Topic: New Data for Old Problems: Inertial Sensors and Data-driven Approaches for Sediment Entrainment and Geomorphic Change

Speaker: Dr Georgios Maniatis, the University of Brighton

Time: 3:30-5:30pm February 5, 2026

Venue: Meeting Room A848, IGSNRR

Brief Introduction to the Report:

Grain-scale physics governs sediment entrainment and transport, yet most monitoring and modelling are reach-averaged and indirect. Instrumented bedload tracers equipped with inertial measurement units (IMUs) provide continuous, in-grain time series of acceleration and angular rate in settings where optical or acoustic observations are limited. In parallel, high‑resolution topography enables centimetre-scale change detection and a probabilistic view of geomorphic adjustment.

The speaker will show how “new data” can be used to revisit classic questions: treating thresholds as distributions; defining impact and motion signatures with explicit timing proxies and uncertainty bounds (including the distinction between mobilisation and induced excitation); and inferring transport kinematics and kinetic- energy budgets from short IMU windows using integration- free, data- driven models with calibrated prediction intervals. The speaker will conclude by discussing how grain- scale dynamics can inform interpretation of geomorphic-unit change and restoration trajectories.

Welcome to the Forum!

Hosted by Key Laboratory of Water Cycle & Related Land Surface Processes, CAS