Automated grain size measurements from airborne remote sensing for long profile measurements of fluvial grain sizes

Recent research has demonstrated that image processing can be applied to derive surficial median grain size data automatically from high-resolution airborne digital imagery in fluvial environments. However, at the present time, automated grain size measurement is limited to the dry exposed bed areas of the channel. This paper shows that the application area of automated grain size mapping can be extended in order to include the shallow wetted areas of the channel. The paper then proceeds to illustrate how automated grain size measurement in both dry and shallow wetted areas can be used to measure grain sizes automatically for long river lengths. For the present study, this results in a median grain size profile covering an 80 km long river which is constructed from over three million automated grain size measurements.