Channel Hydrogeomorphic Units for Kalamazoo River Reference Reach upstream of Plainwell, Michigan, 2021
Description
This dataset is a map of hydrogeomorphic units (HGUs) for an approximately 500 meter (m) reach of the Kalamazoo River upstream of Plainwell, Michigan (MI). HGUs are the building blocks of the riverscape, including, for example, bars, banks, riffles, and pools. The HGUs were mapped with the automated Geomorphic Unit Tool (GUT; Bangen et al., 2017; Wheaton et al., 2015) run on a digital elevation model (DEM) comprising topographic and bathymetric data for the Plainwell reach, which was developed from elevation data collected by several different methods. Bathymetric data in the river channel were collected in October, 2021 with a single beam sonar and Acoustic Current Doppler Profiler operated along two longitudinal transects and 48 cross-sectional transects, respectively. River bank topographic data were collected with a backpack-mounted terrestrial lidar unit concurrently with the bathymetric data. Floodplain elevations were obtained from aerial lidar data collected in 2015. All ground points from the respective datasets were projected to the same coordinate system and used to generate a DEM with 1m resolution covering the channel bed, banks, and floodplain, and valley walls through the reference reach.
Bangen S.G., Kramer N., Wheaton, J.M., & Bouwes N. 2017. The GUTs of the Geomorphic Unit Tool: What is under the hood. EP31D-1901. AGU. New Orleans, LA, 11-15 Dec. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31118.66884
Wheaton JM, Fryirs KA, Brierley G, Bangen SG, Bouwes N, & O'Brien G. 2015. Geomorphic mapping and taxonomy of fluvial landforms. Geomorphology 248:273-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.07.010