Flow and Connectivity in River Systems
Using Satellite Imagery to Reveal Connectivity and Changes Along River Networks
Satellite imagery has marked a major step forward in fluvial geomorphology. Combined with machine learning algorithms capable of processing vast amounts of satellite data, it is now possible to monitor long stretches of rivers at high temporal frequency—something that was not achievable before. This new capability opens the way to understanding how different segments of a river respond to processes occurring upstream or downstream.
Time-lapse video of the water channel of the Tagliamento River (Italy), one of the last free-flowing braided rivers in Europe.
This is the core idea behind Flow: considering a river along its entire length, recognising that what happens in one section is the result of what happened earlier (in space and time) and will, in turn, influence what happens next. In fluvial geomorphology, we use the word “connectivity”, which is described across four dimensions: lateral, vertical, longitudinal, and temporal. This is the kind of paradigm change that satellite imagery can help develop to improve our understanding of river response to disturbance or restoration projects.
In Flow, river connectivity has been spontaneously interpreted by artists by sharing bits of field recording or music composition from one segment to the downstream and upstream ones. In this way, segments incorporate characteristics of what is happening upstream and provide material for influencing what is created downstream.
Flow is a project by Martina Cecchetto, curated by Riccardo Fumagalli, with the scientific contribution of Florian Betz.
In collaboration with Cities & Memory, University of Padua (Italy), University of Würzburg (Germany).