Open Channel Hydraulics: New Directions and Alternative Approaches

As the stress on water resources increases by leaps and bounds across the world, water researchers, practitioners, managers and academicians have shouldered the combined responsibility to develop new techniques and propose out of the box management alternatives. Rivers are the most important element of surface freshwater system fulfilling the freshwater needs of the society. On account of the above statement, the study of river engineering holds an important position in research. Developments in open channel flow engineering have contributed majorly in making the study of river engineering more reliable and accurate. Conversely, sometimes the complexity of hydraulics and their existing conventions have enhanced the volume of efforts required to study the diverse aspects of river hydraulics both at model and prototype scale. In this book, the authors have proposed some alternatives to simplify the problem so that analysis and studies can be carried out directly at the river scale. At river scale, discharge and gauge data is easily available. Based on this reality; the authors have put forward a concept of virtual viscosity and relative roughness.