Perched on the banks of the Mississippi River’s St. Anthony Falls, the Outdoor StreamLab has been uniquely designed to study interactions among a channel, its floodplain, and vegetation. The facility can produce a large range of flow rates, including overbank floods. Dams and bridge piers placed within the Outdoor StreamLab allow study of dynamic human-river interactions.
Interest in the Outdoor StreamLab spans many areas, including agricultural engineering, biology, civil engineering, ecology, geology, soil sciences, and water resources sciences. Research participation will also include educators, federal and state agencies, and consultants from private industry. The Outdoor StreamLab enables groundbreaking science and both formal and informal education opportunities.
Historically, research in habitat restoration, dam removal, channel realignment, and bank stabilization has been limited to separate indoor laboratory and field work studies. The Outdoor StreamLab enables laboratory-quality measurements within a field-scale reach, bringing the best of both worlds together in one publicly visible facility. |
Potential research areas include:
CHANNEL & FLOODPLAIN INTERACTIONS
Channel migration rates, sediment transport, bank stability, and response to in-stream structures
VEGETATION & CHANNEL DYNAMICS
Interactions and effects of vegetation on channel morphology and water quality
BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
Interactions between flowing water, sediment, nutrient transformations, aquatic habitat, and the impacts of climate change
We encourage potential collaborators to contact us about research and educational opportunities at any of the StreamLab facilities.
Click here to view the Outdoor StreamLab brochure.
Click here to view Outdoor StreamLab technical specifications. |
