Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

3. Hydrometric Measurement

3.1 Introduction

A stream is a flow channel into which the surface runoff from its catchment drains. Streamflow
or discharge is measured in units of volume per unit time (m3/s). The measurement of discharge
in a stream forms an important branch of "Hydrometry", the science and practice of water
measurement. This module deals with methods of measuring discharge in a river and processing
of streamflow data.

3.2 Streamflow Data

Stream flow records are the continuous data of flow passing through a particular section on the
stream. Since the measurements made at the gauging site may subject to various random,
systemic and spurious errors, raw data is to be processed to transform them into their most usable
forms through a variety of quality checks at appropriate stages to ensure data quality and
reliability. Processing of stream flow data is not a single step process; several steps are required
to produce reliable streamflow data.

For effective and efficient water resource assessment and management and for proper
river basin planning, development of flood forecasting system, etc. reliable, accurate, processed
and easily accessible data base containing data of hydrologic variables is a pre-requisite.

The most important hydrological data for management of surface water resources pertains to
streamflow. Streamflow has served as the lifeline for mankind and continues to do so. Its
importance is also relatively more, since this source is visible in contrast to ground water
which is hidden. Streamflow records are primarily continuous records of flow passing through a
particular location on the stream. Streamflow data are analyzed to determine the magnitude and
variability of surface waters. These records are input in planning, design, and operation of
surface water projects and are also used in design of bridges and culverts, flood forecasting
systems, and flood plain delineation.

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3.2.1 Measurement of River Flows

There are several methods for measuring river flows - the long-established and time-tested
velocity-area method, structural (use of weir, notch) and dilution techniques and recent
innovations such as the moving boat method, ultrasonic, and electromagnetic methods. Each of
these methods has certain advantages and limitations which makes their choice dependant on site
conditions and on the equipment and resources available with the gauging authority.

When the channel cross-section is regular and of a known shape, an estimate of the
discharge can be obtained by simply measuring the averaged flow either across the channel at
some depth or over depth in the center of the channel. Fig 3.1 shows the classification of various
methods of discharge measurement.

River gauging stations are of three types: basic data stations, operational stations, and
special stations. The basic stations are established to collect data for a variety of uses, including
planning and design of projects, and to understand the hydrological characteristics of the region.
The operational stations collect data to run projects and issue forecasts. The objective of special
stations is to meet specific data needs that may arise in cases, such as research, project
investigation, special studies, legal cases, etc. Their operation is terminated when the specific
need is fulfilled. Sometimes, auxiliary stations are set up to augment the database from the
network or region. An auxiliary station may, for example, record only the peak discharge which
occurs at that site during a certain (usually limited) period.

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Chapter Three

Fig.3.1 Classification of methods of discharge measurement.

3.3 Direct Determination of Discharge

Discharge is the volume of water passing through a certain section in a unit time period. It is
commonly expressed in cubic metres per second (m3/s or cumec). The discharge at a site is a
function of the cross-section area and flow velocity. The cross-section area, in turn, depends on
river stage. At most stations, discharge is measured once a day; at important stations or during
high flows, it might be measured more frequently. Discharge measurement techniques can be
broadly classified into two categories: (i) direct determination, and (ii) indirect determination.
There are many methods under each category. The important ones are discussed here.

In the direct determination methods either discharge itself is measured or some variable on which
discharge depends is measured. The commonly used methods are: velocity-area methods,
dilution techniques, electromagnetic method, and ultrasonic method.

3.3.1 Velocity-Area Methods

Discharge is the product of cross-sectional area and velocity of water. The velocity-area methods
involve measuring the flow area and velocity and these are multiplied to get discharge:

where Q = discharge [m3/s], v = velocity [m/s], and A = cross-section of flow [m2].

Since the velocity of flow at a cross-section varies laterally and with depth, it is not enough to
measure the velocity at a single point. Depending on the accuracy required, the width of the
stream is divided into a number of vertical portions (Fig.3.7). In each of these portions,
the velocity is measured at one or more points along the depth to get a representative velocity in
that portion. The area of the individual portion can be easily calculated if the bed profile and
stage are known. The velocity may be measured by a conventional method (for example, float or
current meter) or by an advanced procedure, for example, the moving boat technique.

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Chapter Three

Fig.4.2 Schematic sketch for a velocity-area station.

 In this method, the discharge is determined from the area of cross-section and the mean
velocity.

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Chapter Three

 The area of cross-section of the river is determined from the profile of the river bed
obtained by the sounding.
 The river cross-section is divided in to a suitable number of vertical segments (or strips).
The total discharge in the river is computed as the sum of the discharges in various segments.
The discharge in each segment is equal to the area of the segment multiplied by the mean
velocity of flow.

There are two methods of determining the discharge:

 Mid-section method
 Mean-section method

Mid-section method

In this method, the area of cross-section is divided into several segments, and the mean velocity
(Vm) is measured on a vertical line in the middle of the segment. The mean depth of the segment
is also taken at the middle of the segment. If b is the width of the segment and d m the mean
depth, the discharge in the segment is given by

Q  b  d m Vm

Total discharge Q  Q

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Chapter Three

The discharge in the end two triangular strips is usually neglected. However, for greater
accuracy, the discharge in these triangular strips should also be calculated by measuring the
depth and velocity at the centroids of these strips.

Mean section methods

In this method, the segment is taken between two vertical lines on which the velocity and depth
are measured. The velocity in the segment is taken as the average of the mean velocities V1 and
V2 determined at the two adjacent verticals. Similarly, the depth is also taken as the average of
two depths d1 and d2. Thus the discharge in the segment is given by

This method is slightly more accurate than the mid-section method.

Determination of Velocity

For the measurement of discharge, the mean velocity is required at various vertical lines as
discussed above. The following methods are commonly used:

 Float method
 Current meter method

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Chapter Three

Read Chapter Two about How to determine the velocity of the

river
Measurements of Area
Form the previous discussion it is clear that the velocity of river section varies in all the
directions. The velocity is zero at the river periphery and changes rapidly as we move from the
channel bed. A single area-velocity measurement for the entire section will give highly erroneous
results. Therefore, the cross section of river at the gauging site is divided into a number of
subsections by imaginary verticals. The number of such subsections for stream is divided by the
following criteria.

1. Discharge carried by any subsection should be upto 10 % of the total discharge of the
entire section.
2. The width of any subsection should be about 5 % of the total width of the river at the site.
3. There should not be any large velocity difference between the adjacent subsections
4. The discharge variation between adjacent subsections should be 5-10 %.
Table: Guidelines for deciding number of subsections of a river section for

discharge measurements

River or channel width Number of observation Maximum section width

(m) (m)
sections

Upto 15 15 1.5

Between 15 – 90 15 6

Between 90 – 180 15 15

Over 180 25 To be fixed suitably

For computation of area, determination of water depths at various subsections is carried out by
any of the following methods

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Chapter Three

- Wading or Sounding Rod: A man walks across the river section with a graduated
wading rod and the depth of water at each of the predefined subsection is measured.
- Echo-sounder: For deep channels carrying the water at high velocities, an
electroacustic device called echo-sounder is often used. This instrument gives
accurate results in the least time and is best suited for soft and mobile beds.
 A transducer is lowered at the surface of the water and high frequency sound waves
are emitted from it. Reflected sound waves from the river bed are received back by the
instrument and the time lapse between transmission and reception is converted to depth of
water at the location.

Measurement Procedure

For area velocity method, the following procedure called mid section method for measurement of
discharge may be followed.
i) Divided the cross-section of the river into n number of vertical sections as per the
guidelines given before.
ii) Measure the depth of water at sections h1, h2,... hn-1 by a wading rod, sounding rod or
cho-sounder. For n number of sections, there will be (n+1) number of verticals but the
depth h at the beginning and end being zero, the number of verticals being (n-1) as
shown in Fig. below.

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Chapter Three

Fig: Stream section for area-velocity method

iii) Measure the horizontal distances of the verticals h1, h2,..., hn-1 from the reference bank
as W1, W2,....,Wn-1.
iv) Compute the area at the subsections such that the depths h1, h2,..., hn-1 represents the
mid points of the sections.
h1  h2 
First and last triangular area A1    W1 .
2 2 

 W  W3 
Intermediate area A  h2  2 .
 2 

v) Measure the velocity at the location of the points and compute the average velocity at
each subsection by any of the following methods.
a) One point method: velocity observed at 0.6h depth below the surface gives mean
velocity with  5 % accuracy Vm = V0.6h
b) Two point method: Mean of two velocities recorded at 0.2h and 0.8h gives better
results than a) with 2 % accuracy. For this method the water depth should be
greater than 0.6 m. Average velocity is calculated as Vm = 0.5 (V0.2h + V0.8h).
c) By velocity profile: A current meter is lowered and then raised from the bottom
of channel at a uniform rate of 0.04 m/s. The velocity of flow is recorded at close
intervals. The velocity of flow is the average for the whole section. Two such
complete cycles are observed and the average velocity should not vary more than
10 %.
d) Surface velocity method: This method is usually adopted during high floods.
Here a surface float is used to get the surface velocity. This velocity when
multiplied by a coefficient (0.85 to 0.95) gives average velocity of the subsection.
vi) Multiply the area (Ai) and respective average velocity for each subsection to find out
the discharge for the subsection (Qi) separately.
vii) By mean section method, area and velocity is computed.
h1  0 0  v1 
A1  W1 ; va1 
2 2

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Chapter Three

h1  h2  v  v2 
A2  W2 ; va 2  1 and so on
2 2

and discharge is computed using the relations

Q1  A1  v1 ; Q2  A2  v2

 For end sections the relation for triangles and for the middle section, rules for trapezoidal
sections are used.

viii) Sum of discharges of all such subsections gives the total discharge for the section.
Q   Qi

Example:

The rating curve of a current meter used for measuring velocity in a small river is given as v =
0.62N + 0.032 m/s, where N is the revolution/s. Calculate the discharge of the river from the
following data. Velocity is measured at the mid of the section.

Distance from bank 0 2 5 8 12 15 18 21 23 24

(m)
Depth (m) 0 0.6 1.2 1.8 2.4 1.9 1.4 1.1 0.5 0
N at 0.6d 0 60 90 120 150 140 100 80 50 0
Time (sec) 0 150 140 140 160 140 140 140 140 0
Solution

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 Chapter Three

Distance from the left bank (m)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
0.0

0.5
Depth (m)

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

Distance depth revol. Time N=revol/T Velocity mean V width mean d segment

(m) (m) (sec) (1/sec) (m/sec) (m/sec) (m) (m) Q (m3/s)

0 0 0 0 0 0

0.14 2 0.3 0.084

2 0.6 60 150 0.400 0.280

0.355 3 0.9 0.959

5 1.2 90 140 0.643 0.431

0.497 3 1.5 2.237

8 1.8 120 140 0.857 0.563

0.588 4 2.1 4.942

12 2.4 150 160 0.938 0.613

0.633 3 2.15 4.080

15 1.9 140 140 1.000 0.652

0.563 3 1.65 2.789

18 1.4 100 140 0.714 0.475

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Chapter Three

0.431 3 1.25 1.615

21 1.1 80 140 0.571 0.386

0.320 2 0.8 0.512

23 0.5 50 140 0.357 0.253

0.127 1 0.25 0.032

24 0

Total discharge (m3/s) 17.249

3.3.2 Dilution Method

In this method a tracer like common salt or fluorescent dye of concentration C 1 is injected at a
constant rate of q1 to a small stream of constant cross section. The flow in the stream is assumed
to be steady. At the other station, sufficient downstream of it, a pair of electrodes (for salts) or
other suitable device is used to measure the tracer concentration.

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Chapter Three

where C2 is the final constant rate of the concentration of tracer in the downstream, Co the initial
concentration of the tracer in the stream water present before the injection of C1 into the stream.

The mixing length depends on the geometric dimension of the river cross section, discharge and
flow conditions. It may vary from 1 km in small mountainous stream to more than 100 km in
plain streams for large rivers. This method however gives reliable results both for mountainous
stream and rivers in plains.

Example:

Common salt solution of concentration 200 gm/l was added to a stream at a constant rate of 0.2
cm3/sec. Concentration of this salt in the stream already present was 0.01ppm. At sufficiently
downstream, the concentration of the salt in the stream water was measured as 0.05 ppm.
Estimate the stream discharge.

Solution:

Rate of injection of salt solution = 0.2 cm3/sec = 0.2  10-6 m3/sec

Concentration of salt C1 = 200 gm/l = 0.20 gm/gm

Final concentration of salt in water C2 = 0.050 ppm = 0.050  10-6 gm/gm

Q 

q1 C1  C 2  0.20 10 6  0.20  0.5 10 6 
 1.0 m 3 / sec
C2  Co 
0.050 10 6  0.0110 6 
Discharge in the stream is 1.00 m3/sec.

3.4 Indirect Determination of Discharge

These methods make use of the relationship between the flow discharge and the water surface
slope and depth at specified locations. Two important indirect methods are the slope-area method
and use of flow measuring structures.

Estimation of Discharge by Slope-Area Method

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Chapter Three

Slope-area method is an approximate and indirect method of discharge estimation which is used
when measurement by more accurate methods, such as the velocity-area method, is not possible.
In this method, discharge is estimated by observing the water surface slope and cross-section
area. Although the accuracy of slope-area method is less compared to the velocity-area methods,
it is sometimes necessary to use this method because the magnitude of flows is so high and flow
conditions are such that the other methods of discharge estimation cannot be used. Such situation
may arise due to reasons like non-availability of equipment required for making current meter
measurements, inaccessibility of the site due to floods, presence of debris and floating matter in
the flood flow preventing the use of current meter, etc.

In flashy streams, high floods may pass without being measured due to their short duration. If the
magnitude of such floods is to be assessed after their occurrence, slope area method can be used.
Discharge values should estimated by slope-area method should not be used to establish rating
curves.

A measuring reach of the stream is chosen for which the mean cross section area and the
slope of water are determined. The mean velocity is computed by using the open channel flow
formula such as the Manning's formula. Appropriate value of the rugosity coefficient is chosen
depending on the physical conditions of the channel. Discharge is computed as the product of the
mean velocity and the average cross-sectional area of the reach.
For the measurement reach, three things should be known: (i) The cross-sectional
geometry and properties at its ends, (ii) the value of Manning's roughness coefficient n, and (iii)
water-surface elevations at the end sections.

The river reach should be straight (to the extent possible) having stable bed and banks and
uniform cross-section over a length of at least five times the width of the channel. In any case,
the length should not be less than about 300m. As far as possible, the river reach should be long
enough so that the difference between water levels at the upstream and downstream gauges is not
less than ten times the uncertainty in the difference. The flow in the reach should be free from
significant disturbances, draw-down or back-water effect of any structure or tributary joining
upstream or downstream and it should be contained within its banks for all stages at which this

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Chapter Three

method is used. If no uniform reach is available, the reach should preferably be converging
rather than diverging. The measurement site should be easily accessible at all times.

The area slope method can be improved to give good results by incorporating the principle of
conservation of energy between the two points of the selected reach. Considering reference
datum as the channel bed at points (1) and (2) as shown in Fig. below, Bernoulli’s equation can
be applied to calculate the head loss as
2
V
As section (1) energy head H1  1  Y1
2g (1)

2
V1
As section (2) energy head H2   Y2
2g (2)

Fig.: Slope method of calculation of Discharge

Energy slope over length between the two sections

 H1  H 2 
2
Q
   Sf   
 l  K
(3)

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Chapter Three

where Y1 and Y2 are the depths of water in the channel at section (1) and (2), respectively, with
velocities V1 and K is the channel conveyance which can be obtained from Manning’s equation
as

1
Q  A   R 2 / 3S f  K Sf
1/ 2 1/ 2

n
(4)

A R 2 / 3
K
where n (5)

R is the hydraulic radius = A/P, A the area of cross section of the channel in (m 2), P the wetted
perimeter (m). from the equation (4), the slope of energy line Sf of equation (3) can be obtained.
If two sections have different conveyance factors K1 and K2 with roughness n1 and n2
respectively, then the equivalent K between those sections can be calculated as

K  K1  K2  (6)

where

2/3
A1 R1 A2 R2
2/3 (7)
K1  and K2 
n1 n2

The procedure for using area-slope method is:

1. Select the stream reach between two sections (1) and (2) shown in Fig. above.
2. From the cross section at (1) and (2), find the depths of water during the flood at the two
sections from the flood marks left by floating debris.
3. Compute cross sectional areas A1 and A2 and wetted perimeters P1 and P2 corresponding to
the flood depths of step (2) of the particular flood.
4. Calculate the hydraulic radii R1 and R2 and the conveyances K1 and K2 after selecting
suitable roughness coefficient n1 and n2 for the section (1) and (2) respectively.
5. Obtain the average or equivalent conveyance K between Section (1) and (2).

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Chapter Three

6. Calculate the discharge Q from equation (4) by assuming a suitable value of Sf.
7. Calculate the velocity V1 and V2 at the two sections (1) and (2) from the relation
Q = A1V1 and Q = A2V2.

8. From equation (1) and (2), calculate H1 and H2 and the energy slope from equation (3).
9. The assumed value of Sf in step (6) should be the same the calculated value of

 H1  H 2 
  of step (8).
 l 

If the two values differ then take the energy slope of step (8) and repeat the steps (6) to (8) till
the energy slope at the end of the iteration are the same.

10. The discharge calculated at the end of step (9) is the estimated flood discharge.
Example: 1

During a high flood, a river reach of 1 km apart was having the following information

Up stream: Area of cross section A1 = 180 sq m

Wetted perimeter P1 = 50 m

Manning’s roughness coefficient n1 = 0,03

Reduced level of water = 78.3 m

Down stream:

Area of cross section A2 = 183 sq m

Wetted perimeter P2 = 51 m

Manning’s roughness coefficient n2 = 0,025

Reduced level of water = 78 m

Calculate the flood discharge. Neglect other losses.

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Chapter Three

Solution
Upstream (u/s) hydraulic radius R1 = (180/50) = 3.6 m

Downstream (d/s) hydraulic radius R2 = (183/51) = 3.59 m

1  1 
Conveyance of u / s K1    A1 R1     180  3.6  14100
2/3 2/3

 n1   0.03 
1  1 
Conveyance of u / s K 2    A2 R2     183  3.59  17170
2/3 2/3

 n2   0.025 
Average conveyance for the reach  K1 K2   14100  17170  15560

Assume fall in energy head 78.30 – 78.0 = 0.30 m between the reach of 1 km

0.30
Sf   0.0003
1000

Disch arg e Q  K S f  15560  0.0003  269.5 m3 / sec.

Q 269.5 269.5
V1    1.497 m / sec, and V2   1.473 m / sec.
A1 180 183

Fall of head  h1  h2  

V
1
2
 V2
2
  78.3  78  1.497  1.4732
2

 0.3036 say 0.304 m
2g 19.62

Iteration
Taking fall energy head now as 0.304/1000

 0.304 
Q  15560    271.43
 1000 
271.43 271.4
V1   1.508m / sec, and V2   1.483 m / sec
180 183

Fall of head  78.3  78.0 

1.508  1.4832 
2
 0.3038
19.62
 0.3038 
Q  15560    271.2 m / sec
3

 1000 
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Chapter Three

 The flood discharge during the event is 271.2 m3/sec.

Example 2:
Compute the discharge at downstream gauge site when the water gauges at two sites 2350 m
apart are 621.10 and 605.56 m. The area of cross-section at gauge 605.56 is 66.98 m2 and the
wetted perimeter is 70.75 m. Manning’s n = 0.035.

Solution:

621.10  605.56
Water surface slope, S   1 / 151
2350

1 2 / 3 1/ 2 A
From the equation Q  R S and R  ,
n P

2/3 1/ 2
1  66.98   1 
Q      150 m 3 / s
0.035  70.75   151

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