Aquatic vegetation can influence the transport of sediment and contaminants by changing the mean velocity and turbulent flow structure in channels. It is important to understand the hydraulics of the flows over vegetation in order to manage fluvial processes. Experiments in an open-channel flume with natural vegetation were carried out to study the influence of vegetation on the flows. In a half channel with two different densities of vegetation, the flow velocity, Reynolds stresses, and turbulence intensities were measured using an Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter （ADV）. We obtained velocity profiles in the lateral direction, Reynolds stresses in the vertical direction, and the flow transition between the vegetated and non-vegetated zones in different flow regimes. The results show that the streamwise velocity in the vegetated zone with higher density is almost entirely blocked. Reynolds stress distribution distinguishes with two different regions： inside and above the vegetation canopies. The turbulence intensities increase with increasing Reynolds number. The coherent vortices dominate the vertical transport of momentum and are advected clockwise between the vegetated zone and non-vegetated zone by secondary currents （a relatively minor flow superimposed on the primary flow, with significantly different speed and direction）, generated by the anisotropy of the turbulence.
The infiltration of water contaminants into soil and groundwater systems can greatly affect the quality of groundwater. A laboratory-designed large soil tank with periodic and continuous infiltration models, respectively, was used to simulate the migration of the contaminants NH4 and NO3 in a soil and groundwater system, including unsaturated and saturated zones. The unsaturated soil zone had a significant effect on removing NH4 and NO3 infiltrated from the surface water. The patterns of breakthrough curves of NH4 and NO3 in the unsaturated zone were related to the infiltration time. A short infiltration time resulted in a single sharp peak in the breakthrough curve, while a long infiltration time led to a plateau curve. When NH4 and NO3 migrated from the unsaturated zone to the saturated zone, an interracial retardation was formed, resulting in an increased contaminant concentration on the interface. Under the influence of horizontal groundwater movement, the infiltrated contaminants formed a contamination-prone area downstream. As the contaminants migrated downstream, their concentrations were significantly reduced. Under the same infiltration concentration, the concentration of NO3 was greater than that of NH4 at every corresponding cross-section in the soil and groundwater tank, suggesting that the removal efficiency of NH4 was greater than that of NO3 in the soil and groundwater system.
