Accuracy of Annual Volume from Current-Meter-Based Stage Discharges
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 11, Issue 5
Abstract
Many water users have been strongly encouraged to reduce the amount of their diversions through improved water management practices. However, the impact of improved practices can be lost in the uncertainty of measured water volumes. A firm understanding of the accuracy of flow measurements and accumulated volumes is important for identifying opportunities for improvement. Stage–discharge relationships are often used to estimate discharge over time from near-continuous measurements of stage. The stage–discharge relationship is usually determined from periodic current-meter discharge measurements. Random errors in current-meter discharge measurements and changes in the true stage–discharge relationship as the channel properties change with erosion, sedimentation, vegetation growth, etc., all compromise our ability to infer discharge over time from stage measurements. Some water users adjust the stage–discharge relationship with each current-meter discharge measurement. In this paper, we present procedures to estimate the accuracy of various methods for inferring total annual water volume based on near-continuous measurement of stage and various methods for determining the stage–discharge relationship. These uncertainty estimates can then be used to obtain insight into water users’ flow measurement strategies as well as suggestions on improving these strategies.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Anning, D. W. (2002). “Standard errors of annual discharge and change in reservoir content data from selected stations in the Lower Colorado River streamflow-gauging station network, 1995–99.” USGS Water-Resources Investigations Rep. No. 01-4240, U.S. Geological Survey, Tucson, Ariz.
Bos, M. G. (1989). “Discharge measurement structures.” Publication 20, International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Burkham, D. E., and Dawdy, D. R. (1970). “Error analysis of streamflow data for an alluvial stream.” USGS Professional Paper 655-C, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Carter, R. W., and Anderson, I. E. (1963). “Accuracy of current meter measurements.” J. Hydraul. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 89(4), 105–115.
Clemmens, A. J., Wahl, T. L., Bos, M. G., and Replogle, J. A. (2001). “Water measurement with flumes and weirs.” ILRI Publication 58, ILRI, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Coleman, H. W., and Steele, W. G. (1999). Experimentation and uncertainty analysis for engineers, Wiley New York.
Engel, P. (1999). “Current meter calibration strategy.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 125(12), 1306–1308.
Fontaine, R. A., Moss, M. E., Smath, J. A., and Thomas, W. O. (1984). “Cost effectiveness of the stream-gauging program in Maine—A prototype for nationwide implementation.” USGS Water-Supply Paper 2244, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washingtion, D.C.
Gilroy, E. J., and Moss, M. E. (1981). “Cost-effective stream-gauging strategies for the Lower Colorado River Basing.” USGS Open-File Rep. No. 81-1019, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Matsuoka, I., Lee, R., and Thomas, W. O. (1985). “Cost-effectiveness of the stream-gauging program in the Hawaii District.” USGS Water-Resources Investigation Rep. No. 84-4126, U.S. Geological Survey, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Montgomery, D. C., and Peck, E. A. (1982). Introduction to linear regression analysis, Wiley, New York.
Mood, A. M., Graybill, F. A., and Boes, D. C. (1974). Introduction to the theory of statistics, McGraw-Hill Inc., New York.
Moss, M. E., and Gilroy, E. J. (1980). “Cost effective stream-gauging strategies for the lower Colorado River basin: The Blythe field office operations.” USGS Open-File Rep. No. 80-1048, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va.
Rantz, S. E. (1982). “Measurement and computation of streamflow: Volume 1, Measurement of stage and discharge.” USGS Water Supply Paper 2175, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Sauer, V. B., and Meyer, R. W. (1992). “Determination of error in individual discharge measurements.” USGS Open-File Rep. No. 92-144, U.S. Geological Survey, Norcross, Ga.
Smoot, G. F., and Carter, R. W. (1968). “Are individual current meter ratings necessary?” J. Hydraul. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 94(2), 391–397.
Thoreson, B. P., Eckhardt, J., and Divine, A. J. (1999). “Correlation between sampling interval and volume calculations.” Proc., USCID Water Management Conf., Benchmarking Irrigation System Performance Using Water Measurement and Water Balances, San Luis Obispo, Calif., U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, Denver.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 11 • Issue 5 • September 2006
Pages: 489 - 501
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 22, 2005
Accepted: Nov 15, 2005
Published online: Sep 1, 2006
Published in print: Sep 2006
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.