Global scale analysis on the extent of river channel belts
Abstract Rivers form channel belts that encompass the area of the river channel and its associated levees, bars, splays and overbank landforms. The channel belt is critical for understanding the physical river evolution through time, predicting river behavior and management of freshwater resources....
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37852-8 |
| _version_ | 1797845865495265280 |
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| author | Björn Nyberg Gijs Henstra Rob L. Gawthorpe Rodmar Ravnås Juha Ahokas |
| author_facet | Björn Nyberg Gijs Henstra Rob L. Gawthorpe Rodmar Ravnås Juha Ahokas |
| author_sort | Björn Nyberg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Rivers form channel belts that encompass the area of the river channel and its associated levees, bars, splays and overbank landforms. The channel belt is critical for understanding the physical river evolution through time, predicting river behavior and management of freshwater resources. To date, there is no global-scale, quantitative study of the extent of river channel belts. Here we show, based on a pattern recognition algorithm, the global surface area of channel belts at an approximate 1 km resolution is 30.5 × 105 km2, seven times larger than the extent of river channels. We find 52% of river channels associated with the channel belts have a multi-threaded planform with the remaining 48% being single-threaded by surface area. The global channel belt (GCB) datasets provide new methods for high-resolution global scale landform classifications and for incorporating the channel belt into flood mitigation, freshwater budgets, ecosystem accounting and biogeochemical analyses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:45:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-456d0417c0c74e2088b966ba00cc0c97 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:45:54Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-456d0417c0c74e2088b966ba00cc0c972023-04-16T11:18:37ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232023-04-0114111010.1038/s41467-023-37852-8Global scale analysis on the extent of river channel beltsBjörn Nyberg0Gijs Henstra1Rob L. Gawthorpe2Rodmar Ravnås3Juha Ahokas4Department of Earth Sciences, University of BergenAkerBP ASADepartment of Earth Sciences, University of BergenAkerBP ASAAkerBP ASAAbstract Rivers form channel belts that encompass the area of the river channel and its associated levees, bars, splays and overbank landforms. The channel belt is critical for understanding the physical river evolution through time, predicting river behavior and management of freshwater resources. To date, there is no global-scale, quantitative study of the extent of river channel belts. Here we show, based on a pattern recognition algorithm, the global surface area of channel belts at an approximate 1 km resolution is 30.5 × 105 km2, seven times larger than the extent of river channels. We find 52% of river channels associated with the channel belts have a multi-threaded planform with the remaining 48% being single-threaded by surface area. The global channel belt (GCB) datasets provide new methods for high-resolution global scale landform classifications and for incorporating the channel belt into flood mitigation, freshwater budgets, ecosystem accounting and biogeochemical analyses.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37852-8 |
| spellingShingle | Björn Nyberg Gijs Henstra Rob L. Gawthorpe Rodmar Ravnås Juha Ahokas Global scale analysis on the extent of river channel belts Nature Communications |
| title | Global scale analysis on the extent of river channel belts |
| title_full | Global scale analysis on the extent of river channel belts |
| title_fullStr | Global scale analysis on the extent of river channel belts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Global scale analysis on the extent of river channel belts |
| title_short | Global scale analysis on the extent of river channel belts |
| title_sort | global scale analysis on the extent of river channel belts |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37852-8 |
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