Simplified Models for Morphological Evolution of Rivers and Lagoons

Morphodynamics of sedimentary systems is nowadays a fundamental piece of knowledge for civil and environmental engineers involved in fluvial and lagoonal interventions. While morphodynamics is in principle an extremely complex discipline, some fundamental results may be achieved with relatively simple models. The work provides an analysis of a number of simplified models, discussing the usefulness of their approach and the limits of their applications. The entire study is especially on the analytical and numerical analysis of simplified one-dimensional formulations of fluvial morphodynamics and two- dimensional formulations of lagoon morphodynamics. The effects of geometry, hydrology and sediment input unsteadiness and non-uniformities have been studied, considering the validity and limitations of the local uniform water flow hypothesis or other useful simplifications. General results and further developments underline however, that all simplified models analyzed require further verifications against experimental or field measurements.