Flow rate determination based on limited observations

A system comprising:

• a processor communicatively coupled to a memory, the processor configured to:
• receive a first dataset comprising a limited sample of flow rate data associated with a test site of a test river, wherein the limited sample of flow rate data comprises a first number of data points that is less than a threshold number of data points, the threshold number of data points are required for constructing an accurate rating curve;
• determine topographical characteristics of the test site;
• determine a plurality of similar tested sites, wherein a similar tested site comprises a river site having topographical characteristics that are above a threshold level of similarity to the topographical characteristics of the test site and about which a second dataset comprising flow rate data has been collected;
• generate a new dataset comprising the first dataset that includes the limited sample of flow rate data associated with the test site and one or more data points from the second datasets, respectively, corresponding to the similar tested sites, wherein the new dataset comprises a second number of data points that is greater than or equal to said threshold number of data points for constructing the accurate rating curve;
• compute a test site rating curve based on the new dataset that comprises a combination of the limited sample of flow rate data from the test site and the flow rate data from the similar tested sites;
• obtain, from a sensor disposed at the test site, a stage reading associated with the test site;
• and
• determine, based on the stage reading and the test site rating curve, a flow rate of the test site.

A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith the program instructions executable by a computer processor to cause the computer processor to perform a method comprising:

• receiving a first dataset comprising a limited sample of flow rate data associated with a test site of a test river, wherein the limited sample of flow rate data comprises a first number of data points that is less than a threshold number of data points, the threshold number of data points are required for constructing an accurate rating curve;
• determining topographical characteristics of the test site;
• determining a plurality of similar tested sites, wherein a similar tested site comprises a river site having topographical characteristics that are above a threshold level of similarity to the topographical characteristics of the test site and about which a second dataset comprising flow rate data has been collected;
• generating a new dataset comprising the first dataset that includes the limited sample of flow rate data associated with the test site and one or more data points from the second datasets, respectively, corresponding to the similar tested sites, wherein the new dataset comprises a second number of data points that is greater than or equal to said threshold number of data points for constructing the accurate rating curve;
• computing a test site rating curve based on the new dataset that comprises a combination of the limited sample of flow rate data from the test site and the flow rate data from the similar tested sites;
• obtaining, from a sensor disposed at the test site, a stage reading associated with the test site;
• and
• determining, based on the stage reading and the test site rating curve, a flow rate of the test site.