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Meander Cutoff (2D): Curvature-Field Spacetime Diagram

2D field simulator of curvature-driven river meander migration: instead of an orbiting 3D channel ribbon, the Ikeda-Parker-Sawyer excess-velocity equation is solved as an Eulerian finite-difference field on a fixed downstream grid and shown both as a live channel-corridor graph and as a scrolling spacetime (Hovmoller) diagram of curvature history.

Climate, Ecology & Environment2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

This is a 2D-native counterpart to the 3D meander-migration simulator: the same curvature-driven Ikeda–Parker–Sawyer excess-velocity mechanism, solved as a fixed-grid Eulerian finite-difference field rather than a moving Lagrangian marker chain. The upper panel draws the channel corridor as a live function graph z(x) with point-bar and cutbank shading; the lower panel is a scrolling curvature spacetime (Hovmöller) diagram that reveals how bends drift downstream over simulated centuries — something no single plan-view snapshot can show. Adjust the migration rate, the curvature-lag filter length, and the sediment deposition rate, then watch sinuosity and cutoff count evolve as tight lobes reach the channel's own cutoff threshold and get stranded as oxbow scars.

⚙ Under the hood

riversmeanderssediment transportgeomorphologyerosionfluvialspacetime diagram

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install