Airphoto Interpretation of the Form and Behavior of Alluvial Rivers.

• Main Author: Brice,James C.
• Other Authors: WASHINGTON UNIV ST LOUIS MO
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1975
• Subjects: Cartography and Aerial Photography; Hydrology; Limnology and Potamology; *RIVERS; *PHOTOINTERPRETATION; *AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY; MORPHOLOGY; ALLUVIUM; CLASSIFICATION; Alluvial rivers; Arctic
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA008108; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA008108

A scheme for the classification of alluvial rivers, according to form properties observable on vertical black and white airphotos, is presented. The scheme was developed by analysis of about 250 river reaches, which occur in climatic conditions ranging from arctic to equatorial and which probably represent the full range of types. Most reaches are in the U.S. where, in addition to sequential aerial photography, large-scale maps and gaging station records were obtained for 200 reaches. Use was made of maps and ERTS imagery for foreign rivers. According to the scheme, a river reach is classified additively according to its degree and character of sinuosity, braiding, and anabranching. A total of 3120 river types can be distinguished and designated by numbers and letters, such that no designation is longer than 6 spaces. Aspects of river behavior that have been reported on during the investigation include the evolution and classification of meander loops, rates of lateral migration for specific rivers, and the size-frequency distribution and succession of meander loops.