Hydrometry Quality Charter, Guide to Good Practices
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HYDROMETRY QUALITY CHARTER: THE GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICES INTRODUCTION In this age when IT is king and sophisticated computer modelling is common place, is there still a place for low tech science such as hydrometry ? Is this merely a costly use of manpower and time, yielding only marginal gains in productivity, requiring sophistic justification, of limited interest in a period of increasingly rare money? We've got to take a stand: the overwhelming majority of mathematical models err in their calibration data. Today it is less expensive to create a model than to go out into the field and collect real data. If we scratch beneath the surface of some of these hydrological projects- and certain recent scientific committee opinions remind us of this- we can quickly see the problem and underline the extent to which derived default hypotheses can have consequences not only in terms of risks but also in terms of possible cost overruns. The use of hydrological data is growing rapidly. Beyond the needs for modelling purposes, water use regulations have pushed us to better judge the effect of projects in observing an area and subsequently its fluctuations. Finally, the development of irrigation, using an increasing portion of seasonal discharges, made it necessary to manage this water use, which meant a better real time understanding of discharges. The quality charter, created by the HYDRO database user committee, shows that the hydrometry techniques have greatly evolved over the last fifteen years. There has always been an overriding concern for traceability, so that tomorrow's enlightened critics will be able to obtain current as well as historical data. In this charter, several improvements have been planned in order to ensure a maximum quality for hydrological data. It is therefore an everyday work guide whose vocation is to serve as a commitment to quality for hydrometry services. The originality of this charter, then, is that it is designed firstly for field personnel, although technicians and engineers will surely find some interesting surprises herein, and there is even something for the decision makers and financial experts whose curiosity takes them beyond the realm of educational illustrations. The Director P. ROUSSEL HYDROMETRY QUALITY CHARTER: THE GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICES " THE PROBLEM OF MEASURING DISCHARGES IS CURRRENTLY ONE OF THE MOST AGREVATING OF SCIENTIFIC UNCERTAINTIES" L. BARBILLON 1909 This work, coordinated by N. Forray (DIREN Bourgogne) was made possible by the participation if the following: JC AUER (A.E. Rhin Meuse) - J.F. Brochot (DIREN Rhone Alpes) Y Eraud ( A.E. Seine Normandie) A. Favriau (DIREN Centre) M. Ghio (DIREN Centre) C. Lallement (EDF-DTG) M. Lang (CEMAGREF) M. Odier (Environment Ministry) C. Scherer (Environment Ministry) And contributions from: D. Denninger (DIREN Bourgogne) R. Georges (DIREN Basse Normandie) M. Rieux (DIREN Centre) THEBE (ORSTOM) Illustrations: M. Devos M. Poinsot Layout: M. Poinsot Thank you. English version : Mr. Dennis CHICK Email : [email protected] HYDROMETRY QUALITY CHARTER: THE GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICES TABLE OF CONTENTS FROM RAW MEASUREMENTS TO VALIDATED DISCHARGES: MAIN ERROR FACTORS GAUGING 1 PRELIMINARIES AND REMINDERS 2 STREAM GAUGING USING VELOCITY - AREA METHOD 2.1 CURRENT METER VELOCITY GAUGING 2.2 ELECTROMAGNETIC CURRENT METER 2.3 ACOUSTIC DOPPLER CURENT PROFILER ( ADCP ) 2.4 FLOAT GAUGING 2.5 DILUTION ( CHEMICAL ) GAUGING CONCLUSIONS CHOICE OF SITE AND INSTRUMENTS FOR A STATION 1 TRADITIONAL HYDROMETRY 2 DOUBLE STAFF GAUGE STATIONS 3 ULTRASOUND SPEED MEASURING STATIONS 4 DOPPLER STATIONS 5 SITE TOPOGRAPHY 6 THE STATION FILE (STATION RECORDS) RATING CURVE 1 ACQUISITION OF THE PHYSICAL DATA 2 CONSTRUCTION OF THE RATING CURVE 3 MANAGEMENT OF THE RATING CURVES 4 CONCLUSION HYDROMETRIC DATA ACCURACY RECONSTITUTION OF HYDROMETRIC DATA 1 SOME PRINCPLES 2 HOW TO RECONSTITUTE DATA 3 HOW TO CORRELATE DATA CRITICAL PROCESSING AND VALIDATION OF DATA 1 DATA PROCESSING 2 CRITIQUING DATA 3 DATA VALIDATION PRINCIPLE STANDARDS BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNEXES 1 CONTROL OF THE PROPELLER CURRENT METER COMPONENTS 2 RECORD CARD IN THE FIELD DURING THE FLOODS 3 GAUGING RECORD CARD 4 STATION RECORD CARD 5 RECORD CARD OF THE CURRENT METER MAINTENANCE HYDROMETRY QUALITY CHARTER: THE GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICES Still other sites could be affected by plant growth and FROM RAW MEASUREMENTS TO require a greater number of gauges. VALIDATED DISCHARGES: These site constraints should result in: MAIN ERROR FACTORS Ø a change in the site location, if possible Ø if a change is not possible, strictly limiting high or All along the chain of hydrometric data processing, low extrapolation on this sites curve data from the raw measurements in the field to the validation of discharge, there are a number of It is not sufficient to continue using a site whose recurrent errors which occur and which we should information does not meet quality criteria solely concentrate on reducing. Methodological rigor will because that site has been providing discharge data for allow us to obtain consistently reproducible and a long time. satisfactory results. In fact, a quality approach doesn't mean concentrating all of our attention one particular factor 3-The main uncertainty about rating but rather eliminating the main causes of error, then curves- extrapolating discharges using the recommendations of the good practices beyond measured values guide which are set out in the following chapters. The use of simple arithmetic or logarithmic At the risk of being obvious, we will first present extrapolation from the office is a practice used too some major error factors. Our experience has lead us often. Easy to use, these methods are dangerous to observe that every hydrometrist has at one time or because the results are often far too weak or too another made a major mistake. Distance is sometimes strong. Moreover, extrapolation based on an extreme necessary for us to evaluate our practices. We hope measurement is fragile; the absence of measurement that this guide, which is intended for everyone, will after overflow brings about estimations which could be useful for developing high quality hydrometry. be highly erroneous. It would be more appropriate to insist on the fundamental role of real measurement. 1-For Gauging, measure the entire A hydrologist's good knowledge of the area allows discharge. him to take a suitable approach to discharge measures A backwater discharge forgotten in high water and thus derive more reliable extrapolations. conditions, a partially obstructed (and thus unmeasured) mill's runway in an urban zone, a Methods of fine tuning estimations at high discharges secondary branch tangled in plant growth or other include: 1) making a cross profile which allows similar oversights can affect measurement results extrapolations from average speed and wetted section; anywhere from 10 to 100% no matter what the 2) taking into account the geometric characteristics of discharge. measuring sites and their control sections (high flow channel). These can also be useful in setting up a This inaccuracy could be even greater then errors small model. This fundamental work, when it is done, made when determining discharges using floaters to has a significant impact on the outlying values of high measure water surface speed. water measurements. This approach is always more Measurement depends, then, on careful, meticulous reliable than "office extrapolation". field observations. Also daily practices should include care attention to 4- General conception equipment maintenance and to the number and Hydrometry is not a laboratory science; it should be positioning of vertical gauges. done in the field. Dividing up the work into specialized tasks is not recommended. On the 2- Often at a given site, only part of the contrary, project leaders should be out in the field recorded levels can be converted into with their researchers, to understand the real discharge. political, motivational and material constraints present. On some sites, because of downstream conditions Hydrometry should not be just a routine but rather a such as a blockage or gates, the levels might only profession open to technology, intelligence and re- be valid when greater than a certain value. evaluation. At other sites, the opposite could be true: information might only be valid at lower levels, for example, when there is a backwash of a flooding tributary. HYDROMETRY QUALITY CHARTER: THE GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICES GAUGING 1.2 BASIC PRINCIPLES Now we should define, regardless of the method 1 PRELIMINARIES AND used, some of the most important basic principles. REMINDERS To start with, we must be sure that we are There is no universal method for measuring water measuring the entire discharge. To do this, we stream discharges. The choice of method is affected must first have a 1:25000 scale topographic map, if by various factors, among which are: the area has never before been used as a point of Ø the site configuration and flow conditions measure. This map will allow us to establish the Ø measuring equipment and available time site's configuration, especially at the level where the Ø the number of people participating in the measurement will be taken, the number of measurement activity measuring arms necessary and site accesses. Ø the degree of accuracy desired Then, field verification is done to verify the For the precise determination of a discharge in accuracy of the map. This allows us to precisely fix natural conditions it is always preferable to have an the location of the measuring section, to decide actual measurement than to rely on the use of what materials are best, as a function of width and hydraulic formulas. depth of stream bed, estimated flow speed, the time needed for the measurement and also to plan for safety and other particular constraints. Ø MAIN METHODS In the field, do not hesitate to move upstream or downstream (even hundreds of meters, if necessary) To measure the discharge in "natural" conditions to find a measuring section which has the (water streams, canals, derivations etc,) there are characteristics best suited to the chosen method of four main categories of methods.