U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4276
By: Terence Messinger and Jeffrey B. Wiley
ABSTRACT
Three bankfull channel characteristics—cross-sectional area, width, and depth—were significantly correlated with drainage area in regression equations developed for two regions in West Virginia. Channel characteristics were determined from analysis of flow measurements made at 74 U.S. Geological Survey stream-gaging stations at flows between 0.5 and 5.0 times bankfull flow between 1911 and 2002.
Graphical and regression analysis were used to delineate an "Eastern Region" and a "Western Region," which were separated by the boundary between the Appalachian Plateaus and Valley and Ridge Physiographic Provinces. Streams that drained parts of both provinces had channel characteristics typical of the Eastern Region, and were grouped with it. Standard error for the six regression equations, three for each region, ranged between 8.7 and 16 percent. Cross-sectional area and depth were greater relative to drainage area for the Western Region than they were for the Eastern Region. Regression equations were defined for streams draining between 46.5 and 1,619 square miles for the Eastern Region, and between 2.78 and 1,354 square miles for the Western Region.
Stream-gaging stations with two or more cross sections where flow had been measured at flows between 0.5 and 5.0 times the 1.5-year flow showed poor replication of channel characteristics compared to the 95-percent confidence intervals of the regression, suggesting that within-reach variability for the stream-gaging stations may be substantial. A disproportionate number of the selected stream-gaging stations were on large (drainage area greater than 100 square miles) streams in the central highlands of West Virginia, and only one stream-gaging station that met data-quality criteria was available to represent the region within about 50 miles of the Ohio River north of Parkersburg, West Virginia. Many of the cross sections were at bridges, which can change channel shape. Although the data discussed in this report may not be representative of channelcharacteristics on many or most streams, the regional equations in this report provide useful information for field identification of bankfull indicators.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
Introduction
Purpose and Scope
Description of study area
Stream gaging network in West Virginia
Historical trends in the extent of the network
Limitations of data available from the stream-gaging network
Basin characteristics of gaged streams
Acknowledgements
Methods
Standard measurement procedures at stream-gaging stations
Database construction and quality assurance procedures
Factors affecting selection of stream-gaging stations for analysis
Relations of flow with area, width, and average depth at cross sections
Bridges
Backwater
Bankfull channel characteristics and regional relations
Regional relations in bankfull channel characteristics
Cross-sectional area
Average depth
Width
Stream-gaging stations with two or more high-flow cross sections
Summary
References cited
Appendix 1
FIGURES
1–4. Maps showing:
1. Physiographic provinces of West Virginia, and selected towns and cities
2. Altitudes in West Virginia
3. Mean annual precipitation in West Virginia
4. Two-year, 24-hour precipitation intensity, in inches, in West Virginia
5. Graph showing number of continuous-record and annual-peak stream-gaging stations in West Virginia, 1900-2001
6. Map showing selected stream-gaging stations in West Virginia
7–16. Graphs showing:
7. Relations between area and flow for (1) all flow measurements made at the Middle Fork near Audra, W.Va., 1988-20001, and selected earlier high-flow measurements, and (2) flow measurements made from the cableway
8. Relation between cross-sectional area and flow for flow measurements made at a bridge over Big Coal River at Ashford, W.Va., and a cableway over Guyandotte River near Baileysville, W.Va., compared to the relation for each stream-gaging station for only those measurements made at flows between 0.5 and 5 times bankfull flow
9. Relation of flow and width at bridges where flow is apparently confined and not confined by the bridge structure
10. Regional relations between drainage area and bankfull cross-sectional area measured during current-meter flow measurements at selected stream-gaging stations in West Virginia
11. Comparison of the area of stream channels at bankfull flow at bridge and cableway cross sections in the Eastern and Western Regions in West Virginia
12. Comparison of the average depth of stream channels at bankfull flow at bridge and cableway cross sections in the Eastern and Western Regions in West Virginia
13. Comparison of the width of stream channels at bankfull flow at bridge and cableway cross sections in the Eastern and Western Regions in West Virginia
14. Regional relations between bankfull average depth determined from current-meter flow measurements and drainage area at selected stream-gaging stations in West Virginia
15. Regional relations between bankfull width determined from current-meter flow measurements and drainage area at selected stream-gaging stations in West Virginia
16. Relation of bankfull area, width, and average depth to drainage area at five stream-gaging stations in the Western Region with flow measurements at more than one cross section, compared to regression lines and 95 percent confidence intervals for all stream-gaging stations in the Western Region of West Virginia.
TABLES
1. Map numbers and station numbers for selected stream-gaging stations in West Virginia
2. Regression equations, correlation coefficients, and p-values for the relations between near-bankfull flow and cross-sectional area for stream-gaging stations in West Virginia used to develop regression equations
3. Regression equations, correlation coefficients, and p-values for the relations between near-bankfull flow and average depth for stream-gaging stations in West Virginia used to develop regression equations
4. Regression equations, correlation coefficients, and p-values for the relations between near-bankfull flow and width for stream-gaging stations in West Virginia used to develop regression equations
5. Equations and regression statistics describing regional relations in drainage area and bankfull channel characteristics at selected stream-gaging stations in West Virginia
VERTICAL DATUM
Vertical coordinate information is referenced to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29). Altitude, as used in the report, refers to distance above or below NGVD 29. NGVD 29 can be converted to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) by using the National Geodetic Survey conversion utility available at URL http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/TOOLS/Vertcon/vertcon.html.
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For more information about USGS activities in West Virginia contact:
District Chief
U.S. Geological Survey
Water Resources Discipline
11 Dunbar Street
Charleston, West Virginia 25301
Telephone: (304) 347-5130
Fax: (304) 347-5133
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