The regionalizing of the entropy parameter over the north Algerian watersheds: a discharge measurement approach for ungauged river sites

ABSTRACT

River monitoring is of considerable importance in any watershed management strategy. In the present research, to estimate the discharge rate, an entropy approach based on the estimation of a single parameter ϕ(M) was tested for the drainage network of a wide region of the central and east part of Algeria. The network covers 1115 wadis (rivers) with a total length of 14 137 km. Four different models were investigated in order to get a mapping of ϕ(M) usable along channels for any ungauged river sites. A velocity dataset of 50 gauged stations involving 10 000 measurements were used for the analysis. The data for 2/3 and 1/3 of the gauged sites were randomly considered for calibration and validation, respectively. The results highlight a good spatial distribution of the entropy parameter along channels, and a good estimation error level, especially for the regression and slope–elevation ϕ(M) models.

KEYWORDS:

• entropy
• river monitoring
• discharges estimation
• north Algerian watersheds

Editor A. Fiori; Associate editor F. Tauro

Editor A. Fiori; Associate editor F. Tauro

Acknowledgements

We thank the National Water Resources Agency (ANRH) for all facilities given to carry out this research work. Also, this work was partly supported by the Italian National Research Programme PRIN 2017, with the project “IntEractions between hydrodyNamics flows and bioTic communities in fluvial Ecosystems: advancement in dischaRge monitoring and understanding of Processes Relevant for ecosystem sustaInability by the development of novel technologieS with fIeld observatioNs and laboratory testinG (ENTERPRISING PRIN)”

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.