Determinationofsedimentstabilityinthefieldischallengingbecausebedshearstress(BSS),adeterminingfactorofsedimenterosion,can’teasilybedirectlymeasured.Totacklethischallengeandreliablyassesssedimenterodibilityinafastflowingriver,astandaloneunderwatercamerasystemandanewinsituflume(ISF)weredevelopedandappliedinthisstudy.ThecamerasystemwasusedtorecordsedimentmovementandthenewISFwasusedformeasuringcriticalbottomshearstress(CBSS).Thecameracanbedeployedaloneinwatertorecordvideosortakepictureswithlightemittingdiode(LED)lightingandflexibleschedulesettings.TheISFisbasedontheconceptthattheamountofforceneededtoerodethesameparticleunderdifferentflowconditionsshouldbesimilar.TwohighresolutionAcousticDopplerCurrentProfilers(ADCP)alsoweredeployedinthefieldtocollectvelocity-depthprofileswhichareusedbyconventionalmethodstocalculateBSSwiththelawofthewall.ThesedimenterodibilitywasthenassessedbasedonthecomparisonbetweentheobtainedCBSSandBSSandthenfurtherverifiedwiththerecordedobservationsfromthedeployedcamera.Theresultsrevealthatthewidelyusedconventionalmethodcanproducelargeuncertaintiesandisnotadequatetoprovidemeaningfulconclusionundertheseconditions.
