TY - CHAP A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Hybrid investigation of air transport processes in moderately sloped stepped spillway flows T2 - E-proceedings of the 36th IAHR World Congress 28 June – 3 July, 2015, The Hague, the Netherlands Y1 - 2015 SP - 1 EP - 10 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Valero, Daniel T1 - Image processing for bubble image velocimetry in self-aerated flows T2 - E-proceedings of the 36th IAHR World Congress 28 June – 3 July, 2015, The Hague, the Netherlands Y1 - 2015 SP - 1 EP - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bayon, Arnau A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Garcia-Bartual, Rafael A1 - Vallés-Morán, Francisco José A1 - López-Jiménez, P. Amparo T1 - Performance assessment of OpenFOAM and FLOW-3D in the numerical modeling of a low Reynolds number hydraulic jump JF - Environmental Modelling & Software N2 - A comparative performance analysis of the CFD platforms OpenFOAM and FLOW-3D is presented, focusing on a 3D swirling turbulent flow: a steady hydraulic jump at low Reynolds number. Turbulence is treated using RANS approach RNG k-ε. A Volume Of Fluid (VOF) method is used to track the air–water interface, consequently aeration is modeled using an Eulerian–Eulerian approach. Structured meshes of cubic elements are used to discretize the channel geometry. The numerical model accuracy is assessed comparing representative hydraulic jump variables (sequent depth ratio, roller length, mean velocity profiles, velocity decay or free surface profile) to experimental data. The model results are also compared to previous studies to broaden the result validation. Both codes reproduced the phenomenon under study concurring with experimental data, although special care must be taken when swirling flows occur. Both models can be used to reproduce the hydraulic performance of energy dissipation structures at low Reynolds numbers. Y1 - 2016 SN - 1364-8152 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.02.018 VL - 80 SP - 322 EP - 335 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Crookston, B. M. A1 - Matos, J. ED - Crookston, B. ED - Tullis, B. T1 - Numerical investigation of USBR type III stilling basin performance downstream of smooth and stepped spillways BT - Session 1: Hydraulic structures T2 - Hydraulic Structures and Water System Management. 6th IAHR International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures, Portland, OR, 27-30 June 2016 Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-1-884575-75-4 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.15142/T340628160853 SP - 635 EP - 646 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Valero, Daniel ED - Crookston, B. ED - Tullis, B. T1 - Application of the optical flow method to velocity determination in hydraulic structure models BT - Session 11: Fish passage and shiplocks T2 - Hydraulic Structures and Water System Management. 6th IAHR International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures, Portland, OR, 27-30 June 2016 Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-1-884575-75-4 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.15142/T3150628160853 SP - 223 EP - 232 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Sensitivity of turbulent Schmidt number and turbulence model to simulations of jets in crossflow JF - Environmental Modelling and Software N2 - Environmental discharges have been traditionally designed by means of cost-intensive and time-consuming experimental studies. Some extensively validated models based on an integral approach have been often employed for water quality problems, as recommended by USEPA (i.e.: CORMIX). In this study, FLOW-3D is employed for a full 3D RANS modelling of two turbulent jet-to-crossflow cases, including free surface jet impingement. Results are compared to both physical modelling and CORMIX to better assess model performance. Turbulence measurements have been collected for a better understanding of turbulent diffusion's parameter sensitivity. Although both studied models are generally able to reproduce jet trajectory, jet separation downstream of the impingement has been reproduced only by RANS modelling. Additionally, concentrations are better reproduced by FLOW-3D when the proper turbulent Schmidt number is used. This study provides a recommendation on the selection of the turbulence model and the turbulent Schmidt number for future outfall structures design studies. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2016.04.030 SN - 1364-8152 (electronic) VL - 82 SP - 218 EP - 228 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Development of the interfacial air layer in the non-aerated region of high-velocity spillway flows: Instabilities growth, entrapped air and influence on the self-aeration onset JF - International Journal of Multiphase Flow N2 - Self-aeration is traditionally explained by the water turbulent boundary layer outer edge intersection with the free surface. This paper presents a discussion on the commonly accepted hypothesis behind the computation of the critical point of self-aeration in spillway flows and a new formulation is proposed based on the existence of a developing air flow over the free surface. Upstream of the inception point of self-aeration, some surface roughening has been often reported in previous studies which consequently implies some entrapped air transport and air–water flows coupling. Such air flow is proven in this study by presenting measured air velocities and computing the air boundary layer thickness for a 1V:2H smooth chute flow. Additionally, the growth rate of free surface waves has been analysed by means of Ultrasonic Sensors measurements, obtaining also the entrapped air concentration. High-speed camera imaging has been used for qualitative study of the flow perturbations. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2016.04.012 SN - 0301-9322 VL - 84 SP - 66 EP - 74 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kerpen, Nils B. A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Schlurmann, Torsten T1 - Energy dissipation within the wave run-up at stepped revetments T2 - 8th Chinese-German Joint Symposium on Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering, Qingdao, China KW - energy disspation KW - wave run-up KW - friction Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Valero, Daniel ED - Dewals, Benjamin T1 - Image processing techniques for velocity estimation in highly aerated flows: bubble image velocimetry vs. optical flow T2 - Sustainable Hydraulics in the Era of Global Change : Proceedings of the 4th IAHR Europe Congress (Liege, Belgium, 27-29 July 2016) Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-1-138-02977-4 SN - 978-1-4987-8149-7 (eBook) U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/b21902-31 SP - 151 EP - 157 PB - CRC Press ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Oertel, M. ED - Dewals, Benjamin T1 - Turbulent dispersion in bounded horizontal jets : RANS capabilities and physical modeling comparison T2 - Sustainable Hydraulics in the Era of Global Change : Proceedings of the 4th IAHR Europe Congress (Liege, Belgium, 27-29 July 2016) Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-1-138-02977-4 SN - 978-1-4987-8149-7 (eBook) U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/b21902-13 SP - 49 EP - 55 PB - CRC Press ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Interfacial velocity estimation in highly aerated stepped spillway flows with a single tip fibre optical probe and Artificial Neural Networks T2 - 6th IAHR International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures, May 30th to June 1st 2016. Lübeck, Germany N2 - Air-water flows can be found in different engineering applications: from nuclear engineering to huge hydraulic structures. In this paper, a single tip fibre optical probe has been used to record high frequency (over 1 MHz) phase functions at different locations of a stepped spillway. These phase functions have been related to the interfacial velocities by means of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and the measurements of a classical double tip conductivity probe. Special attention has been put to the input selection and the ANN dimensions. Finally, ANN have shown to be able to link the signal rising times and plateau shapes to the air-water interfacial velocity. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.15142/T3Q590 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Reformulating self-aeration in hydraulic structures: Turbulent growth of free surface perturbations leading to air entrainment JF - International Journal of Multiphase Flow N2 - A new formulation for the prediction of free surface dynamics related to the turbulence occurring nearby is proposed. This formulation, altogether with a breakup criterion, can be used to compute the inception of self-aeration in high velocity flows like those occurring in hydraulic structures. Assuming a simple perturbation geometry, a kinematic and a non-linear momentum-based dynamic equation are formulated and forces acting on a control volume are approximated. Limiting steepness is proposed as an adequate breakup criterion. Role of the velocity fluctuations normal to the free surface is shown to be the main turbulence quantity related to self-aeration and the role of the scales contained in the turbulence spectrum are depicted. Surface tension force is integrated accounting for large displacements by using differential geometry for the curvature estimation. Gravity and pressure effects are also contemplated in the proposed formulation. The obtained equations can be numerically integrated for each wavelength, hence resulting in different growth rates and allowing computation of the free surface roughness wavelength distribution. Application to a prototype scale spillway (at the Aviemore dam) revealed that most unstable wavelength was close to the Taylor lengthscale. Amplitude distributions have been also obtained observing different scaling for perturbations stabilized by gravity or surface tension. The proposed theoretical framework represents a new conceptualization of self-aeration which explains the characteristic rough surface at the non-aerated region as well as other previous experimental observations which remained unresolved for several decades. Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2017.12.011 SN - 0301-9322 VL - 100 SP - 127 EP - 142 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Artificial Neural Networks and pattern recognition for air-water flow velocity estimation using a single-tip optical fibre probe JF - Journal of Hydro-environment Research Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jher.2017.08.004 SN - 1570-6443 VL - 19 IS - 3 SP - 150 EP - 159 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kerpen, Nils B. A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Schlurmann, Torsten T1 - Energy dissipation within the wave run-up at stepped revetments JF - Journal of Ocean University of China Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11802-017-3355-z SN - 1993-5021 VL - 16 IS - 4 SP - 649 EP - 654 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Erpicum, Sebastien A1 - Dewals, Benjamin T1 - Numerical study of turbulent oscillations around a cylinder: RANS capabilities and sensitivity analysis T2 - Proceedings of the 37th IAHR World Congress August 13 – 18, 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Y1 - 2017 SN - 2521-716X SP - 3126 EP - 3135 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Valero, Daniel T1 - FlowCV - An open-source toolbox for computer vision applications in turbulent flows T2 - Proceedings of the 37th IAHR World Congress August 13 – 18, 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Y1 - 2017 SN - 2521-716X SP - 5356 EP - 5365 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Vectrino profiler spatial filtering for shear flows based on the mean velocity gradient equation JF - Journal of Hydraulic Engineering N2 - A new methodology is proposed to spatially filter acoustic Doppler velocimetry data from a Vectrino profiler based on the differential mean velocity equation. Lower and upper bounds are formulated in terms of physically based flow constraints. Practical implementation is discussed, and its application is tested against data gathered from an open-channel flow over a stepped macroroughness surface. The method has proven to detect outliers occurring all over the distance range sampled by the Vectrino profiler and has shown to remain applicable out of the region of validity of the velocity gradient equation. Finally, a statistical analysis suggests that physically obtained bounds are asymptotically representative. Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001485 SN - 0733-9429 N1 - Article number 04018037 VL - 144 IS - 7 PB - ASCE CY - Reston, Va. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Crookston, B.M. T1 - Energy dissipation of a Type III basin under design and adverse conditions for stepped and smooth spillways JF - Journal of Hydraulic Engineering N2 - New information regarding the influence of a stepped chute on the hydraulic performance of the United States Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) Type III hydraulic jump stilling basin is presented for design (steady) and adverse (decreasing tailwater) conditions. Using published experimental data and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models, this paper presents a detailed comparison between smooth-chute and stepped-chute configurations for chute slopes of 0.8H:1V and 4H:1V and Froude numbers (F) ranging from 3.1 to 9.5 for a Type III basin designed for F = 8. For both stepped and smooth chutes, the relative role of each basin element was quantified, up to the most hydraulic extreme case of jump sweep-out. It was found that, relative to a smooth chute, the turbulence generated by a stepped chute causes a higher maximum velocity decay within the stilling basin, which represents an enhancement of the Type III basin’s performance but also a change in the relative role of the basin elements. Results provide insight into the ability of the CFD models [unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations with renormalization group (RNG) k-ϵ turbulence model and volume-of-fluid (VOF) for free surface tracking] to predict the transient basin flow structure and velocity profiles. Type III basins can perform adequately with a stepped chute despite the effects steps have on the relative role of each basin element. It is concluded that the classic Type III basin design, based upon methodology by reclamation specific to smooth chutes, can be hydraulically improved for the case of stepped chutes for design and adverse flow conditions using the information presented herein. Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001482 SN - 0733-9429 N1 - Article number 04018036 VL - 144 IS - 7 PB - ASCE CY - Reston, Va. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, G. A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Chanson, H. T1 - On the estimation of free-surface turbulence using ultrasonic sensors JF - Flow Measurement and Instrumentation N2 - Accurate determination of free-surface dynamics has attracted much research attention during the past decade and has important applications in many environmental and water related areas. In this study, the free-surface dynamics in several turbulent flows commonly found in nature were investigated using a synchronised setup consisting of an ultrasonic sensor and a high-speed video camera. Basic sensor capabilities were examined in dry conditions to allow for a better characterisation of the present sensor model. The ultrasonic sensor was found to adequately reproduce free-surface dynamics up to the second order, especially in two-dimensional scenarios with the most energetic modes in the low frequency range. The sensor frequency response was satisfactory in the sub-20 Hz band, and its signal quality may be further improved by low-pass filtering prior to digitisation. The application of the USS to characterise entrapped air in high-velocity flows is also discussed. Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.flowmeasinst.2018.02.009 SN - 0955-5986 VL - 60 SP - 171 EP - 184 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Valero, Daniel T1 - Re-aeration on stepped spillways with special consideration of entrained and entrapped air JF - Geosciences N2 - As with most high-velocity free-surface flows, stepped spillway flows become self-aerated when the drop height exceeds a critical value. Due to the step-induced macro-roughness, the flow field becomes more turbulent than on a similar smooth-invert chute. For this reason, cascades are oftentimes used as re-aeration structures in wastewater treatment. However, for stepped spillways as flood release structures downstream of deoxygenated reservoirs, gas transfer is also of crucial significance to meet ecological requirements. Prediction of mass transfer velocities becomes challenging, as the flow regime differs from typical previously studied flow conditions. In this paper, detailed air-water flow measurements are conducted on stepped spillway models with different geometry, with the aim to estimate the specific air-water interface. Re-aeration performances are determined by applying the absorption method. In contrast to earlier studies, the aerated water body is considered a continuous mixture up to a level where 75% air concentration is reached. Above this level, a homogenous surface wave field is considered, which is found to significantly affect the total air-water interface available for mass transfer. Geometrical characteristics of these surface waves are obtained from high-speed camera investigations. The results show that both the mean air concentration and the mean flow velocity have influence on the mass transfer. Finally, an empirical relationship for the mass transfer on stepped spillway models is proposed. Y1 - 2018 SN - 2076-3263 VL - 8 IS - 9 SP - Article number 333 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Hermens, G. T1 - Hybrid investigation on the hydraulic performance of a new trapezoidal fishway T2 - 7th IAHR International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures, ISHS 2018 Y1 - 2018 SN - 978-069213277-7 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.15142/T3S06R SP - 184 EP - 193 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Vogel, Jochen A1 - Schmidt, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Three-dimensional flow structure inside the cavity of a non-aerated stepped chute T2 - 7th IAHR International Symposium on Hydraulic Structures, Aachen, Germany, 15-18 May Y1 - 2018 SN - 978-0-692-13277-7 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.15142/T3GH17 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kramer, Matthias A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Chanson, Hubert A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Towards reliable turbulence estimations with phase-detection probes: an adaptive window cross-correlation technique JF - Experiments in Fluids Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00348-018-2650-9 SN - 1432-1114 VL - 60 EP - Article number 2 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Viti, Nicolo A1 - Gualtieri, Carlo T1 - Numerical Simulation of Hydraulic Jumps. Part 1: Experimental Data for Modelling Performance Assessment JF - Water Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w11010036 SN - 2073-4441 VL - 11 IS - 1 SP - Art. Nr. 36 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Viti, Nicolo A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Gualtieri, Carlo T1 - Numerical Simulation of Hydraulic Jumps. Part 2: Recent Results and Future Outlook JF - Water Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w11010028 SN - 2073-4441 VL - 11 IS - 1 SP - Art. Nr. 28 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Chanson, Hubert A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Robust estimators for turbulence properties assessment Y1 - 2019 SP - 1 EP - 24 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kerpen, Nils B. A1 - Schoonees, Talia A1 - Schlurmann, Torsten A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - waveSTEPS – Wellenauf- und Wellenüberlauf an getreppten Deckwerken T2 - 24. KFKI-Seminar 2019, 21.11.2019 Y1 - 2019 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Chanson, Hubert A1 - Bung, Daniel B. T1 - Robust estimators for free surface turbulence characterization: A stepped spillway application JF - Flow Measurement and Instrumentation N2 - Robust estimators are parameters insensitive to the presence of outliers. However, they presume the shape of the variables’ probability density function. This study exemplifies the sensitivity of turbulent quantities to the use of classic and robust estimators and the presence of outliers in turbulent flow depth time series. A wide range of turbulence quantities was analysed based upon a stepped spillway case study, using flow depths sampled with Acoustic Displacement Meters as the flow variable of interest. The studied parameters include: the expected free surface level, the expected fluctuation intensity, the depth skewness, the autocorrelation timescales, the vertical velocity fluctuation intensity, the perturbations celerity and the one-dimensional free surface turbulence spectrum. Three levels of filtering were utilised prior to applying classic and robust estimators, showing that comparable robustness can be obtained either using classic estimators together with an intermediate filtering technique or using robust estimators instead, without any filtering technique. Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.flowmeasinst.2020.101809 SN - 0955-5986 VL - 76 IS - Art. 101809 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Kramer, Matthias A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Chanson, Hubert T1 - A stochastic bubble generator for air-water flow research T2 - E-proceedings of the 38th IAHR World Congress, September 1-6, 2019, Panama City, Panama Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3850/38WC092019-0909 SP - 5714 EP - 5721 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Crookston, Brian M. A1 - Valero, Daniel T1 - Turbulent free-surface monitoring with an RGB-D sensor: the hydraulic jump case JF - Journal of Hydraulic Research Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2020.1844810 SN - 1814-2079 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Schalko, Isabella A1 - Friedrich, Heide A1 - Abad, Jorge D. A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Donchyts, Gennadii A1 - Felder, Stefan A1 - Ferreira, Rui M. L. A1 - Hohermuth, Benjamin A1 - Kramer, Matthias A1 - Li, Danxun A1 - Mendes, Luis A1 - Moreno-Rodenas, Antonio A1 - Nones, Michael A1 - Paron, Paolo A1 - Ruiz-Villanueva, Virginia A1 - Wang, Ruo-Qian A1 - Franca, Mario J. T1 - Pathways towards democratization of hydro-environment observations and data JF - Iahr White Paper Series Y1 - 2021 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valero, Daniel A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Erpicum, Sebastien A1 - Peltier, Yann A1 - Dewals, Benjamin T1 - Unsteady shallow meandering flows in rectangular reservoirs: a modal analysis of URANS modelling JF - Journal of Hydro-environment Research N2 - Shallow flows are common in natural and human-made environments. Even for simple rectangular shallow reservoirs, recent laboratory experiments show that the developing flow fields are particularly complex, involving large-scale turbulent structures. For specific combinations of reservoir size and hydraulic conditions, a meandering jet can be observed. While some aspects of this pseudo-2D flow pattern can be reproduced using a 2D numerical model, new 3D simulations, based on the unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations, show consistent advantages as presented herein. A Proper Orthogonal Decomposition was used to characterize the four most energetic modes of the meandering jet at the free surface level, allowing comparison against experimental data and 2D (depth-averaged) numerical results. Three different isotropic eddy viscosity models (RNG k-ε, k-ε, k-ω) were tested. The 3D models accurately predicted the frequency of the modes, whereas the amplitudes of the modes and associated energy were damped for the friction-dominant cases and augmented for non-frictional ones. The performance of the three turbulence models remained essentially similar, with slightly better predictions by RNG k-ε model in the case with the highest Reynolds number. Finally, the Q-criterion was used to identify vortices and study their dynamics, assisting on the identification of the differences between: i) the three-dimensional phenomenon (here reproduced), ii) its two-dimensional footprint in the free surface (experimental observations) and iii) the depth-averaged case (represented by 2D models). KW - coherent structures KW - hydraulic modelling KW - model performance KW - Proper Orthogonal Decomposition KW - Q-criterion Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jher.2022.03.002 SN - 1570-6443 IS - In Press PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bung, Daniel B. A1 - Valero, Daniel T1 - Optical flow estimation in aerated flows JF - Journal of Hydraulic Research N2 - Optical flow estimation is known from Computer Vision where it is used to determine obstacle movements through a sequence of images following an assumption of brightness conservation. This paper presents the first study on application of the optical flow method to aerated stepped spillway flows. For this purpose, the flow is captured with a high-speed camera and illuminated with a synchronized LED light source. The flow velocities, obtained using a basic Horn–Schunck method for estimation of the optical flow coupled with an image pyramid multi-resolution approach for image filtering, compare well with data from intrusive conductivity probe measurements. Application of the Horn–Schunck method yields densely populated flow field data sets with velocity information for every pixel. It is found that the image pyramid approach has the most significant effect on the accuracy compared to other image processing techniques. However, the final results show some dependency on the pixel intensity distribution, with better accuracy found for grey values between 100 and 150. Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221686.2016.1173600 VL - 54 IS - 5 SP - 575 EP - 580 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - London ER -