STREAM FLOW MEASUREMENT

INDIRECT METHODS

PREPARED BY: ENGR. NESLYN LOPEZ

 INDIRECT METHODS
• This method make use the relationship between the
flow discharge and the depths at specified location.

• The field measurement is restricted to the

measurements of depths only.

• Two broad classification of indirect methods;

Flow measuring structures
Slope area method
 FLOW MEASURING STRUCTURES

• Use of structures like notches, weirs, flumes and sluice

gates for flow measurement in hydraulic laboratories is
well known.

• These conventional structures are used in field

conditions also but their use is limited by the ranges of
head, debris or sediment load of the stream and back-
water effects produced by the installation.
 FLOW MEASURING STRUCTURES

• The basic principle governing the use of a weir, flume or

similar flow-measuring structure is that these structures
produced a unique control section in the flow.

• At these structures, the discharge 𝑸 is a function of the water-

surface elevation measured at a specified location,

𝑸=𝒇 𝑯 Eq.4.20

Where:
𝑯 = water surface elevation measured from a specified datum.
 FLOW MEASURING STRUCTURES

• Thus, for example, for weirs:

𝑸 = 𝑲𝑯𝒏 Eq.4.21

Where:
𝑯 = head over the weir
𝑲, 𝒏 = system constants
 FLOW MEASURING STRUCTURES

• The Eq.4.20 is applicable so long as the downstream water

level is below a certain limiting water known as the modular
limit.

• Such flows which are independent of the downstream water

level are known as free flows.

• If the tail water conditions don not affect the flow, then the flow is
known as drowned or submerged flow.
 FLOW MEASURING STRUCTURES

• Discharged under drowned, condition are obtained by applying

a reduction factor to the free flow discharges.

• For example, the submerged flow over a weir is estimated by

Villemonte formula,
𝒏 𝟎.𝟑𝟖𝟓
𝑯𝟐 Eq.4.22
𝑸𝒔 = 𝑸𝟏 𝟏−
𝑯𝟏
Where:
𝑸𝒔 = submerged discharge
𝑸𝟏 = free flow discharge under head 𝑯𝟏
𝑯𝟏 = upstream water surface elevation measured above the weir crest
𝑯𝟐 = downstream water elevation measured above the weir crest
𝒏 = exponent head in the head discharge relationship
FLOW MEASURING STRUCTURES
𝑸 = 𝑲𝑯𝟏 𝒏 , 𝒏 = 𝟏. 𝟓
𝟐
𝑲 = 𝑪𝒅 𝒃 𝟐𝒈
𝟑
 FLOW MEASURING STRUCTURES

• The various flow measuring structures can be broadly

considered under three categories:
1. Thin-plate structures
2. Long-base weirs
3. Flumes
 FLOW MEASURING STRUCTURES
THIN-PLATE STRUCTURES

• Are usually made from a

vertically set metal plate.

• The V-notch, rectangular full

width and contracted notches
are typical examples under
this category.
 FLOW MEASURING STRUCTURES
LONG-BASE WEIRS

• Also known as broad-crested weirs are made of concrete or

masonry and are used for large discharge values.
 FLOW MEASURING STRUCTURES
FLUMES
• Are made of concrete, masonry
or metal sheets depending on
their use and location.

• Depend primarily on the width

construction to produce a control
section.
 SLOPE AREA METHOD
• The resistance equation for
uniform flow in an open
channel, e.g. Manning’s
formula can be used to relate
𝒗𝟏 𝟐 𝒉𝒇 = 𝑺𝒇 𝑳
the depths at either ends of a
𝟐𝒈 𝒉𝒆
reach to the discharge
𝒚𝟏 𝒗𝟐 𝟐
𝟐𝒈
• Applying the energy equation
𝒚𝟐
to Section 1 and 2, 𝒁𝟏
𝒁𝟏
𝒗𝟏 𝟐 𝒗𝟐 𝟐
𝒁 𝟏 + 𝒚𝟏 + = 𝒁 𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐 + + 𝒉𝑳
𝟐𝒈 𝟐𝒈
Where: 𝒉𝑳 = head loss in the reach
 SLOPE AREA METHOD

• The head loss 𝒉𝑳 can be considered to be made up of two parts:

i. Frictional loss 𝒉𝒇
ii. Eddy loss 𝒉𝒆
• Denoting 𝒁 + 𝒚 = 𝒉 = 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒎
𝒗𝟏 𝟐 𝒗𝟐 𝟐
𝒉𝟏 + = 𝒉𝟐 + + 𝒉𝒆 + 𝒉𝒇
𝟐𝒈 𝟐𝒈
Or

𝒗𝟏 𝟐 𝒗𝟐 𝟐
𝒉𝒇 = 𝒉𝟏 − 𝒉𝟐 + − − 𝒉𝒆 Eq.4.23
𝟐𝒈 𝟐𝒈
 SLOPE AREA METHOD

If 𝑳 = length of the reach, by Manning’s formula for uniform flow,

𝒉𝒇 𝑸𝟐
= 𝑺𝒇 = 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒆 = 𝟐
𝑳 𝑲
𝟏 𝟐
Where 𝑲 = 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍 = 𝑨𝑹𝟑
𝒏
In a mountainous flow an average conveyance is used to estimate the
average energy slope and
𝒉𝒇 𝑸𝟐
= 𝑺𝒇 = 𝟐 Eq.4.24
𝑳 𝑲
𝟏 𝟐 𝟏 𝟐
Where 𝑲= 𝑲𝟏 𝑲𝟐 , 𝑲𝟏 = 𝑨𝟏 𝑹𝟏 𝒂𝒏𝒅𝑲𝟐 =
𝟑 𝑨𝟐 𝑹𝟐 𝟑
𝒏𝟏 𝒏𝟐
𝒏 = 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈′ 𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕
 SLOPE AREA METHOD

The eddy loss 𝒉𝒆 is estimated as

𝒗𝟏 𝟐 𝒗𝟐 𝟐
𝒉𝒆 = 𝑲𝒆 − Eq.4.25
𝟐𝒈 𝟐𝒈

Where 𝑲𝒆 = eddy-loss coefficient having values as below:

Cross-section Value of K
characteristic of the Expansion Contraction
reach
Uniform 0 0
Gradual transition 0.3 0.1
Abrupt transition 0.8 0.6
 SLOPE AREA METHOD

• Equation 4.23, 4.24, 4.25 together with the continuity equation: 𝑸 = 𝑨𝟏 𝑽𝟏 = 𝑨𝟐 𝑽𝟐

enable the discharge to be estimated for a known values of 𝒉, channel
cross-sectional properties and 𝒏.
• The discharge is calculated by a trial and error procedure using the following
sequence of calculations:
𝒗𝟏 𝟐 𝒗𝟐 𝟐
1. Assume 𝑽𝟏 = 𝑽𝟐 . This leads to = and by Eq.4.23,
𝟐𝒈 𝟐𝒈
𝒉𝒇 = 𝒉𝟏 − 𝒉𝟐 = 𝑭 = fall in water surface between Section 1 and 2.
2. Using Eq.4.24, calculate the discharge 𝑸.
𝑸 𝑸
3. Compute 𝑽𝟏 = 𝑨 and 𝑽𝟐 = 𝑨 . Calculate the velocity heads and eddy-
𝟏 𝟐
loss 𝒉𝒆 .
4. Now calculate the a refined value of 𝒉𝒇 by Eq.4.23 and go top Step 2.
Repeat the calculations till two successive calculations give values of
discharge (or 𝒉𝒇 ) differing by a negligible margin.
 SLOPE AREA METHOD

• It is a very versatile indirect method of discharge estimation

and requires;
i. The selection of a reach in which cross-sectional
properties including bed elevations are known at its ends
ii. The value of Manning’s 𝒏
iii. Water-surface elevations at the two-end section
 SLOPE-AREA METHOD
SAMPLE PROBLEM

During a flood flow the depth of water in a 10 m wide rectangular

channel was found to be 3.0 m and 2.9 m at two sections 200 m
apart. The drop in the water-surface elevation was found to be
0.12 m. Assuming Manning’s coefficient to be 0.025, estimate the
flood discharge through the channel.
 SLOPE-AREA METHOD
SOLUTION

Using suffixes 1 and 2 to denote the upstream and downstream

sections respectively, the cross-sectional properties are calculated as
follows:
Section 1 Section 2
𝑦1 = 3.0 𝑚 𝑦2 = 2.90 𝑚
𝐴1 = 30 𝑚2 𝐴2 = 29 𝑚2
𝑃1 = 16 𝑚 𝑃2 = 15.8 𝑚
𝑅1 = 1.875 𝑚 𝑅2 = 1.835 𝑚
1 2/3
1 2/3
𝐾1 = × 30 × 1.875 𝐾2 = × 29 × 1.835
0.025 0.025

𝐾1 = 1824.7 𝐾2 = 1738.9
 SLOPE-AREA METHOD
SOLUTION

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐾 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ = 𝐾1 𝐾2 = 1781.3

To start with ℎ𝑓 = 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 = 0.12 is assumed.
𝐸𝑑𝑑𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 ℎ𝑒 = 0
ℎ𝑓 ℎ𝑓
𝑆𝑓 = = 𝑄 = 𝐾 𝑆𝑓 = 1781.3 𝑆𝑓
𝐿 200
2 2
𝑄 𝑄
𝑣1 2 𝑣2 2
= 30 = 29
2𝑔 19.62 2𝑔 19.62
𝑣1 2 𝑣2 2
ℎ𝑓 = ℎ1 − ℎ2 + − − ℎ𝑒
2𝑔 2𝑔

𝑣1 2 𝑣2 2 𝑣1 2 𝑣2 2
ℎ𝑓 = 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 + − = 0.12 + −
2𝑔 2𝑔 2𝑔 2𝑔
 SLOPE-AREA METHOD
SOLUTION

Calculations:

Trial 𝒉𝒇 𝑺𝒇 𝑸 𝒗𝟏 𝟐 𝒗𝟐 𝟐 𝒉𝒇
(m) (m)
(trial) (units of 10-4) (m3/s) 𝟐𝒈 𝟐𝒈 By Eq.(E-1)
(m)
1 0.1200 6.000 43.63 0.1078 0.1154 0.1124
2 0.1124 5.622 42.24 0.1010 0.1081 0.1129
3 0.1129 5.646 42.32 0.1014 0.1081 0.1129

The discharge in the channel is 42.32 m3/s.