The quantification of bedload sediment transport in rivers is possible from statistics of individual particle displacements. However, there is a lack of empirical basis for a universal relation between particle displacement distance and hydraulic drivers. Previous work suggests that a simple linear relation exists between the energy of a flood and the mean travel distance of bedload particles. Such a relation would be advantageous, but a consistent model able to collapse the data from different rivers has not been developed. Here, we develop a predictive relation from a unique data set collected in three watersheds from a single region but contrasting hydrologic regimes due to urbanization and storm water management. Additional data from two rivers from outside the region are used to validate the model. We show that the mean of an exponential distribution of surface particle travel displacements can be reliably predicted from either the cumulative discharge or stream power exceeding the mobilization threshold, which is calibrated using field data. The strength of the relation decreases after large flood events that appear to cause tracer burial due to vertical mixing. This result indicates that the relation is most applicable for the entrainment phase of transport in which tracers are dispersing over the bed surface. Tracer movements become more challenging to predict over a long series of events due to burial and eventual tracer slowdown, but the relation remains valid for the particles located on the bed surface, making it suitable for analyzing the impact of climate and landscape changes over time.

中文翻译：

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砾石河床的流动强度和床载沉积物行进距离

从单个颗粒位移的统计数据可以量化河流中的床载泥沙输送。然而，粒子位移距离和液压驱动器之间的普遍关系缺乏经验基础。以前的工作表明，洪水的能量与床载粒子的平均行进距离之间存在简单的线性关系。这种关系将是有利的，但尚未开发出能够折叠来自不同河流的数据的一致模型。在这里，我们根据在一个地区的三个流域收集的独特数据集开发预测关系，但由于城市化和雨水管理而形成对比的水文状况。来自该地区以外两条河流的额外数据用于验证模型。我们表明，可以根据超过动员阈值的累积放电或流功率可靠地预测表面粒子行进位移的指数分布的平均值，该阈值使用现场数据进行校准。在由于垂直混合而导致示踪剂埋藏的大洪水事件之后，这种关系的强度降低。这一结果表明，该关系最适用于示踪剂分散在床面上的运输夹带阶段。由于埋藏和最终示踪剂减速，在一系列事件中预测示踪剂运动变得更具挑战性，但这种关系对于位于床面上的颗粒仍然有效，使其适合分析气候和景观随时间变化的影响。