Effect of sampling time in the laboratory investigation of braided rivers

We focus on the measurement of the bed‐elevation of braided networks in flume experiments. In particular, the effect of the survey frequency on the measurement accuracy is studied. To this aim, an innovative measurement system is adopted. It consists of a laser‐ultrasonic sensor and can survey the bed‐elevation under flowing water. This measurement system was used to profile a flume transect with a frequency of 4 min, without stopping the water discharge. By this technique, the topography of a single transect was continuously acquired during the evolution of a braided river model. Twelve braided rivers generated with different experimental conditions were studied. The main results are (i) there exists a threshold survey frequency (4–8 min in our analysis) which guarantees that the morphological evolution of the braiding channels is fully measured; (ii) if this threshold frequency of survey is exceeded, significant errors occur in the balance of the eroded/deposited sediments and in the evaluation of the bed‐elevation dynamics; and (iii) these errors depend on the river stream power. Key Points We show an experimental technique that allows flume transects profiling with a sampling frequency of 4 min without stopping the water flow The technique is used to continuously acquire the topography of a transect in 12 braided rivers with different experimental conditions The precision of the topography measurement depends on the survey frequency and on the river dimensionless stream power