2025-LU2 Dusty Rivers: quantifying fluvial flooding controls on aeolian activity

Project highlights

An exciting opportunity to investigate multiple highly connected geomorphological systems

Developing skills in handling big remote sensing (high and moderate resolution) and climate datasets including in a GIS environment

Great potential for new insights into fluvial-aeolian interactions and the critical role of temporal variability in sediment transport

Overview

In many dryland environments, intermittently flowing rivers are recognised as key players in the delivery, distribution and storage of fine-sized sediment throughout the landscape (Figure 1). Given the ephemeral nature of dryland rivers and intermittency of their flow regimes, fluvial activity is mainly characterised by low frequency-high magnitude (flood) events which exert a fundamental control on the operation of tightly coupled aeolian processes.

Sediment is supplied from upstream through floods, providing abundant fine-grained sediment that is potentially available to be subsequently blown by the wind during dry periods. An important question for aeolian-fluvial interactions is the control that floods play, and how predictably aeolian activity responds to these infrequent flood events. For example, river systems are known to be prominent sources of dust deflation (Figure 1a), but alongside the increased potential for wind erosion due to a boost in sediment supply after a flood (Figure 1bc), the vegetative response to moisture and greening up of floodplains can temporarily reduce the availability of sediment to the wind. Thus, time lags associated with flood-related environmental and geomorphological responses introduce potentially important temporal controls on the aeolian system. Many dryland river regimes are tied to the climate forcing of large-scale teleconnections (e.g. ENSO and central Australian dryland hydrology), meaning that flooding may be a primary driver of dust activity in globally significant source regions. With climate change expected to alter global patterns of river flow intermittency, quantifying fluvial-aeolian interactions in dryland environments is key for understanding potential shifts in future dust sources and emissions.

The aim of this project is to quantify flood activity in dust-bearing dryland fluvial systems and the degree to which rates of mineral dust vary in response to hydrological perturbations of these landscapes.

Figure 1: a) MODIS satellite image of discrete dust plumes over the South Atlantic aligned with ephemeral river valleys in central Namibia, b) large flood-out style deposit at the terminus of the Warburton River, central Australia, and c) sediment-rich, partially vegetated, state of the Huab river on the Skeleton Coast of Namibia.

Host

Loughborough University

Theme

Dynamic Earth

Supervisors

Project investigator

Matthew Baddock (Loughborough University, [email protected])

Co-investigators

Edwin Baynes (Loughborough University, [email protected])
Joanna Bullard (Loughborough University, [email protected])

How to apply

Each host has a slightly different application process.
Find out how to apply for this studentship.
All applications must include the CENTA application form.
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Methodology

To examine the relationships between aeolian dust activity and periodic flooding, long time series are required to capture the effects of infrequent, variable floods. Daily satellite aerosol retrievals since ~2000 (e.g. MODIS) across the global low latitudes can quantify variability in dust loading. At much higher resolution, spatial changes in dust activity will also be characterised with visible band sensors (e.g. Sentinel-2, PlanetScope) to produce inventories of changing emissive surfaces in study areas before, after and through legacy, of floods. Remote sensing also allows reconstructed flood records for desert fluvial systems that lack gauge data, and vegetation variability, both based on high resolution satellite imagery (e.g. Google Earth Engine). Climate reanalysis will be used to quantify the primary meteorological drivers of river flow and dust emission e.g. rainfall, windspeed.

Focused fieldwork may also help achieve project goals e.g. satellite ground-truthing, channel survey, sedimentological analysis, geomorphological mapping.

Training and skills

DRs will be awarded CENTA Training Credits (CTCs) for participation in CENTA-provided and ‘free choice’ external training. One CTC can be earned per 3 hours training, and DRs must accrue 100 CTCs across the three and a half years of their PhD.

Full training in techniques to rapidly handle large, long time period datasets will be provided for code-based tools such as Matlab, Python and Google Earth Engine. Together with steps to obtain and analyse gridded climate reanalysis and (where available) local meteorological data, a wide range of high transferable data handling and environmental monitoring skills will be realised. Training for all field-based aspects of the study will also be group-assessed by the team and be provided as required.

Partners and collaboration

Given the supervisory team’s research links in southern Africa, partners and collaborators include southern African dust experts Professor Frank Eckardt and Dr Johanna von Holdt (both University of Cape Town). In Namibia, connections with staff and facilities of the Gobabeb Namib Research Institute on the Kuiseb River provide an excellent base for studies of fluvial-aeolian interactions https://gobabeb.org/

Further details

For further information about this project, please contact Dr Matthew Baddock ([email protected]) or Dr Edwin Baynes ([email protected]).

To apply to this project: 

You must include a CENTA studentship application form, downloadable from: CENTA Studentship Application Form 2025.

You must include a CV with the names of at least two referees (preferably three) who can comment on your academic abilities.

Please submit your application and complete the host institution application process via: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/research-applications/ The CENTA Studentship Application Form 2025 and CV, along with other supporting documents required by Loughborough University, can be uploaded at Section 10 “Supporting Documents” of the online portal. Under Section 4 “Programme Selection” the proposed study centre is Central England NERC Training Alliance. Please quote CENTA 2025-LU2 when completing the application form.

For further enquiries about the application process, please contact the School of Social Sciences & Humanities ([email protected]).

Applications must be submitted by 23:59 GMT on Wednesday 8th January 2025. 

Possible timeline

Year 1

Training in and development of remote sensing datasets familiarity. Decision on first geographical area of study. Testing/evaluation of different flood mapping techniques.

Year 2

Development of high resolution dataset of dust-emitting channel system/floodplain surfaces. Possible fieldwork in support of main remote sensing achievements. Extension of Year 1 techniques into other dryland fluvial study area.

Year 3

Looking into hydrological futures of dryland river systems. Possible effort to turn observed flood-dust impact time-lag relationships into model parameters.