ between events. The acoustic estimates of size were one-third the values from laser grain sizing. This agreement is encouraging considering optical and acoustical instruments measure different parameters.

Near‐bed hydrodynamics and turbulence below a large‐scale plunging breaking wave over a mobile barred bed profile

Detailed measurements are presented of velocities and turbulence under a large-scale regular plunging breaking wave in a wave flume. Measurements were obtained at 12 cross-shore locations around a mobile medium-sand breaker bar. They focused particularly on the dynamics of the wave bottom boundary layer (WBL) and near-bed turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), measured with an Acoustic Concentration and Velocity Profiler (ACVP). The breaking process and outer flow hydrodynamics are in agreement with previous laboratory and field observations of plunging waves, including a strong undertow in the bar trough region. The WBL thickness matches with previous studies at locations offshore from the bar crest, but it increases near the breaking-wave plunge point. This relates possibly to breaking-induced TKE or to the diverging flow at the shoreward slope of the bar. Outer flow TKE is dominated by wave breaking and exhibits strong spatial variation with largest TKE above the breaker bar crest. Below the plunge point, breaking-induced turbulence invades the WBL during both crest and trough half cycle. This results in an increase in the time-averaged TKE in the WBL (with a factor 3) and an increase in peak onshore and offshore near-bed Reynolds stresses (with a factor 2) from shoaling to breaking region. A fraction of locally produced TKE is advected offshore over a distance of a few meters to shoaling locations during the wave trough phase, and travels back onshore during the crest half cycle. The results imply that breaking-induced turbulence, for large-scale conditions, may significantly affect near-bed sediment transport processes.