IRRM
The Integrative River Rehabilitation Model - A new tool for river rehabilitation projects
To support planning and decision-making of river rehabilation projects an integrative river rehabilitation model (IRRM) has been developed. The IRRM represents and quantifies the most significant effects of rehabilitation measures on:
- Morphology & Hydraulics
- Fish (Brown Trouts)
- Benthos (Macroinvertebrates & Algae)
- Shoreline Fauna (Arthropods)
- Local Economy
Since the
topographic situation after a rehabilitation measure is unknown (e.g. where a
gravel bar develops, which height, ...), all sub-models of the IRRM regard the
project perimeter as a uniform system - without considering the spatial
resolution (topography) explicitely. Thus, the IRRM is developed as a
1-dimensional model which simulates
- the expected river morphology
- reach specific means (e.g., mean velocity and depth)
- temporal dynamics (e.g., temporal progression of river bed siltation or of brown trouts) and temporal expected means (e.g. mean return period of floodplain inundation)
- spatial distributions of ecologically important characteristics (e.g. bivariate distribution of velocity and depth (habitat distribution) or relative shore line length)
Licence
The download and application of the IRRM are
cost-free. However, to apply the IRRM the software „Analytica“ is required. See
Lizenzen (in German) or directly under www.lumina.com
Model documentations (in German)
- Implementation of the IRRM as a probability network
- Documentation of the submodel „Morphology & Hydraulics“
- Documentation of the submodel „Algae & Invertebrates“
- Documentation of the submodel „Terrestrial Arthropods“
- Documentation of the submodel „Brown Trouts“
- Documentation of the submodel „Local Economy“
Table of planned and already implemented Model-Updates
Case Studies of the IRRM
- Case Study Moesa River at Grono (Widening performed in 1999)
- Case Study Thur River at Niederneunforn (Widening performed in 2004)
- Case Study Thur River at Weinfelden (Planned Widening)
- Case Study Rhone River near Sion (Planned Widening diploma thesis of Christel Dischinger, EPFL, short version)
Publications
- Reichert et al 2007 (decision support of river rehabilitation)
- Schweizer et al 2007a (habitat distribution)
- Schweizer et al 2007b (hydraulics & morphology)
- Schweizer et al 2007c (periphyton and invertebrates)
- Borsuk et al 2006 (brown trouts)
- Paetzold et al 2007 (terrestrial arthropods)
- Spörri et al 2006 (local economy)
Contact Peter Reichert