Stage 1: Before you start

Stage 1: Background information | Questions to investigate | Choosing a fieldwork

location

Background information
Models of downstream change
(i) Bradshaw model

Discharge
Discharge is the volume of flow of water per unit time, often measured in cubic meters per second (or
cumecs).
In general, discharge increases with distance from the source to the mouth of a river. The extra water
enters the river from tributary streams, surface runoff, throughflow, and baseflow.
Anomalies
Sometimes there is not a steady increase in discharge with distance from the source.

Human influences - Humans can either increase the discharge (e.g. at a sewage outfall) or
decrease the discharge (e.g. abstraction of drinking water).

Land use - discharge is higher in unvegetated, urbanized and deforested basis because there is
a greater surface runoff.

Rock type and structure - the surface runoff component of discharge is lower in drainage
basins of permeable rock than impermeable rock.

Tributaries - the precise increase in discharge when a tributary meets the main river depends
on the size of the tributary. Clearly, a small first-order stream will add a lower discharge
component than a much larger tributary

Velocity
The velocity of a river refers to the rate of water movement, often measured in meters per second.
Mean flow velocity increases slightly with distance from the source. Although velocity appears to be
higher in mountain streams (where there is a lot of white water) than in the lowlands, appearances

are deceptive! Much of the water in the upper course stream, particularly close to the bed and banks,
is almost stationary.
River velocity is determined by the efficiency of the river in overcoming friction with the bed and
banks. Approximately 95% of a river's energy is lost to friction. Velocity increases as a river become
more efficient in its lower course. Why?

The shape of the channel - the river is deeper, wider and has higher discharge in its lower
course. Relatively less water is in contact with the wetted perimeter, so friction from the bed
and the banks is reduced.

Channel roughness - pebbles, stones, and boulders on the beds and banks increase the
roughness of the channel. The wetted perimeter is higher, increasing friction and reducing the
friction of the river. Channel roughness is higher in the upper course than further downstream.

Hydraulic radius
Hydraulic radius = cross sectional area / wetted perimeter.
Hydraulic radius is a measure of the efficiency of the river channel. The higher the hydraulic radius,
the more efficient the river channel is.
The more efficient the river is, the more energy the water will have to

move downstream (so as hydraulic radius increases, velocity increases)

carry the load (so as hydraulic radius increases, the river's competence, and capacity increases)

increase the rate of erosion (in the upper course, as hydraulic radius increases, there are a
higher rate of vertical erosion, so gradient increases; further downstream where the river is
closer to the base level, as hydraulic radius increases, there is a higher rate of lateral erosion).

Gradient
The gradient of the river bed is the ratio between vertical fall over a horizontal distance. It is drawn as
a graph of distance from the source (x-axis) against height above sea level (y-axis). Bed gradient
decreases gradually with distance from the source, shown as a downward concave curve.
Changes in gradient are related to changes in discharge. Discharge is higher in the lower course. Since
gradient decreases as discharge increases, a river can transport the same quantity and size of
sediment load in the gentler lower course as it can in the steeper upper course.
Anomalies
In practice, the long profile is not always a smooth downward curve.

Pools and riffles - on a small scale, particularly in the upper course, the long profile is stepped.
The gradient is steeper at rifles but gentler at pools. Over the whole course of a larger river
from source to mouth, the pool-riffle sequence is too small to show up on the long profile, but
the features may show up on a graph of the gradient over a few hundred meters of the river's
course.

Tributaries - downstream of the confluence of tributaries, the gradient may increase because
discharge (and therefore the rate of downward erosion on the river's bed) is higher than
upstream of the confluence.

Rock type and structure - where a river flows from a band of more resistant rock to an area of
less resistant rock, a waterfall may form. In terms of the long profile graph, the waterfall is a
sudden increase in bed gradient.

Knick points - these occur as a result of a fall in base level, also known as rejuvenation. Sealevel may fall in relation to the land or the land may rise in relation to the sea. A waterfall is
formed which will over time retreat upstream as it is eroded.

Load - a sudden increase can lead to increased vertical erosion. Human activity can cause this for example, afforestation of the drainage basin reduces sediment load in the river.

Load
The load is the total mass of material transported by a river. The way in which material is moved
depends on its size. There are downstream changes in the amount and the mean particle size of the
load.
Type of load

Type of particles

Diameter of particles

How they are transported

Bed load

Sand, pebbles

Over 0.1mm

Salvation and traction

Suspended load

Clay and silt

0.001 - 0.1 mm

Suspension

Dissolved load

Soluble material

Solution

The mean particle size decreases with distance downstream. This is not because the competence of
the river has decreased. Instead, smaller particles have become a relatively more important
component of the load. Why?

More time for erosion - the major source of pebbles and stones in the river is from the river's
upper course. Rocks fall into the channel in the upper course and are eroded from the beds and
banks. The further these rocks are carried downstream, the more time there will have been for
them to have been eroded by attrition and abrasion. Abrasion reduces the size of rocks, while
attrition makes rocks both smaller and rounder.

More time for weathering - much of the river's erosion occurs at times of high discharge.
During times of low flow, stones are stored on the beds or banks. The longer the stones spend
in storage, the longer they will be affected by weathering processes (such as frost shattering).

Sorting - the river sorts particles of different sizes. Smaller particles are carried at lower
velocities. These particles remain in the water flow during periods of low flow when larger
particles are deposited.

Anomalies
There are two reasons why a downstream decrease in particles does not always occur.

Influence of tributaries - stones and pebbles entering from a short tributary may be larger and
more angular than those in the main river.

Human activity - stones and pebbles can be added by people, e.g. mining spoil can be large and
angular

Questions to investigate
There are many possible questions that you could investigate

How and why does velocity / discharge / hydraulic radius change downstream in river x?

To what extent does river x follow the Bradshaw model?

Choosing a fieldwork location

Before you start the investigation in full you must visit your chosen river and carry out a full pilot
study. In a pilot study, you check that the river is safe for fieldwork and that you can get access where
you need to sample.
Investigations into channel variables are best carried out in the upper course of streams and rivers,
within a few kilometers of their source. As you need to be able to measure the width and depth of the
channel, make sure that water in the stream comes to no higher than you knees at the deepest point.
Fast-moving water deeper than this can knock you over. It is possible to drown in 10cm of water.
If you are focusing on one stream (e.g. measuring a range of river variables with distance
downstream), choose at least 3km of length.

Fieldwork
Stage 2: Sampling within a drainage basin | Measuring river variables

Sampling within a drainage basin

Even if you are just focusing on a 3km stretch of a stream, it is not necessary to measure every part of
the river. Instead, you need to design a sampling strategy that will yield representative data without
bias.
For investigating downstream changes in one river, the most straightforward way to do this is to take
a systematic sample. Select 10-15 sample points at regular intervals (e.g. a 50m distance between each
site). Your choice for the distance between sample points will need to be justified; make sure that they
are representative of the whole length of the river. You may also wish to make sure that there are
sample points just upstream and just downstream of major features of interest, such as a point where
tributaries join or where water is abstracted. If you are comparing the characteristics of more than
one stream, make sure that you that use the same sampling strategy for each.

Measuring river variables

Depth, width and wetted perimeter | Velocity and discharge | Long
profile | Bedload | Suspended load
(i) Depth, width and wetted perimeter
At each sample site, measure

(a) Channel width - use a tape measure or rope held across the channel from bank to bank on the
water surface.
(b) Channel depth (or wet depth) - take a number of readings across the channel (e.g. across,1/2
across, across) to measure the depth from the water surface to the streambed.
(c) Wetted perimeter - use a tape measure or chain to measure the total distance that water is in
contact with the bed and the banks. You may need to secure the tape in position with stones or pegs,
especially if the water is fast-moving.
The channel width, channel depth, and wetted perimeter vary from day to day. If you are are sampling
on one day only this is not a problem, but you can obtain additional information by measuring the
bank full width, depth and wetted perimeter as well. Bankfull is the stage where the river is
completely filling its channel.
At each sample site also measure:
(d) Bankfull width - use a tape measure or rope held across the channel from bank to bank. The edge
of the channel may be marked by a change of slope and/or vegetation. Keep this in a position to help
you with (e).
(e) Dry depth - measure the depth from the backfill height to the water surface. If you take readings in
the same place as you measured channel depth (or wet depth), you can add the two figures together to
find bank full depth.
(f) Bankfull wetted perimeter - use a tape measure or chain to measure the distance from bank full
point on one bank to bankfull point on the other.
(ii) Velocity and discharge
The cheapest way that you can measure velocity and discharge is the float method. You need a 10m
tape measure, a float (i.e. something that floats and is brightly colored, such as an orange) and a
stopwatch. You also need at least two people for this method.
Measure a set distance of the river and mark the start and end points. 10 meters is a good idea - it's
long enough to show interesting variation in results, and a round number also makes the maths much
easier! Put the float in the water slightly upstream of the start point. Using the stopwatch, time how
long it takes the float to move from the start point to the end point. Repeat this procedure at least five
times, placing the float at regular intervals across the stream so that you measure velocity across the
channel.
It's pretty likely that at some stage the float will get stuck in an eddy! Either nudge the float to move it
along or abandon that reading and start again.
The raw data that you have collected by this technique can be used to measure velocity and discharge.
See Data Presentation.
(iii) Long profile
Although you can plot long profiles using Ordnance Survey map data, for more detailed information
you should collect data in the field. You need a 10m tape measure, two ranging poles, and a

clinometer. If you don't have this equipment, it is possible to produce a home-made alternative - see
instructions below. You also
need at least two people for this method.
If you
Add
string.
person at
card, then
corner is

don't have a clinometer, cut out a semi-circular piece of card.

Using a protractor, calibrate the curved edge with angles. Fix a
length of string to the center of the straight edge of the card.
a weight (such as a ball of blue take) to the other end of the
Two people stand a measured distance along the gradient. The
the bottom of the slope should align her eye with the corner of the
read off the angle of the slope by lifting the card up so that its other
aligned with the eyes of the person upslope.

(iv) Bedload
A river's load can be classified into three groups: bedload (sand, pebbles, and stones), suspended load
(clay and silt) and dissolved load (soluble material). Although all types of load can be measured in the
field, in practice measuring the bedload is the most straightforward of the three.
It is not, of course, possible to measure every stone in the river. Instead, you will need to design a
sampling strategy to give you a representative sample without bias that you can repeat at each
sampling point. For example, you could collect 20 pebbles at random from the river bed at three
different points across the width of the channel.
The simplest way to measure pebble shape is to classify the stone as very angular, angular,
subangular, subrounded, rounded or very rounded. Decide which shape is the best fit for each pebble.

very
subsubvery
angular
rounded
angular
angular rounded
rounded
For an

estimate of pebble size, measure the longest axis of each pebble.

For more precise size data, measure the a, b and c axes of each
pebble. For pebbles where it is difficult to pick out the axes, allow the
pebble to rest on a flat surface. The length of the longest axis is the
axis.

(v)

Suspended load

A river's load can be classified into three groups: bedload (sand, pebbles, and stones), suspended load
(clay and silt) and dissolved load (soluble material). Although all types of load can be measured in the
field, in practice measuring the bedload is the most straightforward of the three.

Data analysis
Calculations: cross-sectional area | hydraulic radius | velocity | discharge |

Displaying your data: tables of results | plotting river variables on scatter graphs | displaying
bedload data

Calculations
(i) Calculating cross-sectional area
Cross-sectional area = channel depth x channel width
If you have taken more than one measurement of channel depth you can calculate the mean.
Alternatively, you can plot the width and depth readings on graph paper, then count the area of the
stream. Maths types may wish to use the trapezium rule to calculate the area.

(ii)Calculating
radius
Hydraulic radius is calculated simply as

hydraulic
follows

cross-sectional area wetted perimeter

If you have measured bank full width, depth and wetted perimeter, you can also calculate bank full
cross-sectional area and bank full hydraulic radius, and compare these to the figures calculated above.

(iii) Calculating velocity

Find the mean time for the float to travel the set distance at each site. Velocity is then simply
calculated as
velocity = distance time
For example, if a float travels 10m in 8 seconds,
velocity = 10 8
velocity = 1.2 metres per second
Of course, even if you started the float off at different points across the width, it is likely to have been
sucked into the line of fastest flow, probably in the center of the stream. The results are, therefore,

biased towards the fastest parts of the stream, and will not fairly indicate the velocity elsewhere. To
overcome this bias, multiply the result that you have calculated by 0.8. Studies have shown that this
produces a more realistic indicator of velocity across the whole width of the stream.
So for the example above where simply calculated velocity = 1.2 meters per second
1.2 x 0.8 = 0.96 metres per second

(iv) Calculating discharge

To work out discharge for any particular point you first need to have calculated mean velocity and
cross-sectional area.
Discharge = velocity x cross sectional area
If velocity = 0.96 m/s and cross-sectional area = 1.25 sq m
discharge = 0.96 x 1.25 = 1.2 cubic metres per second (or cumecs)

Data presentation
Tables of results
Produce a summary table showing the results (and averages) for each sample site.

Plotting river variables on scatter graphs

The most straightforward scattergraph that you can plot is distance downstream on the x-axis against
one river variable (width, wetted perimeter, cross-sectional area, hydraulic radius, mean depth, mean
velocity, discharge) on the y-axis. Add a line of best-fit.
You can test the significance of the relationship between the two variables by calculating the
Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient.

(iii) Displaying bedload

data

Data on
graphs.

If you have used Power's Index of pebble

shape, you can display the data in
proportional bar charts (see right) or pie
charts to show downstream changes.
bedload size can be plotted on scatter

Review
The first stage of your conclusions is to describe the trends that you have found. Go through, in turn,
each of your scattergraphs. For each

what is the direction of the relationship between the two variables? (e.g. positive correlation /
negative correlation / no clear relationship)

are there any anomalous results?

Now try to give reasons for the direction and strength of the relationship between the variables. Also,
try to give reasons for any anomalies. Here are some ideas to get you started

What is the effect of tributaries on the main river? Is there a step change in some of the
variables?

What is the effect of human activity? Is water abstracted or water added?

What is the effect of rock type? Does the river flow from more resistant to less resistant rock?

In your evaluation section, discuss the reliability of your data collection techniques. To what extent do
you think that your results are accurate? What other data would it have been useful to obtain?