| Abstract: | A one-dimensional non-linear diffusion wave equation is derived from the Saint Venant equations with neglect of the inertia terms. This non-linear equation has no general analytical solution. Numerical schemes are therefore employed to discretize the space and time axes and convert the differential equation to difference form. In this study, the mixing cell method is used to convert the diffusion wave equation to difference form, in which the difference term can be eliminated by selecting an optimal space step size Δx when time step size Δt is given. When the time step size Δt→0, the space step size Δx=Q/(2S0BC]k) where Q is discharge, S0 is bed slope, B is channel width and Ck is kinematic wave celerity, which is the same as the characteristic length proposed by Kalinin and Milyukov. The results of application to two cases show that the mixing cell and linear channel flow routing methods produce hydrographs that are in agreement with the observed flood hydrographs. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
