Fathi et al. (2026) Toward accelerating fluvial morphodynamic simulations through a speed accuracy trade-off assessment

Identification

• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-03-21
• Authors: Mohamed M. Fathi, Virginia Smith, Anjali Fernandes, Michael T. Hren, Dennis O. Terry
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-44428-1

Research Groups

• Dept. of Civil Engineering, Florida Gulf Coast University
• Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University
• Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Denison University
• Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Connecticut
• Dept. of Earth and Environmental Science, Temple University

Short Summary

This study evaluates the combined application of morphological acceleration factor (morfac) and condensed hydrograph inputs to accelerate physics-based fluvial morphodynamic simulations. The integration of these two techniques achieved a theoretical computational efficiency exceeding a 98.8% reduction in total runtime, enabling more feasible long-term simulations.

Objective

• To assess and combine the morphological acceleration factor (morfac) and condensed hydrograph inputs to reduce computational demand and accelerate physics-based fluvial morphodynamic simulations, particularly for investigating decadal to centennial-scale river responses.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Fluvial environments, river systems.
• Temporal Scale: Decadal to centennial-scale responses, long-term simulations.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Morphological acceleration factor (morfac) technique, condensed hydrograph inputs.
• Data sources: Datasets used and/or analyzed are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Main Results

• The morfac technique effectively enhanced model efficiency with values up to 20 while maintaining robust performance; values exceeding 20 significantly reduced performance.
• Employing condensed hydrograph inputs further improved model performance by focusing on dominant runoff events for riverbed evolution.
• The integration of both morfac and condensed hydrograph inputs resulted in a theoretical computational efficiency surpassing a 98.8% reduction in total runtime.

Contributions

• Provides practical guidance for applying morfac and condensed hydrograph methods in fluvial morphodynamic modeling.
• Contributes to making long-term fluvial morphodynamic simulations more feasible.
• Advances the operational utility of existing physics-based modeling frameworks by addressing computational limitations for extended temporal scales.

Funding

• National Science Foundation (Award No: 1844180)
• Villanova Center for Resilient Water Systems (VCRWS)

Citation

@article{Fathi2026Toward,
  author = {Fathi, Mohamed M. and Smith, Virginia and Fernandes, Anjali and Hren, Michael T. and Terry,  Dennis O.},
  title = {Toward accelerating fluvial morphodynamic simulations through a speed accuracy trade-off assessment},
  journal = {Scientific Reports},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-44428-1},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44428-1}
}