The public is entitled to enjoy the sustainable use of natural resources held in trust by Federal and State governments and to be assured that travel on the nations highways will be safe. By providing better data on gravel-bed streams, beaches, and bridge foundation in gravel, the proposed technology will contribute to the protection of these natural resources and the environment, and the safety of the driving public. Development of innovative instrument packages for attended and autonomous measurements of the movement of well-sorted, coarse (10 - 128 mm) sediment as bedload based on acoustic techniques is proposed. The unique aspects the proposed techniques are: 1) the detection and measurement principle, 2) the analog and digital signal-processing techniques, 3) the packaging techniques for hostile environments, and 4) the auxiliary sensors for simultaneously monitor flow conditions and sensor orientation. A successful project will result in proof of the sensing concept in a movable-bed flume with realistic hydraulic and transport conditions as well as two prototype tranducers for Phase II field tests alongside well-accepted bedload traps and portable measurement devices.
Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications of Research::The proposed research will create new tools to improve the quality of gravel transport data by increasing the accuracy and quantity of measurements obtained during floods and extreme condition. The proposed instruments will reduce labor and capital costs of instrumentation and allow unattended measurements with portable equipment that are currently impossible. Three USFS research organizations, the USGS, and USACOE have expressed interest in using the proposed technology. The private sector will benefit from more accurate, less expensive, and more rapid methods for producing environmental data for permit applications and regulatory compliance.