NAMES:
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Day 2. Measuring water fluxes
Description: We will visit the Huntington River in order to learn how to
characterize the channel and measure the discharge of water. Plan on
working in groups of 3 or 4 today in the field and working together in the
same group to do calculations.
Specific skills and knowledge: By the end of today’s fieldwork, you
should know how to measure a channel cross-section as well as use
various means to measure water velocity. You should be able to make a
discharge calculation for water and find evidence of the height to which
water rose in past floods.
Gear: flow meters, extra batteries, tapes, GPSs for cross section location.
Topo map and airphoto of site with UTM coordinates. Dye. Ph, DO, and
conductivity meters.
You should collect data in your field notebooks and complete the worksheets
below to hand in.
NOTE:
Conversions:
1 cubic foot = 0.028 cubic meters
1 cubic meter = 35.3 cubic feet
Sherman Hollow Brook (drainage area = 3 miles square)
Huntington River (drainage area = 68 miles square)
1
Sherman Hollow Brook
TEST 1
TEST 2
TEST 3
Average
NA
NA
NA
Stream width (m)
Cross-sectional
area (w*d) (m2)
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Cross-sectional
area (box count)
(m2)
NA
NA
NA
Float velocity
(multiplied by 0.85)
m/s
Propeller meter
velocity (0.6 depth)
m/s
Cup meter velocity
(0.6 depth)
m/s
Average stream
depth (m)
Discharge (avg
float vel*w*d)
(m3/s)
NA
NA
NA
Discharge (box
count area * avg
cup meter vel)
(m3/s)
NA
NA
NA
What are the GPS coordinates of the site you measured?
_________________northing
__________________easting
2
Huntington River
TEST 1
TEST 2
TEST 3
Average
NA
NA
NA
Stream width (m)
Cross-sectional
area (w*d) (m2)
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Cross-sectional
area (box count)
(m2)
NA
NA
NA
Float velocity
(multiplied by 0.85)
m/s
Propeller meter
velocity (0.6 depth)
m/s
Cup meter velocity
(0.6 depth)
m/s
Average stream
depth (m)
Discharge (avg
float vel*w*d)
(m3/s)
NA
NA
NA
Discharge (box
count area * avg
cup meter vel)
(m3/s)
NA
NA
NA
What are the GPS coordinates of the site you measured?
_________________northing
__________________easting
3
How do your flow estimates compare to the extreme discharge for basins
of similar size?
How do your flow estimates compare to the bankful discharge for basins of
similar size?
4