Abstract
THE paper on “Flow of the River Dee” (Aberdeen-shire), by Capt. W. N. McClean, read before the British Association meeting at Aberdeen last September, has been issued in pamphlet form, reprinted from Engineering, with a memorandum which indicates the progress made in the survey of the river subsequent to the original date of the paper, and an addendum illustrating the manner in which the records are to be set out in tabular form for publication. The Dee has a catchment area of 790 sq. miles to Aberdeen, and for the purposes of the survey it was divided into four subsidiary areas, with flow-gauging stations at Balmoral, Dennet, Cairnton and Cults. The author states that he has found that the summer flow in certain Scottish rivers of about 100 to 700 sq. miles catchment, may be taken, roughly, as from 1/5 to 1 cu. ft. per sec. per sq. mile, according to area. Flood flows are much more complicated. The author further notes the difficulty of measuring low flows with current meters, as they are at present not very reliable for velocities of less than 1 ft. per sec. He suggests the difficulty may be overcome in the future by a temporary contraction of the channel, so as to increase the velocity. Two types of apparatus are in use on the Dee: namely, one in which the meter is suspended from a wire and another in which a rod is the means of support. It is known that, in turbulent flows, the wire-suspended meter tends to set to the current and to give excessively high values. The combined use of the two methods enables a serviceable comparison to be made of their respective accuracies. The records obtained should prove of great public utility and the co-operation of two authorities directly interested, the City of Aberdeen and the Fishery Board of the Dee, has been secured in establishing the gauging stations. Capt. McClean points out that if there were a recognised association for these river records, the water interests would become subscribing members of the association, receiving the completed records in return for the standard tables of water levels prepared by themselves.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
River Flow Records. Nature 135, 144 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135144a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135144a0