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Investigation of streamflow fluctuations by fluvial acoustic tomography

Conference Paper · August 2012

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4th International Conference on Estuaries and Coasts
8-11 October 2012, Water Resources University, Vietnam

INVESTIGATION OF STREAMFLOW FLUCTUATIONS BY FLUVIAL

ACOUSTIC TOMOGRAPHY

KIYOSI KAWANISI 1), KAZUHIKO ISHIKAWA 2), MAHDI RAZAZ3) and JYUNKI YANO4)

1) Civil & Environmental Engineering, Hiroshima University

1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan
e-mail: kiyosi@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
2) Civil & Environmental Engineering, Hiroshima University
1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan
e-mail: m123344@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
3) Civil & Environmental Engineering, Hiroshima University
1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan
e-mail: mrazaz@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
4) Civil & Environmental Engineering, Hiroshima University
1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan
e-mail: m120997@hiroshima-u.ac.jp

Abstract

Continuous measurements of river discharge were carried out using the Fluvial Acoustic Tomography
System (FATS). It is very difficult to collect continuous data of instantaneous streamflow. In the
present study, the state-of-the-art FATS developed at Hiroshima University is utilized to measure flow
rates in a gravel-bed river. FATS is able to estimate cross-sectional average velocity using multiple ray
paths that cover whole cross-section unlike the old-fashioned type of acoustic velocity meter. The flow
rates were measured every minute or 30 seconds. The FATS was deployed in the Gohno River, Japan.
The channel width is about 120 m and the water depth is around 0.6 m at low-flow conditions. By
means of two acoustic stations installed on each side of the channel reciprocal sound transmission was
performed. The procedure enables us to measure range–averaged water velocity along a ray path. The
streamflow varied in the span of 25 to 250 m3/s for observation periods. Spectra of streamflow
fluctuations were estimated in wide frequency range (106 to 0.02 min1). As expected from a
spectrum model, the spectra of streamflow fluctuations had two different power-law trends, separated
by crossover frequency ( f c  4  10 4 min1), with spectral exponent 1 at low frequencies and 3 at high
frequencies. The crossover frequency is substantially high in comparison to those of Russian rivers.
Besides, spectral exponent in the high frequency range ( 3  103  f ) was around 1.

Keywords: Streamflow time series; acoustic tomography; power spectra; gravel-bed river

1. INTRODUCTION

River discharge is an important hydrological factor in river and coastal planning/management and
control of water resources. Therefore, establishing a method and/or technology for quantifying
stereamflow is of paramount importance.
 One of the most widely practiced methods is to determine the stage-discharge relationship (rating
curve) using many field observations. The rating curve method presents several limitations. The
stage-discharge relationship can vary over time and is dependent on changes in the river geometry or
roughness. In tidal rivers, the highly complex relationship between the stage and discharge prevents a
functional conformity from being deduced. Besides, rating curves (RCs) are labor-intensive and
time-consuming to establish.
To improve streamflow measurements, various techniques and instruments have been developed.
For example, for the continuous measurement of water discharge, several different pieces of
equipment are available, such as acoustic/ultrasonic velocity meters (AVMs/UVMs) (Falvey, 1983;
Laenen and Smith, 1983; Ruhl and DeRose, 2004; Simpson and Bland, 2000; Sloat and Gain, 1995)
and horizontal acoustic Doppler current profilers (H-ADCPs) (Hoitink et al., 2009; Le Coz et al.,
2008; Nihei and Kimizu, 2008; Sassi et al., 2011).
AVMs/UVMs, which are based on the time-of-travel method, have the potential to produce
accurate measurements of the mean line velocity along paths that diagonally transverse a channel. In
AVMs, it is assumed that the acoustic path is essentially a straight line and that an accurate correlation
exists between the integrated line velocity and cross-sectional average velocity. However, refractions
of the acoustic path under stratified conditions cause unacceptable uncertainties in determination of
the streamflow (Falvey, 1983; Laenen and Smith, 1983). In addition, the traditional detection
procedure of the arrival time, which considers the leading edge of the received signal, requires a high
signal-to-noise ratio.
H-ADCPs can measure a horizontal velocity profile over a range with sufficiently strong
acoustical backscatter, and beam separation problems are not encountered. The attenuated acoustical
signal in flood events or turbid waters leads to inadequate results, because the horizontal profile range
of H-ADCPs rapidly decreases with an increase in the suspended sediment concentration. In shallow
rivers, main and side-lobe beam interference due to surface or bottom reflection contaminates the data.
Moreover, H-ADCPs do not operate satisfactorily in estuaries with saltwater intrusions because the
sound inflection is similar to that of AVMs.
If there is sufficient water depth and backscatter, velocity data can be collected from most parts of
the cross-section of a stream using moving-boat ADCP measurements. However, the duration of
measurement is restricted because the method is laborious. In addition, the moving-boat ADCP
measurements can be dangerous during extreme hydrological events such as a flood.
Acoustic tomography systems were successfully used to measure the water temperature and
velocity field in coastal seas (Kaneko and Zheng, 1996; Yamaoka et al., 2002; Zhu et al., 2012).
Kawanisi et al. (2010, 2012) successfully measured flow rates in an estuary and a shallow gravel-bed
river using Fluvial Acoustic Tomography System (FATS) , an innovative acoustic system. Despite the
periodic intrusion of a salt wedge into the channel, Kawanisi et al. (2010) conducted long-term
measurements on the cross-sectional average velocity and streamflow in a tidal channel using FATS.
In the present study, FATS was employed in the gravel-bed river to investigate the discharge
fluctuations.

2. MATERIALS AND METHOD

2.1 Overview of FATS

The basic principle of FATS is similar to that of acoustic velocity meters (AVMs). In other words,
the cross-sectional averaged velocity is calculated using the time-of-travel method (Laenen and Smith,
1983). The AVM measures an average velocity along a straight transverse line. Therefore, several
subsidiary processes must be applied to compute the discharge, including index velocity method. In
contrast to AVMs, FATS sound rays scatter throughout the cross-section, preventing the application of
complicated post processing procedures. In unidirectional river flows, measuring only one component
of the velocity would be enough to perform reliable streamflow calculations. In this case, FATS can be
operated with only a couple of transducers. Otherwise, a multi-station system with crossing
transmission lines is required (e.g. for meandering rivers), as conducted in a coastal sea by Yamaoka
et al. (2002).
 The water surface and riverbed can be considered guides for the paths of multi-rays. At a
sufficient low frequency and small grazing angle, the water surface can act as a nearly perfect reflector
of sound (Falvey, 1983). The reflection of the acoustic signal from the riverbed is more complicated
than that of the water surface. Due to the variable acoustic properties of the bed (mud to rock) and the
presence of layers, accurate predictions of reflection loss are nearly impossible. However, reflections
from the bed will experience more attenuation than those from the water surface. Therefore, using
traditional AVMs/UVMs, the arrival time cannot be accurately detected from the leading edge of the
weakly received signal (Falvey, 1983).
Let us consider two acoustic stations, placed at horizontal spacing L in a fluid medium moving
with velocity um . The travel times t1 and t2 for the forward and reverse directions are calculated by
the following formulae
L
t1  (1)
cm  u m
and
L
t2  (2)
cm  u m

, respectively. From Eqs. (1) and (2) the sound speed c m and water velocity um averaged along the
sound path are given by
L1 1
cm     (3)
2  t1 t 2 
L1 1
um     (4)
2  t1 t 2 
The velocity component in the direction of flow ( vm ) is given by
um
vm  (5)
cos 
where ߠ is the angle between the ray path and streamline. The streamflow is calculated as follows:
Q  A( H ) vm sin   A( H ) um tan  (6)
where A is the cross-sectional area of the sound path and is a function of the water level H .
To determine the arrival time of traveling sound mixed with noises correctly, the transmitted
signal is phase-modulated by applying the pseudo-random M-sequence (Simon et al., 1985; Zheng et
al., 1998), i.e. the carrier signal is phase-modulated by taking the product of the M-sequence. In this
study, a 10th order M-sequence was employed. Besides, GPS clock accuracy plays a key role in FATS.

2.2 Study Area

Field investigations were performed in the Gono River, Miyoshi City, western Japan (Figure 1),
and a 115-m wide straight reach of the river was selected for the location of the transducers. The bed
slope around the observation site was 0.11% and the Manning roughness estimated from the water
surface profile was approximately 0.03. The water depth was approximately 0.6 m under low-flow
conditions.
The two major tributaries of the Gono River are united at 2.7 km upstream from the observation
site, and the confluent rivers meet the Gono River 0.9 km downstream from the junction. The Gono
River catchment area is 3900 km2 and the annual mean discharge at the Ozekiyama gauging station
(Figure 1), which is located 1.1 km upstream of the observation site, is estimated to be 73 m3/s.
 Tr
Waansd
(a) T2 ter uce
lev rs
el &
log
ge
rs
T1

River
ADCP Go
no
transect

Saijo
Ri
ve
r Ozekiyama r
(b) ve
gauging station Ri
e n
B as

Miyoshi Tokyo
Hiroshima

Fukuoka
Osaka

er
Seto Inland Sea

o Riv
0 500 1000 m

Gon
(c)
147
H (masl)

146
145 T1
T2
144
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Distance from left bank (m)

Figure 1. Study area and experimental site

The grain size distribution presented an average median size ( D50 ) of 27 mm and an average D90
of 115 mm. The grain size distribution indicated a deficiency of fine sand, silt and clay (Kawanisi et
al., 2012).

2.3 Continuous streamflow measurements

Continuous measurements of the streamflow were carried out on 31 October to 13 December
2011, 31 January to 15 February 2012 and 23 March to 18 April. In the first measurement, reference
discharge data were collected by performing moving-boat ADCP measurements. The ADCP transect
relative to the FATS acoustic path can be found in Figure 1a. A couple of broadband transducers
(T257, Neptune Sonar Ltd.) were installed diagonally across the river, as shown in Figure 1a. A view
of the transducer (T2) on the right bank is shown in Figure 1b. Figure 1c presents the oblique
cross-section, in which the sound rays of FATS make up a multipath.
The central frequency of the transducers was set to 25 kHz (first experiment) and 30 kHz, the
angle between the acoustic pass and stream direction in the ADCP velocity measurements was equal
to 20-22 degrees, the transducers were mounted at the height of 0.3 m above the bed. Horizontal
distances between the two transducers were 295.78 m and 301.96 m (first experiment). The
acoustic pulses of FATS were triggered by a GPS clock and were transmitted simultaneously from
both transducers every minute (first and third experiments), 30 seconds (second experiment).
The water levels were measured every 10 minutes by water level loggers attached to the both
transducers. A barometer on the riverbank was used to record atmospheric pressure. The accuracy of
the water level sensors and the barometer were 5 mm and 3 mm, respectively.
Long-term variation of streamflow for 2007-2010 was estimated by rating curves (RCs) at the
Ozekiyama gauging station. The streamflow was corrected every hour.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Temporal Variations in Streamflow

Figures 2 shows the temporal variations in the stream according to FATS, moving boat ADCP
(Figure 2a), and the RCs made from stream gauges in 2010. The statistical reliability of the FATS
increases with the square root of the number of the samples per ensemble. To reduce the velocity
uncertainty of the FATS, 40 samples were averaged. As a result, the uncertainty was approximately
0.01 m/s. Evidently, the FATS estimates are in good agreement with the ADCP estimates. The relative
 200 (a)

Q (m3/s)
150
100
50
0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 1 3 5 7 9 11 13
November Time (days) December 2011

300
120 (b)
250 (c)
Q (m3/s)

100
80 200
60 150
40 100
20 50
0 0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 23 25 27 29 31 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
February 2012 March April 2012
Time (days) Time (days)

Figure 2. Temporal variations in flow rates by RCs (green line), FATS (black line), and moving
boat ADCP (red disks).

108 RC (2007-2010)
−1 First FATS Obs.
Second FATS Obs.
Third FATS Obs.
107

106
S (m6/s2/min−1)

−3
105

104

103

102

10
10−6 10−5 10−4 10−3 10−2
f (min−1)

Figure 3. Power spectra of river discharge time series estimated by RC (blue), first (light cyan),
second (red) and third (black) FATS experiments. The green lines denote slopes of 1
and 3.

difference between ADCP and FATS estimates is approximately within 10% range.
The mean flow rates for the observations (a-c) were 40.1, 46.8 and 97.1 m3/s, respectively. The
flow rates by RC method fairly agree with FATS estimates except for a few days. The discharge
estimates by the RCs made from stream gauges in 2010 may be biased in flows in 2011 and 2012
mainly due to the morphological changes in riverbed. The streamflow uncertainty of RC 2010 was
within 10% (Kawanisi et al., 2012). The RC estimates are very smooth, i.e. it does not include
short-term fluctuations of streamflow.
3.1 Spectra of Streamflow Fluctuations
Catchment characteristics can be deduced from river discharge time series. (Dolgonosov et al.,
2008) proposed a model of river runoff power spectrum. In the deduction of the analytical expression,
all features of the catchment such as the structure of river network, the presence of lakes and
reservoirs,
precipitation characteristics, etc., are implicitly included into the model parameters. The power
spectrum is expressed by
 1  1 
S( f )     2 
(7)
 f   fc  f 
2

The runoff spectrum is the product of the precipitation power spectrum and the Lorentzian factor

1 / fc  f
2 2
 damping. The exponent  is approximately 1. If f is small compared to the crossover
frequency fc, 1/f-noise specifies behavior of the spectrum. Meanwhile when f passes through the
point fc the Lorentzian transforms into f 2 and, being multiplied by 1 / f  , it yields a trend of 1 / f   2
at high frequencies.
Figure 3 presents power spectra of streamflow time series measured by the RC method and
FATS. The RC discharge was estimated every hour for 2007-2010. The sampling intervals of the first
and third FATS measurements were 60 and 30 seconds in the second FATS experiment. Because 40
samples were averaged, the velocity uncertainty of FATS was approximately 0.01 m/s.
In the spectrum of 4 years RC estimates, the presence of power-law trend (1/f-noise) is confirmed
at low frequencies. The break of trend slope at transition into high frequencies demonstrates the action
of the Lorentzian damping. The exponent value in the high frequency region is approximately 3. Since
the RC method cannot measure short-term fluctuations, the spectrum shows very steep slope in the
frequency range higher than 2  10 min1. The FATS measurements show that the upper limits of the
3

power-law are 2  4  10 min1. The spectra have another trend slope at the higher frequencies than
3

the upper limits. The crossover frequency f c  4  10 4 min1 corresponds to a period of 1.74 days.
The period is ever-smaller than those for the Russian rivers, which have catchment areas of 6,510 to
21,100 km2.
The crossover period may be proportional to L / u , where L is catchment length and u mean flow
velocity. Namely, the crossover depends on the catchment length and the mean bed slope. Therefore,
the crossover frequencies for Japanese rivers are high because the mean bed slopes are steep and the
catchment lengths are small.

4. CONCLUSIONS

Continuous measurements of the streamflow were conducted in a shallow and wide gravel-bed
river using Fluvial Acoustic Tomography System (FATS), a state-of-the-art acoustic system. The
FATS equipped with a couple of 25-kHz broadband transducers with horizontally omnidirectional and
vertically hemispherical beam patterns can be used to estimate the cross-sectional average velocity
from multiple ray paths that cover the cross-section of a stream, even though FATS is based on the
time-of-travel method used in traditional AVMs/UVMs.
The water depth of the gravel-bed river (Gono River, Japan) was approximately 0.6 m and the
river width was 115 m under low-flow conditions. The flow rates measured by FATS were compared
to those of moving boat ADCP. Although several areas in the cross-section could not be directly
measured by ADCP, the ADCP discharges, which were calculated by WinRiver II software (Teledyne
RD Instruments), were in good agreement with the FATS discharges (the relative differences between
ADCP and FATS estimates approximately were within 10%). The flow rates by RC method fairly
agreed with FATS estimates except for a few periods. The discharge estimates by the RCs made from
stream gauges in 2010 may be biased in flows in 2011 and 2012 mainly due to the morphological
changes in riverbed. Besides, the RC estimates are very smooth, i.e., it does not include short-term
fluctuations of streamflow.
 Spectra of velocity and flow rate were estimated in wide frequency range (106 to 0.02 min1).
The spectra of discharge fluctuations had two different power-law trends with a spectral exponent 1 at
low frequencies and 3 at high frequencies as expected from the spectrum model. The RC
underestimated the short-term fluctuations of the streamflow. The crossover frequency, which depends
on the catchment length and the mean bed slope, was higher than those for Russian rivers.

5. ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

This study has been performed under financial support of “Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research
(B), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science”, and “Adaptable and Seamless Technology Transfer
Program through target-driven R&D (Exploratory Research), Japan Science and Technology Agency”.

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