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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 110,
F04012,
doi:10.1029/2004JF000250,
2005
Generation and verification of theoretical rating curves in the Whitewater River basin, Kansas
Jason W. Kean
U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colorado, USA
J. Dungan Smith
U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Abstract
A new method for generating stage-discharge relations (rating curves) for geomorphically stable channels is presented and
applied to two streams in the Whitewater River basin, Kansas. The approach converts measurements of stage into discharge using
a fluid mechanically based model. The model does not use empirical roughness coefficients, such as Manning coefficients, but
rather determines channel roughness from field measurements of the (1) channel geometry, (2) the physical roughness of the
bed, banks, and floodplain, and (3) the vegetation density on the banks and floodplain. These measurements are used to calculate
explicitly the drag on the small-scale topographic features on the boundary, the drag on the stems and branches of woody vegetation,
and the friction on the bed, banks, and floodplain. The theoretical rating curves produced by the model for two study reaches,
which are near U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamflow-gauging stations, are in good agreement with direct measurements of
discharge made by the USGS. Our method has the potential of providing accurate estimates of stream flows less expensively
than conventional gauging methods. In addition, the method can be used to obtain more accurate discharge estimates than conventional
indirect methods for determining discharge, which are based on estimates of Manning's coefficient.
Received 11
October
2004;
accepted 19
August
2005;
published 18
November
2005.
Keywords: geomorphology;
floods;
streamflow.
Index Terms: 1825 Hydrology: Geomorphology: fluvial (1625); 1860 Hydrology: Streamflow; 1821 Hydrology: Floods; 1856 Hydrology: River channels (0483, 0744).
Read Full Article (file size: 861578 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Kean, J. W., and J. D. Smith
(2005),
Generation and verification of theoretical rating curves in the Whitewater River basin, Kansas,
J. Geophys. Res.,
110,
F04012,
doi:10.1029/2004JF000250.
This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. Published in 2005 by the
American Geophysical Union.
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