CHAPTER FOUR

STAGE-DICHARGE RELATIONSHIP
 Stage-Discharge Relationship

 The stream discharges cannot be measured every

day, or even as often as desired because of economic
considerations.
 Furthermore, during the flood event it is also not
possible to measure the discharge because of high
velocities.
 Hence discharges occurring between periods of
measurement are determined from already
developed stage-discharge relationships
 Where the stage is the water surface elevation above
a selected arbitrary datum plane.
 Cont.

 The stage-discharge relationship is developed by

measuring the stage simultaneously with each
measurement of discharge and plotting the same
against the measured discharge.

 Thus, if the stage is known, the discharge can be

obtained from the developed stage-discharge
relationship.
 Simple Rating Curve

 If the measured discharge is plotted against the

corresponding stage, the data will normally define a
curve which is approximately parabolic.
 Cont.

 Such a curve is generally satisfactory for a good

majority of rivers where the discharge station has
been selected with due regard to the essential
requirements of good gauge site and stream is not
subjected to too rapid fluctuations of the stage.
 The rating curve remains valid so long as the
conditions at the gauging site remain stable.
 The combined effect of all the channel and flow
parameters is termed as control.
 Cont.

 When the rating curve remains unchanged with time,

we call the site to be a permanent control, and
when it changes with time, the site is known as
shifting control.
 Shifting Control
 A station is subjected to shifting control when the
stage-discharge relationship changes either gradually
or rapidly as a result of physical changes in the control.
 In case the control shifts abruptly and remain
unchanged for some period of time, separate rating
curve can be drawn for each specific interval of time.
 Cont.

 When the control changes gradually as a result of

silting or other channel changes in streams moving
through channels of soft erodible bed and banks.
 The rapidity with which changes occur in the control
should be ascertained and a new rating curve
developed to be used for the period until gauging
indicate another change in the control.
 When the change in the control is slow, no single rating
curve would be applicable during the transitional
period of the control.
 An average rating curve is drawn during the period.
 Cont.

 Rising and falling stages have great effect upon the

discharge curve.
 During the rising stage of the river, the velocity and
discharge are greater than they are for the same
stage when the discharge is constant because of a
change in the bed roughness and water surface
slope.
 The reverse phenomenon occurs during the falling
stage of the river.
 Cont.

 Rising and falling stage of shifting control :

 Permanent Control

 A permanent control, the rating curve does not

change with time but it may be necessary to
check it periodically.
 A site may have a single control for the full
stage or different controls each serving for
different range of stages.
 A single stage-discharge relation assumes the
form
 Cont.

 …….Equation (a)

 Where
 G = gauging height (m) and
 G0 = the gauging height corresponding to zero discharge.
 It does not represent the river bed level but a value below
it.
 Q = the discharge in m3/sec
 Cont.

 c, n are constants that can be evaluated using the

method of least squares, however, the value of G0
should be evaluated before
 The above equation is assumed to be an appropriate
fit between the discharge Q and the stage in the river
G.
 The constants c, G0 and n are to be determined using
the observed data on G and Q.
 The value of G0 is supposed to be the stage
corresponding to zero discharge in the stream.
 Evaluation of Go

 There are a number of methods available to accomplish

this.
 One of the simples approach is trial and error search
for G0 which gives the best value of correlation
coefficient r and the lowest standard error for the
observed set of stage and discharge values.
 A number of alternative methods are available to
determine the value of G0 like graphical, semi
graphical or analytical approaches.
 One approach is to take logarithms on both sides of the
above equation
 Cont.

 ……… Equation (b)

 This equation suggests that a plot of Q vs (G-G0)

would plot as a straight line on a log-log paper whose
slope is n and whose intercept on the discharge axis is
log c.
 It may be emphasised that fitting a mathematical
curve of equation for extrapolation
purpose at the upper or lower end of the stage-
discharge curve is only possible when the control does
not change beyond a particular stage.
 Procedure
 In practice, G0, the gauge height corresponding to zero
discharge, is not known and it is therefore to be
calculated from the observed data with the following
steps:
 1. Plot discharge Q versus gauge G and fit a gauge
discharge curve by eye inspection such that there is equal
number of points on each side of the fitted curve.
 2. Select a few points on this fitted curve and note down
their coordinates Q and G
 3. Assume different values of G0 and plot a curve on log-
log sheet, between Q versus (G-G0).
 4. The correct value of G0 is that which in step 3 gives a
straight line as per eq. (b)
 Cont.

 5. From this straight line of step 4 find out the value

of c and n. C is the value of Q where (G- G0) is equal
to one and n is the tangent of the angle the line
makes with the (G- G0) axis.
 6. Estimate higher values of Q for the desired gauges
with the help of eq. (a).
 In the other approach, three values of Q are selected
from a G-D curve such that or
 Cont.

 From a similar ratio of the right side of stage-

discharge relation we get

 Using the above equation, value of G0 can be

evaluated.

 However, this method is less accurate than the

previous one and should be used with caution.
 Example

 Three points on a rating curve of a stream gauging

station obtained from an eye-fit for the stage
discharge data have the following coordinates
(100m3/s, 121.67m), (200m3/s, 122.23m), and
(400m3/s, 123.04m). Determine the equation of the
rating curve and compute the discharge in the
stream corresponding to a stage of 124.5m.
 Solution

 Solution: Q1 = 100m3/s G1 =121.67m) G2 =122.23m

Q2 = 200m3/s G3 =123.04m Q1 = 400m3/s
 Since the given discharge satisfy the condition that
 the constant G0 in the equation

obtained as:
 Now,

 Therefore, the equation of the rating curve is given by

 Cont.

 From this equation, the discharge corresponding to a

stage of 124.5 m is obtained as
 Assignment2
 Following are the data of gauge and discharge collected
at a particular section of the river by stream gauging
operation.
 (a) Develop a stage-discharge relationship for this
stream at this section for use in estimating the
discharge for a known gauge reading.
 What is the coefficient of correlation of the derived
relationship? Use a value of G0 = 7.50m for the gauge
reading corresponding to zero discharge.
 (b) Estimate the discharge corresponding to a gauge
reading of 10.5 m at this gauging station.
 Cont.

 Stage-Discharge Data:
 Cont.

 End Of the Chapter

 End of the Course
 Cont.

 Processing of stage-discharge data Each

measurement includes a record of the data base with
the above parameters for a particular station. The
data base is used for further analysis of the
measurements.
 – Computation of the rating curve Steady flow:
computation of the unique rating curve, in most
cases using the power type equation
 Validation of rating curves:
 To investigate the validity of the rating curve when
new measurements become available, tests for
absence from bias and goodness-of fit can be
applied, such as a run test on the sequence of
positive and negative deviations from the rating
curve.