Bedload transport monitoring with acoustic sensors in the Swiss Albula mountain river

Abstract

Bedload transport measurements with acoustic sensors were obtained during summer 2015 in the Albula River in Switzerland. An impact plate measuring system was used with geophone and accelerometer sensors. This system provides indirect estimations of bedload transport in water courses. In April 2015, 30 impact sensors were installed in a new permanent measuring station to monitor continuously bedload transport in a mountain river with a large annual rate of sediment transport (around 90 000 m3 yr−1). Records of the first year of measurement showed that (i) the signal response in terms of geophone and accelerometer impulses is comparable for both types of sensors; (ii) there is a good correlation between discharge data and impulses recorded by both types of sensors; (iii) the critical discharge at the start of bedload transport is around 5 m3 s−1; (iv) a mean calibration factor for the geophone impulses can be estimated which is in a similar range as values determined from other sites with field calibration measurements.