New remote method to systematically extract bedrock channel width of small catchments across large spatial scales using high‐resolution digital elevation models

Abstract

AbstractBedrock river width is an essential geometric parameter relevant to understanding flood hazards and gauging station rating curves, and is critical to stream power incision models and many other landscape evolution models. Obtaining bedrock river width measurements, however, typically requires extensive field campaigns that take place in rugged and steep topography where river access is often physically challenging. Although prior work has turned to measuring channel width from satellite imagery, these data present a snapshot in time, are typically limited to rivers ≥ 10–30 m wide due to the image resolution, and are physically restricted to areas devoid of vegetation. For these reasons, we are generally data limited, and the factors impacting bedrock channel width remain poorly understood. Due to these limitations, researchers often turn to assumptions of width‐scaling relationships with drainage area or discharge to estimate bedrock channel width. Here we present a new method of obtaining bedrock channel width at a desired river discharge through the incorporation of a high‐resolution bare‐earth digital elevation model (DEM) using MATLAB Topotoolbox and the HEC‐RAS river analysis system. We validate this method by comparing modeled results to US Geological Survey (USGS) field measurements at existing gauging stations, as well as field channel measurements. We show that this method can capture general characteristics of discharge rating curves and predict field‐measured channel widths within uncertainty. As high‐resolution DEMs become more available across the United States through the USGS three‐dimensional elevation program (3DEP), the future utility of this method is notable. Through developing and validating a streamlined, open‐source, and freely available workflow of channel width extraction, we hope this method can be applied to future research to improve the quantity of channel width measurements and improve our understanding of bedrock channels.