Weir Design and Calibration for Stream Monitoring in a Riparian Wetland
نویسندگان
چکیده
Accurate measurement of stream flow is an important component of environmental water quality monitoring. Flow rates in small streams can be conveniently monitored using weirs. The objective of this study was to design, install, and calibrate a series of permanent compound weirs for use in monitoring flow and water quality in a first order riparian wetland stream that exhibited great variability in flow (five orders of magnitude). The site was located at the USDA-ARS Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in the mid-Atlantic coastal plain of Maryland, and the stream monitoring stations supported a variety of environmental research into hydrological transport and transformation of nutrients and agrochemicals at a landscape scale. The low-relief setting (0.7% slope), shallow stream depth, tendency for flooding, and necessity to avoid ecosystem alteration created challenging conditions for stream weir implementation. A compound V-notch / Cipolletti design successfully measured all but the highest flows (flood stage). Calibration of each weir based on field measurements was necessary to compensate for required compromises in weir design.
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