SYNTHESIS OF RATING CURVES FROM LOCAL STAGE AND REMOTE DISCHARGE MONITORING USING NONLINEAR MUSKINGUM ROUTING

The specification of environmental water requirements in rivers requir es the ability to relate discharge to local hydraulic conditions. Rati ng curves at locations of interest are a basic requirement. but are di fficult and time-consuming to compile using conventional methods. Rive r stage can be monitored relatively easily and can be related to disch arge monitored at a different location on the same river by flood rout ing techniques. Simultaneous short-term records of local stage and rem ote discharge can be used through a nonlinear Muskingum model to optim ize the parameters of a rating function at the local site. The approac h is verified by resynthesizing a rating function used in rigorous rou ting in a hypothetical channel, and applied to a monitored site on the Sable River in South Africa, with account taken of dynamic bank stora ge. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.