Downstream hydraulic geometry of rivers in Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Downstream variation of hydraulic geometry in rivers, characterized by fine textured banks and low width to depth ratios (7-25), is investigated in Victoria, Australia, with the aim of developing predictive models of channel geometry for large-scale spatial modeling applications. A one-dimensional hydraulic model is used to determine the mean bank-full geometry and discharge (Qbf) for 93 sites which are investigated in relation to discharge of fixed average recurrence interval (ARI). The median bank-full ARI is estimated at 0.8 years with 75% of sites between 0.5 and 2.5 years. Exponents in the downstream hydraulic geometry relations for width, depth and velocity are respectively 0.43, 0.40 ..