Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2013AK115B

Characterization of sediment grain-size distributions from several Alaskan rivers

Institute: Alaska
Year Established: 2013 Start Date: 2013-03-01 End Date: 2014-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $2,500 Total Non-Federal Funds: $1,238

Principal Investigators: Horacio Toniolo

Project Summary: In recent years, researchers at the Water and Environmental Research Center (WERC), University of Alaska Fairbanks, have conducted several studies focused on hydraulic and hydrologic conditions in streams located in the Interior and North Slope of Alaska. While preliminary work on sediment transport allowed the initial development of sediment rating curves (i.e., suspended sediment concentration vs. river discharge) in those streams, no information is available on sediment grain-size distributions. Thus, the need for gathering data on sediment size is clear. The objectives of the proposed research are (1) to characterize suspended sediment sizes and (2) to compare temporal (in a given stream) and spatial (between streams) variations of suspended sediment distributions. Extensive field data collection efforts on the Tanana River near Nenana; Anaktuvuk and Chandler Rivers near Umiat; and Ambler, Koyoukuk, Reed and Alatna Rivers near Bettles will be conducted, as well as laboratory analysis, to accomplish these objectives.