Special Issue "River Flow Monitoring: Needs, Advances and Challenges"

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydraulics and Hydrodynamics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2023 | Viewed by 8259

Special Issue Editors

Photrack AG: Flow Measurements, Ankerstrasse 16a, 8004 Zürich, Switzerland
Interests: river flow monitoring; image-based environmental monitoring; water resources management; water resources modelling
Photrack AG: Flow Measurements, Ankerstrasse 16a, 8004 Zürich, Switzerland
Interests: river flow monitoring; image based experimental methods; hydromechanics; turbulence

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a call for contributions on topics related to 'River flow monitoring: needs, advances and challenges', for submission to a Special Issue of the journal Water. River flow monitoring is of paramount importance. In order to plan water resources it is needed to have timely, accurate data with an appropriate temporal and spatial resolution; however, data are not always available.

This Special Issue seeks to publish articles that demonstrate needs, advances and challenges on river flow monitoring, and those that explain the need of data and how to collect it. We especially encourage papers that present novel techniques that improve the quality of data but also simplify installation and maintenance, as well as devices that are proven to work under extreme events.

Of particular interest are research articles and commentaries related to river flow monitoring and the following aspects:

  • Current monitoring technologies: improvements and challenges;
  • How data is used in water resources management and planning, from both modelling and institutional perspectives.
  • Comparisons between different monitoring technologies and that stress their advantages and disadvantages.
  • New technologies for river monitoring.
  • How to bring new technologies into operation.
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) in river monitoring and alternative methods.
  • Research articles that report technical advances are also welcomed. 

Dr. Salvador Peña-Haro
Dr. Beat Lüthi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • river flow monitoring
  • data acquisition
  • artificial intelligence
  • accuracy
  • data needs
  • crowd sourcing
  • image-based
  • ADCP
  • tracer tests
  • radar

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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Article
Integration of Distributed Streamflow Measurement Metadata for Improved Water Resource Decision-Making
Water 2023, 15(4), 679; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15040679 - 09 Feb 2023
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Abstract
Streamflow data are critical for monitoring and managing water resources, yet there are significant spatial gaps in our federal monitoring networks with biases toward large perennial rivers. In some cases, streamflow monitoring exists in these spatial gaps, but information about these monitoring locations [...] Read more.
Streamflow data are critical for monitoring and managing water resources, yet there are significant spatial gaps in our federal monitoring networks with biases toward large perennial rivers. In some cases, streamflow monitoring exists in these spatial gaps, but information about these monitoring locations is challenging to obtain. Here, we present a streamflow catalog for the United States Pacific Northwest that includes current and historical streamflow monitoring location information obtained from 32 organizations (other than the U.S. Geological Survey), which includes 2661 continuous streamflow gaging locations (22% are currently active) and 30,557 discrete streamflow measurements. A stakeholder advisory board with representatives from organizations that operate streamflow monitoring networks identified metadata requirements and provided feedback on the Streamflow Data Catalog user interface. Engagement with the water resources community through this effort highlighted challenges that water professionals face in collecting and managing streamflow data so that data are findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR). Over 60% of the streamflow monitoring locations in the Streamflow Data Catalog are not available online and are thus not findable through web search engines. Providing organizations technical assistance with standard measurement procedures, metadata collection, and web accessibility could substantially increase the availability and utility of streamflow information to water resources communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue River Flow Monitoring: Needs, Advances and Challenges)
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Article
Uncertainty Analysis for Image-Based Streamflow Measurement: The Influence of Ground Control Points
Water 2023, 15(1), 123; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15010123 - 29 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1350
Abstract
Large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV) provides a cost-effective, rapid, and secure monitoring tool for streamflow measurements. However, surveys of ground control points (GCPs) might affect the camera parameters through the solution of collinearity equations and then impose uncertainty on the measurement results. In [...] Read more.
Large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV) provides a cost-effective, rapid, and secure monitoring tool for streamflow measurements. However, surveys of ground control points (GCPs) might affect the camera parameters through the solution of collinearity equations and then impose uncertainty on the measurement results. In this paper, we explore and present an uncertainty analysis for image-based streamflow measurements with the main focus on the ground control points. The study area was Yufeng Creek, which is upstream of the Shimen Reservoir in Northern Taiwan. A monitoring system with dual cameras was set up on the platform of a gauge station to measure the surface velocity. To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of image-based LSPIV, a comparison with the conventional measurement using a flow meter was conducted. Furthermore, the degree of uncertainty in LSPIV streamflow measurements influenced by the ground control points was quantified using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). Different operations (with survey times from one to nine) and standard errors (30 mm, 10 mm, and 3 mm) during GCP measurements were considered. Overall, the impacts in the case of single GCP measurement are apparent, i.e., a shifted and wider confidence interval. This uncertainty can be alleviated if the coordinates of the control points are measured and averaged with three repetitions. In terms of the standard errors, the degrees of uncertainty (i.e., normalized confidence intervals) in the streamflow measurement were 20.7%, 12.8%, and 10.7%. Given a smaller SE in GCPs, less uncertain estimations of the river surface velocity and streamflow from LSPIV could be obtained. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue River Flow Monitoring: Needs, Advances and Challenges)
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Article
Surface Water Extent Mapping in Denmark: Comparing Airborne Thermal Imagery and Satellite Earth Observation
Water 2022, 14(22), 3742; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14223742 - 17 Nov 2022
Viewed by 745
Abstract
Mapping and prediction of inundated areas are increasingly important for climate change adaptation and emergency preparedness. Flood forecasting tools and flood risk models have to be compared to observe flooding patterns for training, calibration, validation, and benchmarking. At the regional to continental scales, [...] Read more.
Mapping and prediction of inundated areas are increasingly important for climate change adaptation and emergency preparedness. Flood forecasting tools and flood risk models have to be compared to observe flooding patterns for training, calibration, validation, and benchmarking. At the regional to continental scales, satellite earth observation (EO) is the established method for surface water extent (SWE) mapping, and several operational global-scale data products are available. However, the spatial resolution of satellite-derived SWE maps remains a limiting factor, especially in low-lying areas with complex hydrography, such as Denmark. We collected thermal imagery using an unmanned airborne system (UAS) for three areas in Denmark shortly after major flooding events. We combined the thermal imagery with an airborne lidar-derived high-resolution digital surface model of the country to retrieve high-resolution (40 cm) SWE maps. The resulting SWE maps were compared with low-resolution SWE maps derived from satellite earth observation and with potential flooded areas derived from the high-resolution digital elevation model. We conclude that UASs have significant potential for SWE mapping at intermediate scales (up to a few square kilometers), can bridge the scale gap between ground observations and satellite EO, and can be used to benchmark and validate SWE mapping products derived from satellite EO as well as models predicting inundation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue River Flow Monitoring: Needs, Advances and Challenges)
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Review

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Review
Discharge Estimation over Piano Key Weirs: A Review of Recent Developments
Water 2022, 14(19), 3029; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14193029 - 26 Sep 2022
Viewed by 869
Abstract
The piano key (PK) weir has advanced over the labyrinth weir to increase the discharge capacity. Piano key weirs exhibit nonlinear flow behavior and are easy to place on the existing spillway or newly constructed dam with less base area. Various investigators are [...] Read more.
The piano key (PK) weir has advanced over the labyrinth weir to increase the discharge capacity. Piano key weirs exhibit nonlinear flow behavior and are easy to place on the existing spillway or newly constructed dam with less base area. Various investigators are given equations to calculate the discharge coefficient for free and submerged flow conditions. The study focuses on reviewing the impacts of the PK weir geometry on the weir flow discharge coefficient, including weir length and height, upstream and downstream key widths, and apex overhangs. In this study, all possible aspects of PK weirs were briefly reviewed. From sensitivity analysis, it is observed that the discharge coefficient of the PK weir is more sensitive for the L/W dimensionless ratio followed by the B/P ratio. L is total length of the weir crest, W is width of the weir, B is total width of PK weir and P is height of the weir. This review paper is intended to serve as an accessible resource for hydraulic structures researchers and hydraulic engineering professionals alike interested in the hydraulics of PK weirs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue River Flow Monitoring: Needs, Advances and Challenges)
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