System and method for operating a gas turbine

A method for determining a cooling flow parameter of a cooling medium supplied through a gas turbine is disclosed. The method may generally include receiving (102) a signal associated with a first value of a combustion product parameter at a location within a combustion zone of the gas turbine, receiving (104) a signal associated with a second value of a combustion product parameter at a location downstream of the combustion zone, comparing (106) the first and second values of the combustion product parameter and determining (108) a cooling flow parameter of the cooling medium based on the comparison of the first and second values.