Flow and Transport in Regions with Aquatic Vegetation

This review describes mean and turbulent flow and mass transport in the presence of aquatic vegetation. Within emergent canopies, the turbulent length scales are set by the stem diameter and spacing, and the mean flow is determined by the distribution of the canopy frontal area. Near sparse submerged canopies, the bed roughness and near-bed turbulence are enhanced, but the velocity profile remains logarithmic. For dense submerged canopies, the drag discontinuity at the top of the canopy generates a shear layer, which contains canopy-scale vortices that control the exchange of mass and momentum between the canopy and the overflow. The canopy-scale vortices penetrate a finite distance into the canopy, δ e , set…

• NS
  National Science Foundation