Velocity distributions under floating covers

The [Formula: see text] turbulence model has been used to calculate the velocity distributions for a large number of channel flows with different top and bottom boundary roughnesses. The resulting distributions are used to review the standard procedures for stream gauging of ice-covered flows. It is found that the average of the velocities at [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] of the depth is indeed very nearly equal to the overall mean velocity. Examination of the velocity profiles shows that the profiles deviate from the logarithmic distribution for about 40% of the flow depth. Other flow properties, such as the location of the maximum velocity and the mean velocities in the top and bottom layers, are also examined.