Relevance of acoustic methods to quantify bedload transport and bedform dynamics in a large sandy-gravel-bed river

Abstract. Despite the inherent difficulties in quantifying its value, bedload transport is essential for understanding fluvial systems. In this study, we assessed different indirect measurement techniques with a reference direct reach of large sandy-gravel-bed river. An acoustic Doppler current profiler (aDcp), dune tracking method (DTM) and hydrophone were used to determine rates by using calibration or empirical formulas. This study first work which attempted use quantify Results show that most efficient accurate determining fluxes Loire River. Although further needed identify parameters controlling self-generated sediment noise, procedure adopted allows satisfactory estimation rates. Moreover, aDcp are enough variations associated migration.