Routing Procedure for Ungaged Channels

Abstract

A hydraulic streamflow routing method was developed using the continuity equation and the control volume form of the energy equation. The required input data consists of a geometric description of the cross‐section, Manning roughness coefficients, channel slope, reach length and inflow hydrograph. The routing procedure was compared with dynamic wave and hydrologic routing methods. For these comparisons, two prismatic channels with different cross‐sectional shapes were analyzed using varying inflow hydrographs and channel slopes. This analysis included both subcritical and supercritical flow. Further analysis of the routing technique was performed by applying the routing procedure to natural streams. The two streams modeled contained irregular cross‐sections with variations in geometrical shape, slope and discharge. Gaged data provided upstream and downstream discharge hydrographs. The developed streamflow routing technique was demonstrated to perform well. The model can be applied in most situations common to open channel flow. The model does not have convergence problems due to irregular cross sections.