Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T02:39:09.811Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Ephemeral flow and sediment delivery modelling in the Indian arid zone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2009

By
K. D. Sharma
Edited by
Howard Wheater ,
Soroosh Sorooshian  and
K. D. Sharma
K. D. Sharma
Affiliation:
National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, India
Howard Wheater
Affiliation:
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London
Soroosh Sorooshian
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine
K. D. Sharma
Affiliation:
National Institute of Hydrology, India
Get access

Summary

STUDY AREA: THE LUNI BASIN

The Luni and its tributaries form the only integrated drainage system in north-west arid India. The Luni originates in the Aravalli hill ranges near Ajmer (20.5°N, 74.7°E) and after an initial west-south-westerly course, flows south-west until it discharges into the Rann of Kachchh (Fig. 6.1). The area of the Luni drainage basin is 34866km2 and elevations range from 886m at the source to 10m at the outlet. In the upland region the mean depth, width, and gradient of the flow channels are 1.2m, 158m, and 0.00245, respectively, whereas in the channel phase these are 3.6m, 1958m and 0.0012, respectively. The drainage basin areas vary from 104 to 950km2 in the upland region and 1449 to 5492km2 in the downstream valley. The eastern part of the drainage basin is a hilly and rocky piedmont, underlaid by igneous and metamorphic rocks of Precambrian and Paleozoic age. Of the drainage basin, 52% is rugged mountainous terrain with shallow soils and minor amounts of unconsolidated alluvium. The western part of the drainage basin consists of Pleistocene alluvium and Holocene sand ranging from 1 to 40m in depth.

Annual precipitation in the Luni drainage basin ranges between 600mm in the south-east and 300mm in the north-west. The rainfall season is relatively short, starting in June and ending in September with 80% of rainfall occurring during July and August. The number of rainy days is low (about 14).

Type
Chapter
Information
Hydrological Modelling in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas , pp. 69 - 86
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrahams, A. D., Luk, S. H., and Parsons, A. J. (1988). Threshold relations for the transport of sediment by overland flow on desert hillslopes. Earth Surf. Proc. Landforms, 13, 407–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alonso, C. V., Neibling, W. H., and Foster, G. R. (1981). Estimating sediment transport capacity in watershed modeling. Trans. Am. Soc. Agri. Eng., 24, 1211–20, 1226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ball, J. E. (1987). Importance of dynamic wave components for pipe flows. In Proceedings of 22nd IAHR Congress and 4th International Conference on Urban Storm Drainage. Lausanne: International Association of Hydraulic Research. 162–167.Google Scholar
Bell, F. C. (1979). Precipitation. In Arid Land Ecosystem, ed. Goodall, D. W. and Perry, R. A.. London: Cambridge University Press, 372– 92.Google Scholar
Bennett, J. P. (1974). Concepts of mathematical modeling of sediment yield. Water Resour. Res., 10, 485–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, H. H. and Stow, D. A. (1988). Sediment delivery in a semiarid coastal stream. J. Hydrol., 99, 201–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chow, V. T., Maidment, D. R., and Mays, L. W. (1988). Applied Hydrology. New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
FAO (1973). Mans' Influence on the Hydrological Cycle. Rome: FAO.
Finkner, S. C., Nearing, M. A., Foster, G. R., and Gilley, J. E. (1989). A simplified equation for modeling sediment transport capacity. Trans. Am. Soc. Agri. Eng., 32, 1545–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, G. R. (1982). Modeling the erosion process. In Hydrologic Modeling of Small Watersheds, ed. Haan, C. T., Johnson, H. P., and Brakensiek, D. L.. St. Joseph: American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 297–308.Google Scholar
Foster, G. R. and Meyer, L. D. (1972a). Transport of soil particles by shallow flow. Trans. Am. Soc. Agri. Eng., 15, 99–102.Google Scholar
Foster, G. R. and Meyer, L. D. (1972b). A closed-form soil erosion equation for upland area. In Sedimentation, ed. Shen, H. W.. Fort Collins: Colorado State University, Chapter 12.Google Scholar
Goudie, A. and Wilkinson, J. (1977). The Warm Desert Environment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hadley, R. F. (1977). Some concepts of erosional processes and sediment yield in a semi-arid environment. In Erosion: Research Techniques, Erodibility and Sediment Delivery, ed. Troy, T. J.. Norwich: Geo Books, 73–81.Google Scholar
Henderson, F. M. (1966). Open Channel Flow. New York: Macmillan Publishers.Google Scholar
Holder, R. L. (1985). Multiple Regression in Hydrology. Wallingford: Institute of Hydrology.Google Scholar
Jones, K. R. (1981). Arid Zone Hydrology. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar
Laguna, A. and Giraldez, J. V. (1993). The description of soil erosion through a kinematic wave model. J. Hydrol., 145, 65–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lane, L. J. (1982). Distributed model for small semiarid watersheds. J. Hydr. Eng. ASCE, 108, 1114–31.Google Scholar
Lane, L. J. (1983). Transmission losses. In National Engineering Handbook IV. Hydrology. Washington DC: Soil Conservation Service, US Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Langbein, W. B. and Iseri, K. T. (1960). General introduction and hydrologic definitions. Manual of Hydrology, Part I: General surface water techniques. US Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 154. Washington DC: US Geological Survey.Google Scholar
Lu, J. Y., Cassol, E. A., and Moldenhauer, W. C. (1989). Sediment transport relationships for sand and silt loam soils. Trans. Am. Soc. Agri. Eng., 32, 1923–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mabbutt, J. A. (1977). Desert Landforms. Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar
Magfed, Y. A. (1986). Assessment of Water Resources in Arid and Semiarid Regions. Nairobi: UNEP.Google Scholar
Nash, J. E. (1957). The form of instantaneous unit hydrograph. Hydrolog. Sci. Bull., 3, 114–21.Google Scholar
Nearing, M. A., Foster, G. R., Lane, L. J., and Finkner, S. C. (1989). A process-based soil erosion model for USDA-water erosion prediction project technology. Trans. Am. Soc. Agri. Eng., 32, 1587–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peebles, R. W., Smith, R. E., and Yakowitz, S. J. (1981). A leaky reservoir model for ephemeral flow recession. Water Res. Res., 17, 628–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pilgrim, D. H., Chapman, T. C., and Doran, D. G. (1988). Problems of rainfall-runoff modeling in arid and semiarid regions. Hydrolog. Sci. J., 33, 379–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, I. and Frostick, L. E. (1987). Flow dynamics and suspended sediment properties in arid zone flash floods. Hydrol. Proc. 1, 239–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schick, A. P. (1970). Desert floods. In Results of Research on Representative and Experimental Basins.Wallingford: International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 479–93.Google Scholar
Sharma, K. D. (1992). Runoff and sediment transport in an arid zone drainage basin. Ph.D. Thesis. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.Google Scholar
Sharma, K. D. and Murthy, J. S. R. (1995). Hydrologic routing of flow in arid ephemeral channels. J. Hydr. Eng. ASCE, 121, 466–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, K. D. and Murthy, J. S. R. (1996). Ephemeral flow modeling in arid regions. J. Arid Environ., 33, 161–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, K. D.Vangani, N. S., and Choudhary, J. S. (1984). Sediment transport characteristics of the desert streams in India. J. Hydrol., 67, 272–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, K. D., Dhir, R. P., and Murthy, J. S. R. (1993). Modeling soil erosion in arid zone drainage basins. In Sediment Problems: Strategies for Monitoring, Prediction and Control. Wallingford: International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 269–76.Google Scholar
Sharma, K. D., Murthy, J. S. R., and Dhir, R. P. (1994). Stream-flow routing in the Indian arid zone. Hydrol. Proc., 8, 27–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, V. P. (1976). Studies on Rainfall-Runoff Modelling. Las Cruces: New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute.Google Scholar
Singh, V. P. and Regl, R. R. (1983). Analytical solutions of kinematic equations for erosion on a plane. I: Rainfall of infinite duration. Adv. Water Resour., 6, 2–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vangani, N. S. and Kalla, A. K. (1985). Manning's coefficient of roughness for rivers of western Rajasthan. Ann. Arid Zone, 24, 258–62.Google Scholar
Walters, M. O. (1989). A unique flood event in an arid zone. Hydrological Processes, 3, 15–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, I-P. (1972). Recession flow in surface irrigation. J. Irrig. Drain. Div.ASCE, 98, 77–90.Google Scholar
Yakowitz, S. (1973). A stochastic model for daily river flows in arid regions. Water Resour. Res., 9, 1271–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yalin, Y. S. (1963). An expression for bed load transportation. J. Hydr. Div. ASCE, 89, 221–50.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×