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Channel Geomorphology <br />Changes in channel geomorphology produced by normal and augmented streamflows <br />were determined from (i) analysis of aerial photographs taken seven years apart and (ii) repeated <br />surveys of channel cross sections in selected reaches. <br />Aerial Photographs: High quality color aerial photographs of the critical reaches of the <br />Colorado River were taken in August, 2000, for the purposes of comparison with an earlier set of <br />photographs taken in September, 1993. The separate sets of photographs cover the same section <br />of the Colorado River from Palisade to approximately Loma, CO (RKM 300-250), and they were <br />flown at the same scale (1: 6000), in late summer, with the river flowing at approximately the <br />same discharge. Both sets of photographs were georeferenced by Positive Systems, resulting in <br />seventeen total georeferenced mosaics. Eight mosaics from the 1993 data set and 9 mosaics <br />from the 2000 data set were used to delineate channel characteristics. The aerial photographs <br />were not orthorectified to account for flight angle or distortion effects; however, these effects <br />were assumed to be minimal given the relatively low relief of the river and surrounding terrain in <br />the study area. Georeferencing was done in UTM coordinates. <br />From the aerial photographs, a layer in ArcView was digitized to represent the boundary <br />between river miles. The layer created in ArcView for these river miles stores the UTM <br />coordinates from the mosaic of aerial photographs, thus allowing a single layer for river miles to <br />be utilized on the aerial photographs from both years. This assures the comparison between <br />years will be based on identical sections of channel. These river mile boundaries were verified <br />between topographic maps and the aerial photos. <br />For each year, in each river mile, a separate layer was digitized to represent the main <br />channel, side channels, and exposed channel bars. Thus each river mile for each year contains <br />12