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Catchment Monitoring

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Flash Floods

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Abstract

During flash floods, river gauges are widely used to determine when river levels exceed threshold values, and to provide inputs to flood forecasting models. Ground-based or satellite observations of soil moisture or snow cover are sometimes also required. To estimate flows, river levels are typically converted to flows using a stage-discharge relationship; alternatively velocity measurements can be made using ultrasonic or electromagnetic gauges. For monitoring snow and soil moisture conditions, many different methods are used, although with spatial sampling issues for ground-based observations and accuracy and spatial resolution issues for satellite-based methods. These topics are discussed in this chapter, together with gauge siting considerations and some of the supporting technologies required for observation networks, such as telemetry and information systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UK Engineering Consultancy, Warrington, UK

    Kevin Sene

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  1. Kevin Sene
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Correspondence to Kevin Sene .

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Sene, K. (2013). Catchment Monitoring. In: Flash Floods. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5164-4_3

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