Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 10 views

    Water Man

    Uploaded by

    kennejosias2

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Water Man

    Uploaded by

    kennejosias2
    10 views8 pages

    Original Title

    WATER MAN

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    10 views8 pages

    Water Man

    Uploaded by

    kennejosias2

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    You are on page 1of 8

    REPUBLIC DU CAMEROUN REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON

    PAIX-TRAVAILLE-PATRIE PEACE-WORK FATHERLAND


    MINISTRE DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT MINISTRY OF HIGHER
    SUPERIEURE EDUCATION

    PROJECT ON WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND


    PLANNING

    TITLE:
    RIVER DISCHARGE COMPUTATION BY VELOCITY- AREA METHOD

    Group members:
    ASSONFACK MERVEILLE COURSE LECTURER :
    FOMETIO JOSIAS MR DICKSON NKOLI CHU
    MEKAMTO SERENA

    1
    INTRODUCTION

    The discharge of surface or underground streams is an important environmental


    variable to measure for several key reasons. First, one can estimate drought-
    flows (also called lowflows) and flood frequency from a time series of stream
    discharge.
    Second, the rate of evapotranspiration from catchment vegetation can
    estimated from time-series within a water balance equation. Thirdly, the
    multiplication of a concentration of suspended –sediment or dissolved
    constituent moved over time. Such calculations are important in erosion, studies,
    nutrient budget estimation and pollution studies.
    Stream discharge can be measured using;
    1-Volumetric gauging
    2- Float gauging
    3- Current matering
    4- Dilution gauging
    5- Structural method and Slope-area methods.
    The choice of method depends on the characteristics of the stream and on the
    application.

    2
    DISCHARGE COMPUTATION BY VELOCITY-AREA METHOD

    As the name suggests, in this method, discharge is computed by measuring river depths and
    velocity at a number of regularly or irregularly spaced verticals as shown in figure below.

    This set of information is eventually integrated by mid-section method to


    determine river discharge. This satisfies the equation Q = A * V. Succeeding
    paragraphs of this module elaborate these aspects in greater depth.

    3
    SELECTION OF VERTICAL INTERVAL AND NUMBER

    For rivers greater than 10 m wide, it is recommended, in line with ISO 748 and other
    practice, that at least 20 verticals be used and that the discharge in any one segment does not
    exceed 10% of the total. Between 20 and 30 verticals is normally used. Uncertainties in
    stream flow measurement are expressed as percentages. The percentage uncertainty of using
    say 25 verticals is of the same order for all widths of river, irrespective of the width of
    segment.

    For small rivers less than 10 meters in width the following selection criteria are recommended:

    4
    MEASUREMENT OF WIDTH, HORIZONTAL DISTANCE OR
    POSITION IN THE HORIZONTAL

    The measurement of the width of the channel and of individual segments or


    finding the position across the river relative to a fixed reference, are obtained by
    measuring the distance from or to a fixed reference point on the river bank. The
    technique selected depends on the width of the channel and the method of
    deployment used for gauging.

     Wading gauging
     Bridges
     Fixed cableways with bankside winch (unmanned instrument carriage)
     Fixed cableways with cable car (winch and cradle/manned trolley)
     If gauging is by boat, it includes following techniques:

     Pivot point method


     Linear measurement methods
     Angular method, or using Sextant
     Stadia method
     Geographic positioning system (GPS)

    5
    MEASUREMENT OF DEPTH

    Once a team establishes its position at a pre-defined vertical in the middle of river, their next
    target is to measure river depth. The method of depth measurement during gauging depends
    on depth and velocity and whether done by wading, cableway, bridge or boat. Depth and
    position in the vertical are measured by rigid rod or by a sounding weight suspended from a
    cable provided that velocities are not too high. Regardless of what method is opted for, at
    least two observations of depth are suggested at each vertical and the mean of the two values
    used for area and discharge computation.

    Following instruments are commonly used in depth measurement:

    o Wading rods
    o Sounding rods
    o Sounding reels and cables (including wet- and airline correction)
    o Echo-sounder

    For a shallow river/stream, normally wading or sounding rods is used to measure depth.
    For deeper rivers, and where velocity is high, eco-sounder is commonly used instrument.
    The sounding transducer mounted underwater, releases bursts of ultrasonic energy at
    fixed intervals and the instrument measures the time required for these pulses of energy to
    travel to the streambed and to be reflected and return to the transducer. With the known
    propagation velocity of sound in water, the sounder computes and records the depth on a
    strip chart, dial, data logger or portable PC.

    6
    EXAMPLE : AIR LINE AND WET LINE CORRECTIONS
    The total length of a sounding line when the sinker weight is touching the bed of a river = 7.55 m.
    The depth from guide pulley to water surface = 3.0 m. The angle between the vertical and the
    sounding line at the point of suspension i.e. p = 20o . What is the true depth of the vertical?

    Solution:

    ce = ae - ab = 7.55 - 3.0 = 4.55

    Airline correction, cd = (sec a - 1) x ab = (sec 20 -1) x 3 = (1.064 - 1) x 3.0= 0.19 m.


    Wet line depth, de = ce - cd = 4.55 - 0.19 = 4.36 m.
    Wet line % correction for p, 20 = 2.04% from Table
    Wet line correction = 2.04% x 4.36 = 0.0204 x 4.36 = 0.09
    True depth = ce - airline corr. - wet line corr. = 4.55 - 0.19 - 0.09 = 4.27 m

    The method consists of estimating the average flow velocity (V), and
    measuring the area of the cross-section, called the ‘wetted cross-section’ (A).
    The discharge (Q) can be calculated by the following formula:
    Q=V´A
    Where:Q is the Discharge in m3/s;
    V is the Average Flow Velocity in m/s; and
    A is the area in m2 of the Wetted Cross-section.
    If one wants to know the discharge in l/s instead of m3/s, the formula to use is:
    Q = 1 000 ´ V ´ A
    whereQ is the Discharge in l/s;
    1 000 is a factor to convert m3 to l [1 m3 = 1 000 l];
    and V and A are as before.

    7
    EXERCISE 5
    A straight and uniform portion of a trapezoidal canal was selected. Within this portion, a
    length of 20 m was marked with pegs (Steps 1 to 4 above).

    A coconut was used to determine the surface velocity (Steps 5 and 6). This was
    repeated 4 times with the following results (See Exercise 3): t1 = 50 seconds; t2 = 52 s; t
    3 = 53
    s; t4 = 53 s.
    The wetted area of the cross-section has been measured 4 times (Step 8) (See Exercise 4: b
    = 0.44; 0.42; 0.40 and 0.45 m a1 = 0.96; 1.02; 1.03 and 0.94 m h1 = 0.31; 0.28;
    0.29 and 0.30 m

    Question: What is the discharge Q?

    Solution:
    Step 1Calculate the average travel time:
    t(average) = (50 + 52 + 53 + 53) / 4 = 208 / 4 = 52 seconds.

    Step 2Calculate the average values of b, a1 and h1:


    b1 (average) = (0.44 + 0.42 + 0.40 + 0.45) / 4 = 1.71 / 4 = 0.43 m. a1
    (average) = (0.96 + 1.02 + 1.03 + 0.94) / 4 = 3.95 / 4 = 0.99 m.

    h1 (average) = (0.31 + 0.28 + 0.29 + 0.30) / 4 = 1.18 / 4 = 0.30 m.

    Step 3Calculate the surface velocity Vs and the average flow velocity V:
    Surface velocity is given by Vs = L / t
    L = 20 meters (marked); t = 52 seconds (Step 1) Therefore Vs
    = 20 / 52 = 0.38 m/s.

    Average flow velocity is given by V = 0.75 ´ Vs Therefore


    V = 0.75 ´ 0.38 = 0.29 m/s.

    Step 4 Calculate the wetted area (A) of the cross-section, from Step 2: The
    area is given by A = ((b + a1) / 2) ´ h1 b = 0.43 m; a1 = 0.99 m; and
    h1 = 0.30 m.
    A = ((0.43 + 0.99)/2) ´ 0.30 = (1.42/2) ´ 0.30 = 0.71 ´ 0.30 = 0.213 m2

    Step 5Calculate the discharge


    Discharge is given by Q = V ´ A:
    V = 0.29 m/s (from Step 3); A = 0.213 m2 (from Step 4)
    Therefore Q = 0.29 ´ 0.213 = 0.062 m3/s or
    Q = 1 000 ´ V ´ A = 1 000 ´ 0.29 ´ 0.213 = 62 l/s.

    Answer: The discharge in the canal is 62 liters per second.

    You might also like