Sampling Frequency,

Sediment Quantity,
Sample Integrity, and
Identification
Sampling Frequency
The desirable time distribution for samples
depends on many factors:
a) The season of the year
b) The runoff characteristics of the basin
c) The adequacy of coverage of previous events
d) The accuracy of the information of data collected
Sediment Quantity
 Sample Integrity
The best sample possible considering the
stream conditions;
a) the available equipment, and
b) the time available for sampling
Sample Identification
1. Time
2. Method or location
3. Stationing
4. Unusual sample conditions
5. Variation of desired technique
6. Condition of stream
7. Location in the vertical
8. Gage height
9. Collectors name.
Sediment-Related
Data
Water Temperature
Water-temperature data
may seem unimportant in
comparison with the sediment
data. However, it has a
growing list of uses besides
the need to help evaluate the
sediment-transport
characteristics of the stream.
The temperature or viscosity
of the flow affects sediment
suspension and deposition
and may affect the roughness
of a sand-bed stream.
Stream Stage
As with temperature, stream-stage
data may seem insignificant but in
reality can be very important. The
data may be used to construct
missing gage-height records for
periods of recorder failure or to
verify time of sampling. Gage
heights also may serve to indicate
whether the observer actually
obtained a sample at the time and
in the manner indicated by
available notes.
Cold-Weather Sampling
Subfreezing temperatures can cause
surface ice, frazil ice, and anchor ice to
form on or in a stream and create many
difficulties with regard to suspended-
sediment sampling.
Bed-material sampling
Data on the size of material making up the streambed (across the entire
channel, including flood plains) are essential for the study of the long-range
changes in channel conditions and for computations of unmeasured or total
load.
Materials finer than medium gravel
Materials coarser than medium gravel
Location and number of sampling verticals
Sample inspection and labeling
Bedload sampling technique
The sediment moving in the unsampled zone comprises suspended
sediment and bedload.
Suspended load is the portion of the sediment that is carried by a
fluid flow which settle slowly enough such that it almost never
touches the bed. It is maintained in suspension by the turbulence in
the flowing water and consists of particles generally of the fine sand,
silt and clay size.
Bedload is the sediment that moves by sliding, rolling, or bouncing
along on or within a few grain diameters of the streambed.
Purpose of Bedload Sampling Techniques:

variations in bedload-discharge rate

collecting samples
considerations in the design and development of a sampling
program to define bedload movement
Temporal
variation
The spatial or cross-channel
variation
The most commonly used bedload sampler is the Helley-Smith sampler.

The following general methods can be used to collect the

samples:

The single equal-width-increment (SEWI) method

The multiple equal-width-increment (MEWI)
method
The unequal-width- increment (UWI) method
Computation of bedload-discharge
measurements
QB = K W MT T

tT
Where:

QB = bedload discharge, as measured by bedload sampler, in tons per day;

WT = total width of steam from which samples were collected, in feet, and is equal to the increment width
(Wi) times n (n = total number of vertical samples);

tT = total time the sampler was on the bed, in seconds, computed by multiplying the individual sample time by n;

MT = total mass of sample collected from all verticals sampled in the cross section, in grams; and

K = a conversion factor used to convert grams per second per foot into tons per day per foot.

 Measurements for total sediment
discharge
Total sediment discharge is the mass of all sediment moving past a
given cross section in a unit of time.
(1) measured and unmeasured sediment discharges,
(2) suspended- sediment discharge and bedload discharge, or
(3) fine- material discharge (sometimes referred to as the washload)
and coarse-material or bed-material discharge.

Reservoir-trap efficiency

The reservoir trap efficiency is defined as the ratio of deposited

sediment to the total sediment inflow for a given period within the
reservoirs economic life time.
The factors affecting trap efficiency:
Inflow Measurements
Outflow Measurements
Sediment accumulation
The curves presented by Brune are still widely used to
estimate the reservoir trap efficiencies.