1. How vegetation alters water motion, and the feedbacks to environmental system structure and function
Tuesday, March 21, :00-12:00 Noon
129 Hayes/Healey Hall
This seminar describes how vegetation changes the mean and turbulent flow field, including the production of turbulent structures in stem wakes and at canopy boundaries. The talk first considers submerged meadows, showing how stem density impacts turbulence intensity and sediment resuspension. The talk also discusses the wake behind a finite patch of vegetation. Because of its porosity, some flow passes through the patch, and this delays the formation of the von-Karman vortex street, leaving a region of low velocity and low turbulence directly behind the patch. Fine particle deposition is enhanced in this region, providing a positive feedback for patch growth. A numerical model is used to explore the impact of this patch-scale feedback on the landscape-scale evolution of aquatic vegetation.
Prof. Heidi Nepf
Donald and Martha Harleman Professor Margaret MacVicar Fellow Dept. Civil & Environmental Engineering M.I.T Cambridge, MA .
Heidi Nepf is the Donald and Martha Harleman Professor of Civil Engineering at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She received her doctorate from Stanford
University in 1992 and spent one year as a post-doctoral fellow at the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution. She began her career at MIT in She is internationally
known for her work on the impact of vegetation on currents, waves, and sediment
Transport in channels, wetlands, and coastal zones.