Reverse flood routing in rivers using linear and nonlinear Muskingum models

Abstract

One of the key factors for flood modeling and control is the flood hydrograph, which is not always available due to lack of flood discharge observations. In reverse flow routing, hydraulic or hydrological calculations are performed from the downstream end to the upstream end. In the present study, a reverse flood routing approach is developed based on the Muskingum model. The storage function is conceptualized as linear and five different nonlinear forms. The Euler and the fourth-order Runge-Kutta numerical methods are used for solving the storage models. The shuffled complex evolution (SCE) algorithm is used for optimization of the flood routing parameters. The models are calibrated and validated with theoretical and actual hydrographs. The results indicate that the proposed methodology could substantially (up to almost 82%) improve comparison with observed inflows. The practical applicability of the proposed methodology is also validated in real river systems.