MODELING OF MEANDERING AND BRAIDING IN RIVERS.

The results of stability analyses of meander- and braid-like perturbations in straight rivers are used to construct a diagram dividing rivers into straight, meandering, and braided regimes. The same analysis provides order-of-magnitude estimates of meander and braid longitudinal wavelength and braid number. The relations indicate that if the geometric and Froude criteria are applied to river models, and if sediment transport exists in both the model and the prototype, the occurrence of meandering and braiding and incipient meander and braid wavelengths are modeled to the correct order of magnitude. Sediment transport itself need not be modeled as long as it exists.