Simulated Outdoor Stream Adds Realism to Restoration Research

摘要

Streams and rivers are dynamic, complex systems characterized by intricate relationships between their hydraulic, geomorphologic, and ecologic components. As scientists and engineers seek to restore degraded streams and rivers, the need for a better understanding of the many variables that influence the outcome of such efforts becomes increasingly apparent. To overcome the different limitations associated with studying simulated streams in indoor laboratories and conducting field studies in actual waterways, the University of Minnesota's St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (safl) and the National Center for Earth-Surface Dynamics, which is based at the safl, recently constructed an outdoor stream for research purposes. Known as the Outdoor StreamLab, the facility is located on an island in the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis and is designed to offer a natural setting in which researchers can conduct the types of precise, replicable tests normally possible only in a laboratory.