Relationship of suspended sediment to streamflow in the Green River Basin, Wyoming

The relation of suspended-sediment concentration to water discharge was computed using regression analysis for 33 stations and 2 miscellaneous sites in the Green River basin, Wyoming. These relations show that suspended-sediment concentrations vary in direct proportion to streamflow. The number of coincident instantaneous suspended-sediment concentration and water-discharge values available for each regression analysis ranged from 6 to 98. Standard error of estimates for 35 relationships were usually large and correlation were relatively small. Large standard errors and small correlations are expected because of the complexity of the fluvial system. The effects of other factors, such as geology, topography, climate, soils, vegetation, and land use were not evaluated. Daily suspended-sediment discharges for four stations were computed by the ' sediment-transport-curve ' method described in this report , and compared with values computed by the traditional ' temporal-concentration-graph ' method. Annual sediment yields in tons per square mile drainage area, were compared in like manner. For those stations examined, values computed by the ' sediment-transport-curve ' method were within 58 percent of those computed by the temporal-concentration-graph ' method when only one year of record was used, but were within 12 to 21 percent when 2 to 4 years of record were averaged. (USGS)