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It is difficult to measure river discharge accurately in an estuary, and particularly, in the region where the tidal flow dominates over the river discharge. River discharge is important for the morphology and hydrodynamics of estuaries as it influences the salt intrusion process, tidal dynamics, freshwater supply (water resources management), and the occurrence of floods. Here we try to derive river regime characteristics from the seaward end: the estuary. It is found that there are empirical relationships that link the geometry of an estuary to its river regime, which can be used to estimate river discharge characteristics with the least of data available. The aims of this study are: (1) to derive empirical relations between geometrical characteristics of estuaries and the bankfull discharge; (2) to explore a physical explanation for this relation; and (3) to estimate the bankfull discharge in estuaries. The physical connection between an estuary and its river regime is found by combining estuary shape analysis, tidal dynamic analysis, and Lacey's hydraulic geometry theory. The relationships found between the estuary depth, width, and bankfull river discharge have been tested in 23 estuaries around the world (including seven recently surveyed estuaries). From the analysis, it shows that the depth of an estuary is a function of the bankfull flood discharge to the power of 1/3, which is in agreement with Lacey's formula. This finding not only provides a method to estimate estuary depth, it also allows estimating flood discharge characteristics from readily available estuary shape indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The main parameters that affect the salinity intrusion in estuaries are their geometric, hydrologic and hydrodynamic characteristics. The recognition of effective parameters and understanding their roles in the salinity intrusion are required for estuarine water management. In this study, the governing equations of the salinity intrusion processes were scaled to derive the effective dimensionless parameters. Then, a previously verified model, CE-QUAL-W2, was utilized as a virtual laboratory to investigate the effects of different governing parameters on the salinity intrusion. Analysis of the results showed that logarithmic functions can be used to describe the effect of dimensionless parameters obtained by scaling of governing equations. Finally, a formula was suggested to predict the salinity intrusion length based on geometrical and hydrodynamic characteristics of alluvial estuaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]