Investigating transport and mixing at river confluences with Nortek's Vectrino

Rivers are one of nature’s main assets. They help make our planet a place full of life. Scientists view rivers as a part of a larger network of flowing streams. The locations in the networks where streams join one another are called confluences.

Flows merging at the confluences may differ in the volume, speed and quality of their waters. Interactions between merging flows, and the rate of which the two flows become mixed, are of great importance for the water quality and ecological conditions in the river networks. This film highlights what leading professionals are doing to further the limited academic knowledge on how river flows merge at river confluences. This short documentary also shows how the Vectrino velocimeter is being used to conduct this type of research.

This film is made by Dr. Alexander Sukhodolov, Scientist at Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany.