An algorithm for predictive monitoring of the development of “tortuosity” of riverbed, called the process of meandering, is proposed. The algorithm is based on the statement that the riverbed is displaced from its current position along the normal to the dynamic axis of the flow in the direction from the center of curvature in a given alignment, and the displacement is proportional to the curvature, but the proportionality coefficient is not known in advance and must be determined in the process of cartographic monitoring. When using the proposed algorithm, such a well-known phenomenon in hydrology as the emergence, formation and development of meanders, which give the rivebed bizarre shapes, naturally turns out. The numerical implementation of the proposed algorithm, supplemented by predictive mapping of the riverbed deformation in previous years, is able to predict the channel displacement for future periods of time.

Irina K. Lurie
Doctor of Geography, Professor, Honored Professor of MSU, Head of the Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics
Faculty of Geography of Lomonosov Moscow State University
GSP-1, Leninskie gory, Moscow, 119991, Russia
e-mail: lurie@mail.ru

Mikhail V. Lurie
Doctor of Technical Sciences, Сandidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor, Honored Scientist of Russia
National University of Oil and Gas “Gubkin University”
65, build. 1, Leninsky prospekt, Moscow, 119991, Russia
e-mail: lurie.m@gubkin.ru

1. Bunge W. Theoretical geography. Lund: Gleerup, 1966. 289 p.
2. Velikanov M.A. Ruslovoi protsess (osnovy teorii) [Riverbed process (basics of the theory)]. Moscow: Fizmatgiz; 1958. 395 p.
3. Zavadskii A.S., Chalov R.S. Regional’nyi analiz svobodnogo meandrirovaniya [Regional analysis of free meandering]. Lomonosov Geography Journal. 1997;(3):32–36.
4. Zamyshlyaev V.I. O prichinakh meandrirovaniya rek (obzor zarubezhnykh avtorov) [On the causes of meandering of rivers (review of foreign authors)]. In: Voprosy gidrologii sushi. Grushevskii M.S., Kopaliani Z.D., eds. Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat; 1978. pp. 138–141.
5. Kondrat’ev A.N. Prichina obrazovaniya izvilistosti: meandrirovanie rek i drugikh prirodnykh potokov [The reason for the formation of tortuosity: meandering of rivers and other natural streams]. Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii nauk. Seriya geograficheskaya. 2000;(4):42–44.
6. Kondrat’ev N.E., Popov I.V., Snishchenko B.F. Osnovy gidromorfologicheskoi teorii ruslovogo protsessa [Fundamentals of the hydromorphological theory of the riverbed process]. Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat; 1982. 272 p.
7. Lyapin A.N. O vozniknovenii izvilistosti rusel [On the origin of the tortuosity of riverbeds]. In: Voprosy formirovaniya rechnykh rusel i beregov vodokhranilishch. Kondrat’ev N.E. (ed.). Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat; 1956. pp. 103–117.
8. Makkaveev N.I. Ruslo reki i ehroziya v ee basseine [Riverbed and erosion in its basin]. Moscow: AN SSSR; 1955. 346 p.
9. Salishchev K.A. O kartograficheskom metode issledovaniya [On the cartographic method of research]. Vestnik MGU. Ser. fiziko-matematicheskikh i estestvennykh nauk. 1955;(10):161–170.
10. Chalov R.S. Ruslovedenie: teoriya, geografiya, praktika. T. 2: Morfodinamika rechnykh rusel [Riverbed studies: theory, geography, practice. Vol. 2: Morphodynamics of riverbeds]. Moscow: URSS; 2011. 955 p.
11. Chalov R.S. Tolkovyi terminologicheskii i ponyatiinyi slovar’-spravochnik po ruslovedeniyu [Explanatory terminological and conceptual dictionary and reference book on riverbed studies]. Moscow: Vash format; 2022. 141 p.
12. Chibryakov Ya.Yu. “Theoretical geography” by William Bunge and its significance for cartography. Geodezia i kartografia. 2022;83(1):18–30.