River Cross-section Research Articles

ANALISIS KAPASITAS PENGALIRAN DENGAN SIMULASI BANJIR KALI SUNTER CIPINANG MELAYU, JAKARTA TIMUR

This study intended to analyze the drainage capacity of Sunter with the help of HEC-RAS program software for the flood simulation. The flood discharge plan using the Nakayasu Synthesized Hydrograph (HSS Nakayasu) method with a 5-year repeat period shows the value of 144.49 m3/s, 10-year period of 169.20 m3/s, 20-year period of 191.48 m3/s, while the 25 year period result is 203.69 m3 /s, and a 50 year period result is 231.40 m3 /s. After knowing the flood discharge plan, the simulation next was done using HEC-RAS simulation with 28 section of STR 82-109 and the result of runoff with five years return period will be achieved. The result of the analysis is done using 28 parts of the river cross section using existing data, meanwhile the whole section can not accommodate the flood discharge plan with a runoff height of 0,74-3.19 m based on the period of 5 years. The difference is 1.23-2.55 m by using the cut and fill method, so that the cross-sectional capacity can resist the waterflow until the 50 years of continuous period.

Suspended Sediment Concentration and Discharge in Open Channels Using Rényi Entropy

The vertical distribution of suspended sediment concentration in an open channel is modeled using Rényi entropy. The model, derived by invoking the principle of maximum entropy, is tested against field and laboratory observations by taking into account nonzero sediment concentration at the surface, and is also compared with other entropy-based and deterministic sediment concentration models. The proposed model is found to be in good agreement with observed data, and its prediction accuracy is superior to that of the other models. It is expressed in terms of a dimensionless entropy parameter that is constant along any vertical in a given river cross section. Errors, namely relative bias (RBIAS) and root-mean-square error (RMSE), are calculated for each of the data sets to validate the model and establish its superiority. It is observed that the RMSE of the present model varies from 0.045 to 4.197 g/L, and from 16.438 to 74.470 g/L, for experimental and field data, respectively, which lie within reasonable limits. In addition, the suspended sediment discharge per unit width is calculated using the Rényi entropy-based models of velocity and sediment concentration. The computed and observed values of sediment discharge are calculated from experimental observations, and it is found that the model can estimate observed values well.

River Channel Geometry and Rating Curve Estimation Using Height above the Nearest Drainage

AbstractRiver channel geometry is an important input to hydraulic and hydrologic models. Traditional approaches to quantify river geometry have involved surveyed river cross sections, which cannot be extended to ungaged basins. In this paper, we describe a method for developing a synthetic rating curve to relate flow to water level in a stream reach based on reach‐averaged channel geometry properties developed using the Height above Nearest Drainage (HAND) method. HAND uses a digital elevation model (DEM) of the terrain and computes the elevation difference between each land surface cell and the stream bed cell to which it drains. Taking increments in water level in the stream, HAND defines the inundation zone and a water depth grid within this zone, and the channel characteristics are defined from this water depth grid. We apply our method to the Blanco River (Texas) and the Tar River (North Carolina) using 10‐m terrain data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) dataset. We evaluate the method's performance by comparing the reach‐average stage‐river geometry relationships and rating curves to those from calibrated Hydrologic Engineering Center's River Analysis System (HEC‐RAS) models and USGS gage observations. The results demonstrate that after some adjustment, the river geometry information and rating curves derived from HAND using national‐coverage datasets are comparable to those obtained from hydraulic models or gage measurements. We evaluate the inundation extent and show our approach is able to capture the majority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 100‐year floodplain.

Optimum cross section index (OCI): a new approach for identification of an optimum channel—a case study of the Ichamati River, India

The Ichamati River drains the east and south side of the North 24 Parganas district which belongs to the Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta (GBD), covered by deep Quaternary sediments produced under tropical monsoon climate in India. The district is densely populated. The river has huge impact on its population. In this paper, particular attention has been paid to a new method, named optimum cross section index (OCI), which is a numerical representation of a river cross section with respect to its optimum condition. To establish the validity and reliability of OCI, as circumstantial evidences, we have measured and analyzed the geometric parameters, such as width, depth, hydraulic radius, wetted perimeter, and bank profile at 22 points, and applied the areal difference asymmetric index (ADAI). The paper considers that the changing characters of the geometric form of the cross sections and ADAI stand for the OCI. All the techniques reveal that (1) the area of channel decreases abruptly upstream downward, (2) the upstream channel is more symmetrical than the lower reach, and (3) the area of optimum channel gradually increases upstream downward. Results of the study show that the river is going to be deteriorating from upstream downward. OCI has been constructed based on width and depth, which are relatively easily available data. So, this model may be well assessable to identify the optimum channel for a river management.

Locating flood embankments using SAR time series: A proof of concept

River embankments limit flood risk, alter the flood peak, and change sediment deposition rates, but in many areas of the world embankment locations are not available in geodatabases. This lack of information reduces the accuracy of predicted flood extent within inundation models. The objective is therefore to determine the positional accuracy of embankments using time series of Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data with local gauge data. A new method is proposed to: (1) establish the relationship between stage and extent for river cross sections; with stage obtained from gauges and flood extent from SAR-derived flood images, and (2) infer embankment location from plateaus in these plots. The predicted embankment location was compared with airborne LiDAR data for two case studies: the One Hundred Foot Wash (UK) and the Yolo Bypass (Sacramento, USA). The median absolute error for cross sections located in low lying floodplains with low vegetation was 59 m and 110 m, respectively. This increased to 78 m and 197 m when vegetated and cross sections with high ground were included. Application of the method could provide key flood defence information to update geodatabases for locations where data are missing or not widely/freely available, and to improve inundation models up to global scales.

Exploration of severities of rainfall and runoff extremes in ungauged catchments: A case study of Lai Chi Wo in Hong Kong, China

Exploration for estimating rainfall and runoff extremes in ungauged catchments is challenging since there are no field measurements of rainfall and streamflow for confirming study results. This study proposed a systematic approach to tackle the challenge, and the approach includes field survey, rainfall data collection, frequency analysis, installation of equipment in the study area, and numerical modeling. The approach was then applied to the Lai Chi Wo (LCW) catchment in Hong Kong, China, in order to evaluate the severity of a rainstorm and flood event occurred on 11 May 2014. With the collection of rainfall data from the rain gauges near the catchment, the proxy rainfall dataset for LCW was developed. Since the time of concentration of the catchment is about 30 to 40min, this study derived rainfall intensity duration frequency (IDF) curves for 9 different durations (5min, 10min, 15min, 20min, 30min, 45min, 1h, 1.5h, and 1day) and 7 different return periods (2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100years). Further, a hydrological model, TOPMODEL, was used to simulate streamflow process; to calibrate the model parameters, a rain gauge was set up in the catchment and a water level sensor was installed at a control cross-section of the LCW river in January 2015, and the recorded rainfall and runoff data were used to calibrate the model parameters. Using the proxy rainfall data, this study obtained the simulated streamflow for the catchment, and then derived the streamflow peaks for 7 different return periods (2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100years). Since the time of concentration of the catchment is less than 1h, this study derived that the return periods of the rainstorm on 11 May 2014 for the durations of 30min and 1h are 2.4 and 1.9years, respectively; the return period of the daily rainfall is 9.6years. The return period of the peak flood of the event is 7.0years, and this value is between the return periods of the rainfall for the durations of the time of concentration and 1day. This study revealed that the severities of rainfall and runoff extremes are not consistent but rationally related, and the 1- and 3-day antecedent rainfalls can considerably influence flood peak severity. Overall, to achieve rational prediction of ungauged basin hydrological processes, it is fundamental to install measurement equipment and to record rainfall and streamflow data. Even though the period of the recorded data in the ungauged catchment is short, the observations are necessary for evaluating the proxy data quality, and calibrating and validating the numerical model.

Flood prediction, its risk and mitigation for the Babura River with GIS

This paper describes the flood prediction along the Babura River, the catchment of which is within the comparatively larger watershed of the Deli River which crosses the centre part of Medan City. The flood plain and ensuing inundation area were simulated using HECRAS based on the available data of rainfall, catchment, and river cross-sections. The results were shown in a GIS format in which the city map of Medan and other infrastructure layers were stacked for spatial analysis. From the resulting GIS, it can be seen that 13 sub-districts were likely affected by the flood, and then the risk calculation of the flood damage could be estimated. In the spirit of flood mitigation thoughts, 6 locations of evacuation centres were identified and 15 evacuation routes were recommended to reach the centres. It is hoped that the flood prediction and its risk estimation in this study will inspire the preparedness of the stakeholders for the probable threat of flood disaster.

Technical note: Stage and water width measurement of a mountain stream using a simple time-lapse camera

Abstract. Remote sensing applied to river monitoring adds complementary information useful for understanding the system behaviour. In this paper, we present a method for visual stage gauging and water surface width measurement using a ground-based time-lapse camera and a fully automatic image analysis algorithm for flow monitoring at a river cross section of a steep, bouldery channel. The remote stage measurement was coupled with a water level logger (pressure transducer) on site and shows that the image-based method gives a reliable estimate of the water height variation and daily flow record when validated against the pressure transducer (R = 0.91). From the remotely sensed pictures, we also extracted the water width and show that it is possible to correlate water surface width and stage. The images also provide valuable ancillary information for interpreting and understanding flow hydraulics and site weather conditions. This image-based gauging method is a reliable, informative and inexpensive alternative or adjunct to conventional stage measurement especially for remote sites.

Investigation of Salt Intrusion Condition in the Belat Estuary

Awareness on salt intrusion problem is still lacking in Malaysia due to high precipitation in the region. However, the El-Nino phenomenon that occurred recently has caused extremely low fresh water discharge in the Kuantan River which allowed the sea water to intrude further into its water intake region. Consequently, the Belat River may become potential water resources alternative to build new water intake station for the water supply in the Kuantan River Basin. The aims of this study are to: 1) investigate the salinity distribution in the Belat Estuary; 2) evaluate the applicability of the 1-D analytical salt intrusion solution; 3) determine the calibration parameters in the salt intrusion model. Salt intrusion measurements was conducted during the dry season at spring tide when the fresh water discharge is the minimum. Collection of data such as hydrological data, river cross section and salinity were collected to be used in the salt intrusion analysis. The results obtained show good agreement between the simulated and observed salinity distribution in the estuary with low RMSE and high NSE values. This indicates that the model is reliable and can become an important tool for water manager in conducting salt intrusion study for this area.

Effects of a large woody debris accumulation on channel-bed morphology during flood events

A novel experimental setup for the laboratory was designed in order to investigate large woody debris accumulations and their influence on hydraulic flow conditions and channel morphology at a river cross-section. Real wood and mobile gravel bedload material were used to simulate morphodynamic interactions in a headwater stream, based on a New Zealand prototype river. The survey methodology employs Structure from Motion techniques, using an advanced multi-camera-array. In this study we present the experimental setup and initial results from our first experiments. With this research project we aim to investigate the dynamics of jam initiation and the characteristic evolution of the jam, for a given discharge, sediment load, and distribution of woody material. Furthermore, this study will elaborate more practical and efficient methodologies for observing wood jams, both in the laboratory and in the field. The project expands current knowledge about interaction processes between flow, sediment and woody debris, which are presently poorly understood and still represent a gap in research.

Getting information on suspended sediments in a large river from acoustic backscatter

There has been a growing interest in the last decade in extracting information on Suspended Sediment Concentration (SSC) from acoustic backscatter in rivers. Quantitative techniques are not yet effective, but acoustic backscatter already provides qualitative information on suspended sediments. In particular, in the common case of a bi-modal sediment size distribution, corrected acoustic backscatter can be used to look for sand particles in suspension and provide spatial information on their distribution throughout a river crosssection. This paper presents a case-study where these techniques have been applied.

The validation of hydrodynamic modelling for 2014 flood in Kuala Krai, Kelantan

Flood catastrophe that struck Kelantan in 2014 has marked as the worst in history. The absence of structural approach such as dam has increased the risks of the flood to this state. In this paper, the simulation of 2014 flood event focuses in Kuala Krai area has been carried out before and after the occurrence of the proposed dams along Galas and Lebir rivers, respectively using hydrodynamic model. The Digital Terrain Model (DTM) from Airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) combining with Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data resources have been used for hydrodynamic modelling. The flow hydrograph and water level are generated as input data for initial and boundary conditions. River cross-sections and Manning’s roughness coefficient values that been estimated based on landcover map obtained in 2010 also used in the model. The model produces the outputs of flood depth and velocity. To validate the simulation results, the flood depths were compared against the flood marks depth from field survey at 16 locations collected by researchers from Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan and Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID). From the validation, it reveals that the average accuracy percentage obtained was about 90% and it can be said that the flood model was acceptable.

An estimate of bedload discharge in rivers with passive acoustic measurements: Towards a generalized calibration curve?

Bedload Self-Generated Noise (SGN) measurements consist in deploying an underwater microphone (i.e. a hydrophone) in the river and to record the ambient noise. The use of hydrophones to measure bedload characteristics (flux, spatial distribution, granulometry) could be of interest as it can be more easily and rapidly deployed than physical samplers in rivers. Several measurement campaigns where conducted during spring and summer 2017 in 5 alpine rivers with contrasted transport conditions (bedload D50 between 1 and 40 mm) and varying slopes (0.05 to 1 %). Physical sampling measurements were done from a bridge along the river cross section for specific bedload flux varying between 10 and 150 g.m-1s-1. Bedload SGN measurements were obtained with a small board equipped with a hydrophone and deriving downstream the bridge within a 10 to 50 m long river section. For 2 of the 5 rivers, acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP) were also deployed along the river cross-section to provide a surrogate measurement of apparent bedload velocity. As a result, we have been able to draw an acoustic 1D-map of the river bottom, derived from the SGN sub-surface measurements obtained with the deriving board. The results show a coherent relation between the riverbed acoustic maps and the physical samplings for 3 rivers over 5. Bedload profile were less consistent with SGN measurements when bedload transport was localized in a narrow channel. The apparent bedload velocities obtained with ADCP for 2 rivers are consitent with the physical samplings (bedload location and flux distribution) but a slight bias was observed and is attributed to grain-size sorting effects along the cross-section. Finally, when plotting together 4 over 5 rivers, an almost linear relation can be established between bedload discharge (computed with physical samplings data) and the average acoustic response (i.e acoustic power averaged over the cross-section). This result suggests that a generalized calibration curve could exist between bedload SGN and bedload discharge. The existence of an outsider is interpreted as a problem related to propagation effects. Further researches should therefore concentrate their effort on deconvoluting SGN signals from propagation effects to give a better confident proxy for bedload discharge measurement in different rivers types.

High water level observations along the upper course of the Olt River (Romania) from a hydrological modelling aspect

Along its upper course, the Olt River (Romania) flows through several settlements, which are endangered by flooding. The multiannual water flow at Tomești station, the first hydrometric station along the Olt River, is 1.51 m3 /s, but in case of extreme events the river flow reached even 41.8 m3 /s. The aim of this study is to analyze the flood events along the upper course of the Olt River (section between Tomești and Cârța settlements) by using the HEC-RAS and the HEC-GeoRAS hydrological modeling software programs. The river cross section model showed how the main channel narrowed (characteristic to some locations) which can be considered as one of the causes of a possible overflow.

The challenge of forecasting impacts of flash floods: test of a simplified hydraulic approach and validation based on insurance claim data

Abstract. Up to now, flash flood monitoring and forecasting systems, based on rainfall radar measurements and distributed rainfall–runoff models, generally aimed at estimating flood magnitudes – typically discharges or return periods – at selected river cross sections. The approach presented here goes one step further by proposing an integrated forecasting chain for the direct assessment of flash flood possible impacts on inhabited areas (number of buildings at risk in the presented case studies). The proposed approach includes, in addition to a distributed rainfall–runoff model, an automatic hydraulic method suited for the computation of flood extent maps on a dense river network and over large territories. The resulting catalogue of flood extent maps is then combined with land use data to build a flood impact curve for each considered river reach, i.e. the number of inundated buildings versus discharge. These curves are finally used to compute estimated impacts based on forecasted discharges. The approach has been extensively tested in the regions of Alès and Draguignan, located in the south of France, where well-documented major flash floods recently occurred. The article presents two types of validation results. First, the automatically computed flood extent maps and corresponding water levels are tested against rating curves at available river gauging stations as well as against local reference or observed flood extent maps. Second, a rich and comprehensive insurance claim database is used to evaluate the relevance of the estimated impacts for some recent major floods.

The dynamic capacity calculation method and the flood control ability of the Three Gorges Reservoir

To evaluate the flood control ability of a river-type reservoir, an accurate simulation method for the flood storage, discharge process, and dynamic capacity of the reservoir is important. As the world’s largest reservoir, the storage capacity and flood control capacity of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) has attracted widespread interest and academic debate for nearly 20 years. In this study, a model for calculating the dynamic capacity of a river-type reservoir is established based on data from 394 river cross sections and 2.5-m resolution digital elevation model (DEM) data of the TGR area. The storage capacity and flood control capacity of the TGR were analysed based on the scheduling procedures of a normal impoundment period. The results show that the static capacity of the TGR is 43.43 billion m3, the dynamic flood control capacity is 22.45 billion m3, and the maximum floodwater flow regulated by the dynamic capacity at Zhicheng is no more than 67,700 m3/s. This study supply new simulation method and up-to-date high-precision data to discuss the 20 years debate, and the results reveal the TGR design is conservative for flood control according to the Preliminary Design Report of the Three Gorges Project. The dynamic capacity calculation method used here can provide a reference for flood regulation of large river-type reservoirs.

Probabilistic assessment of aquatic species risk from thermoelectric power plant effluent: Incorporating biology into the energy-water nexus

As global populations grow, demand for generation of affordable and efficient electricity will likely increase, requiring tradeoffs between power generation and ecosystems sustainability, including water quality and species habitat. Once-through thermoelectric power plants, representing 30% of the electricity generation in the United States, withdraw and discharge large quantities of water for cooling purposes. This process can cause thermal pollution in waterways, adversely affecting aquatic communities. Incorporating biology into the energy-water nexus can aid decision-makers in identifying tradeoffs and more effectively assessing and managing aquatic ecosystems. To quantify thermal pollution and the risk posed to aquatic species, we created an adaptable, novel methodology that utilizes plume mixing and probability distribution analyses on temperature and flow data for both a power plant’s discharge and the adjoining river. To assess risk, we developed a probability risk space that quantifies the probability of exceeding a given temperature. The Shawnee Fossil Plant on the Ohio River was selected to demonstrate the methodology, and three fish species with associated upper thermal avoidance limits were selected for comparison. Our results highlight that both the lateral and longitudinal location from the point of effluent mixing within the river affects the probability of thermal risk to aquatic species. A high degree of risk within a plume can reduce to a smaller total risk within the context of a large river cross-section. Our results emphasize the need for individualized risk assessment for Clean Water Act §316(a) requirements for power plant effluent temperature limits and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits. These findings are applicable in policy-making, environmental mitigation, and power plant operations management.

Deriving principal channel metrics from bank and long-profile geometry with the R package cmgo

Abstract. Landscape patterns result from landscape forming processes. This link can be exploited in geomorphological research by reversely analyzing the geometrical content of landscapes to develop or confirm theories of the underlying processes. Since rivers represent a dominant control on landscape formation, there is a particular interest in examining channel metrics in a quantitative and objective manner. For example, river cross-section geometry is required to model local flow hydraulics, which in turn determine erosion and thus channel dynamics. Similarly, channel geometry is crucial for engineering purposes, water resource management, and ecological restoration efforts. These applications require a framework to capture and derive the data. In this paper we present an open-source software tool that performs the calculation of several channel metrics (length, slope, width, bank retreat, knickpoints, etc.) in an objective and reproducible way based on principal bank geometry that can be measured in the field or in a GIS. Furthermore, the software provides a framework to integrate spatial features, for example the abundance of species or the occurrence of knickpoints. The program is available at https://github.com/AntoniusGolly/cmgo and is free to use, modify, and redistribute under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3 as published by the Free Software Foundation.

Ground beetle communities in a mountain river subjected to restoration: The Raba River, Polish Carpathians

Effects of passive restoration of mountain rivers on the organisms inhabiting exposed riverine sediments are considerably less understood than those concerning aquatic biota. Thus, the effects of a recovery of the Raba River after abandonment of maintenance of its channelization scheme on ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) communities were investigated by comparing 6 unmanaged cross-sections and 6 cross-sections from adjacent channelized reaches. In each cross-section, ground beetles were collected from 12 sampling sites in spring, summer, and autumn, and 8 habitat parameters characterizing the cross-sections and sampling sites were determined. Within a few years after abandonment of the Raba River channelization scheme, the width of this gravel-bed river increased up to three times and its multi-thread pattern became re-established. Consequently, unmanaged river cross-sections had significantly larger channel width and more low-flow channels and eroding cutbanks than channelized cross-sections. Moreover, sampling sites in the unmanaged cross-sections were typified by significantly steeper average surface slope and larger average distance from low-flow channels than the sites in channelized cross-sections. In total, 3992 individuals from 78 taxa were collected during the study. The ground beetle assemblages were significantly more abundant and richer in species in the unmanaged than in the channelized cross-sections but no significant differences in carabid diversity indices between the two cross-section types were recorded. Redundancy Analysis indicated active river zone width as the only variable explaining differences in abundance and species richness among the cross-sections. Multiple regression analysis indicated species diversity to predominantly depend on the degree of plant cover and substrate grain size. The study showed that increased availability of exposed sediments in the widened river reaches allowed ground beetles to increase their abundance and species richness within a few years after the onset of river restoration, but more time may be needed for development of more diverse carabid communities.

Fractal research of transverse sections of a long river channel below a dam

Research on the propagation law of unsteady flow from dam discharge has significance for the engineering problems of shipping and urban flood control. Due to the problem of many factors influencing the process of unsteady flow, we propose using fractal dimensions to replace various hydraulic factors. In this paper, we choose a navigation-obstructing beach section in a river as the research object, establish a two-dimensional unsteady fractal mathematical model to obtain statistics on the channel width at the minimum maintenance water depth and then calculate the fractal dimension of the river cross section. The results show the first-order feature, and it is also shown that the fractal dimension of the river width has a strong relationship with the depth at the beach section and the shape of the cross section. In general, the shoal’s fractal dimension increases with the depth. The fractal dimension of the transverse sections has the trend of gradually reducing as a whole with the velocity. Compared to the fractal dimension of the beach in the same river section, the river cross-section topography is smoother and the section fractal dimension is smaller when the upstream flow is the same.