Variable parameter McCarthy-Muskingum flow transport model for compound channels accounting for distributed non-uniform lateral flow

In this study, the fully volume conservative simplified hydrodynamic-based variable parameter McCarthy-Muskingum (VPMM) flow transport model advocated by Perumal and Price in 2013 is extended to exclusively incorporate the distributed non-uniform lateral flow in the routing scheme accounting for compound river channel flows. The revised VPMM formulation is exclusively derived from the combined form of the de Saint-Venant's continuity and momentum equations with the spatiotemporally distributed lateral flow which is solved using the finite difference box scheme. This revised model could address the earlier model limitations of: (i) non-accounting non-uniformly distributed lateral flow, (ii) ignoring floodplain flow, and (iii) non-consideration of catchment dynamics of lateral flow generation restricting its real-time application. The efficacy of the revised formulation is tested to simulate 16 years (1980-1995) river runoff from real-time storm events under scarce morpho-hydrological data conditions in a tropical monsoon-type 48 km Bolani-Gomlai reach of the Brahmani River in eastern India. The spatiotemporally distributed lateral flows generated in real-time is computed by water balance approach accounting for catchment characteristics of normalized network area function, land use land cover classes, and soil textural classes; and hydro-meteorological variables of precipitation, soil moisture, minimum and maximum temperatures, wind speed, relative humidity, and solar radiation. The multiple error measures used in this study and the simulation results reveal that the revised VPMM model has a greater practical utility in estimating the event-based and long-term meso-scale river runoff (both discharge and its stage) at any ungauged site, enhancing its application for real-time flood estimation.