ABSTRACT
The supply and transfer of sediment to and through the river system consists of a number of complex phenomena. At all stages of the process, from initial detachment of sediment particles to arrival of sediment at a point of interest, a combination of highly non-linear and interacting processes contribute to this complexity. There are problems in the estimation of any individual process component, and therefore the estimation of a final sediment flux resulting from the combin-ation of all components is extremely difficult and prone to error. In contrast, many of the techniques available for estimation of various parts of the sediment supply and transfer system are very simple, and often empirically based. This combination of complex process and simplistic estimation occurs in several areas of science. For many projects in engineering, agriculture or hydrology, an assessment of erosion rates or sediment movement has to be made rapidly and without recourse to detailed and expensive field monitoring programmes.
