Field campaign in the project iWaGSS to determine river cross-sections in South Africa

In May 2019, Environmental Engineering + Ecology (eE+E) did their last field campaign within the iWaGSS project in South Africa, the aim of which was the determination of river cross-sections.

Due to the fact that the Acoustic Doppler Profiler (ADCP), which is normally used to determine watercourse cross-sections, was not available, the team found another creative solution: In collaboration with Marius Claassen, an experienced South African environmental scientist, a boat was built out of PVC pipes, transport boxes and cable ties, adapted to local conditions. The iWaGSS partner DIE GEWÄSSER-EXPERTEN! mounted a chartplotter with sonar technology onto the boat. The x, y, and z coordinates that were measured using this design served to determine the topographical shape of the riverbeds. Based on this, flowline cross-sections were generated in ArcGIS using interpolation tools, which in turn serve 1D-hydrodynamic modelling done by eE+E. Further field campaigns are planned for next year, during which the ADCP will be used again to compare the results of different measurement methods at the same study sites.

Further information about the field campaign is available here.