On three-dimensional continuous saltating process of sediment particles near the channel bed

The purpose of this study is to develop a three-dimensional continuous saltation model which is able to simulate the saltating behaviors of a single particle near the channel bed. A real-time flow visualization system, including two charge-coupled device cameras, an image-grabbing card and an OPTIMAS image-processing software, is developed to measure the threedimensional saltating trajectories and corresponding velocity components. The averaged dimensionless saltation length, height and width were found to follow Pearson type III distributions and the dimensionless saltation velocity follows a normal distribution. The impacting and rebounding angles increase as the flowtransport capacity T *increases. The rebounding angles, under various impacting conditions, follow a normal distribution. Based on the data colleted, an impacting and rebounding mechanism is derived, and thus a three-dimensional saltation model is established to simulate the dynamic characteristics of the saltating particles. Regression equations for the important saltating characteristics, including saltation length, height, width and three-dimensional velocity components were obtained. Based on these equations, bed load equation was derived. This equation tends to slightly overestimate the bed load transport. Nevertheless, the overall accuracy is satisfactory.