The main focus of this book is the transport mechanics of sediment
particles coated with microbial biofilm, which is called bio-sediment.
The book also addresses the question of how to measure and simulate the
considerable variation in the properties of natural sediment associated
with microbial biofilm, ranging from the micro-scale surface morphology
to the macro-scale sediment transport. Nowadays most studies to
elucidate the mechanisms of sediment transport have concentrated on
physical-chemical sediment properties, little work explicitly coupled
sediment dynamics and the environmental effects under the influence of
micro-ecosystem, thus leaving a serious gap in water and sediment
sciences as well as water ecological research. With respect to
physical-chemical sediment properties, this book has been undertaken to
evaluate and quantify the effect of biological factors - biofilm on
sediment transport mechanics. The chapters cover topics including
development of bio-sediment and its properties; model of biofilm growth
on sediment substratum; bedform and flow resistance of bio-sediment bed;
incipient velocity and settling velocity of bio-sediment; bedload and
suspended load transport for bio-sediment; numerical simulation of
bio-sediment transport. Besides, the measurement technology, analysis
method and expression approach introduced in this book combine the
characteristics of hydraulic, environmental and microbial research,
having more immediate innovation.
This book will be of interest to researchers, managers, practitioners,
policy and decision makers, international institutions, governmental and
non-governmental organizations, educators, as well as graduate and
undergraduate students in the field of hydraulics and river dynamics. It
will help to understand the relevance of sediment transport and biofilm
growth under the role of aqueous micro-ecosystem, to introduce better
tools for the simulation and prediction of bio-sediment transport, and
to provide a scientific basis and application foundation for the
research of interaction between sediment particles and ecological and
environmental factors.
