Measuring bluff erosion part 1: terrestrial laser scanning methods for change detection

Human activities influence watershed sediment dynamics in profound ways, often resulting in excessive loading of suspended sediment to rivers. One of the primary factors limiting our ability to effectively manage sediment at the watershed scale has been our inability to adequately measure relatively small erosion rates (on the order of millimeters to centimeters per year) over annual and sub‐annual time scales on spatially‐extensive landforms, such as river banks and bluffs. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) can be employed to address this need. TLS collects high‐resolution data allowing for more accurate monitoring of erosion rates and processes, and provides a new opportunity to make precise measurements of geomorphic change on vertical landforms like banks and bluffs, but challenges remain. This research highlights challenges and limitations of using TLS for change detection on river banks and bluffs including the presence of vegetation, natural surface crenulations, and difficulties with creating benchmarks, and provides solutions developed to overcome these limitations. Results indicate that data processing algorithms for change detection can have a significant impact on the calculated erosion rates, with different methods producing results that can vary by over 100%. The most accurate change detection technique compares a point cloud to a triangulated irregular network (TIN) along a set of vectors that accommodate bluff curvature. This paper outlines a variety of methods used to measure bluff change via TLS and explains the accompanying error analysis that supports these methods. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three-dimensional reconstruction of fluvial surface sedimentology and topography using personal mobile laser scanning

High-resolution quantification of fluvial topography has been enabled by a number of geomatics technologies. Hyperscale surveys with spatial extents of <1 km² have been widely demonstrated by means of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry. Recent advances in the development and integration of global navigation satellite system (GNSS), inertial measurement unit (IMU) and lightweight laser scanning technologies are now resulting in the emergence of personal mobile laser scanners (MLS) that have the potential to increase data acquisition and processing rates by one to two orders of magnitude compared to TLS/SfM, and thus challenge the recent dominance of these technologies. This investigation compares a personal MLS survey using a Leica Pegasus Backpack that integrates Velodyne Puck VLP-16 sensors, and a multi-station static TLS survey using a Riegl VZ-1000 scanner, to produce digital elevation models (DEMs) and surface sedimentology maps. The assessment is undertaken on a 500 m long reach of the braided River Feshie. Comparison to 107 independent real-time kinematic (RTK)-GNSS check points resulted in similar mean error (ME) and standard deviation error (SDE) for TLS (ME = −0.025 m; SDE = 0.038 m) and personal MLS (ME = −0.014 m; SDE = 0.019 m). Direct cloud-to-cloud (C2C) comparison between a sample of TLS and personal MLS observations (2.8 million points) revealed that C2C distances follow a sharply decreasing Burr distribution (a = 2.35, b = 3.19, rate parameter s = 9.53). Empirical relationships between sub-metre topographic variability and median sediment grain size (10–100 mm) demonstrate that surface roughness from personal MLS can be used to map median grain size. Differences between TLS and personal MLS empirical relationships suggest such relationships are dependent on survey technique. Personal MLS offers distinct logistical advantages over SfM photogrammetry and TLS for particular survey situations and is likely to become a widely applied technique. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of terrestrial laser scanning technology for obtaining high‐resolution DEMs of soils

Terrestrial Laser Scanners (TLS) provide a non‐contact method to measure soil microtopography of relatively large surface areas. The appropriateness of the technology in relatation to the derived Digital Elevation Models (DEM) however has not been reported. The suitability of TLS for soil microtopography measurements was tested on‐field for three large soil surface areas in agricultural fields. The acquired point clouds were filtered with a custom cloud import algorithm, and converted into digital elevation models (DEM) of different resolutions. To assess DEM quality, point clouds measured from different viewpoints were statistically compared. The statistical fit between point clouds from different viewpoints depends on spatial resolution of the DEM. The best results were obtained at the higher resolutions (0.02 to 0.04 cm), where less than 5 % of the grid cells showed significant differences between one viewpoint and the next (p < 0.01). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Through‐water terrestrial laser scanning of gravel beds at the patch scale

Acquiring high resolution topographic data of natural gravel surfaces is technically demanding in locations where the bed is not exposed at low water stages. Often the most geomorphologically active surfaces are permanently submerged. Gravel beds are spatially variable and measurement of their detailed structure and particle sizes is essential for understanding the interaction of bed roughness with near‐bed flow hydraulics, sediment entrainment, transport and deposition processes, as well as providing insights into the ecological responses to these processes. This paper presents patch‐scale laboratory and field experiments to demonstrate that through‐water terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) has the potential to provide high resolution digital elevation models of submerged gravel beds with enough detail to depict individual grains and small‐scale forms. The resulting point cloud data requires correction for refraction before registration. Preliminary validation shows that patch‐scale TLS through 200 mm of water introduces a mean error of less than 5 mm under ideal conditions. Point precision is not adversely affected by the water column. The resulting DEMs can be embedded seamlessly within larger sub‐aerial reach‐scale surveys and can be acquired alongside flow measurements to examine the effects of three‐dimensional surface geometry on turbulent flow fields and their interaction with instream ecology dynamics. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The application of terrestrial laser scanning to aeolian saltation cloud measurement and its response to changing surface moisture

Saltation is the dominant form of aeolian transport of sand sized grains, yet its heterogeneous spatial and temporal distribution, and inherent feedback and interaction with the surface over which sand is transported, hinders large scale quantification. In this letter we present preliminary data on saltation cloud characteristics quantified using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). These data, together with surface moisture and surface roughness patterns, elucidate the importance of saltation in the development of protodunes on a drying beach, and indicate the potential usefulness of TLS in examining aeolian processes in both beach and desert environments. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of erosion and surface roughness in peatland forest ditches using pin meter measurements and terrestrial laser scanning

Anthropogenic activities on peatlands, such as drainage, can increase sediment transport and deposition downstream resulting in harmful ecological impacts. The objective of this study was to quantify changes in erosion/deposition quantities and surface roughness in peatland forest ditches by measuring changes in ditch cross‐sections and surface microtopography with two alternative methods: manual pin meter and terrestrial laser scanning (TSL). The methods were applied to a peat ditch and a ditch with a thin peat layer overlaying erosion sensitive mineral soil within a period of two years following ditch cleaning. The results showed that erosion was greater in the ditch with exposed mineral soil than in the peat ditch. The two methods revealed rather similar estimates of erosion and deposition for the ditch with the thin peat layer where cross‐sectional changes were large, whereas the results for smaller scale erosion and deposition at the peat ditch differed. The TLS‐based erosion and deposition quantities depended on the size of the sampling window used in the estimations. Surface roughness was smaller when calculated from the pin meter data than from the TLS data. Both methods indicated that roughness increased in the banks of the ditch with a thin peat layer. TLS data showed increased roughness also in the peat ditch. The increase in surface roughness was attributed to erosion and growth of vegetation. Both methods were suitable for the measurements of surface roughness and microtopography at the ditch cross‐section scale, but the applicability, rigour, and ease of acquisition of TLS data were more evident. The main disadvantage of the TLS instrument (Leica ScanStation 2) compared with pin meter was that even a shallow layer of humic (dark brown) water prevented detection of the ditch bed. The geomorphological potential of the methods was shown to be limited to detection of surface elevation changes >~0.1 m. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Climate–surface–pore‐water interactions on a salt crusted playa: implications for crust pattern and surface roughness development measured using terrestrial laser scanning

Sodium accumulating playas (also termed sodic or natric playas) are typically covered by polygonal crusts with different pattern characteristics, but little is known about the short‐term (hours) dynamics of these patterns or how pore water may respond to or drive changing salt crust patterning and surface roughness. It is important to understand these interactions because playa‐crust surface pore‐water and roughness both influence wind erosion and dust emission through controlling erodibility and erosivity. Here we present the first high resolution (10^?3 m; hours) co‐located measurements of changing moisture and salt crust topography using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and infra‐red imagery for Sua Pan, Botswana. Maximum nocturnal moisture pattern change was found on the crests of ridged surfaces during periods of low temperature and high relative humidity. These peaks experienced non‐elastic expansion overnight, of up to 30 mm and up to an average of 1.5 mm/night during the 39 day measurement period. Continuous crusts however showed little nocturnal change in moisture or elevation. The dynamic nature of salt crusts and the complex feedback patterns identified emphasize how processes both above and below the surface may govern the response of playa surfaces to microclimate diurnal cycles. © 2015 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Mapping hydraulic biotopes using terrestrial laser scan data of water surface properties

For more than a decade, habitat mapping using biotopes (in‐channel hydraulically‐defined habitats) has underpinned aquatic conservation in the UK through (a) providing baseline information on system complexity and (b) allowing environmental and ecological change to be monitored and evaluated. The traditional method used is the subjective river habitat or corridor survey. This has recently been revised to include the floodplain via GeoRHS, but issues still exist concerning development of a national database due to the labour intensive nature of the data collection, subjectivity issues between samplers, temporal changes, the fuzzy nature of perceived habitats and habitat boundaries. This paper takes an innovative approach to biotope definition using high resolution spatial data to define water surface roughness for two representative reaches of the River South Tyne, Cumbria, and the River Rede, Northumberland, UK. Data was collected using a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) and hydraulic variability simply expressed through assigning a local standard deviation value to a set of adjacent water surface values. Statistical linkage of these data with biotope locations defined visually in the field allowed complete mapping of the surveyed reach defining habitat and biotope areas to the fine scale resolution of the TLS data. Despite issues of data loss due to absorption and transmission through the water, the reflected signal generated an extremely detailed and objective map of the water surface roughness, which may be compared with known biotope locations as defined by visual identification in the field. The TLS accuracy achieved in the present study is comparable with those obtained using hyperspectral imagery: with 84% of the pool/glide/marginal deadwater amalgamated biotope, 88% of riffles, 57% of runs and 50% of the amalgamated cascade/rapid biotope successfully plotted. It is clear from this exercise that biotope distribution is more complex than previously mapped using subjective techniques, and based upon the water surface roughness delimiters presented in this study, the amalgamation of pools with glides and marginal deadwaters, riffles with unbroken standing waves, and cascades with rapids, is proposed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd     

Dendrogeomorphic reconstruction of past debris‐flow activity using injured broad‐leaved trees

Tree‐ring records from conifers have been regularly used over the last few decades to date debris‐flow events. The reconstruction of past debris‐flow activity was, in contrast, only very rarely based on growth anomalies in broad‐leaved trees. Consequently, this study aimed at dating the occurrence of former debris flows from growth series of broad‐leaved trees and at determining their suitability for dendrogeomorphic research. Results were obtained from gray alder (Alnus incana (L.) Moench), silver birch and pubescent birch (Betula pendula Roth and Betula pubescens Ehrh.), aspen (Populus tremula L.), white poplar, black poplar and gray poplar (Populus alba L., Populus nigra L. and Populus x canescens (Ait.) Sm.), goat willow (Salix caprea L.) and black elder (Sambucus nigra L.) injured by debris‐flow activity at Illgraben (Valais, Swiss Alps). Tree‐ring analysis of 104 increment cores, 118 wedges and 93 cross‐sections from 154 injured broad‐leaved trees allowed the reconstruction of 14 debris‐flow events between AD 1965 and 2007. These events were compared with archival records on debris‐flow activity at Illgraben. It appears that debris flows are very common at Illgraben, but only very rarely left the channel over the period AD 1965–2007. Furthermore, analysis of the spatial distribution of disturbed trees contributed to the identification of six patterns of debris‐flow routing and led to the determination of preferential breakout locations of events. The results of this study demonstrate the high potential of broad‐leaved trees for dendrogeomorphic research and for the assessment of the travel distance and lateral spread of debris‐flow surges. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Topographic change and numerically modelled near surface wind flow in a bowl blowout

A number of studies have measured and numerically modelled near surface wind velocity over a range of aeolian landforms and made suppositions about topographic change and landform evolution. However, the precise measurement and correlation of flow dynamics and resulting topographic change have not yet been fully realized. Here, using repeated high-resolution terrestrial laser scanning and numerical flow modelling within a bowl blowout, we statistically analyse the relationship between wind speed, vertical wind velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and topographic change over a 33-day period. Topographic results showed that erosion and deposition occurred in distinct regions within the blowout. Deposition occurred in the upwind third of the deflation basin, where wind flow became separated and velocity and turbulent kinetic energy decreased, and erosion occurred in the downwind third of the deflation basin, where wind flow reattached and aligned with incident wind direction. Statistical analysis of wind flow and topographic change indicated that wind speed had a strong correlation with overall topographic change and that vertical wind velocity (including both positive and negative) displayed a strong correlation with negative topographic change (erosion). Only weak or very weak correlations exist for wind flow parameters and positive topographic change (accretion). This study demonstrates that wind flow modelling using average incident wind conditions can be utilized successfully to identify regions of overall change and erosion for a complex aeolian landform, but not to identify and predict regions where solely accretion will occur. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrating airborne and multi‐temporal long‐range terrestrial laser scanning with total station measurements for mapping and monitoring a compound slow moving rock slide

A slow moving compound rock slide located in the northern Apennines of Italy was mapped and monitored through the integration of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS), multi‐temporal long‐range Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), and Automated Total Station (ATS) measurements. Landslide features were mapped using a High Resolution Digital Terrain Model (HR‐DTM) obtained by merging ALS and TLS data in an Iterative Closest Point (ICP) procedure. Slope movements in the order of centimeters to a few decimeters were quantified with Differential TLS (D‐TLS) based on a Surface Matching approach and supported by ATS data to define stable reference surfaces. The integrated approach allowed mapping of the composite geomorphic features of the rock slide under examination, revealing its complex dynamic nature and further proving that laser scanning is a versatile and widely applicable tool for slope process analysis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring bluff erosion part 2: pairing aerial photographs and terrestrial laser scanning to create a watershed scale sediment budget

Effectively managing and reducing high suspended sediment loads in rivers requires an understanding of the magnitude of major sediment sources as well as erosion and transport processes that deliver excess fine sediments to the channel network. The focus of this research is to determine the magnitude of erosion from tall bluffs, a primary sediment source in the 2880 km² Le Sueur watershed, Minnesota, USA. We coupled analyses of seven decades of aerial photographs with four years of repeat terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) to determine erosion rates on bluffs. Together, these datasets provide decadal‐scale retreat rates throughout the entire watershed and high‐resolution geomorphic change detection on a subset of bluffs to both constrain erosion rates and document how environmental conditions affect bluff retreat. Erosion rates from aerial photographs and TLS were extrapolated from 243 and 15 measured bluffs, respectively, to all 480 bluffs in the Le Sueur watershed using multiple techniques to obtain estimates of sediment loading from these features at the watershed‐scale. Despite different spatial and temporal measurement scales, the aerial photograph and TLS estimates yielded similar results for bluff retreat rate and total mass of sediment derived from bluffs, with bluffs in the Le Sueur watershed yielding 135 000 ± 39 000 Mg/yr of fine sediment. Comparing this value to the average annual total suspended solids (TSS) load determined from gauging from 2000 to 2010, we determined that bluffs comprise 57 ± 16% of the total TSS load, making bluffs the single most abundant fine sediment source in the basin. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hyperscale terrain modelling of braided rivers: fusing mobile terrestrial laser scanning and optical bathymetric mapping

Quantifying the morphology of braided rivers is a key task for understanding braided river behaviour. In the last decade, developments in geomatics technologies and associated data processing methods have transformed the production of precise, reach‐scale topographic datasets. Nevertheless, generating accurate Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) remains a demanding task, particularly in fluvial systems. This paper identifies a threefold set of challenges associated with surveying these dynamic landforms: complex relief, inundated shallow channels and high rates of sediment transport, and terms these challenges the ‘morphological’, ‘wetted channel’ and ‘mobility’ problems, respectively. In an attempt to confront these issues directly, this paper presents a novel survey methodology that combines mobile terrestrial laser scanning and non‐metric aerial photography with data reduction and surface modelling techniques to render DEMs from the resulting very high resolution datasets. The approach is used to generate and model a precise, dense topographic dataset for a 2.5 km reach of the braided Rees River, New Zealand. Data were acquired rapidly between high flow events and incorporate over 5 x 10⁹ raw survey observations with point densities of 1600 pts m^‐2 on exposed bar and channel surfaces. A detailed error analysis of the resulting sub‐metre resolution is described to quantify DEM quality across the entire surface model. This reveals unparalleled low vertical errors for such a large and complex surface model; between 0.03 and 0.12 m in exposed and inundated areas of the model, respectively. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aeolian sand strip mobility and protodune development on a drying beach: examining surface moisture and surface roughness patterns measured by terrestrial laser scanning

Ephemeral aeolian sand strips are commonplace on beaches. Their formation during high energy sand transport events often precedes the development of protodunes and their dynamics present interesting feedback mechanisms with surface moisture patterns. However, due to their temporary nature, little is known of their formation, mobility or the specifics of their interaction with beach surface characteristics. Similarly surface moisture has an important influence on sediment availability and transport in aeolian beach systems, yet it is difficult to quantify accurately due to its inherent variability over both short spatial and temporal scales. Whilst soil moisture probes and remote sensing imagery techniques can quantify large changes well, their resolution over mainly dry sand, close to the aeolian transport threshold is not ideal, particularly where moisture gradients close to the surface are large. In this study we employed a terrestrial laser scanner to monitor beach surface moisture variability during a three and a half hour period after a rain event and investigated relationships between bedform development, surface roughness and surface moisture. Our results demonstrate that as the beach surface dries, sand transport increases, with sediment erosion occurring at the wet/dry surface boundary, and deposition further downwind. This dynamic structure, dependent upon changing surface moisture characteristics, results in the formation of a rippled sand strip and ultimately a protodune. Our findings highlight dynamic mobility relationships and confirm the need to consider transient bedforms and surface moisture across a variety of scales when measuring aeolian transport in beach settings. The terrestrial laser scanner provides a suitable apparatus with which to accomplish this. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Schmidt hammer and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) used to detect single-event displacements on the Pleasant Valley fault (Nevada,USA)

Changes in surface roughness on carbonate fault scarps often reflect varying durations of subaerial weathering. On the Pleasant Valley fault in central Nevada, the documentation of a surface rupture in 1915, a long recurrence interval of faulting, slow weathering rate, and a relatively high (2–3 m) single-event displacement make the discrimination of the historical and penultimate slip patches unambiguous. Following from a 2018 study, we used a Schmidt hammer and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) to further test whether these weathering patterns delineate exposed slip patches on a fault scarp. Results show that Schmidt hammer rebound value ranges (termed ΔR – the difference between minimum and maximum R-values in repeat impacts at a point), increase by ~8–10 points across the historical–penultimate event transition zone in two separate scarp transects. TLS-derived surface roughness also indicates a clear difference between the most recent and penultimate events. The average single-event displacement (SED) estimated using the Schmidt hammer and TLS is 2.85 m at two transect sites and is roughly equivalent to the visually estimated 3 m. While this fault is an ideal case where we know some of the slip history, the results demonstrate that these techniques show promise for discriminating slip patches on larger carbonate fault scarps with longer paleoearthquake histories, and could be used alongside ³⁶Cl cosmogenic exposure-age dating to improve paleoseismic records on normal faults. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the assessment of the management priority of sediment source areas in a debris‐flow catchment

In many Alpine catchments the monitoring and hazard mitigation of debris‐flow events require enormous economic and social resources. To confront these problems, a subjective estimation of the most hazardous zones of the basin could be useful in the best, sustainable planning of protective measures. In this paper, a new methodology is proposed that develops a Management Priority Index (MPI) to rank sediment source areas by their quantitative capability to deliver debris‐flow volumes to a point of interest within the catchment. The MPI sets the intervention priority based on a combination of three sub‐indicators: a susceptibility indicator evaluating the overall catchment predisposition to generate debris flow, a triggering indicator and a volume budget indicator assessing the rate of deliverable volume to a selected outlet. MPI was applied to the basin of the Rio Gadria catchment (Venosta Valley, Bolzano, Italy), an alpine basin with an unlimited sediment supply that is characterized by multiple, very active, shallow landslides and bare soil zones. The proposed ranking method was successfully verified using post‐event surveys and through evidence from consolidation check dams built over many years in the basin. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The significance of channel recharge rates for estimating debris‐flow magnitude and frequency

The quantification of debris‐flow hazard requires estimates of debris‐flow frequency and magnitude. Several methods have been proposed to determine the probable volume of future debris flows from a given basin, but most have neglected to account for debris recharge rates over time, which may lead to underestimation of debris‐flow volumes in basins with rare debris flows. This paper deals with the determination of debris recharge rates in debris‐flow channels based on knowledge of debris storage and the elapsed time since the last debris flow. Data are obtained from coastal British Columbia and a relation is obtained across a sample of basins with similar terrain and climatic conditions. For Rennell Sound on the west coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands, the power‐law relation for area‐normalized recharge rate, R_t, versus elapsed time, t_e was R_t = 0·23t_e^?0·58 with an explained variance of 75 per cent. A difference in recharge rates may exist between creeks in logged and unlogged forested terrain. The power function for undisturbed terrain was R_t = 0·20t_e^?0·49, while the function for logged areas was R_t = 0·30t_e^?0·77. This result suggests that for the same elapsed time since the last debris flow, clearcut gullies tend to recharge at a slower rate than creeks in old growth forest. This finding requires verification, particularly for longer elapsed times since debris flow, but would have important implications for forest resource management in steep coastal terrain. This study demonstrates that commonly used encounter probability equations are inappropriate for recharge‐limited debris flow channels. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bed scour by debris flows: experimental investigation of effects of debris‐flow composition

Debris flows can grow greatly in size by entrainment of bed material, enhancing their runout and hazardous impact. Here, we experimentally investigate the effects of debris‐flow composition on the amount and spatial patterns of bed scour and erosion downstream of a fixed to erodible bed transition. The experimental debris flows were observed to entrain bed particles both grain by grain and en masse, and the majority of entrainment was observed to occur during passage of the flow front. The spatial bed scour patterns are highly variable, but large‐scale patterns are largely similar over 22.5–35° channel slopes for debris flows of similar composition. Scour depth is generally largest slightly downstream of the fixed to erodible bed transition, except for clay‐rich debris flows, which cause a relatively uniform scour pattern. The spatial variability in the scour depth decreases with increasing water, gravel (= grain size) and clay fraction. Basal scour depth increases with channel slope, flow velocity, flow depth, discharge and shear stress in our experiments, whereas there is no correlation with grain collisional stress. The strongest correlation is between basal scour and shear stress and discharge. There are substantial differences in the scour caused by different types of debris flows. In general, mean and maximum scour depths become larger with increasing water fraction and grain size, and decrease with increasing clay content. However, the erodibility of coarse‐grained experimental debris flows (gravel fraction = 0.64) is similar on a wide range of channel slopes, flow depths, flow velocities, discharges and shear stresses. This probably relates to the relatively large influence of grain‐collisional stress to the total bed stress in these flows (30–50%). The relative effect of grain‐collisional stress is low in the other experimental debris flows (<5%), causing erosion to be largely controlled by basal shear stress. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fusion of multi‐resolution surface (terrestrial laser scanning) and subsurface geodata (ERT,SRT) for karst landform investigation and geomorphometric quantification

A multi‐method research design based on terrestrial laser scanning, GIS, geophysical prospecting (electrical resistivity tomography, refraction seismics) and sedimentology is applied for the first time to investigate enclosed karst depressions in an integrated way. Fusing multi‐resolution surface and subsurface geodata provides profound insights into the formation, geometry and geomorphologic processes of dolines. The studied landforms, which are located in the Dikti Mountains of East Crete, are shown to be filled by loose sediments of thicknesses of up to 30 m that mainly consist of fine‐grained material overlying solid bedrock at depths below 35 to 45 m. By combining subsurface observations with geomorphometric calculations, local doline genesis can be traced back to initial collapse of fractured bedrock followed by subsequent infilling with colluvials. In order to define crucial methodological requirements and guidelines for data fusion, both the impact of different elevation models and the influence of data resolution are assessed. Surface volumes of depressions derived by the digital surface model are 7–21% higher than the results obtained from the terrain model due to vegetation. Similarly, estimates of infill volume calculated on the basis of geophysical outcomes and elevation data differ by up to 13%. Calculations of the landforms' current volumes (i.e. total surface and subsurface volume), however, are fairly insensitive to raster resolution. Hence, the distinct geomorphologic properties of landforms (e.g. shape, terrain roughness, slope inclination) substantially determine the geomorphometric analysis of both surface and subsurface data. As shown by the findings, data fusion to integrate digital terrain, geophysical and sedimentological datasets of varied resolutions benefits geomorphologic studies and helps provide a comprehensive image of landforms. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing entrainment of bed material in a debris‐flow event: a theoretical approach incorporating Monte Carlo method

Entrainment of underlying bed sediment by a debris flow can significantly increase the debris‐flow magnitude. To study this phenomenon, a theoretical approach to assessing bed‐sediment entrainment is presented. The approach is based on a static approximation that bed‐sediment entrainment occurs when the shearing stress of the flow is sufficiently high to overcome the basal resistance of the bed sediment. In order to delineate erodible zones in a channel, we analyze the critical condition of this static equilibrium model, and subsequently propose a new concept of a critical line to detect the entrainment reaches in a channel. Considering the spatial and temporal uncertainties of the input parameter, the approach is further incorporated within a Monte Carlo method, and the distribution of entrainment zones and post‐entrainment volumes can be analyzed. This approach is illustrated by back‐analysis of the 2010 Yohutagawa debris‐flow event, Japan. Results from 10 000 trials of Monte Carlo simulation are compared with the in situ surveys. It is shown that the present approach can be satisfactorily used to delineate erodible zones and estimate possible entrainment volume of the event. Discussion regarding the sensitivities and limitations of the approach concludes the paper. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.