SIAM is a sediment budget tool that compares annualized sediment reach transport capacities to supplies and indicates reaches of overall sediment surplus or deficit. SIAM is a screening level tool to compute rough, relative responses to a range of alternatives, in order to identify the most promising alternatives (which should then be modeled in more detail). The algorithms in SIAM evaluate sediment impact caused by local changes on the system from a sediment continuity perspective. The results map potential imbalances and instabilities in a channel network and provide the first step in designing or refining remediation.
Users can begin with existing geometry and flow data and develop a set of sediment reaches with unique sediment and hydraulic characteristics. The SIAM program will then perform sediment transport capacity computations to determine potential imbalances and instabilities in a channel network. SIAM does not predict intermediate or final morphological patterns and does not update cross sections, but rather indicates trends of locations in the system for potential sediment surpluses or deficits. The results can be used to design or refine remediation efforts in the system.
Getting Started
SIAM is located in the Hydraulic Design Functions module and can be accessed by selecting Hydraulic Design Functions under the Run menu or by pressing the HD button. SIAM is not the default Hydraulic Design tool, so it must be selected from the Type menu from the Hydraulic Design editor. The SIAM window in the HD editor is depicted in the figure below.
