Coupling of Repetitive Multibeam Surveys and Hydrodynamic Modelling to Understand Bedform Migration and Delta Evolution by Danar
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Coupling of Repetitive Multibeam Surveys and Hydrodynamic Modelling to Understand Bedform Migration and Delta Evolution by Danar Guruh Pratomo B.Sc.Eng GGE, Institut Teknologi Bandung, 2003 M.Sc.Eng GGE, Institut Teknologi Bandung, 2007 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Academic Unit of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering Supervisor: John Hughes Clarke, Ph.D., Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering Examining Board: Susan Haigh, Ph.D., Fisheries and Oceans Canada Katy Haralampides, Ph.D., Civil Engineering Ian Church, Ph.D., University of Southern Mississippi External Examiner: Peter Talling, Ph.D., National Oceanography Course Southampton, UK This dissertation is accepted by the Dean of Graduate Studies THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK June, 2016 ©Danar Guruh Pratomo, 2016 ABSTRACT This study addresses channelized delta top sediment transport on the Squamish estuary in Howe Sound, British Columbia. The mechanism of bedform migration and delta evolution is affected by the manner in which the available sediment flux from the feeder fluvial system is distributed. The present study is complementary to a parallel project looking at the sediment migrating on the delta slope as landslides or turbidity currents. The termination of the Squamish River consists of a single channel that flows between flanking intertidal sand bars and over a mouth bar at the lip of the delta. The delta front is growing rapidly with about 1 million m3 of sediment being input from the river system annually. There is a 3 to 5 m tidal range that strongly modulates the flow in the channel and over the adjacent intertidal sand banks. In 2011, the delta top channel was surveyed every 3 to 4 day at high water, over a period of 4 months during which the river discharge waxed and waned and the tides ranged from springs to neaps. In 2012 and again in 2013, the channel was surveyed daily over a week while the tides increased from neaps to springs. In order to understand the sediment transport mechanism in this estuary, this research parameterized the short wavelength bedform morphology and the long wavelength channel shape on the delta top, extracted the shape of the delta lip, and used volumetric ii characterization of the sediment on the delta top and the delta lip vicinity. A three dimensional hydrodynamic model was also built to predict the flow within the river, the delta top, and adjacent fjord over the complete tidal cycle so that the bed shear stress associated with tide modulation and river discharge could be quantified. This research shows that the short wavelength bedform characteristics and long wavelength channel shape are primarily a result of the low water period when the off- delta flows are strongest. The flow fields of the research area are dominated by the tidal modulation. However the river surge also plays a role during the high flow regime. Good correlation was demonstrated between flow conditions (parameterized by the Froude number) and all of: the bedform roughness, the bedform mobility, the 1D bedform roughness spectra and the off-delta sediment flux. These relationships indicate that a single snapshot of the riverbed morphology could potentially be used to estimate sediment transport conditions. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my supervisor Dr. John Hughes Clarke for the continuous support of my PhD study, for his patience, motivation, and immense knowledges. Without his guidance and persistent help this dissertation would not have been possible. I would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee: Dr. Haigh, Dr. Haralampides, and Dr. Church, for their insightful comments and encouragements. My sincere thank also goes to Dr. Talling, and Dr. Cartigny from NOC Southampton, UK for the questions which incented me to widen my research from various perspectives. I thank my fellow, Anand Hiroji, for the stimulating discussions, for the sleepless nights we were working together before deadlines, and for all the fun we have had in the last five years. Also I thank James Muggah, Steve Brucker, NSERC, Beasiswa Dikti, and other students and staff of the Ocean Mapping Group and department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering. Finally, my special thanks to my family, my wife: Indah Rachmawati, and my children: Fathiya Iswardani, Radian Reswardana, and Rayhan Pratomo for supporting me spiritually throughout writing this thesis and my life in general. iv Table of Contents ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ v List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... xviii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Research Area ................................................................................................... 8 2.1. Geographical Location of the Research Area ...................................................... 11 2.2. The River and Delta Morphology ........................................................................ 12 2.3. Local Oceanographic Conditions in the Research Area ...................................... 15 Chapter 3: Data Acquisition ............................................................................................. 19 3.1. Horizontal and Vertical Positioning .................................................................... 20 3.2. Bathymetry Dataset .............................................................................................. 28 3.2.1. Multibeam performance .............................................................................. 29 3.2.2. Bottom tracking issue ................................................................................. 37 v 3.3. Sediment and Backscatter Data ........................................................................... 40 3.3.1. Grain-size analysis ...................................................................................... 41 3.3.2. Multibeam backscatter ................................................................................ 47 3.3.3. Total Suspended Sediment analysis ............................................................ 51 3.4. Oceanography Dataset ......................................................................................... 53 3.4.1. Tide observation ......................................................................................... 53 3.4.2. River discharge ........................................................................................... 58 3.4.3. Sound speed ................................................................................................ 59 3.4.4. Salinity and temperature ............................................................................. 61 Chapter 4: Parameterization of the Delta Top Geomorphology ....................................... 63 4.1. Bedform Characteristics and Flow Regimes ....................................................... 63 4.2. Spectral Analysis of Bedform Morphology ......................................................... 73 4.2.1. 2D spectral analysis .................................................................................... 73 4.2.2. 1D spectral analysis .................................................................................... 82 4.3. Surface Roughness Characterization ................................................................... 85 4.4. Depth and Volumetric Characterization .............................................................. 88 4.4.1. Depth characterization ................................................................................ 88 4.4.2. Volumetric characterization ........................................................................ 90 4.5. The Progradation and Retrogradation of the Delta Lip ....................................... 97 Chapter 5: Hydrodynamic Model of the Squamish River .............................................. 100 5.1. Mesh Construction ............................................................................................. 104 5.2. Boundary and Initial Condition ......................................................................... 110 5.3. Implementation of FVCOM Model ................................................................... 111 vi 5.4. Model Validation ............................................................................................... 114 Chapter 6: Delta Top Evolution ...................................................................................... 124 6.1. Bedform Roughness Evolution on the Delta Top .............................................. 125 6.1.1. Summer 2011 ............................................................................................ 125 6.1.2. Summer 2012 ...........................................................................................