Development of Empirical Equation for Transverse Dispersion Coefficient with Theoretical Base in Sinuous Rivers

In this study, a new equation that can estimate the transverse dispersion coefficient by using only hydraulic data in natural river bends has been developed. A total of 18 data sets in 12 rivers were collected and used for developing the empirical equation. In the newly proposed equation, the theoretical approaches based on the shear flow were adopted for the functional relation of the hydraulic parameters to the dispersion coefficient instead of the dimensional analysis. As a regression method, the least-square iterative method was used because the equation was a nonlinear model. The proposed equation was proven to be superior in explaining the dispersion characteristics of rivers more precisely compared to the existing equations.