Width‐Based Discharge Partitioning in Distributary Networks: How Right We Are

Abstract River deltas are home to large populations and can be composed of complex channel networks which convey flows of matter to the shoreline. Knowledge of flow within individual channels is needed to quantify the distribution of discharge across the delta, and thus its sustainability over time....

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Main Authors: Jayaram Hariharan, Anastasia Piliouras, Jon Schwenk, Paola Passalacqua
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022-07-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL097897
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author Jayaram Hariharan
Anastasia Piliouras
Jon Schwenk
Paola Passalacqua
author_facet Jayaram Hariharan
Anastasia Piliouras
Jon Schwenk
Paola Passalacqua
author_sort Jayaram Hariharan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract River deltas are home to large populations and can be composed of complex channel networks which convey flows of matter to the shoreline. Knowledge of flow within individual channels is needed to quantify the distribution of discharge across the delta, and thus its sustainability over time. Due to a lack of field measurements at the local channel scale, researchers leverage remote sensing data to estimate the partitioning of flow. We compare data from 15 river deltas to discharge partitioning estimates based on channel network graphs derived from remote sensing imagery. We quantify errors in the common width‐based method and test alternative partitioning techniques to find that width‐based discharge partitioning is universally applicable, suggesting that absent any site‐specific information, discharge partitioning by average channel width is an appropriate approach. We also provide networks, streamflow measurements, and flux partitioning estimates for 28 delta networks as the Discharge In Distributary NeTworks (DIDNT) dataset.
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id doaj-art-98b83e7ee98d422196dc588e36e73e02
institution OA Journals
issn 0094-8276
1944-8007
language English
publishDate 2022-07-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-98b83e7ee98d422196dc588e36e73e022025-08-20T02:17:21ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072022-07-014914n/an/a10.1029/2022GL097897Width‐Based Discharge Partitioning in Distributary Networks: How Right We AreJayaram Hariharan0Anastasia Piliouras1Jon Schwenk2Paola Passalacqua3Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering The University of Texas at Austin Austin TX USALos Alamos National Laboratory Earth and Environmental Sciences Division Los Alamos NM USALos Alamos National Laboratory Earth and Environmental Sciences Division Los Alamos NM USADepartment of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering The University of Texas at Austin Austin TX USAAbstract River deltas are home to large populations and can be composed of complex channel networks which convey flows of matter to the shoreline. Knowledge of flow within individual channels is needed to quantify the distribution of discharge across the delta, and thus its sustainability over time. Due to a lack of field measurements at the local channel scale, researchers leverage remote sensing data to estimate the partitioning of flow. We compare data from 15 river deltas to discharge partitioning estimates based on channel network graphs derived from remote sensing imagery. We quantify errors in the common width‐based method and test alternative partitioning techniques to find that width‐based discharge partitioning is universally applicable, suggesting that absent any site‐specific information, discharge partitioning by average channel width is an appropriate approach. We also provide networks, streamflow measurements, and flux partitioning estimates for 28 delta networks as the Discharge In Distributary NeTworks (DIDNT) dataset.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL097897river deltadelta channel networkgraph theorydischarge partitioning
spellingShingle Jayaram Hariharan
Anastasia Piliouras
Jon Schwenk
Paola Passalacqua
Width‐Based Discharge Partitioning in Distributary Networks: How Right We Are
Geophysical Research Letters
river delta
delta channel network
graph theory
discharge partitioning
title Width‐Based Discharge Partitioning in Distributary Networks: How Right We Are
title_full Width‐Based Discharge Partitioning in Distributary Networks: How Right We Are
title_fullStr Width‐Based Discharge Partitioning in Distributary Networks: How Right We Are
title_full_unstemmed Width‐Based Discharge Partitioning in Distributary Networks: How Right We Are
title_short Width‐Based Discharge Partitioning in Distributary Networks: How Right We Are
title_sort width based discharge partitioning in distributary networks how right we are
topic river delta
delta channel network
graph theory
discharge partitioning
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL097897
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AT anastasiapiliouras widthbaseddischargepartitioningindistributarynetworkshowrightweare
AT jonschwenk widthbaseddischargepartitioningindistributarynetworkshowrightweare
AT paolapassalacqua widthbaseddischargepartitioningindistributarynetworkshowrightweare