FREng FRSE
Sixth Century Chair in Environmental Fluid Mechanics
- About
-
- Email Address
- v.nikora@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 273830
- School/Department
- School of Engineering
Biography
2006 - Present
Professor, Sixth Century Chair in Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Leader of the Fluid Mechanics Research Group, University of Aberdeen
1995 - 2006
Principal Scientist and Manager of the Hydrodynamics Group (2001-2006), Senior Scientist (1995-2001), National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), Christchurch, New Zealand
1985 - 1995
Deputy Director (Research, 1988-1995), Head of the Department of Channel Processes (1987-1995), Senior Scientist (1985-1987), Institute of Geophysics and Geology, Academy of Sciences, Republic of Moldova
1980 - 1985
Senior Scientist (1984-1985), Scientist (1983-1984), Research Assistant (1980-1983), Odessa Hydrometeorological Institute, Ukraine
Recent Awards and Distinctions
2021 EWRI/ASCE Best Technical Note Award
2019 Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
2019 7th M. Selim Yalin Lifetime Achievement Award of IAHR
2017 Hans Albert Einstein Award of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
2013 Guest Professor, Sichuan University, China (2013-2019)
2011 Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
2010 Hunter Rouse Hydraulic Engineering Award of the American Society of Civil Engineers
2010 EWRI/ASCE Best Technical Note Award
Qualifications
- PhD in Engineering Hydraulics and Hydrology1984 - State Hydrological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia
- MEng (Hons) in Engineering Hydrology1978 - Odessa Hydrometeorological Institute, Ukraine
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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Academic Line Manager of the Fluid Mechanics Research Group
Coordinator of the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory
- External Memberships
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- Chair of the IAHR Technical Committee on Fluid Mechanics, since 2021
- Member of the Council of the International Association of Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR), since 2017
- Editor, IAHR Journal of Hydraulic Research, 2011-1016
- Associate Editor, Water Resources Research (AGU), 2006-2011
- Associate Editor, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (ASCE), 2007-2011
- Member of Editorial Board, Acta Geophysica (Springer)
- Guest Editor, Acta Geophysica (Springer), 2006-2008
- Member of EPSRC Peer Review College
- PhD and Habilitation Committees: UWA/Perth (Australia); Paris-Saclay, INRAE-Lyon (France), Karlsruhe/KIT, Dresden/TUD (Germany); IIT-Kharagpur (India); Torino, Trento (Italy); TU/Delft, Twente (the Netherlands); Auckland, Canterbury (New Zealand), NTNU/Trondheim (Norway); ETH/Zurich (Switzerland); Bradford, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Herriot-Watt, Sheffield, Southampton, Warwick (UK)
- Member of International and Organising Committees for a number of International Conferences and Workshops
- Reviewer for:
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Leverhulme Trust, and the Royal Society London, UK; NSF, USA; Marie Curie programmes; DFG, Germany; NSERC and Canada Research Chairs Programme, Canada; National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Organisations, Italy; Israel Science Foundation; National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research, Chile; Hong Kong Research Grants Council; and for 18 major international journals in Hydraulics, Fluid Mechanics, Hydrology, Physics, Earth Sciences, and Ecology.
- Research
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Research Overview
My recent and current research interests comprise various topics of Environmental Fluid Mechanics with particular focus on:
- Turbulence in open-channels, rivers, estuaries, and coastal areas
- Benthic boundary layers, water-sediment interfaces, and sediment transport (cohesive/non-cohesive), including sand wave dynamics, turbulence-sediment interactions, erosion, re-suspension, flocculation, and bed particle dispersion
- Flow-biota interactions and transport processes (periphyton, moss, mussels, macrophytes, invertebrates, fish)
- Hydraulic resistance and channel stability in gravel-bed and sand-bed rivers
- Overland flow hydrodynamics and soil erosion
- Hydraulic instrumentation and measurement techniques
- Channel networks, meandering and braided channels, granular surfaces, and Mars topography
Current Research
Currently I am working on development of a broad multidisciplinary research programme focusing on fluvial hydraulics (sediment transport, turbulence, flow resistance, mixing), eco-hydraulics (flow-biota interactions at multiple scales, ecologically relevant transport processes, vegetated channels, surface-subsurface flow interactions, benthic boundary layers), and fundamental issues of rough-bed flow hydrodynamics.
Students and professionals interested in pursuing postgraduate research in one of these directions are welcome to contact me.
Collaborations
- INRAE (Lyon, France): Hydrodynamics of Shallow Flows
- CNRS and University Claude Bernard (Lyon, France): flow-biota interactions
- University of Braunschweig (Germany): rough-bed flow hydrodynamics, eco-hydraulics, and sediment transport
- University of Karlsruhe (Germany): rough-bed flow hydrodynamics, turbulence, and sediment transport
- University of Dresden (Germany): rough-bed flow hydrodynamics, turbulence, and sediment transport
- Leibnitz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology (Germany): open-channel turbulence and flow-biota interactions
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway): open-channel turbulence, sediment transport, flow-biota interactions
- Technical University of Milano (Italy): sediment transport and turbulence
- University of Padova (Italy): sediment transport and turbulence
- Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw, Poland): sediment transport, river turbulence, and dispersion
- National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA, New Zealand): flow-biota interactions, sediment transport, turbulence
- University of Auckland (New Zealand): sediment transport and turbulence
- University of Canterbury (New Zealand): large-scale turbulence in shallow flows
Funding and Grants
2021-2024: "Secondary currents in turbulent flows over rough walls”, EPSRC, UK (V. Nikora, S. Cameron, £735K), a part of a collaborative research program with the University of Southampton, University College London, and University of Glasgow.
2020-2023: “RIver flow regulation, fish BEhaviour and Status” (RIBES), EC, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 (V. Nikora, S. Cameron, B. Scott, S. Martin, €305K), a part of a collaborative international research program led by the Politecnico Di Torino.
2019-2020: “Field stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (FSPIV) system for high-resolution in-situ studies of freshwater and marine ecosystems”, NERC, UK (S. Cameron, V. Nikora, B. Scott, C. Soulsby, £289K).
2014-2018: "Bed friction in rough-bed free-surface flows: a theoretical framework, roughness regimes, and quantification", EPSRC, UK (V. Nikora, S. Cameron, £526.5K), a part of a collaborative research project with the Cardiff University.
2013-2016: "Hydrodynamic transport in ecologically critical heterogeneous interfaces" (HYTECH), EC, Marie Curie Initial Training Networks FP7-PEOPLE-2012-ITN (V. Nikora, S. Cameron, C. Gibbins, €597K), a part of a collaborative international research program led by the University of Padova.
2010-2014: "High-resolution numerical and experimental studies of turbulence-induced sediment erosion and near-bed transport", EPSRC, UK (V. Nikora, S. Cameron, £438.5K) and DFG, Germany (G. Jirka, M. Uhlmann, J. Fröhlich, W. Rodi).
2008-2011: "Biophysics of flow-plants interactions in aquatic systems", The Leverhulme Trust, UK (V. Nikora, M. O'Hare, S. Cameron, £216.4K).
2002-2006: "Waves in Submerged Particulate Beds", Marsden Research Grant (New Zealand), S. Coleman, V. Nikora, B. Melville, D. Goring, NZ$560K.
2002-2006: "Stochastic Mechanics of Soil Erosion", Marsden Research Grant (New Zealand), A. Sidorchuk, V. Nikora, NZ$585K.
2000-2004: "Granular surfaces: structure, organization, memory", Marsden Research Grant (New Zealand), V. Nikora, D. Goring, NZ$405K.
1997-2001: "Eddy cascade, burst phenomena, and intermittency in fully developed turbulent flows with irregular rough beds", Marsden Research Grant (New Zealand), V. Nikora, D. Goring, NZ$435K.
1983-Present: Leader of more than thirty long-term research and consultancy projects in river hydrodynamics, eco-hydraulics, sediment transport, fluvial geomorphology, and hydrology.
- Publications
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Page 4 of 4 Results 151 to 188 of 188
Effects of physical factors on cohesive sediment erosion.
Marine Geology, vol. 207, no. 1-4, pp. 83-93Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2004.03.012
Hydrodynamic effects in aquatic ecosystems.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsMars topography: bulk statistics and spectral scaling.
Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 427-439Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-0779(03)00054-7
Mass-transfer-controlled nitrogen and phosphorus uptake by stream periphyton: a conceptual model and experimental evidence.
Limnology and Oceanography, vol. 49, no. 6, pp. 1992-2000Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPeriphyton-flow interactions and mass-transfer-uptake processes.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsProbability distribution function approach in stochastic modelling of soil erosion.
Sediment Transfer through the Fluvial System: Proceedings of a symposium held in Moscow, August 2004. Golosov, V., Belyaev, V., Walling, D. E. (eds.), pp. 345-353, 8 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersSediment flocs: settling velocity, flocculation factor, and optical backscatter
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, vol. 130, no. 10, pp. 1043-1047Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSpatial averaging concept for rough-bed open-channel and overland flows.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsVelocity distribution in the roughness layer of rough-bed flows
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, vol. 130, no. 10, pp. 1036-1042Contributions to Journals: ArticlesWater-worked gravel surfaces: high-order structure functions at the particle scale.
Water Resources Research, vol. 40, no. W12601Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA straight benthic flow-through flume for in situ measurement of cohesive sediment dynamics
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, vol. 129, no. 1, pp. 63-67Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2003)129:1(63)
Closure to 'Despiking ADV Data'.
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, vol. 129, no. 6, pp. 487-488Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2003)129:6(487)
Cohesive sediment transport: model development and testing.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsEffects of bed material composition on cohesive sediment erosion.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsEffects of fish size, time-to-fatigue, and turbulence on swimming performance: a case study of Galaxias maculatus (inanga).
Journal of Fish Biology, vol. 63, pp. 1365-1382Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2003.00241.x
Hydrodynamic effects in aquatic ecosystems with a focus on periphyton.
Recent Research Developments in Fluid Dynamics, Volume 4 (2003), pp. 41-70, 29 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersOn turbulence effects on fish swimming performance: a case study of the New Zealand native fish Galaxias Maculatus (inanga).
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsSpatially-averaged flow over ribbed roughness: a new application of quadrant analysis.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsOn bed particle diffusion in gravel bed flows under weak bed load transport
Water Resources Research, vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 1081Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2001WR000513
De-spiking Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter data.
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, vol. 128, no. 1, pp. 117-126Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2002)128:1(117)
Some observations of the effects of micro-organisms growing on the bed of an open channel on the turbulence properties.
Journal of Fluid Mechanics, vol. 450, pp. 317-341Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112001006486
Structure of the internal boundary layer over a patch of pinnid bivalves (Atrina zelandica) in an estuary.
Journal of Marine Research, vol. 60, no. 1, pp. 121-150Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1357/002224002762341276
Closure on “Flow turbulence over fixed and weakly mobile gravel beds.”
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, vol. 128, no. 3, pp. 359-361Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2002)128:3(360)
Fluctuations of suspended sediment concentration and turbulent sediment fluxes in an open-channel flow.
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, vol. 128, no. 2, pp. 214-224Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2002)128:2(214)
Heterogeneity in catchment properties: a case study of Grey and Buller catchments, New Zealand
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 167-183Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-6-167-2002
In situ measurement of cohesive sediment dynamics with a straight benthic flume.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsSand waves in alluvial channels – random field approach.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsThe structure and dynamics of the thin near-bed layer in a complex marine environment: a case study in Beatrix Bay, New Zealand.
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, vol. 54, no. 5, pp. 915-926Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/ecss.2001.0865
Zero-plane displacement for rough-bed open-channel flows.
Fluvial Hydraulics River Flow 2002, pp. 83-92, 9 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersDiffusion of saltating particles in unidirectional water flow over a rough granular bed
Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General, vol. 34, no. 50, pp. L743-L749Contributions to Journals: Letters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/0305-4470/34/50/103
Spatially-averaged open-channel flow over a rough bed.
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, vol. 127, no. 2, pp. 123-133Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2001)127:2(123)
Environmental flows over rough beds: a spatial averaging approach.
Contributions to Conferences: Other ContributionsExtended self-similarity (ESS) in geological and geophysical applications.
Mathematical Geology, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 251-271Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007630021716
Intermittency and interrelationships between turbulence scaling exponents: phase-randomisation tests.
Physics of Fluids, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 1404-1414Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1360193
Review of “Simulation and Identification of Organised Structures in Flows.”
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, vol. 127, no. 2, pp. 171-172Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2001)127:2(171)
Модели речных систем
VNIIGMI-MTsD, Obninck (USSR), vol. Professional Paper No 944-GM-89,Contributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesЭволюция русла и гидравлический режим малых рек в Молдове
В эрозионных и русловых процессах в различных климатических условиях. Московский университет, Москва, Россия, pp. 275-276Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersТурбулентные свойства рек с песчаными волнами
Problems of Land Hydrology, pp. 167-172Contributions to Journals: Articles