Thursday 22 November 2012

Rainy November


The hydrograph above shows the river water level (at 10 minute intervals) from 19 October to 22 November. Compared to the last hydrograph I uploaded on 19 October, we can see that rain storms are becoming more and more frequent as we move into November. On 23 October there is a medium size flood peak of about 1.1m, but the peak is short-lived and by 28 October the water level has fallen rapidly to only 43cm, close to the summer low flow level of 40cm. In November the rain storms are much more frequent so that water levels are almost always above 60cm. The soils in the basin are becoming wetter and wetter and the ground water levels are on the rise as we head towards winter.


Takiya River stage = 57cm

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Autumn storms

Takiya River, stage = 60cm, Ta = 11C, Tw = 12C

The season has really changed now that we are into November. The autumn rains are really picking up, and today we got hit by several thunderstorms. The rain was torrential at times, but when we arrived at Takiya River the water level was still only moderate. This was good. It allowed us to get into the river to make a couple of discharge measurements. We always need more data for discharge measurements when the water level is up - these are vital for making the stage-discharge curve (H-Q curve). But when the river is really high, it's too dangerous or even impossible to make a measurement.

Today we had five members in our team, including one first time member. To everyone, thanks for getting out and working in the rain!