Capabilities of Large-scale Particle Image Velocimetry to characterize shallow free-surface flows

•The Image Velocimetry (IV) techniques are reviewed by this paper.•Free-surface IV is the non-intrusive technique to measure velocities in shallow water.•A suite of shallow water flow experiments are conducted with IV techniques.•IV technique is the promising means to capture flow hydrodynamics in shallow water.

Irrespective of their spatial extent, free-surface shallow flows are challenging measurement environments for most instruments due to the relatively small depths and velocities typically associated with these flows. A promising candidate for enabling measurements in such conditions is Large-scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LSPIV). This technique uses a non-intrusive approach to measure two-dimensional surface velocity fields with high spatial and temporal resolutions. Although there are many publications documenting the successful use of LSPIV in various laboratory and field open-channel flow situations, its performance has not been equally substantiated for measurement in shallow flows. This paper aims at filling in this gap by demonstrating the capabilities of LSPIV to: (a) accurately evaluate complex flow patterns in shallow channel flows; and (b) estimate depth in shallow flows using exclusively LSPIV measurements. The demonstration is provided by LSPIV measurements in three shallow flow laboratory situations with flow depths ranging from 0.05 to 0.31 m. The obtained measurements illustrate the LSPIV flexibility and reliability in measuring velocities in shallow and low-velocity (near-zero) flows. Moreover, the technique is capable to evaluate and map velocity-derived quantities that are difficult to document with alternative measurement techniques (e.g. vorticity and shear stress distributions and mapping of large-scale structure in the body of water).