Introduction

The purpose of the report is to study the depth profiles and velocity profiles of the
Shimna River using the statistical techniques like regression analysis and correlation analysis.
Both the depth profiles and velocity profiles are analyzed at different sites. Depth profiles show
that the increase the distance from the source increases the depth. However, these results show
abnormal behavior for site 2. The techniques used help to identify the major depth profiles of the
river, finding the graphs for each site and checking the depths at different locations of the river,
studying the velocity profiles and observe the trends of the velocities with the distance from the
river. The velocity profiles for site 2 indicate that it has higher speed at center which makes
chaotic patterns. The correlation analysis of the depth shows the value of 0.9924 which means
positive relationship between the depth and width. While the regression analysis is performed to
find the relationship between the average depths and width. Using the assessment, the students
can understand how the statistical techniques are useful in real-world situations.

The techniques used to collect the data are purely random and the random sampling
method is used. Five different sites are selected randomly and the width, depth and velocity at
each site is measured using pre-determined procedures. The width is measured using the
measuring tape, depth is measured using the depth stick and flow meter and conversion chart is
used to measure the velocity at different sites.

Depth Profiles

The table below shows the depth profiles of different sites measured at different widths with the
help of depth stick at 11 different intervals.

Site 01 with Width 114 cm

Intervals 0 11.4 22.8 34.2 45.6 57 68.4 79.8 91.2 102.6 114
(cm)
Depth (cm) 1.5 3 3 4.5 5 6 5 3 1 2 0.5
 Site1 Width 114 cm
7
6
5
Depth (cm)

4
3
2
1
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Width (cm)

Figure 1 Site 01

When the width of the river is 114 cm, it is seen that the depth is maximum at 57 cm from the
source with depth of 6 cm and minimum depth of 1 cm at 91.2 cm from the start. In between, it is
seen that depth gradually increases till the center where the depth is maximum and after that the
depth starts to decrease.

Site 02 with Width 301 cm

Intervals 0 30.1 58.2 86.3 114.4 142.5 170.6 198.7 226.8 254.9 301
(cm)
Depth 5 4 7 8 14 17.5 10 11.5 8 6 1.5
(cm)
 Site 2 Width 301 cm
20
18
16
Depth (cm) 14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Width (cm)

Figure 2 Site 02 Width 301 cm

When the width of the river is 301 cm, it is seen that the maximum depth of 17.5 cm is seen at
142.5 cm from the start and minimum depth of 1.5 cm at 301 cm which is the last point. In
between, it is seen that depth gradually increases till the center where the depth is maximum and
after that the depth starts to decrease.

Site 03 with Width 490 cm

Intervals 0 49 105.4 161.8 218.2 274.6 331 387.4 443.8 500.2 490
(cm)
Depth 14 11 22 21 27 9 8 12 18 15 9
(cm)
 Site 3 Width 490 cm
30

25

20
Depth (cm)

15

10

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Width (cm)

Figure 3 Site 03 width 490 cm

When the width of the river is 490 cm, it is seen that depth is 27 cm at 218.2 cm from the
beginning and minimum depth is 8 cm near the center. In between, it is seen that depth gradually
increases till the maximum value reached closed to 200 cm, afterwards it started to decrease and
reaches the minimum value near 350 cm and again started to increase till reach second highest
value of depth at 450 cm. After that point, it starts to decrease and reaches a minimum value like
the value of 350 cm.

Site 04 with Width 650 cm

Intervals 0 65 130 195 260 325 390 455 520 585 650
(cm)
Depth 22 29 28 28 19.5 21 28 31 27 17 19
(cm)
 Site 4 Width 650 cm
35
30
Depth (cm) 25
20
15
10
5
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Width (cm)

Figure 4 Site 04 Width 650 cm

When the width of the river is 650 cm, it is seen that the depth is 31 cm which is the maximum
depth and located at 455 cm from the point of beginning and minimum depth of 17 cm at 585 cm
located near the end point of the site. In between, it is seen that depth gradually increases and
decreases at regular intervals till the first minimum value reaches close to 250 cm, afterwards it
starts to increase and reaches the maximum value near 450 cm.

Site 05 Width 1350 cm

Intervals 0 135 270 405 540 675 810 945 1080 1215 1350
(cm)
Depth 22 50 40 19 44 51 60.5 55 47 49 36
(cm)
 Site 05 Width 1350 cm
70
60
Depth (cm) 50
40
30
20
10
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Width (cm)

Figure 5 Site 05 Width 1350 cm

When the width of the river is increased to 1350 cm, the depth of 60.5 cm is seen at 810 cm
which is the maximum depth measured for the site. On the other hand, the minimum depth of 19
cm is located at 400 cm. The graph indicates that the depth started to decrease gradually reaching
the minimum point and increases till the maximum value is reached. After that, it decreases and
reaches the point of depth from where it started.

From all these graphs, when the distance from the source increases, the depth of the river
increases. This means that both variables are directly proportional generally. However, there are
some anomalies present too because as the distance increases, it must always increase but at
some points it decreases too which may be either because of boulder or any other unknown
reasons.

Velocity Profiles

The table below shows the velocity profiles of different sites measured at left, right and center of
the site with the help of flow meter and the conversion chart. The unit of the measurement is
meter per second.
 Velocity Profiles
0.9 0.85
0.8
0.7
0.6
Velocity (m/s)

0.5 0.393
0.4 0.382
0.3
0.11 0.251
0.2 0.18
0.09 0.089
0.1 0.09 0.114
0.06 0.13
0 0.101
0.5 1
0.01 1.5 2
0.01 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5

Sites

Left Center Right

VELOCITY (M/S)
SITES Left Center Right
SITE 01 0.01 0.09 0.09
SITE 02 0.1 0.06 0.85
SITE 03 0.101 0.114 0.089
SITE 04 0.13 0.18 0.11
SITE 05 0.251 0.382 0.393
Figure 6 Velocity Profile

The graph indicates that the velocity of the site 01 remains constant after a small increase
of 0.08 m/s, while for the site 02, it decreases initially from 0.1 m/s to 0.06 m/s but then a large
increase is seen, and the velocity becomes 0.85 m/s at the center of site 2. This is mainly because
of decrease in the bedload size or the A shape of bedload at the rightmost point. For site 03, the
value remains constant at all the three positions with values of 0.101 m/s at left, 0.114 m/s at
center and 0.089 m/s at the right. Site 4 also indicates a constant velocity of 0.13 m/s at left, 0.18
m/s at center and 0.11 m/s at the right. Finally, site 5 has velocities of 0.251 m/s at the left which
increases to 0.382 m/s at the center and reaches the maximum value of 0.393 m/s at right.
Overall, we can say that the velocity of the water increases when the width of the site increases.
This means that there is a positive relationship between the width of the river and the velocity of
the river at different positions.

Correlation analysis

The correlation analysis is performed to see if there is any relationship exists between the mean
depth of the river and the width of the river as well as the median depth and the width of the
river. The formula used to calculate the correlation coefficient is shown below:

Width 114 301 490 650 1350

1.5 5 14 22 22
3 4 11 29 50
3 7 22 28 40
4.5 8 21 28 19
Depths (cm)

5 14 27 19.5 44
6 17.5 9 21 51
5 10 8 28 60.5
3 11.5 12 31 55
1 8 18 27 47
2 6 15 17 49
0.5 1.5 9 19 36
Mean Depth (cm) 3.136364 8.409091 15.09091 24.5 43.04545
Median Depth (cm) 3 8 14 27 47
 Mean Depth
50
45
40
Average Depth (cm) 35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Width (cm)

Figure 7 Average Depth at different sites

Median Depth
50
45
40
Median Depth (cm)

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Width (cm)

Figure 8 Median Depth at different sites

The average depth graph and median depth graph are shown in the above figures. The
purpose of using average value of depth is to get the average insight of the depth at each site so
that any ambiguities in the measurements or errors can be minimized. Based on the mean graph,
it is seen that the depth of the river increases when the distance from the source increases. It
means that there is a positive relationship between the average depth and the distance from the
source.
Using excel, the correlation coefficient between the width of the site and average depth is
calculated as follows:

X Y XY X^2 Y^2
114 3.14 357.55 12996 9.84
301 8.41 2531.14 90601 70.71
490 15.09 7394.55 240100 227.74
650 24.50 15925.00 422500 600.25
1350 43.05 58111.36 1822500 1852.91
Sum 2905 94.18 84319.59 2588697 2761.45

r=
[ 5 ( 84319.59 )− (2905 )( 94.18 ) ]
√ [ 5 ( 2588697 ) −( 2905 ) ] [ 5 ( 2761.45 )−( 94.18 ) ]
2 2

148005.05
r=
149131.55

r =0.9924

This value indicates that there is a strong positive relationship between the average depth of the
river and the width of the river.

Regression Analysis

The regression analysis is performed to find a linear relationship between the average depth of
the river and the distance from the source. The graph is plotted between the average depth and
site to see the relationship. The trendline is also plotted which indicates linear positive
relationship between the variables involved.

Site Average Depth (cm)

1 3.14
2 8.41
3 15.09
4 24.5
5 43.05
 Depth vs Distance from the Source
50
45
40
Average Depth (cm) 35 f(x) = 9.591 x − 9.935
30 R² = 0.931519524088112
25
20
15
10
5
0
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5

Sites

Figure 9 Trendline

The trendline is plotted in excel to find the relationship between the distance from the source and
the average depth and it indicates a positive relationship between the two variables. The
coefficient of determination value is also close to 1 which means this model is a good fit to find
the relationship between the two variables involved. The formula used to find the regression
coefficients are as follows:

The linear relationship is as follows:

Average Depth = 9.591x – 9.935

The average depth for site 6 using the above relationship will be as follows:

Average depth = 9.591(6) – 9.935 = 47.61 cm

Summary and Conclusion

The statistics from the above analysis indicate that the average depth of the river increases when
the width or distance from the source increases. This can be seen from the depth profiles as well
as from the velocity profiles. The velocity profiles show that as the depth increases, the velocity
of the water increases. The correlation analysis on the average depth and the width of the source
also shows that there is a positive relationship between the two variables involved and the
correlation coefficient value is 0.99 which is very close to 1 and that is indication of strong
positive relationship. Similarly, regression analysis is performed on the data and the linear
relationship is developed which also shows a positive slope. This means that the increase in the
distance from the source results in the increase in the average depth. So, it can be concluded that
the average depth of the river increases when the distance from the source increases.
Figure 1 Site 01................................................................................................................................1
Figure 2 Site 02 Width 301 cm........................................................................................................2
Figure 3 Site 03 width 490 cm.........................................................................................................2
Figure 4 Site 04 Width 650 cm........................................................................................................3
Figure 5 Site 05 Width 1350 cm......................................................................................................4
Figure 6 Velocity Profile..................................................................................................................5
Figure 7 Average Depth at different sites........................................................................................6
Figure 8 Median Depth at different sites.........................................................................................6
Figure 9 Trendline............................................................................................................................7