Comment on "A praxis-oriented perspective of streamflow inference from stage observations – the method of Dottori et al. (2009) and the alternative of the Jones Formula, with the kinematic wave celerity computed on the looped rating curve" by Koussis (2009)

Abstract

The estimation of transient streamflow from stage measurements is indeed important and the study of Dottori, Martina and Todini (2009) (henceforth DMT) is useful, however, DMT seem to miss certain of its <i>practical aspects</i>. The goal is <i>to infer the discharge from measurements of the stage conveniently and with accuracy adequate for practical work</i>. This comment addresses issues of the applicability of the DMT method in the field. DMT also advocate their method as a replacement of the widely used Jones Formula. The Jones Formula was modified by Thomas (Henderson, 1966) to include the temporal derivative of the depth, instead of the spatial one, to specifically allow discharge estimation from at-a-section stage observations. The outcome of the comparison is not surprising in view of this approximation. However, this discussion intends to show that, properly evaluated, the praxis-oriented Jones Formula, which did well in the tests, can perform better than DMT imply. It will be also documented that the DMT methodology relates to a known method for computing flood depth profiles.