A Sediment Rating-curve Method to Determine Sediment Discharge for Rainy Season in Micro-scale Watersheds

Abstract

This research was carried out to overcome the problem of the lack of sediment data available in several watersheds in North Sumatra, the lack of available sediment data is caused by the requirement of a large amount of time, cost and risk to obtain such data. Purpose of this study was to obtain the equation of sediment rating curve. The sediment rating curve is an equation that connects the river discharge with sediment discharge, so that to obtain the sediment discharge, it is enough to use the river discharge data. This research used the descriptive method using the primary (sediment discharge and concentration data) and secondary data (climate data). Result of the study obtained the equation of the sediment rating curve of Qs = 14.115 Q2.2736 and the value of R2 of 0.711. The sediment discharge obtained has exceeded the limit set by the Ministry of Forestry regarding the criteria for determination of watersheds.