Porosity and volume assessments of large wood (LW) accumulations

The formation of large wood (LW) accumulations during floods represents a major hazard for constricted river cross-sections, e.g. bridges and weirs, as it affects flow hydraulics and sediment transport. To better assess LW accumulations, reliable strategies and techniques are required. There are currently practical limits on monitoring accumulation configurations. Both laser scans and photogrammetric techniques can be used to scan the outer contours of LW accumulations, but cannot practically assess the wood content and porosity. Details of the outer deposit are captured in high resolution, but the core of the deposit remains occluded, and estimation is necessary. This becomes more challenging for deposits of increasing size (relative to wood elements). To develop a more efficient workflow for LW accumulation assessment in the field, we performed a laboratory study to develop a relationship between the envelope volume of water-worked LW jams during a single flood hydrograph and the volume of woody elements within (explicitly accounting for porosity). We used photogrammetric techniques, now in common use for reconnaissance surveys of debris accumulations, on wood accumulations scaled for the laboratory. The study's aim is to develop a semi-automated assessment method, enabling efficient image acquisition, processing and computation of LW accumulation volume. Using a multi-camera array above the laboratory channel, and applying Structure from Motion photogrammetry, we developed 3D models for 16 experimental flow-formed wood accumulations, each with >50 individual wooden dowels. No correlations were found between porosity and flow magnitude; porosity was found to be similar for most deposits (~66%). As a result of this accumulation structure, the envelope volume used in 3D and 2.5D photogrammetric methods tended to overestimate wood content by 3× and 2.6×, respectively. The results obtained here will contribute to a more reliable volumetric assessment for inventories of wood mass in river systems.