Remote Sensing of Ecohydrological, Ecohydraulic, and Ecohydrodynamic Phenomena in Vegetated Waterways: The Role of Leaf Area Index (LAI)
Giuseppe Francesco Cesare Lama, Mariano Crimaldi
Abstract
Aquatic plants have considerable effects on the hydraulic roughness and the qualitative status of vegetated flows at real scale. Defining the most suitable practice of riparian vegetation control in manmade and natural water flows represents a key point, in both environmental and river engineering, particularly considering the ongoing climate change trends. In detail, vegetation elements modify the main fluid dynamic features, with impacts on the transport of pollutants and mixing traits across vegetated flows. This study was carried out to provide deep knowledge of the ecohydrodynamic synergy between plants and water flow at field scale, within a ditch covered by rigid plants. It was possible, assessing the accuracy of drone-based imagery in computing Leaf Area Index (LAI), to further calibrate predictive models of vegetative flow resistance.