Articles | Volume 14, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-14-115-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-14-115-2026
Research article
 | 
13 Feb 2026
Research article |  | 13 Feb 2026

At-a-site and between-site variability of bedload transport, inferred from continuous surrogate monitoring, and comparison to predictive equations

Dieter Rickenmann

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Cited articles

Aigner, J., Kreisler, A., Rindler, R., Hauer, C., and Habersack, H.: Bedload pulses in a hydropower affected alpine gravel bed river, Geomorphology, 291, 116–127, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.05.015, 2017. 
Ancey, C.: Bedload transport: a walk between randomness and determinism. Part 1. The state of the art, J. Hydraul. Res., 58, 1–17, https://doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2019.1702594, 2020. 
Antoniazza, G., Nicollier, T., Boss, S., Mettra, F., Badoux, A., Schaefli, B., Badoux, A., Rickenmann, D., and Lane, S. N.: Hydrological drivers of bedload transport in an Alpine watershed, Water Resour. Res., 58, e2021WR030663, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030663, 2022. 
Antoniazza, G., Dietze, M., Mancini, D., Turowski, J. M., Rickenmann, D., Nicollier, T., Boss, S., and Lane, S. N.: Anatomy of an Alpine bedload transport event: A watershed-scale seismic-network perspective, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 128, e2022JF007000, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JF007000, 2023. 
Bagnold, R. A.: An approach to the sediment transport problem from general physics, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 422-I, https://permanent.fdlp.gov/gpo84109/report.pdf (last access: 8 February 2026), 1966. 
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Short summary
Field measurements of the bedload flux with a high temporal resolution in several Swiss mountain streams were used to analyse the transport variability. The measurements were analysed for short-term transport events typically covering a duration of a few weeks and by considering multi-year annual transport totals. The findings show substantial variability both within and across sites, likely reflecting the influence of sediment availability, stream slope, streambed texture and flow history.
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