Welcome to the Acronym1 Visual Basic Programs

The text given below is also contained within the stand-alone Word document, RTe-bookAcrony

Introduction

The Acronym1 programs implement the Parker (1990a) surface-based bedload

transport relation in order to compute gravel bedload transport rates. Definitions
for the relation are given below.

The gravel is divided into N grain size ranges bounded by N+1 sizes Db,i, i = 1 to
N+1. The grain size distribution of the surface (active) layer of the bed is
specified in terms of the N+1 pairs (Db,i, Ff,i), i = 1..N+1, where Ff,i denotes the
percent finer in the surface layer. Here D b,1 must be the coarsest size, such that
Ff,1 = 100, and Db,N1 must be the finest size, such that Ff ,N1 = 0.

The finest size must equal or exceed 2 mm. That is, the sand must be removed
from the surface size distribution, and the fractions appropriately renormalized, in
determining the surface grain size distribution to be input into Acronym1.

The ith grain size range spans the size range (D b,i, Db,i+1) and has the
characteristic grain size D i and fraction in the surface layer F i, where

Di  Db,iDb,i1 Fi  (Ff ,i  Ff ,i1 ) / 100 (1a,b)

for i = 1..N.

Grain sizes on the base-2 logarithmic  scale are computed as follows;

og10 (D)
  n2 (D)  (2a)
og10 (2)

where D is specified in mm. Thus

og10 (Di )
 i  n2 (Di )  (2b)
og10 (2)

where Di is specified in mm. The geometric mean size D sg of the surface

material is then specified as
N
Dsg  2 s  s    iFi (3a,b)
i1

The geometric and arithmetic standard standard deviations sg and ,

respectively of the surface material are given as

N
 2 2
 N
Dsg  2 s  s    iFi (3a,b)
i1

The geometric and arithmetic standard standard deviations sg and ,

respectively of the surface material are given as

N
 2     i    Fi
2
 sg  2 (4a,b)
i 1

The bedload transport relation

Parameters in the bedload transport relation are defined below.

 = density of water;
s = density of sediment;
R = (s/) – 1 = submerged specific density of sediment;
g = acceleration of gravity;
b = boundary shear stress on the bed;
u = b /  = shear velocity on the bed;
qbi = volume gravel bedload transport per unit width of grains in
the ith size range;
N
qbT = q
i 1
bi = total volume gravel bedload transport rate per unit

width summed over all sizes;

pi = fraction of gravel bedload in the ith grain size range;

The transport relation can be expressed as

Rgqbi
Wi   0.00218G  (5a)
Fiu3

where
0.0951
D  sg u2
  sgo  i  , sgo  ,  
 , ssrg  0.0386
D    sg
RgDsg
 sg  ssrg

  0.853 
4 .5

 54741   for   1.59

   


G()  exp 14.2(  1)  9,28(  1)2 for 1    1.59  (5b-g)
 14.2 for   1



  1

 O (sgo )

O (sgo )  1 

The functions O(sgo) and O(sgo) are specified in the tables on the worksheet
“Strain_Functions”.

In order to implement the above relation it is necessary to specify a) the surface

grain size distribution (D f,i, Ff,i) and b) the shear velocity u . This results in a
 

  1

 O (sgo )

O (sgo )  1 

The functions O(sgo) and O(sgo) are specified in the tables on the worksheet
“Strain_Functions”.

In order to implement the above relation it is necessary to specify a) the surface

grain size distribution (D f,i, Ff,i) and b) the shear velocity u . This results in a
predicted values of qbi.

If the boundary shear stress at the bed includes a component of form drag, the
component must be removed before computing u .

Once the parameters qbi are known the total volume bedload transport rate per
unit width qbT and the fractions pi in the bedload can be calculated as

N
qbi
qbT   qbi pi  (6a,b)
i 1 qbT

The results are presented in terms of q bT and the grain size distribution of the
bedload, which is computed from the values of p i. These same fractions pi are
used to compute the geometric mean and geometric standard deviation of the
bedload Dlg and lg, respectively, from the relations

Np

Dlg  2 l
l    ipi (7a,b)
i 1
Np

l2     i  l  pi
2
lg  2l (8a,b)
i 1

The percent finer in the bedload pf,i for the grain size Df,i is obtained from the
fractions pi as

p f ,1  100
(9a,b)
p f ,i  p f ,i1  100 pi1 i  2..N  1

Let Dsx and Dlx denote sizes in the surface and bedload material, respectively,
such that x percent of the material is finer. For example, if x = 50 then D s50 and
Dl50 denote the median sizes of the surface and bedload material, respectively.
Once Ff,i is specified (pf,i is computed) the value D sx (Dlx) can be computed by
interpolation. The interpolation should be done using a logarithmic scale for
grain size. For example, consider the computation of D lx where pf,i  x  pf,i+1.
Then

 b,i   b,i1
Dlx  2 lx  lx   b,i1  ( x  p f ,i1 ) (10a,b)
p f ,i  p f ,i1

where

 b,i  n2 (Db,i ) (11)

Implementation
  b,i   b,i1
Dlx  2 lx  lx   b,i1  ( x  p f ,i1 ) (10a,b)
p f ,i  p f ,i1

where

 b,i  n2 (Db,i ) (11)

Implementation

In order to carry out the above calculation it is necessary to specify specific

gravity of the sediment R + 1, the shear velocity of the flow u  and the grain size
distribution of the material in excess of 2 mm in the surface layer (D b,i, Ff,i), i = 1
to N+1. The relation then predicts the total volume bedload transport rate per
unit width qbT of material in excess of 2 mm, as well as the grain size distribution
of this load (Db,i, pf,i).

The programs

“Acronym1” directly implements the above scheme. The Visual Basic code is
contained in Module 1 of this workbook. The code is implemented from the
worksheet “Acronym1”.

“Acronym1_R” combines the above scheme with a Manning-Strickler relation for

flow resistance. It first computes a value of u  from specified values of the water
discharge Qw, the channel width B and the bed slope H. It then implements the
same code as “Acronym1”. The code for “Acronym1_R” is contained in Module 2
of this workbook, and is implemented from the worksheet “Acronym1_R”. More
details about the resistance calculation are given in the worksheet
“IntroAcronym1_R”.

“Acronym1_D” combines the scheme of “Acronym1_R” with a flow duration

curve. The bedload transport rate and bedload grain size distribution are
computed for each flow of the curve, and then averaged to yield a mean bedload
transport rate and a mean bedload grain size distribution. The code for
“Acronym1_D” is contained in Module 3 of this workbook, and is implemented
from the worksheet “Acronym1_D”. More details about the resistance calculation
are given in the worksheet “IntroAcronym1_D”.

Historical note

The programs given here are descendants of the Pascal program “Acronym1” of
Parker (1990b). The bedload transport relation remains that of Parker (1990a).
As before, “Acronym” stands for any convenient concoction of words that
possesses “Acronym” as its acronym. The author, however, leans toward the
following concoction: Algorithm causing the regurgitation of odious, number-
yielding monstrosities.

Caveat

Use these programs at your own risk.

References

Parker, G. 1990a Surface-based bedload transport relation for gravel rivers.

Journal of Hydraulic Research, 28(4), 417-436.
yielding monstrosities.

Caveat

Use these programs at your own risk.

References

Parker, G. 1990a Surface-based bedload transport relation for gravel rivers.

Journal of Hydraulic Research, 28(4), 417-436.

Parker, G. 1990b The "ACRONYM" series of Pascal programs for computing

bedload transport in gravel rivers. External Memorandum M-220, St. Anthony
Falls Hydraulic Laboratory, University of Minnesota.
Programs
ment, RTe-bookAcronym1Notes.doc.

d bedload
Definitions

b,i,
i = 1 to
he bed is
enotes the
such that

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1.

d has the

(1a,b)

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 (3a,b)

g and ,

(4a,b)

t;

rains in

per unit

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(5a)

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worksheet

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spectively.
mputed by
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 a,b)

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computing
t. Anthony
NOTE
This workbook and software are provided for free as part of the e-book:
1D SEDIMENT TRANSPORT MORPHODYNAMICS with applications to RIVERS A
by Gary Parker.

Neither I nor any university in which I am in the employ accepts

responsibility or liability for its use by third parties.
e e-book:
cations to RIVERS AND TURBIDITY CURRENTS,
Strain functions for the Parker (1990a) gravel bedload transport relation

wo (solid), so (dashed)
fsgo wo so
0.6684 1.011 0.8157
0.7639 1.011 0.8157
Strain Functions
0.8601 1.01 0.8182
0.9096 1.008 0.8233 1.6
0.9615 1.004 0.8333
1 0.9997 0.8439 1.4
1.055 0.9903 0.8621
1.108 0.9789 0.8825 1.2
1.197 0.9567 0.9214
1.302 0.9273 0.9723
1
1.407 0.8964 1.025
1.529 0.8604 1.083
1.641 0.8287 1.13 0.8
1.702 0.8123 1.153
1.832 0.7796 1.196 0.6
1.937 0.7554 1.225
2.044 0.7326 1.25 0.4
2.261 0.6928 1.287
2.499 0.6585 1.313 0.2
2.732 0.6345 1.333
2.993 0.615 1.352
3.477 0.5877 1.38
0
4.075 0.564 1.403
0.1 1 10 100 1000
4.469 0.5523 1.414 fsgo
5.016 0.5395 1.426
6.158 0.5209 1.444
7.821 0.5045 1.458
10.06 0.4917 1.469
14.38 0.479 1.48
19.97 0.4712 1.486
25.79 0.4668 1.49
38.57 0.462 1.493
68.74 0.4578 1.497
91.95 0.4564 1.498
231.2 0.4541 1.499
2320 0.4527 1.5
Functions

w
o

100 1000 10000

sgo
The text given below is also contained within the stand-alone Word document, RTe-bookAcrony

Acronym1

The worksheet “Acronym1” is used for computing the volume bedload transport
rate per unit width and bedload grain size distribution from a specified surface
grain size distribution (with sand removed) (D b,i, Ff,i), i = 1..N+1, a bed shear
velocity u and a specific gravity of the sediment (here equal to R + 1). The
output includes the value of q bT, the Shields stress sg based on the surface
geometric mean size, where

u2
sg  ,
RgDsg

the bedload grain size distribution (D b,i, pf,i) and the values Dlg, lg, Dl90, Dl70, Dl50
and Dl30 for the load, as well as the corresponding values for the surface
material, Dsg, sg, Ds90, Ds70, Ds50 and Ds30.

The calculation is implemented from the worksheet “Acronym1”. The Visual

Basic code is contained in Module 1.
ment, RTe-bookAcronym1Notes.doc.

d transport
ed surface
bed shear
+ 1). The
he surface

, Dl70, Dl50
e surface

he Visual
 INPUT TO ACRONYM1

Put in N+1 4 Number of grain sizes specifying the surface material distribution (<=21)
Type in a value of 1 for uniform material.

List each grain size in mm and percent finer in the surface grain size distribution.
Sand must be excluded from the surface grain size distribution, so that there is no content below 2 mm.
Grain sizes must be in descending order, and percent finer must range from 100 to 0.

D mm % finer
8 100 Specify a sediment specific gravity R+1 2.65
4 100 and a shear velocity of flow u* 0.057 in m/s
2 0
1 0 and

to compute the bedload transport rate and grain size distribution.

OUTPUT FROM ACRONYM1

qbT 8.253E-06 m2/s Volume bedload transport rate per unit width
tg* 7.097E-02 Shields number based on surface geometric me

Grain size distributions of surface and bedload Statistics

% finer
D mm Surface Bedload Parameter
8.00 100.00 100.00 Dg mm
4.00 100.00 100.00 sg
2.00 0.00 0.00 D90
1.00 0.00 0.00 D70
D50
D30
 and

nt below 2 mm.

nsport rate per unit width 2.187E-02 79

ed on surface geometric mean size

Surface Bedload
2.83 2.83 Geometric mean
1.00 1.00 Geometric standard deviation
3.73 3.73
3.25 3.25
2.83 2.83
2.46 2.46
The text given below is also contained within the stand-alone Word document, RTe-bookAcrony

Acronym1_R

The worksheet “Acronym1_R” is used for computing the volume bedload

transport rate per unit width and bedload grain size distribution from a specified
surface grain size distribution (with sand removed) (D b,i, Ff,i), i = 1..N+1, a specific
gravity of the sediment (here equal to R + 1), a water discharge Q, a channel
width B and a streamwise bed slope S. The output includes the value of q bT, the
Shields stress sg based on the surface geometric mean size, the flow depth H,
the shear velocity u, the bedload grain size distribution (D d,i, pf,i) and the values
Dlg, lg, Dl90, Dl70, Dl50 and Dl30 for the bedload, as well as the corresponding
values for the surface ,material, Dsg, sg, Ds90, Ds70, Ds50 and Ds30.

The channel is assumed to be rectangular, with the vertical sidewalls having the
same roughness as the bed. The roughness height k s is computed as

k s  nkDs90 (1)

where nk is a user-specified dimensionless roughness factor. The author

suggests a value of 2 for n k. The bed and sidewall regions are partitioned in
accordance with the figure below, and the flow velocity in the sidewall regions is
approximated as identical to that in the bed region.

Depth is computed according to the relation for momentum balance in the bed
region


bB  u2B  gS HB  H2  (2)

applicable to normal (steady, streamwise uniform) flow. Flow resistance on the

bed region is computed using a Manning-Strickler resistance relation,

1/ 6
U H
 r   (3)
u  ks 

where r takes a value of 8.1 and

Q
U (4)
BH

Reducing the above three relations, it is found that

where r takes a value of 8.1 and

Q
U (4)
BH

Reducing the above three relations, it is found that

3 / 10  3 / 10
 k1s/ 3Q2   H
H 2 2  c1 c1  1   (5)
  gB S   B
 r 

The above equation is solved iteratively for H in the code. Once H is known, the
shear velocity u is computed from (2), and the calculation proceeds using the
same algorithm as “Acronym1”. It is implicitly assumed in the calculation that all
of the boundary shear stress consists of skin friction, with form drag neglected.

The calculation is implemented from the worksheet “Acronym1_R”. The Visual

Basic code is contained in Module 2.
ment, RTe-bookAcronym1Notes.doc.

e bedload
a specified
a specific
a channel
of q bT, the
w depth H,
the values
esponding

having the

(1)

he author
titioned in
regions is

n the bed

(2)

nce on the

(3)

(4)
 (4)

(5)

nown, the
using the
on that all
glected.

The Visual
 INPUT TO ACRONYM1_R

Put in N+1 3 Number of grain sizes specifying the surface material distribution (<=21)
Type in a value of 1 for uniform material.

List each grain size in mm and percent finer in the surface grain size distribution.
Sand must be excluded from the surface grain size distribution, so that there is no content below 2 mm.
Grain sizes must be in descending order, and percent finer must range from 100 to 0.

D mm % finer Specify a sediment specific gravity R+1 2.65

32 100 a water discharge Qw 40 m3/s
16 50 a bed slope S 0.005
8 0 a channel width B 12 m
and a roughness factor nk 2
and

to compute the bedload transport rate and grain size distribution.

OUTPUT FROM ACRONYM 1_R

qbT 2.926E-03 m2/s Volume bedload transport rate per unit width
tg* 1.922E-01 Shields number based on surface geometric me
H 1.119 m Flow depth
u* 0.223 m/s Shear velocity

Grain size distributions of surface and bedload Statistics

% finer Parameter
D mm Surface Bedload Dg mm
32.00 100.00 100.00 s
16.00 50.00 51.90 D90
8.00 0.00 0.00 D70
D50
D30
 and

nt below 2 mm.

nsport rate per unit width

ed on surface geometric mean size

Surface Bedload
16.00 15.79 Geometric mean
1.41 1.41 Geometric standard deviation
27.86 27.71
21.11 20.77
16.00 15.60
12.13 11.94
The text given below is also contained within the stand-alone Word document, RTe-bookAcrony

Acronym1_D

The worksheet “Acronym1_D” simply adds a flow duration curve to the algorithm
of “Acronym1_R” in order to compute the average volume gravel bedload
transport rate per unit width q bTa, as well as the average bedload grain size
distribution (Db,i, paf,i), i = 1..N+1. In addition, it computes the values Q a, Ha, ua
and ga corresponding to annual mean values of the water discharge, depth,
shear velocity and Shields stress based on surface geometric mean size. The
values Dalg, alg, Dal90, Dal70, Dal50 and Dal30 associated with the mean grain size
distribution of the bedload are computed along with the corresponding values for
the surface material, D sg, sg, Ds90, Ds70, Ds50 and Ds30. Finally, the program
computes the volume gravel bedload transport rate per unit width qbT, the water
discharge Qw, flow depth H, the shear velocity u  and the Shields stress g
associated with each range in the flow duration curve, along with the fraction of
time pQ that the flow is in that range.

The flow duration curve is specified in terms of the pairs (Q wd,k, peQ,k), k = 1..M+1,
where Qwd,k denotes the kth discharge and p eQ,k denotes the percentage of time
this flow is exceeded. Here k = 1 corresponds to the highest flow in the curve,
with an exceedance percentage peQ of zero, and k = M+1 corresponds to the
lowest flow in the curve, with an exceedance percentage p eQ of 100. The lowest
flow on the curve Q wd ,M must exceed zero.

The characteristic flow Qwr,k in each range and fraction of time the flow is in that
range pQ,k ae computed as

1 p eQ,k 1  p eQ,k
Q wr ,k   Q wd,k  Qwd,k 1  pQ,k  k  1..M
2 100
(1a,b,c)

Let Yk be any parameter defined for each of the flow ranges k = 1..M. The mean
value Ya averaged over the flow duration curve is then given as

M
Ya   YkpQ,k (2)
k 1

For example, if the fractions in the bedload in each grain size range within flow
range k are given as p k,i then the average fractions of the bedload p ai are given
as

M
pai   pk,ipQ,k (3)
k 1

The calculation is implemented from the worksheet “Acronym1_D”. The Visual

Basic code is contained in Module 3.
For example, if the fractions in the bedload in each grain size range within flow
range k are given as p k,i then the average fractions of the bedload p ai are given
as

M
pai   pk,ipQ,k (3)
k 1

The calculation is implemented from the worksheet “Acronym1_D”. The Visual

Basic code is contained in Module 3.
ment, RTe-bookAcronym1Notes.doc.

algorithm
l bedload
grain size
Q a, Ha, ua
ge, depth,
size. The
grain size
values for
e program
the water
stress g
fraction of

= 1..M+1,
ge of time
the curve,
nds to the
The lowest

w is in that

The mean

(2)

within flow
are given

(3)

The Visual
within flow
are given

(3)

The Visual
 INPUT TO ACRONYM1_D

Put in N+1 3 Number of grain sizes specifying the surface material distribution (<=21)

M+1 3 Number of discharges specifying the flow duration curve (<=16)

Type in a value of 1 for a single discharge

List each grain size in mm and percent finer in the surface grain size distribution.
Sand must be excluded from the surface grain size distribution, so that there is no content below 2 mm.
Grain sizes must be in descending order, and percent finer must range from 100 to 0.

List each discharge in cumecs and percent of time exceeded in the flow duration curve
Discharges must be in descending order, and the percent of time exceeded must range from 0 to 100
The lowest discharge used MUST EXCEED ZERO.
D mm % finer Q m3/s % time exceeded
32 100 100 0 Specify a sediment specific gravity R+1
16 50 40 70 a bed slope S
8 0 10 100 a channel width B
and a roughness factor nk

and

to compute the mean annual bedload transport rate and grain size dist

OUTPUT FROM ACRONYM 1_D

qbTa 4.734E-03 m2/s Mean annual volume bedload tran

Qa 5.65E+01 m /s
3
Mean annual water discharge
tga* 2.268E-01 Mean annual Shields number bas
Ha 1.362 m Mean annual flow depth
u*a 0.241 m/s Mean annual shear velocity

Grain size distributions of surface and bedload

% finer
D mm Surface Bedload
32.00 100.00 100.00
16.00 50.00 51.72
8.00 0.00 0.00
tribution (<=21) and

below 2 mm.

2.65
0.005
12 m
2

oad transport rate and grain size distribution.

Mean annual volume bedload transport rate per unit width

Mean annual water discharge
Mean annual Shields number based on surface geometric mean size
Mean annual flow depth
Mean annual shear velocity

and bedload

Statistics of surface and mean annual bedload

Parameter Surface Bedload
Dg mm 16.00 15.81 Geometric mean
s 1.41 1.41 Geometric standard deviation
D90 27.86 27.72
D70 21.11 20.80
D50 16.00 15.63
D30 12.13 11.96

Characteristics of the flow duration curve

Qwr = mean water discharge within a range of the flow duration curve
pQ = fraction of time the flow is within that range
qbTr = mean volume sediment transport rate per unit width in that range
H = mean depth within that range
ustar = mean shear velocity within that range
taustar = mean Shields number within that range
Qwr pQ qbTr H ustar taustar
m^3/s m^2/s m m/s
70.00 0.700 6.167E-03 1.59 0.260 2.607E-01
25.00 0.300 1.391E-03 0.84 0.195 1.475E-01