The GeoTools Shareware Package for Fluvial Systems Analysis

An important contribution that engineers and geomorphologists can make to the practice of river restoration is to develop tools that increase the ability of practitioners to analyze complex stable channel design problems. This paper introduces GeoTools, a suite of analysis tools for fluvial systems written in Visual Basic for Applications/Excel®. Based on a time flow series and basic input data, GeoTools provides users with outputs including effective discharge and sediment yield calculations, temporal distributions of hydraulic parameters (e.g. shear stress, specific stream power, and scour indices), channel stability indices and over 80 hydrologic metrics. In combination, these modules allow users to quickly compute metrics related to stream channel form, impacts of climate and land use changes, and flow alteration. A case study is detailed to illustrate the benefit of applying GeoTools to a channel restoration project.

[1]  D. Nash.  Effective Sediment-Transporting Discharge from Magnitude-Frequency Analysis , 1994, The Journal of Geology.

[2]  S. Burges,et al.  Effects of urban development in the Puget Lowland, Washington, on interannual streamflow patterns: Consequences for channel form and streambed disturbance , 2005 .

[3]  Katie A. Barnas,et al.  Synthesizing U.S. River Restoration Efforts , 2005, Science.

[4]  M. Palmer,et al.  River restoration: OPINION , 2005 .

[5]  William Robert Brownlie,et al.  Prediction of flow depth and sediment discharge in open channels , 1982 .

[6]  F. D. Shields,et al.  Design for Stream Restoration , 2003 .

[7]  R. Müller,et al.  Formulas for Bed-Load transport , 1948 .

[8]  David P. Braun,et al.  A Method for Assessing Hydrologic Alteration within Ecosystems , 1996 .

[9]  P. J. Whiting.  STREAMFLOW NECESSARY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MAINTENANCE , 2002 .

[10]  Colin R. Thorne,et al.  Geomorphic analysis of large alluvial rivers , 2002 .

[11]  Chih Ted Yang,et al.  Sediment transport : theory and practice / Chih Ted Yang , 1995 .

[12]  R. Bagnold.  An approach to the sediment transport problem from general physics , 1966 .

[13]  John Pitlick,et al.  Geomorphology and endangered fish habitats of the upper Colorado River: 1. Historic changes in streamflow, sediment load, and channel morphology , 1998 .

[14]  Brian D. Richter,et al.  Prescribing Flood Regimes to Sustain Riparian Ecosystems along Meandering Rivers , 2000 .

[15]  G. Williams.  Bank‐full discharge of rivers , 1978 .

[16]  Colin R. Thorne,et al.  Channel Restoration Design for Meandering Rivers , 2001 .

[17]  B. Bledsoe.  Stream Erosion Potential and Stormwater Management Strategies , 2002 .

[18]  P. J. Whiting,et al.  Computing effective discharge with S—PLUS , 1999 .

[19]  J. Meyer,et al.  Standards for ecologically successful river restoration , 2005 .

[20]  P. Wilcock,et al.  A two‐fraction model for the transport of sand/gravel mixtures , 2002 .

[21]  J. Olden,et al.  Redundancy and the choice of hydrologic indices for characterizing streamflow regimes , 2003 .

[22]  J. Pitlick,et al.  Geomorphology and endangered fish habitats of the upper Colorado River: 2. Linking sediment transport to habitat maintenance , 1998 .

[23]  M. Wolman,et al.  Magnitude and Frequency of Forces in Geomorphic Processes , 1960, The Journal of Geology.

[24]  P. Goodwin.  Analytical Solutions for Estimating Effective Discharge , 2004 .

[25]  Peter R. Wilcock.  When Models Meet Managers: Examples from Geomorphology , 2003 .

[26]  G. Pickup,et al.  Effects of hydrologic regime on magnitude and frequency of dominant discharge , 1976 .

[27]  E. Andrews.  Effective and bankfull discharges of streams in the Yampa River basin, Colorado and Wyoming , 1980 .