a Department of Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering, Cheng-Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
b Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA
Abstract:
This article describes a non-contact method for measuring surface velocity and discharge in a natural channel. The X-band pulse (9.36 GHz) radar, developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington, was used to scan instantaneously the lateral distribution of surface velocity across a river section, according to Bragg scattering from short waves produced by turbulent boils on the surface of the river. Based on the assumption that the vertical velocity distribution follows a universal power or logarithmic law, the discharges were estimated.