Riverbank erosion and lateral channel migration are important
geomorphological processes which cause various landscape, socio-economic,
and environmental consequences. Although those processes are present on the
territory of Serbia, there is no available data about the soil loss caused
by riverbank erosion for the entire country. In this study, the spatial and
temporal dynamics of the riverbank erosion for the largest internal rivers
in Serbia (Velika Morava, Zapadna Morava, Juzna Morava, Pek, Mlava, Veliki
Timok, Kolubara) was assessed using remote sensing and GIS. The aim of this
paper is to determine the total and average soil loss over large-scale
periods (1923-2020), comparing data from the available sources (aerial
photographs, satellite images, and different scale paper maps). Results
indicated that lateral migration caused significant problems through land
loss (approximately 2,561 ha), especially arable land, and land use changes
in river basins, but also economic loss due to the reduction of agricultural
production. Total and average soil loss was calculated for five most
representative meanders on all studied rivers, and on the basis of the
obtained values, certain regularities about further development and dynamics
of riverbank movement are presented. A better understanding of river channel
migration in this area will be of a great importance for practical issues
such as predicting channel migration rates for river engineering and
planning purposes, soil and water management and land use changes,
environment protection.
Restricted Channel Migration in 2D Multilayer ReS2