Laserfiche WebLink
where n = Manning's roughness coefficient; A = flow area; and R = hydraulic radius. Increasing <br />conveyance in a reach decreases stage while decreasing conveyance has the opposite effect. <br />Increasing the storage capacity of a reach delays the arrival of a flood wave at a downstream <br />location, while decreasing storage reduces the wave's travel time through a reach. <br />For the 37 surveyed cross sections in the vicinity of the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, <br />bed roughnesses from the Green River Flooded Bottomlands Investigation (FLO Engineering, <br />Inc. 1996) were used. For the remaining upstream reaches, an estimated roughness of 0.035 was <br />used to represent a gravel-bedded river with minor surface irregularity and gradual variation in <br />cross sectional geometry (Chow 1964). <br />Ice cover thickness, roughness, and spatial extent for the steady flow period were selected <br />to represent the pre-peaking conditions observed during 23-24 January 1997. An ice cover with <br />a thickness of 21 cm and a roughness of 0.025 was applied to the reach from the Ouray Bridge to <br />the Jensen Bridge in order to represent a cover composed of thermally grown sheet ice and <br />juxtaposed frazil pans. From the Jensen Bridge up to the leading edge of the ice cover near <br />Razorback Island, an ice thickness of 24 cm with a roughness of 0.03 was used, representing an <br />ice cover composed mainly of juxtaposed and slightly shoved frazil pans and floes. Table 1 <br />summarizes the calibration parameters used in the UNET model; cross-section location and type <br />are shown graphically in Figure 6, along with ice cover extent. <br />The UNET model was calibrated to observed stage hydrographs at the seven locations <br />indicated in Figure 6. Simulated and observed stage hydrographs for these seven locations are <br />presented in Figures 7 through 13. Calibration results were generally quite good with a few <br />exceptions. The measured stage hydrograph at the Chew Bridge location (RM 316.3) is more <br />peaked than the reported stage hydrograph for the nearby Jensen gage (RM 316.6) (Figure 7), <br />possibly because the channel is more narrow at the bridge than at the gage location a short <br />distance upstream. Similarly, the observed hydrograph at the Jensen Bridge location (RM 302.3) <br />is more peaked than the simulated result (Figure 9). The simulated and observed hydrographs <br />agree quite well in terms of total wave height and timing of the peak at Dinosaur Bend (RM <br />307.1; Figure 8), Bonanza Bridge (RM 294.0; Figure 10), and Horseshoe Bend (RM 279.4; <br />Figure 11). At the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge (RM 254.6; Figure 12) and the Ouray Bridge <br />(RM 248.0; Figure 13), the timing of the first hydrograph peak and the total wave height are <br />simulated fairly well. The simulated falling limbs of these hydrographs are less steep than the <br />observed falling limbs, however. Resolution may be a problem in this part of the river because <br />observed wave height is small, on the order of 0.3-0.4 ft. Also, these downstream sites are more <br />than 60 miles from the location of the observed inflow hydrograph at the Jensen gage (RM <br />316.6), the upstream boundary of the model. <br />-12-