Lagrangian modelling of saltating sediment transport: A review

Abstract

One hundred years of research on the saltation in rivers, both experimental and numerical, has allowed for a fairly good improvement of our knowledge of the physics of the saltation process. Lagrangian modelling has played a huge role in this field and has made it possible to apply the knowledge obtained in the analysis of processes associated with the movement of sediment particles. The present paper briefly reviews the current state-of-the-art of the Lagrangian modelling of saltating grains in open channels and highlights recent findings in three areas in which employment of the Lagrangian models of saltation improve our understanding of sediment transport in rivers, namely: initial motion of saltating grains, diffusion of particles and calculation of the bedload transport rate. The particular challenges in all of these research areas are discussed and future ways forward are presented.