A Framework for Quantifying Reach-Scale Hydraulic Roughness in Mountain Headwater Streams

Abstract

The presence of macroroughness elements directly affects the flow velocity in mountain headwater streams. Hydraulic roughness is the dominant resistance to flow caused by objects protruding into the water, but it is not measurable in the field. This study quantified the reach-average hydraulic roughness based on the channel morphology in two mountain streams. The average flow velocities of the reaches were measured using the dye-tracing method. The magnitude of the hydraulic roughness was derived from the grain size of the streambed materials (D50 and D84) and the cross-sectional/longitudinal bed roughness. The observations for low flows (0.04–0.43 m2/s discharge per unit width) indicated that the longitudinal 90% inter-percentile range (IPR90L) seemed to have considerable merit in examining the influences of large roughness elements on flow conveyance. A dimensionless hydraulic geometry relation that can reflect the field measurements over a limited range of hydraulic characteristics was also developed for estimating the reach-average flow velocity in steep and rough streams. Thus, the research framework used appears to provide a reliable method of quantifying reach-average hydraulic roughness from local data in mountain headwater streams.