Hydro-terms visualized
A picture can be worth a thousand words, so we’ll let the pictures help us do the talking:
Cubic foot: instantaneous streamflow is often report in cubic feet per second. For reference, a cubic foot is about 7.5 gallons, so you can picture that many imaginary milk jugs flowing across a point in a second.
Acre-foot: when describing how much water flows past a streamgage during a day or month or year, it is easier to describe in terms of acre feet. An acre-foot is the amount of water that would cover a football field in one foot of water. If a hypothetical stream consistently flowed 1 cubic foot per second (cfs) for an entire year, that would be equal to about 724 acre-feet.
Related Content
Get the whole picture:
From Gage to Page: A Look Into How USGS Helps You Know the Flow
Measuring Streamflow
Accurately measuring streamflow at each visit to the site is critical to streamgaging. The correct equipment for each stream during different seasons ensures the highest quality data are collected each time.
Related Content
Get the whole picture:
From Gage to Page: A Look Into How USGS Helps You Know the Flow
Measuring Streamflow
Accurately measuring streamflow at each visit to the site is critical to streamgaging. The correct equipment for each stream during different seasons ensures the highest quality data are collected each time.