Monday May 16, 2011
Before high-tech precision instruments such as the ADCP, which uses sonar to estimate stream discharge, researchers had no choice but to employ such low-tech tools as rope and PVC pipe to determine river flow. In this case, we are going old-school with the velocity-area method simply because it’s easier and more cost effective for such a small stream. The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) makes over 37,000 discharge measurements of wading streams using the velocity-area method each year.
Photo source: FISHBIO