In this paper, the conservative properties of the Muskingum equation, commonly applied to solve river flood routing, are analysed. The aim of this analysis is to explain the causes ofthe mass balance error, which is observed in the numerical solutions of its non-linear form. The linear Muskingum model has been considered as a semi-discrete form of the kinematic wave equation and therefore it was possible to derive its two non-linear...

In the paper the conservative properties of the lumped hydrological models with variable parameters are discussed. It is shown that in the case of the non-linear Muskingum equation the mass balance is not satisfied. The study indicates that the mass balance errors are caused by the improper form of equation and by the numerical diffusion which is generated in the solution. It has been shown that the classical way of derivation...

Although the Muskingum equation was proposed nearly 75 years ago, it is still a subject of active research. Despite of its simple form, the real properties of this equation have not been comprehensively explained. This paper proposes a new interpretation of the linear McCarthy’s relation. This relation can be interpreted only together with the storage equation, whereas the Muskingum equation can be derived directly from the system...

Two nonlinear versions of the Muskingum equation are considered. The difference between both equations relates to the exponent parameter. In the first version, commonly used in hydrology, this parameter is considered as free, while in the second version, it takes a value resulting from the kinematic wave theory. Consequently, the first version of the equation is dimensionally inconsistent, whereas the proposed second one is consistent. It...