IIHR maintains and operates field equipment, including research vessels with instruments to measure river flow rates, velocities, depths, and water quality.

Other capabilities include:

  • Single-beam and multi-beam bathymetric surveys
  • Sediment sampling and coring with an onboard drilling rig
  • Large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV)
  • Development and deployment of flood-related instrumentation

It’s important to know what’s happening on the ground (or in the river). Our fieldwork teams use sophisticated technology to gather reliable data that can be used for precision model construction,
computational modeling, and more.

an IGS worker carries a drill to the drilling rig in order to get coring samples

Coring

IIHR's research vessels can be set up with vibracore coring equipment used to collect samples or cores of underwater sediments.

an IIHR employee performs bathymetry on the river

Bathymetric Surveying

IIHR staff can conduct single-beam and multibeam bathymetric surveys to detect scouring around bridge piers due to frequent flooding, changes in riverbeds near powerplant intakes, and more. 

IGS worker checks groundwater levels with a large piece of equipment and takes notes

Groundwater Studies

IIHR has on-staff expertise with groundwater management and data collection.

Men in boats cruise around the LACMRERS area on the water

Research Vessels

IIHR owns a number of research vessels for a variety of data-collection needs.

Two IIHR workers pose behind a bathymetry kayak, on a sunny day

Shallow-Water Surveying

IIHR engineers use kayak-based bathymetry for shallow-water surveying.

Examples of fieldwork support:

  • Customizing and installing a trailer with a camera on a tall mast to take video images of a creek or stream. Using large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV), researchers estimate river flows based on what’s happening at the surface.
  • Wetland cells built and tested by IIHR, and then installed near the wastewater treatment plant in Iowa City.
  • Iowa Flood Center research includes development and deployment of instruments such as hydrostations, soil moisture probes, stream-stage sensors, and radars. IIHR staff support these efforts to varying degrees and have developed new expertise in the process.