Continuous Modelling of Downstream River Erosion Caused by 40 Years of Urbanization

James, William; Robinson, Mark; ,

Continuous Modelling of Downstream River Erosion Caused by 40 Years of Urbanization

by William James, McMaster Univ, Hamilton, Ont, Canada,
Mark Robinson, McMaster Univ, Hamilton, Ont, Canada,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Water Forum '86: World Water Issues in Evolution

Abstract:

The US EPA Stormwater Management Model (SWMM3) was installed on an IBM-PC compatible network. The adapted program, known as PCSWMM3, and incorporating a simple algorithm for modelling interflow, was run in continuous mode for a 43-year time series using a 1-hour integration period. The drainage basin was discretized and parameters fitted to simulate the birth, growth and full development of an urban area. Moving frequency analyses were carried out for various N-year contiguous time spans lagging by 1 year for each year in the time series. These N-year statistical flows were compared with the evolving downstream channel. Frequency analyses carried out over shorter time spans were found to produce variations in the high frequency flows which corresponded to periods of channel erosion. The results are compared to Leopold's Theory of dominant channel fluviology.

Return to search