Characterizing suspended particle dispersion in wetland flows: Impact of settling velocity and vegetation factor

Predicting the dispersion process of suspended particles with settling velocity in wetland flows holds significant implications for various ecological and environmental applications. This study analytically investigates the dispersion process of fine settling particles in wetland flows due to an instantaneous release source through the asymptotic expansion method. The effect of high-order terms is incorporated. The impact of vegetation factor and settling velocity on characteristic coefficients (including mass retained in the flow, advection velocity, longitudinal dispersion coefficient, skewness, and kurtosis), vertical mean, and two-dimensional concentration distribution are analyzed. Analytical solution is validated by numerical result through random displacement method. Results demonstrate that the vegetation factor does not influence the vertical mass distribution, and a larger settling velocity results in a higher concentration of mass in the bed wall layer. The longitudinal dispersion coefficient does not exhibit a monotonic relationship with the settling velocity. The position of mass centroid of the vertical mean concentration is biased more to the upstream with the larger settling velocity. At larger times, the vertical mean concentration approximates a normal distribution, with skewness and kurtosis nearing zero. Under the influence of settling velocity, the bed wall layer exhibits a high concentration zone in the two-dimensional concentration distribution. These results can help the understanding of sediment dynamics, nutrient cycling, pollutant transport associated with the wetland flows.