Sensitivity of Field Data Estimates in One-Dimensional Hydraulic Modeling of Channels
Publication: Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 6
Abstract
A hydraulic simulation study was carried out for Red Hill Creek, an urban stream channel in Ontario, Canada. Over one million simulations were conducted using the HEC-RAS4b model to evaluate the sensitivity of model predictions to field data accuracy, density and estimation techniques and provide guidance toward balancing human resource allocation with model accuracy. Increased cross-sectional discretization and improved estimates of floodplain roughness dominate the accuracy of the results of computed water surface elevations. For a range of field hours available for data collection, a sampling strategy focused on maximizing the number of sparsely detailed cross sections is shown to outperform a sampling strategy using the same number of field hours to sample fewer cross sections with a higher resolution.
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Acknowledgments
The funding for this project was sponsored by the National Scientific and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant Program, and the University of Waterloo, Faculty of Engineering, Dean’s Graduate Support Award. We would also like to thank the constructive comments of three anonymous reviewers which strengthened and further focused the manuscript.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 6 • June 2010
Pages: 379 - 384
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 26, 2009
Accepted: Nov 13, 2009
Published online: May 14, 2010
Published in print: Jun 2010
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