CALCULATIONS OF THE SEDIMENT TRANSPORT BY TURBIDITY DATA IN A LARGE RIVER CHANNEL

Abstract

The present study addresses the procedure to predict the time dependent of suspended material loads from discharge hydrographs by using of a newly proposed turbidity function. The turbidity, which is relatively easily measured even during big floods, is a convenient index to understand transport mechanisms of suspended material load. The turbidity has different characteristics in the rising and falling limbs of flood hydrographs. This hysteresis effect in the relationship between turbidity and discharge is modeled by a nonlinear function in the present study. On the basis of simulation results, the turbidity function appears to have effectual methods for predicting suspended material loads.