River Discharge
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River discharge has a role in driving the climate system, as the freshwater inflow to the world’s oceans may influence oceanic circulation patterns at interannual to decadal time scales. At the same time river discharge serves as an indicator for climatic change and variability as it reflect’s changes in precipitation and evapotranspiration. River discharge, which is expressed as volume per unit time, is the rate at which water flows through a cross-section. The unit used to me asure river discharge is usually m3/s (cubic meters per second, or cumecs). Currently in situ methods are the most costeffective and reliable options for river discharge measurement. Discharge measurements are made at each gauging station to determine the discharge rating for the site. The discharge rating is a relation between stage and discharge influenced by stage, slope, rate of change of stage and other factors. The depth of flow in the cross-section is measured at verti cals using different techniques. As the depth is measured, observations of velocity are obtained at one or more points in the vertical. The measured widths, depths, and velocities permit computation of discharge for each segment of the cross-section. The summation of these segment discharges is the total discharge.