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Energy Procedia 112 (2017) 67 74

Sustainable Solutions for Energy and Environment, EENVIRO 2016, 26-28 October 2016,
Bucharest, Romania

One dimensional sediment transport model to assess channel

changes along Oltenia-Clrai reach of Danube River, Romania
Daniela Gogoae Nistorana*, Cristina Ionescua, Georgiana Ptrub, Iuliana Armac,
tefania Grigorie Omranic
a
University Politehnica of Bucharest, Faculty of Power Engineering, sector 6, Bucharest 060042, Romania
b
National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management, sector 1, Bucharest 013686, Romaniaand Technical University of Civil Engineering
Bucharest, Doctoral School, sector 2, Bucharest 020396, Romania
c
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography, sector 1, Bucharest 010041, Romania

Abstract

Sediment budget of thelower part of theDanube River haschangedduringthelastdecades, mainlyduetotheconstruction of

damsanddykes. The objective of thisstudyistoassessthe sediment budget andmorphologicalchangesalongOltenia -
ClraiDanube River reach, withtheuse of a one dimensional hydraulicand sediment transport model. The river schematic
networkwasextractedfrom a Digital Terrain Model, builtwithtopobathimetric data, using HEC-GeoRAS. The hydrodynamic
model wasbuilt, calibratedandvalidatedwiththe 1D HEC-RAS software underunsteadyflowregime, withhydrologicand sediment
data fromthe period 2008-2011 at thetwoupstreamanddownstreamgaugingstations. Measured sediment discharge data
wereusedtocomputethesuspendedloadwithdifferent transport functions. The functionthatrepresentsthebest fit for
theobservedvalues of suspendedload in 2008 wasusedto model thehydromorphologicalbehaviour of theriverreach for the period
2009-2011. Computed sediment dischargevalueswerefoundtofollowthetendency of previousdecades. The model
wasalsousedtoassesspossiblechanges of thechannelbedbyaggradation or degradationalongthestudyreach, over theanalysed period.
2017
2017Published
The Authors. Published
by Elsevier by Elsevier
Ltd. This Ltd.
is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review under responsibility ofthe organizing committee of the international conference on Sustainable Solutions for Energy
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility
and Environment 2016. of the organizing committee of the international conference on Sustainable Solutions for Energy
and Environment 2016
Keywords:sediment transport; hydrodynamic numerical model; riverbed erosion-deposition; aggradation-degradation; river morphology

* Corresponding author. Tel.:+40-722-216840; fax: +40-21-4029865.

E-mail address :daniela.nistoran@upb.ro

1876-6102 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the international conference on Sustainable Solutions for Energy and Environment 2016
doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.1062
68 Daniela Gogoae Nistoran et al. / Energy Procedia 112 (2017) 67 74

1. Introduction

Sedimentdischarge regime alonglowerDanube River follow the decreasing trend observed for manyother large
fluvialsystemssubjected to prolongedanthropogenic impact, suchasRhine, Volga, Arno, Loire, Po [1, 2]. The main
human impactson the Danube River Basin are due to flood control, hydropower generation and navigation. River
engineering works such as dams and reservoirs, artificial levees/floodwalls/embakments, navigation channels and
irrigation canal networkshinderlongitudinal and lateralconnectivity and prevent the sedimentsupply and transport
from the upstreamtributaries and reaches to the downstream ones [3, 4, 5, 6]. According to Panin and Jipa [7] the
natural mean annual suspended sediment load at the Danube Delta apex (CeatalIzmail) was of about 67.5 million
tons/year (1921-1960) and it has dramatically dropped after building the Iron Gates I (at km 942.95 from the Black
Sea mouth, in 1970) and Iron Gates II dams (at km 864 from the Black Sea mouth, in 1986) to around 25-35 million
tons/year (which is over 50% in sediment load reduction). Observed morphological changes are complex, depending
on location and hydrological regime: from erosion reaches (downstream the reservoirs, in the pools) and deposition
reaches (in the reservoirs, on sand bars, banks, islands or riffles) creating bottlenecks that impede navigation.
Numericalmodels for fluvial flow evolvedduring the last decades (from 1D to 2D and 3D). In order to
realisticallyreproduce the realphenomenatheyhave to be calibrated and validated on observed data of similarevents.
1D numericalmodels, based on time and distancesteps are stillsuccesfullyused for long riverreaches, providedthey
are based on detailedgeoreferencedtopographic and bathimetric data. Theiradvantages are: simplecomputations and
calibration, ease of parametrisation, reducedamount of necessaryhydrologic data for calibration and validation, short
computation time [8, 9, 10]. Such a software is HEC-RAS (HydrologicEngineering Centre, River Analysis System,
version 4.1) [11], widelyused for modelingriverhydraulics and sedimenttransport.
The purpose of thisstudyis to assesshydrodynamic and sedimentdischargeevolutionalong a studyreach on
lowerDanube River between 2008-2011, by numerical simulations, using the HEC-RAS software. Comparison of
the computed sediment flow values with the observed ones was made to analyze morphological changes by
degradation or aggradation.

2. Site and data

The study site (Fig. 1) is a Danube pontic reach of about 60km in length, situated between the gauging stations
(GS) of Oltenia (430km upstream from the river mouth into the Black Sea) and Chiciu-Clrai (380km
downstream from the river mouth).
The only tributary along this reach is Mostitea River, having a negligible mean annual flow of under 1m3/s,
compared to the Danubes one at Oltenita GS/Chiciu-Calarasi GS, of 6040/6100m3/s [12]. The Danube watershed
has an asymmetric morphologic development, with a low and terraced, wide left Romanian floodplain, and a steep
and high right Bulgarian bank. Numerous islands divide the river channel into branches along this slightly
meandered reach (1.08 sinuosity index). The average bottom slope value is less than 1 and the bankfull widths
vary between 500 and 2500 m. Due to the areas high risk of flooding, two artificial levees were built along the left
main channel bank to prevent inundation of inhabited and agricultural areas [12].
Hydrologic data used for thenumericalmodelingwereregistered at theGSsbetweentheyear 2008 and 2011:
dailyrecords of stage, discharge, suspended sediment load, temperature, flowand sediment load rating curves, flow-
loadgradationcurves, bedgrainsizedistribution. Mean sediment diameter (d 50) isabout 0.2-0.3mm (Fig. 2a),
correspondingtosiltandsand.Since sediment rates are notsistematicallymeasured at Chiciu-Calarasi GS,
thesenecessary data wereapproximatedbyaddingupthecorrespondingmeasuredvalues at Calarasiand Izvoarele GSs on
thetwobranches (southern old Danubeandnorthern Borcea branch) (Fig. 1).
Channel bathymety for thestudyreachwassurveyed in 2008 with a single beam echosoundsystemfixed on a fluvial
boat. The topographic data for thefloodplainandnumerous sediment islandswereobtainedbydigitizinglevelcurvesfrom
1:25K mapsalongthestudyreach. Both sets of georeferencedspatial data weremergedand a vector-basedsurface
Triangular IrregularNetwork (TIN) wasobtainedunderArcGIS.
 Daniela Gogoae Nistoran et al. / Energy Procedia 112 (2017) 67 74 69

Fig. 1 Danube River study reach and schematic network of the numerical model

120 60000
100 50000 y = 0.064x1.468
percent finer (%)

R = 0.495
Qs (t/day)

80 40000
60 30000
40 20000
Oltenita, Q = 6050 mc/s
Oltenita, Q=2400 mc/s 10000
20
Calarasi, Q=5890mc/s 0
0 Calarasi, Q = 4100 mc/s
2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
0.01 0.10 d (mm) 1.00 10.00 Q (mc/s)
a) b)
Fig. 2a) Flow-load gradation curves at Oltenita GS and Calarasi GS; b) Sediment rating curve at CalarasiGS

3. Method

HEC-GeoRASinterface under ArcGISwasused to extract from the TIN the riverschematic network consisting of
227 cross-sectionsspacedat a meandistance of 200m (Fig. 1). HEC-RAS software integrates the Saing-Venant set of
threedifferential equations for the water flow and the Exner equation for the solid phase (sediments) [13]:
70 Daniela Gogoae Nistoran et al. / Energy Procedia 112 (2017) 67 74

wH wVH
wt  wx 0

wVH  w V 2 H

 1
 gH
 wH
 gH
wK
 CfV 2
(1)

wt wx 2 wx wx
wK wqt
1  O p  wt  wx  DS  ES qt qt (V )

in which H is the hydraulic (mean) depth, V is the mean velocity, qt the volume transport rate of sediment load per
unit stream width, Dsis - the deposition rate (from the water column on the bed), Es is - the errosion rate (from the
bed by suspension into the water column), A the cross-section wetted area, K is - the bed elevation, Op - the
sediment porosity, x the coordinate along flow direction, g is - the gravity, and Cf is - the bed friction coefficient.
The unsteady hydraulic model was calibrated for the 2008 observed daily mean values of discharge (Fig. 3) and
stage and then validated for the hydrologic data of the rainy, 2010, year. Roughness factors were adjusted in the
range of 0.028for the main channel and 0.07 for the floodplain, until water surface elevations matched observed
stages at the upstream GS of Oltenita. The absolute errors are under 30cm (Fig. 4 a and b), corresponding to less
than 4% relative errors with respect to depth.

16000
2008
14000 2010
12000 2011
Q [m/s ]

10000 Q multiannual
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Time [months]
Fig. 3.Flow discharge time seris at Oltenita GS

a b

Fig. 4. Computed-observed stage difference at Oltenita GS for : a) calibration for 2008; b) validation for 2010 hydraulic data

The sediment transport model has been run for the year 2008 under quasi-unsteady flow regime with daily time
steps. The imposed boundary conditions were: (i) upstream at Oltenita water, sediment discharge and temperature
dayly time series and (ii) downstream at Chiciu - Calarasi stage hydrograph and sediment rating curve (Fig. 2b).
Both boundary conditions were correlated with sediment gradation rating curves.
 Daniela Gogoae Nistoran et al. / Energy Procedia 112 (2017) 67 74 71

Initial conditions for the study reach were: sediment grading curves interpolated between the measured ones at
the upstream and downstream gauging stations (Fig. 1) and the maximum erodible limits. The two layers (active
and inactive) method was used for sorting the material within the river bed. To compute the fall velocity and
associated particle Reynolds number, the Van Rijn method was selected. For the considered Danube reach and range
of input parameters (particle diameter, slope, velocity, and width) three transport functions were selected to compute
sediment transport depending on water discharge: Engelund and Hansen, Tofaletti and Laursen.
Since measured values of bedload flux were not available and the share of bedload discharge within the total
transported sediment represenst less than 1% on low-land sections of Danube River (according to Rkczi L.[14]),
in the present study total sediment load was considered to be equal to the suspended load.

4. Results and discussion

To further test the hydraulic model, a comparison between computed and observed water surface elevation at the
upstream GS of Oltenita was made for the drought year 2011 (Fig. 5). Results showed the same range of acceptable
errors as for previous years.

Fig. 5 Computed-observed stage difference at Oltenita GS for 2011

The total sediment discharge rates were computed at the downstream Chiciu-Calarasi GS using the three
transport functions, for the year 2008. The most appropriate, representing the best fit for the observed suspended
values, was found to be Laursen-Copeland transport function (Fig. 6).

100000
90000 observed
80000 Engelund & Hansen
70000 Laursen-Copeland
Tofaletti
Qs (t/day)

60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
D J F M A M J J A S O N D

Fig. 6 Measured and computed sediment discharge rates with different transport functions at Chiciu-Clrai
72 Daniela Gogoae Nistoran et al. / Energy Procedia 112 (2017) 67 74

In order to analyse sediment entrainment potential for the mean diameter particle (d50), the dimensionless shear
stress (Shields parameter)
W bed u*2
T (2)
U s  U gd50 Rgd 50
was compared with the critical Shields number for the onset of suspended motion, W c (Fig. 7), computed with the
Parker et. al [15] relation for non-cohesive particles:

( 7.7 Re p0.6 )
W c 0.5 (0.22 Re p0.6  0.06 10 ) (3)

Rgd 50 d 50 is the particle Reynolds number, Us

where Re p R  1 is - the submerged specific gravity of the
Q U
sediments (which for quartz is 1.65), u* is the shear velocity, Q is - the kinematic viscosity of water, W bed UgHS is
the computed shear stress on the riverbed (with H the hydraulic depth and S the river bed slope).

0.18
non-dimensional shear stress.
0.16
non-dimensional critical shear stress
0.14
W*, W*c

0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
D J F M A M J J A S O N D
Fig. 7 Non dimensional Shields parameter and critical shear stress for the year 2008

One may notice (Fig. 6) that during the spring flood (between March 1st and June 1stof 2008) particle mobility (T)
intensifies (Fig. 7) due to increased flow discharge and stream power values. This may lead to a higher bedload
share within the total sediment transport, and therefore to higher errors when compared to suspended load. At higher
discharge the hysteresis effect of the sediment rating curve also increases. Moreover, the summation approximation
of the suspended load values (measured at Calarasi GS and Izvoarele GS in order to get the necessary values at
Chiciu-Calarasi GS,as was mentioned at the second paragraph) might not be so accurate anymore, because of water
and sediment flooding the overbank areas.
All of above could explain for the increased differences between between measurements and computations(with
all the three sediment functions), during the spring flood (Fig. 6).
Under these considerations, the numerical model was considered to be appropriate to simulate the
hydromorphologic behaviour also for the other years of the study period. Computed sediment discharge values at the
two GSs over the period 2008-2011 were compared with the registered ones from the previous four decades, in
order to verify their trend (Fig. 8). The same overall decreasing tendency (mainly to the construction of the two Iron
Gates 1 and 2 dams in 1970 and 1985, respectively) is observed, but at a lower rate.
 Daniela Gogoae Nistoran et al. / Energy Procedia 112 (2017) 67 74 73

1800
1600
1400 Oltenita
Calarasi
Qs (kg/s)
1200
1000
800
600 computed
400
200
0
1966-1970 1971-1984 1985-2006 2008-2011

Fig. 8 Sediment discharge evolution during 1966-2006 (registered) and 2008-2011 (computed)

In Fig. 9 and 10 are shown the morphological changes of the main channel cross sectionat Chiciu-Calarasi GS
between two different surveyed dates of 2008 and 2010, in comparison with the corresponding computed results.
The same aggradational trend is noticed in this cross-section between the considereddates (of about 6 and 8 cm
respectively, from computations). Also, along the Oltenita-Calarasi reach, between 2008 and 2011, numerical results
show erosion in the pool areas and deposition on the riffles, sand bars and islands.

15 30.05.08 15 30.05.2008
28.08.2008
stage (m BS)

10 28.08.08 10
stage (m BS)

5 5

0 0
-5 -5 dist (m)
dist (m)
0 200 400 600 800 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
a) b)
Fig. 9 Cross section profile changes at Chiciu Calarasi in 2008 from a) surveys; b) computations

15 10.03.2010 15 10.03.2010
11.11.2010 11.11.2010
10 10
stage (m BS)
stage (m)

5 5

0 0

-5 -5 dist. (m)
0 200 400 600 800 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
a) a)
b)
Fig. 10 Cross section profile changes at Chiciu Calarasi in 2010 from a) surveys; b) computations

5. Conclusions

Sediment transport modeling and understanding morphological processes of Danube River is a challenging
research subject, which requires a large amount of measured data and interdisciplinary knowledge.
74 Daniela Gogoae Nistoran et al. / Energy Procedia 112 (2017) 67 74

For the study reach of Oltenita-Calarasi, computed values of mean sediment discharge over the study period
2008-2011 (Fig. 8) follow the same decreasing trend as the registered values over a 40 years period, between 1966-
2006 [16, 17].
Vertical morphological changes at the downstream GS of Chiciu-Calarasi cross section follow the aggradational
morphological behaviour observed by Bondar [16].
More pilot sites and periodic bathymetric studies are needed in order to monitor sediment transport and to
identify erosion and deposition areas. Obtained local results should be integrated into a longer reach and during a
larger period of time, to account for synergic processes of the whole fluvial system. Also, a further 2D analysis is
needed to model the lateral morphological changes. This analysis would be very useful for the more frequent
navigation problems (sand bars and bottlenecks buildup) encountered downstream of this study reach during the low
flow periods, with minimum water depths (critical drought for navigation being2.5m [17]).

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