Experimental Study of Overland Flow through Rigid Emergent Vegetation with Different Densities and Location Arrangements

Abstract

The effect of vegetation density on overland flow dynamics has been extensively studied, yet fewer investigations have focused on vegetation arrangements with different densities and position features. Flume experiments were conducted to investigate the hydrodynamics of flow through rigid emergent vegetation arranged in combinations with three densities (Dense, Middle, and Sparse) and three positions (summit, backslope, and footslope). This study focused on how spatial variations regulated hydrodynamic parameters from two dimensions: direction along the slope and water depth. The total hydrodynamic parameters of bare slopes were significantly different from those of vegetated slopes. The relationship between Re and f illustrated that Re was not a unique predictor of hydraulic roughness on vegetated slopes. In the slope direction, all hydrodynamic parameters on vegetated slopes exhibited fluctuating downward/upward trends due to the clocking effect before the vegetated area and the rapid conveyance effect in the vegetated area, whereas constant values were observed on bare slopes. The performance of hydrodynamics parameters suggested that the dense rearward arrangement (SMD) was the optimal vegetation pattern to regulate flow conditions. Specifically, the vertical profiles of the velocity and turbulence features of the SMD arrangement at different sections demonstrated the significant role of vegetation density in identifying the velocity layers along the water depth. The maximum velocity and Reynolds Stress Number (RSN) indicated the position where local scour was most likely to occur, which would improve our basic understanding of the mechanisms underlying hydraulic and soil erosion processes.