A Modified Muskingum Flow Routing Model for Flood Wave Propagation during River Ice Thawing-Breakup Period

During the period of river ice thawing and breakup process (termed as "ice cover thawing-breakup"), vast amount of water stored in ice-covered river reach will be released comparing to that under open flow condition. The flow routing process during river ice thawing-breakup period will be different from that under open flow condition, since water stored in and channel from ice thawing-breakup process and flow routing process are very complicated. If the flow routing process during river ice thawing-breakup period can be predicted, it will very important for flood protection in the downstream river reach. In present study, water released from ice cover thawing process is considered as the lateral inflow to the channel flow during propagation process of flood wave from upstream to downstream. A model for the flood routing process during river ice thawing-breakup period has been developed based on the Muskingum hydrologic method. Using the modified Muskingum model, the routed outflow hydrograph has been determined along the Baotou Reach of the Yellow River during river ice thawing-breakup period. Results showed that the simulated hydrographs using developed model agree well with those of field measurements.