I was recently asked to explain why I recommend starting from a value of 1 (i.e., unity) as a first guess for the velocity coefficient for unconstrained alluvial channels. This probably does deserve an explanation (or 4) because I’ve never heard anyone else recommend the unity conjecture, in spite of the inherent elegance of such simplicity....
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Stage-discharge rating curves define a unique relation between water level and discharge, enabling continuous derivation of streamflow from water level record. This is important because water level (which is relatively easy to monitor) is only locally relevant whereas discharge (which is relatively difficult to measure directly) is the integral of all runoff processes upstream of the gauge. The vast majority of all streamflow data that...
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Canada was built on the back of beavers but — much to the chagrin of stream gaugers ever since — beavers managed to outlive the fashion of top hats. After the end of the fur trade, beavers started to re-populate the north with impunity. Anyone unlucky enough to have the responsibility of stream gauging on a beaver infested stream knows how difficult it is to produce...
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