Application of spreadsheets in developing flexible multiple‐reach and multiple‐branch methods of Muskingum flood routing

Abstract

AbstractMuskingum method which is covered in most hydraulic engineering courses and textbooks is widely used for hydrologic flood routing in rivers. In this paper, computational and optimization capabilities of Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is used to perform multiple‐reach Muskingum flood routing in a river for which observed inflow and outflow hydrographs are available and its storage‐discharge relationship is highly non‐linear. The employed method is straightforward and results in better accuracy compared with traditional methods. It is also illustrated that the proposed computational procedure in the spreadsheets can be extended to flood routing in more complex river systems such as branched systems. Considering all these, from educational point of view, a main conclusion is that the results of the study significantly improve the methodologies for teaching Muskingum flood routing in complex river systems. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 17: 448–454, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com); DOI 10.1002/cae.20234