Turbulence Metrics from Surface Image Velocimetry

Image-based monitoring of rivers is a growing field of research and is being popularized as a technical alternative for discharge, erosion and flood risk estimation applications. Surface velocimetry can also be a way to characterize the turbulence structure of shallow flows, making possible the remote determination of quantities of interest such as dissipation and integral length scales. To evaluate velocimetry methods and data processing workflows, a laboratory facility emulating a river reach was assembled at IST, and monitored using commercial grade cameras, in field-like conditions. In this work the results of estimates of turbulent dissipation and integral length scales using multiple methods are provided, along with a discussion on the differences among methods and possible applications of the derived data in hydrodynamic model parameter calibration and data assimilation. LSPIV and PTV display similar results with regard to velocity estimation and vortex detection. In the estimation of integral lengths, the longitudinal scales are most affected by limitations in the measurement setup, whereas for the dissipation and turbulent viscosity estimates, spectrum methods seem to be less reliable than simpler methods based on dimensional analysis and integral length scales.