Public defence in Water and Environmental Engineering, M.Sc. (Tech) Walter Box

Implementation of sustainable river management strategies and nature-based solutions requires understanding of the impacts of riverine vegetation on flow characteristics, sediment transport, water quality, river health and ecology. 

This dissertation is based on experimental research in the Aalto Environmental Hydraulics Lab. The research extends current knowledge on flow resistance of flexible floodplain vegetation mixtures as well as on sediment transport processes under vegetated settings. New models parameterized with the leaf area index (LAI) were developed to provide means for accurate prediction of vegetative flow resistance of flexible floodplain vegetation mixtures. A workflow for implementing the proposed LAI-based approaches was outlined for modelers and practitioners. 

The new insights allow for improvements in the predictions of suspended sediment transport and deposition in partly vegetated or main channel-floodplain vegetation settings. The LAI-based drag ratio approach can be used for estimating the influence of seasonal variation in foliage on sediment transport. The presence of foliage increased net deposition in the vegetated areas and enhanced deposition near the main channel-floodplain interface by two to five times. 

The potential applications of this dissertation range from flood inundation studies to river restoration, floodplain reforestation, channel design and management of riverine environments. 

Opponent: Professor Suzanne Hulscher, Twente University, The Netherlands

Custos: Professor Harri Koivusalo, Aalto University School of Engineering, Department of Built Environment

Contact information of the doctoral student: Walter Box, [email protected]

The public defence will be organised on campus (C105/T2, Konemiehentie 2) and online via Zoom https://aalto.zoom.us/j/67060728675.

The thesis is publicly displayed 10 days before the defence in the publication archive Aaltodoc of Aalto University. 

Electronic thesis