Experiments on Coupled Wave Flow Vegetation Interaction

In this study we focus on how understanding, through experimentation using advanced techniques, the dynamic of wave interaction with emergent vegetation. In order to achieve this objective, an experimental study of wave mention through an infinite array of emergent cylinders distributed along a channel bottom was carried out in the Coastal Laboratory at the Polytechnic University of Bari (Italy). A series of sophisticated equipment was used to produce and measure the details of this phenomenon, including essentially an electro-valve, equipped with an electromagnetic flow meter and a control device to rapidly open and close it to generate the water waves, a series of ultrasound probes to measure the free surface elevation, and a series of Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) probes in addition to a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique for flow velocity measurements. The measurement methods, instrument calibration, data filtration and some preliminary results are reported in this study.