The flow and the turbulence structure generated by a circular porous cylinder of diameter $D$ containing solid cylinders of diameter $d$ placed in an open channel of depth $h\approx 0.5D$ are investigated using eddy-resolving simulations which resolve the wakes past the individual solid cylinders in the array. The solid cylinders extend from the bed through the water surface. This geometrical set-up is directly relevant to understand the physics of flow past an emerged patch of aquatic vegetation developing in a river channel or over its floodplain. Simulations are conducted with different solid volume fractions (SVFs) of the porous cylinder ($0.034<\text{SVF}<0.23$), relative diameters of the solid cylinders ($d/D=0.03$ and 0.06) and with flat and equilibrium scour bathymetry corresponding to the start and respectively the end of the erosion and deposition process. Comparison with the limiting case of a solid cylinder ($\text{SVF}=1$) is also discussed. The bed shear stress distributions and the turbulent flow fields are used to explain the sediment erosion mechanisms inside and around the porous cylinder. Simulations of the flat-bed cases reveal that for sufficiently large SVF values ($\text{SVF}>0.2$), necklace vortices form around the upstream face of the cylinder, the downflow penetrates partially inside the porous cylinder and a region of strong flow acceleration forms on the sides of the porous cylinder. These flow features are used to explain the development of scour around high-SVF porous cylinders. The effects of the SVF and $d/D$ on generating ‘corridors’ of strong flow acceleration in between the solid cylinders and energetic eddies in the wake of these cylinders are discussed, as these flow features control the amplification of the bed shear stress inside the porous cylinder. Simulations results are also used to quantify the time-averaged drag forces on the cylinders in the array, to identify the regions where these forces are comparable to those induced on an isolated cylinder and the percentage of cylinders in the array subject to relatively large mean drag forces. A logarithmic decrease of the mean time-averaged streamwise drag coefficient of the solid cylinders, $\overline{C}_{d}$, with increasing non-dimensional frontal area per unit volume of the porous cylinder, $aD$, is observed. Behind the cylinder, the eddies shed in the separated shear layers (SSLs) of the porous cylinder, and, for sufficiently large SVFs, the von Kármán wake billows are the main coherent structures responsible for the amplification of the bed shear stress and sediment entrainment. This paper also analyses the vertical non-uniformity of the mean flow and turbulent kinetic energy, and discusses how the SVF and bathymetry affect the spatial extent of the wake region (e.g. length of the SSLs and steady wake, total wake length) and other relevant variables (e.g. strength of the bleeding flow, dominant wake frequencies, turbulence amplification in the near wake). For the relatively shallow flow conditions ($D/h\approx 2.0$) considered, the simulation results show that the antisymmetric (von Kármán) shedding of wake billows behind the porous cylinder is greatly weakened once equilibrium scour conditions are approached. Comparison with data from laboratory experiments and from 3-D and 2-D simulations conducted for long porous cylinders (no bed) is also discussed.

Taiwan frequently experiences natural disasters such as typhoons, floods, landslides, debris flows, and earthquakes. Therefore, the instant acquisition of high-definition images and topographic or spatial data of affected areas as disasters occur is crucial for disaster response teams and making emergency aid decisions. The National Applied Research Laboratories has implemented the project “development of near real-time, high-resolution, global earth observation 3D platform for applications to environmental monitoring and disaster mitigation.” This developmental project integrates earth observation techniques, data warehousing, high-performance visualization displays, grids, and disaster prevention technology to establish a near real-time high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) disaster prevention earth observation application platform for Taiwan. The main functions of this platform include (1) integration of observation information, such as Formosat-2 satellite remote sensing, aerial photography, and 3D photography of disaster sites, to provide multidimensional information of the conditions at the affected sites; (2) disaster prevention application technologies, such as large-sized high-resolution 3D projection system, medium-sized active stereo projection systems, and small-sized personal computers with multiscale 3D display systems; (3) a 3D geographical information network platform that integrates data warehousing and cloud services, complies with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) international standard for image data exchange and release processes, and includes image overlaying and added-value analysis of disasters; and (4) near real-time and automated simulation of image processing procedures, which accelerates orthophoto processing once raw data are received from satellites and provides appropriate images for disaster prevention decision-making within 3 to 6 h. This study uses the 88 Flood event of Typhoon Morakot in 2009, Typhoon Fanapi in 2011, and the 311 Earthquake of Japan in 2011 as examples to dissert the applications, functions and features of this platform for supporting disaster response and disaster recovery decision-making

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