Estimation of Flood Travel Time in River Network of the Middle Yellow River, China

Abstract

The flood travel time (FTT) along the Longmen-Tongguan Reach, part of the stem channel of the Middle Yellow River, is shorter than 30 h, and estimating the FTT of different discharges propagating from Wubu Hydrology Station to Tongguan Hydrology Station is necessary. However, the propagation of floods in this river network, the main channel of the Wubu-Tongguan Reach and related tributaries, has rarely been analyzed due to the lack of geometry data. Thus, a one-dimensional (1D) dynamic model was selected to simulate the FTT along the WT reach. Firstly, the 1986 flood event was selected to calibrate the physical parameters in the hydraulic model. Secondly, the FTT with different discharges (500–9000 m3/s) were estimated with calibrated parameters. Thirdly, an empirical formula based on simulated results was fitted. This empirical formula could be used to describe the relation between discharges, distances to Tongguan Hydrology Station, and the FTT. Analyses showed that the discharges with minimum FTT were different for different tributaries. For the river reach between Wubu Hydrology Station and the Wuding River, the discharge and corresponding minimum FTT were 6000 m3/s and approximately 30.4–34 h, respectively. For the river reach between the Zhouchuan and Qingjian Rivers, the discharge and FTT were 3000–3500 m3/s and 21–26.8 h, respectively. The formula can be used to estimate the FTT of flood events, which would be cost-saving and time-saving for river management. Sensitivity analyses indicated that the FTT were sensitive to the Tongguan elevation and Manning’s roughness coefficient in the main channel.