Sediment transport observations in Swiss mountain streams

The first measuring site was established in the Erlenbach stream, a small (first-order) catchment in the pre-alpine valley Alptal in central Switzerland. Continuous bedload transport measurements were started in 1986, using first piezoelectric sensors (1986 to 1999) and then geophone sensors (from 2002 onwards) underneath a steel plate and mounted flush with the streambed.

In the meantime, the so-called Swiss plate geophone (SPG) system has been installed at more than 20 field sites, primarily in smaller and steeper streams in Switzerland, Austria, and Italy but also in a few larger rivers and in some other streams worldwide (Israel, USA, Japan). Sediment transport observations in Switzerland with the SPG system concern the following streams: Erlenbach near Brunni (Alptal valley), Albula at Tiefencastel, Navisence at Zinal, Avançon de Nant near Pont de Nant (see map).