Flood Hydraulics and Suspended Sediment Transport in the Plain of Reeds, Mekong Delta

Abstract

The Mekong Delta is one of the largest and most intensively used estuaries in the world. It witnesses widespread fl ooding annually, which is both the basis of the livelihood for more than 17 million people, but also constitutes the major natural hazard in the region. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the hydrologic and hydraulic features as well as the associated sediment dynamics is urgently required for various planning purposes. In order to gain quantitative support for the existing knowledge of the fl oodplain inundation processes, a comprehensive monitoring scheme of the inundation hydraulics and sediment dynamics in channels and fl oodplains was established in a study area in the Plain of Reeds in the northeastern part of the Vietnamese delta. With the collected data the inundation and sediment transport in the fl oodplains and the interaction between channels and fl oodplains H. Apel (*) Section 5.4 Hydrology ,