Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

CHAPTER TWO

RAINFALL-RUNOFF RELATIONSHIPS

2.0 Runoff
Runoff means the draining or flowing off of precipitation from a catchment area through a
surface channel. It thus represents the output from the catchment in a given unit of time.
Consider a catchment area receiving precipitation. For a given precipitation, the
evapotranspiration, initial loss, infiltration and detention storage requirements will have to be
first satisfied before the commencement of runoff. When these are satisfied, the excess
precipitation moves over the land surfaces to reach smaller channels. This portion of the runoff is
called overland flow and involves building up of storage over the surface and draining off of the
same. Usually the lengths and depths of overland flow are small and the flow is in the laminar
regime. Flows from several small channels join bigger channels and flows from these in turn
combine to form a larger stream, and so on, till the flow reaches the catchment outlet. The flow
in this mode where it travels all the time over the surface as overland flow and through the
channels as open-channel flow and reaches the catchment outlet is called surface runoff.
Factors Affecting Runoff
Climatic Factors:
 Intensity, duration, and areal distribution of precipitation, Evapotranspiration
Basin Geology
 Responsible for the infiltration rate of the basins
 If good aquifer material forms in the basin infiltration increased and then surface runoff
decrease
 If the basin composed of impervious materials runoff will be highly peaked
Land cover and management
 Vegetation Cover ®Grass Cover ®Cultivation
 Plough and digging also facilitate infiltration and decrease runoff
 Ponding, tracing and other conservation structure reduce runoff
Basin Characteristics
 The size (Area (A), Length (L), width), Shape (Form factor, shape factor ), Slope
 Drainage density or stream density of the basin

Methods of Runoff Computation

Estimating peak rate of runoff, volume of runoff, and soil loss are crucial for different purposes
like design of erosion and sedimentation control facilities, design of hydraulic structures,
channel, drains or culverts, etc. Accurate computation of runoff amount is difficult as it depends
on several factors concerned with atmosphere and catchment characteristics. On the basis of field
experience and observation, different empirical methods are used for estimating the maximum or
peak runoff rate of a particular watershed. We will see three frequently used methods, the
rational method, the SCS (recently named as Natural Resources Conservation Service, NRCS)
curve number method and the time-area method. The rational method is very simple in concept
but relies on considerable judgment and experience to evaluate all factors properly. It is used
primarily for small drainage areas (less than 50 acres). The NRCS method is more sophisticated

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hydrologically and offers a more accurate approximation of runoff, particularly for areas larger
than 20 acres. Choice of method for small areas depends primarily on the experience of the
designer.
1. The Rational Formula

This is the most common method used to predict the peak runoff rate defined as the maximum
runoff, to be used as capacity for a given structure that must carry the runoff. The rational
formula is:
Q= CIA
360
Where, Q = rate of runoff in cubic meters per second for the given frequency of rainfall.
I = intensity of rainfall in millimeters per hour for design frequency and for duration
equal to time of concentration
A = catchment area in hectares,
C = rational runoff coefficient (dimensionless) having values ranging from zero to one
depending upon watershed conditions.
The above equation was developed using the following assumptions:
 Rainfall occurs at a uniform intensity throughout the watershed area
 Rainfall occurs with a uniform intensity for the duration at least equal to the time of
concentration of the watershed area
 Storm duration must be equal to or greater than the time of concentration of the watershed.
The Rational Formula should only be applied to drainage areas smaller than 80 ha.

To solve the equation, each of the three factors on the right hand side needs to be known. The
area A is measured by surveying, or from maps or aerial photographs.
To get the value of intensity I it is first necessary to estimate the gathering time (time of
concentration) of the catchment that is, the longest time taken by surface runoff to get from any
point in the catchment to the outlet.
Time of Concentration (Tc): is the time required for water to flow from the most remote point
of the area to the outlet once the soil has become saturated and minor depressions filled. It can be
calculated using the Kirpich Formula as:
Tc = 0.0195 Kc0.77 in which Kc = [L3 / H]0.5
Where, Tc = time of concentration in minutes
L = maximum length of flow in meters
H = difference in elevation between the most remote point and the outlet in meters.
When the duration of rainfall becomes equal to the time of concentration then all parts of the
watershed are able to contribute the discharge to the outlet simultaneously and the cumulative
discharge takes the form of maximum runoff which is referred as peak discharge.

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Rainfall Intensity: is defined as the rate of fall of rainfall expressed as depth per unit time i.e.
mm/hr. it is also expressed as the ratio of total amount of rainfall to its duration. It is given by
P
I=
T
Where, I is rainfall intensity, P is amount of rainfall and T is duration of rainfall. In the rational
method to compute runoff rate, the rainfall duration should be equal to the time of concentration
(i.e. time required to move the surface flow from remotest point of the watershed to the outlet).
Rainfall intensity, duration curve and frequency curves are necessary to use the rational method.
Regional IDF curve need to be developed for the catchment in question
Higher values are usually appropriate for steeply sloped areas and longer return periods because
infiltration and other losses have a proportionally smaller effect on runoff in these cases.

Figure 2.1 Example of IDF (Intensity Duration Frequency) Curve

The Rational Runoff Coefficient (C): is a measure of the proportion of the rain which becomes
runoff. On a corrugated iron roof almost all of the rain would become runoff, so C would be
almost 1.0, while a well drained sandy soil, where nine-tenths of the rain soaks in, would have a
C value of 0.1. Table 2.1 gives some values of C. Where the catchment has several different
kinds of topography, or land use, a weighted average is found by combining the different values
in proportion to the area of each. For example, let a watershed has been divided into three sub
parts, on the basis of its land use and soil types, having the areas as a1, a2 and a3 with values of
runoff coefficient as c1, c2 and c3 respectively, then the value of weighted runoff coefficient C is
c 1∗a 1+ c 2∗a 2+c 3∗a3
given by C ¿ in which A is the total area.
A

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Table 2.1 Values of runoff coefficient C (from Schwab et al. 1981)

Topography and vegetation Soil texture
Open sandy loam Clay and silt loam Tight clay
Woodland
Flat 0-5% slope 0.10 0.30 0.40
Rolling 5-10% slope 0.25 0.35 0.50
Hilly 10-30% slope 0.30 0.50 0.60
Pasture
Flat 0.10 0.30 0.40
Rolling 0.16 0.36 0.55
Hilly 0.22 0.42 0.60
Cultivated
Flat 0.30 0.50 0.60
Rolling 0.40 0.60 0.70
Hilly 0.52 0.72 0.82
Urban areas 30% of area impervious 50% of area impervious 70% of area impervious
Flat 0.40 0.55 0.65
Rolling 0.50 0.65 0.80
Example: Estimate the peak rate of runoff expected to occur once in 25 years from 50 hectares
watershed with sandy loam soil. The land use comprises 20 ha agricultural land, 15 ha of
grassland and 15 ha of wood land. If the difference in elevation between highest and outlet point
is 20 m and maximum length of run is 1200 m, calculate the time of concentration. The average
land slope is 3% and the intensity of rainfall for time of concentration equal to 22 minute (T c =
22 min) is 100 mm/hr.
Solution:
Step 1: Calculation of average value of C = 20 x 0.3 + 15 x 0.1 + 15 x 0.1 = 0.18
50
Step 2: Time of concentration for a fall of 20 m and maximum length of flow 1200m can be
calculated as: Tc = 0.0195 [ {L3 / H} 0.5 ]0.77 = 0.0195 [ {1200/20}0.5 ]0.77 = 22.16 minutes
The intensity of rainfall (I) for a time of concentration of 22 minutes is given as 100 mm/h.
Hence the Peak runoff rate is calculated by using the rational formula as
Qpeak = CIA / 360 = 0.18 x 100 x 50 = 2.5 m3 / sec.
360
2. The SCS Curve Number Method

The SCS (NRCS) Curve Number method is one of the most commonly used approaches for
determining the amount of runoff that is generated from a single rainfall event. This method is
based on the potential maximum retention (S) of the watershed which is determined by wetness
of the watershed i.e. the antecedent moisture condition and physical characteristics of the
watershed. In addition it considers the initial loss of rainwater by interception and depression
storage of the soil etc. The initial losses (‘I a’) are satisfied by the rainfall before starting of the
runoff. Thus, having the above parameters as an input, the basic runoff equation according to the
US Soil Conservation Service curve number method is:
2
( P−I a )
Q=
[ ( P−I a )+ S ]
To simplify the above equation, it is assumed that ‘I a’ is to be a fraction of potential maximum
retention (S) and the relationship between Ia and S was developed from experimental watershed
data. The empirical relationship used in the SCS runoff equation is:
Ia = 0.2S
(P−0 .2 S )2
Then the above equation may be reduced to: Q =
( P+ 0 .8 S)

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Where: Q = depth of runoff in mm. P = depth of rainfall in mm

Ia = initial obstruction including surface storage, interception, and infiltration prior to runoff.
S = potential maximum retention in mm.
The retention capacity (S) of the watershed can be predicted using the curve number, as defined
by US Soil Conservation Service (1969), given as: S = 25400 - 254 in which CN and S is in mm.
CN
The CN value varies from minimum as zero for most permeable surface to the maximum as 100
for impervious (concrete) surface. However, the values of curve number for different land use
conditions and hydrologic soil groups are given in Table 2.2. These values are applied to
antecedent moisture conditions II only i.e., for average condition.
Table 2.2 CN Values for different Hydrologic Soil Groups and different Hydrologic Conditions
(Applicable for AMC II)
Land cover Treatment Hydrologic CN by soil group
condition
A B C D
Fallow Bare soil - 77 86 91 94
Crop residue Poor 76 85 90 93
Good 74 83 88 90
Row crops Straight row Poor 72 81 88 91
Good 67 78 85 89
Straight row & Crop residue Poor 71 80 87 90
Good 64 75 82 85
Contoured Poor 70 79 84 88
Good 65 75 82 86
Contoured & Crop residue Poor 69 78 83 87
Good 64 74 81 85
contoured and terraced Poor 66 74 80 82
Good 62 71 78 81
Contoured terraced and crop residue Poor 65 73 79 81
Good 61 70 77 80
Small grain Straight row Poor 65 76 84 88
Good 63 75 83 87
Straight row & Crop residue Poor 64 75 83 86
Good 60 72 80 84
Contoured Poor 63 74 82 85
Good 61 73 81 84
Contoured & Crop residue Poor 62 73 81 84
Good 60 72 80 83
Contoured and terraced Poor 61 72 79 82
Good 59 70 78 81
Contoured terraced and crop residue Poor 60 71 78 81
Good 58 69 77 80
Close seeded legumes Straight row Poor 66 77 85 89
or Rotation meadow Good 58 72 81 85
Contoured Poor 64 75 83 85
Good 55 69 78 83
Contoured and terraced Poor 63 73 80 83
Good 51 67 76 80
Pasture, grassland or Continuous grazing Poor 68 79 86 89
range Fair 49 69 79 84
Good 39 61 74 80
Meadow Continuous grass protected from grazing and mowed - 30 58 71 78
for hay
Brush Brush-weed-grass mixture with brush the major Poor 48 67 77 83
element Fair 35 56 70 77
Good 30 48 65 73
Wood-grass combination ( orchard and tree farms) Poor 57 73 82 86
Fair 43 65 76 82
Good 32 58 72 79
Poor 45 66 77 83
Woods Fair 36 60 73 79
Good 30 55 70 77

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To get the CN values for other AMCs (i.e. I and III), the correction factors are applied. The
correction factors for other antecedent moisture conditions are given in Table 2.3.
Antecedent Moisture Content (AMC): is defined as the wetness index of soil. There are three
levels of AMC, given as under:
i. AMC I. This includes the lowest runoff potential because the soils are dry enough
for satisfactory cultivation to take place.
ii. AMC II. This indicates average condition regarding runoff potential.
iii. AMC III. This includes highest runoff potential of soil which is practically happened
when areas of watersheds are saturated from antecedent rains.
Table 2.3 Multiplying Factor for converting AMC II to I or III condition in CN method
S.№ Curve number/weighted Factors to convert from AMC
Curve number for AMC II II to
AMC I AMC III
1 10 0.4 2.22
2 20 0.45 1.85
3 30 0.50 1.67
4 40 0.55 1.50
5 50 0.62 1.40
6 60 0.67 1.30
7 70 0.73 1.21
8 80 0.79 1.14
9 90 0.87 1.07
10 100 1.00 1.00

The hydrological condition of the catchment is graded as good, fair or poor.

For arable land, the hydrologic condition reflects whether the rotation will encourage
infiltration.
For grass land, it is assessed on the density of the vegetative cover
 More than 75% cover is good
 Less than 50% cover is poor.
For forest lands, the criteria are the depth of litter and humus, and the compactness of the
humus.
Finally the soil is designed as one of the four hydrologic soil groups as described in Table 2.4.
Table 2.4 Hydrologic soil groups (from USDA – SCS 1964)
Hydrologic Runoff Infiltration when wet Typical soils
soil group potential
A Low High Excessive drained sands and gravels
(> 8 mm/hr)
B Moderate Moderate Medium texture
( 4 – 8 mm/hr)
C Medium Slow Fine texture or soils with a layer
( 1 – 4 mm/hr) impeding downward drainage.

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D High Very slow Swelling clays, clay pan soils or

( < 1 mm/hr) shallow soils over impervious layers.

Example: Given 8.122 hectare farm with an average slope of 0.9%. The watershed is Bare-soil
and falls under the hydrologic soil group B. Two year rainfall of 24 hours duration is 95.25mm.
Compute runoff depth in mm.
Solution: CN for the given land use and hydrologic soil group B is 86. (From table 2.2)
S = 25400 -254 = 25400 -254 = 41.35mm
CN 86
Then Q = (95.25 – 0.2*41.35)2 = 58.96mm.
(95.25 + 0.8*41.35)

Exercise: Calculate the depth of direct runoff for 50 years recurrence interval from a watershed
for AMC-I. The watershed having total 50 ha area is divided into two parts, one of 40 ha area is
engaged under poor row crop on contoured and terraced land and remaining 10 ha area is
engaged under poor grassland farming practices. The soil of watershed falls under C hydrologic
soil group. Assume the value of rainfall occurred for 6 hour duration against 50 years recurrence
interval is 15 cm.

3. Time-Area Method
The time – area method of obtaining runoff or discharge from rainfall can be considered as an
extension and improvement of the rational method. The peak discharge Qp is the sum of flow –
contributions from subdivisions of the catchment defined by time contours (called isochrones),
which are lines of equal flow – time to the river section where Qp is required. The method is
illustrated in Figure 2.2(a).

The flow from each contributing area bounded by two isochrones (T -∆T, T) is obtained from the

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product of the mean intensity of effective rainfall (i) from time (T -∆T, T) is obtained from the
product of the mean intensity of effective rainfall

(i) From time T-∆T to time T and the area (∆A). Thus Q4, the flow at X at time 4h is given
by:
T
Q4 =I 3 ∆ A 1+ I 2 ∆ A 2 + I 1 ∆ A3 + I 0 ∆ A 4 i.e. QT =∑ I (T− K) ∆ A 4
k=1
(ii) As the assumption for the rational method, the whole catchment is taken to be
contributing to the flow after T equals to T c. Hence the peak flow contributed from
the whole catchment after Tc of the commencement of rain is:
n
Q P=∑ I (n− K) ∆ A(k)
k=1

Where n, the number of incremental areas between successive isochrones, is given by Tc/∆T,
and k is a counter.

The unrealistic assumption made in the rational method of uniform rainfall intensity over the
whole catchment and during the whole of T c is avoided in the time – area method, where the
catchment contributions are subdivided in time. The varying intensities within a storm are
averaged over discrete periods according to the isochrones time interval selected. Hence, in
deriving a flood peak for design purposes, a design storm with a critical sequence of intensities
can be used for the maximum intensities applied to the contributing areas of the catchment that
have most rapid runoff. However, when such differences within a catchment are considered,
there arises difficulty in determining Tc, the time after the commencement of the storm when, by
definition, Qp occurs.

2.1 Hydrological Models

The two classical types of hydrological models are the deterministic and the stochastic types.

Figure 2.3: Classification of hydrological models according to process description

a. Deterministic Hydrological Models

Deterministic models permit only one outcome from a simulation with one set of inputs and
parameter values. Deterministic models can be classified to whether the model gives a lumped or

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distributed description of the considered area, and whether the description of the hydrological
processes is empirical, conceptual, or more physically-based. As most conceptual models are
also lumped and as most physically based models are also distributed. The three main groups of
deterministic models:

Empirical Models (black box)

Lumped Conceptual Models (grey box)
Distributed Process (Physically) Description Based Models (white box)

i. Empirical (Black Box) Models

Black box models are empirical, involving mathematical equations that have been assessed, not
from the physical processes in the catchment, but from analysis of concurrent input and output
time series.

The first of this kind of model was the Rational Method published by the Irish engineer Thomas
James Mulvaney (1822-1892) in 1851. The model was a single simple equation often used for
drainage design for small suburban and urban watersheds. The equation assumes the
proportionality between peak discharge, Qpk, and the maximum average rainfall intensity, Ieff:
Qpk = C* Ieff*A
Where A is drainage area and
C is the runoff coefficient, which depends on watershed land use.

The equation was derived from a simplified conceptual model of travel times on basins with
negligible surface storage. The duration of the rainfall to be used in the equation is the mean
intensity of precipitation for duration equal to the time of concentration and an exceedence
probability of P.

The model reflects the way in which discharges are expected to increase with area, land use and
rainfall intensity in a rational way and hence its name Rational Method. The scaling parameter C
reflects the fact that not all the rainfall becomes discharge. The method does not attempt to
separate the different effects of runoff production and runoff routing that controls the
relationship between the volume of rainfall falling on the catchment in a storm and the discharge
at the hydrograph peak. In addition, the constant C is required to take account of the nonlinear
relationship between antecedent conditions and the profile of storm rainfall and the resulting
runoff production. Thus, C is not a constant parameter, but varies from storm to storm on the
same catchment, and from catchment to catchment for similar storms.

The other best known among the black box models is the unit hydrograph model which was
published by Sherman (1932), who used the idea that the various time delays for runoff produced
on the catchment to reach the outlet could be represented as a time distribution without any direct
link to the areas involved. Because the routing procedure was linear, this distribution could be
normalized to represent the response to a unit of runoff production, or effective rainfall,
generated over the catchment in one time step. The method is one of the most commonly used
hydrograph modeling techniques in hydrology, simple to understand and easy to apply. The unit
hydrograph represents a discrete transfer function for effective rainfall to reach the basin outlet,
lumped to the scale of the catchment.

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Other empirical models are developed using linear regression and correlation methods used to
determine functional relationships between different data sets. The relationships are
characterized by correlation coefficients and standard deviation and the parameter estimation is
carried out using rigorous statistical methods involving tests for significance and validity of the
chosen model.

ii. Lumped Conceptual Models

Lumped models treat the catchment as a single unit, with state variables that represent average
values over the catchment area, such as storage in the saturated zone. Due to the lumped
description, the description of the hydrological processes cannot be based directly on the
equations that are supposed to be valid for the individual soil columns. Hence, the equations are
semi-empirical, but still with a physical basis. Therefore, the model parameters cannot usually be
assessed from field data alone, but have to be obtained through the help of calibration. One of the
first and most successful lumped digital computer models was the Stanford Watershed model
developed by Norman Crawford and Ray Linsley at Stanford University. The Stanford model
had up to 35 parameters, although it was suggested that many of these could be fixed on the basis
of the physical characteristics of the catchment and only a much smaller number needed to be
calibrated.

iii. Distributed Process Description Based Models

Another approach to hydrological processes modeling was the attempt to produce models based
on the governing equations describing all the surface and subsurface flow processes in the
catchment. A first attempt to outline the potentials and some of the elements in a distributed
process description based model on a catchment scale was made by Freeze and Harlan (1969).
The calculations require larger computers to solve the flow domain and points at the elements of
the catchment.

Distributed models of this type have the possibility of defining parameter values for every
element in the solution mesh. They give a detailed and potentially more correct description of the
hydrological processes in the catchment than do the other model types. The process equations
require many different parameters to be specified for each element and made the calibration
difficult in comparison with the observed responses of the catchment.

In principle parameter adjustment of this type of model is not necessary if the process equations
used are valid and if the parameters are strongly related to the physical characteristics of the
surface, soil and rock. In practice the model requires effective values at the scale of the elements.
Because of the heterogeneity of soil, surface vegetation establishing a link between
measurements and element values is difficult. The Distributed Process Description Based Models
can in principle be applied to almost any kind of hydrological problem. The development is
increased over the recent years for the fact that the increase in computer power, programming
tools and digital databases and the need to handle processes and predictions of runoff, sediment
transport and/or contaminants.

Another reason is the need of the models for impact assessment. Changes in land use, such as
deforestation or urbanization often affect only part of a catchment area. With a distributed model
it is possible to examine the effects of such land use changes in their correct spatial context by
understanding the physical meaning between the parameter values and the land use changes.

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Recent examples of distributed process based models include the SHE model (Abbott et al.,
1986), MIKE SHE (Refsgaard and Storm, 1995), IHDM (Institute of Hydrology Distributed
Model; Calver and Wood 1995), and THALES (Grayson et al. 1992), etc.

b. Stochastic Time Series Models

Stochastic models allow for some randomness or uncertainty in the possible outcomes due to
uncertainty in input variables, boundary conditions or model parameters. Traditionally, a
stochastic model is derived from a time series analysis of the historical record. The stochastic
model can then be used for the generation of long hypothetical sequences of events with the
same statistical properties as the historical record. In this technique several synthetic series with
identical statistical properties are generated. These generated sequences of data can then be used
in the analysis of design variables and their uncertainties, for example, when estimating reservoir
storage requirements.

With regard to process description, the classical stochastic simulation models are comparable to
the empirical, black box models. Hence, stochastic time series models are in reality composed of
a simple deterministic core (the black box model) contained within a comprehensive stochastic
methodology.

So, these are the broad generic classes of rainfall-runoff models, lumped or distributed;
deterministic or stochastic.

The vast majority of models used in rainfall-runoff modeling are deterministic. Simpler models
still offer so wide applicability and flexibility. If the interest is in simulating and predicting a one
time series, for instance, run-off prediction, simple lumped parameter models can provide just as
good simulation as complex process description based models.

2.2. Stream Flow Hydrograph

A hydrograph is the graphical representation of the discharge flowing in a river at the given
location, with the passage of time. It is, thus, a plot between time (on x-axis), and discharge (on
y- axis).
A hydrograph is a graphical plot of discharge of a natural stream or river versus time. The
hydrograph is a result of a particular effective rainfall hyetograph as modified by basin flow
characteristics. By definition, the volume of water under an effective rainfall hyetograph is equal
to the volume of surface runoff.

It has three characteristic parts: the rising limb, the crest segment and the falling limb or
depletion curve.

With reference to figure 2.4 the effective rainfall hyetograph consisting of a single block of
rainfall with duration D shown in the upper left part of the figure produced the runoff
hydrograph. The areas enclosed by the hyetograph and the hydrograph each represent the same
volume, V, of water from the catchment. The maximum flow rate on the hydrograph is the peak
flow, Qp, while the time from the start of the hydrograph to Qp is the time to peak, tp. The total
duration of the hydrograph known as the base time, tb

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The lag time, tL is the time from the center of mass of effective rainfall to the peak of runoff
hydrograph. It is apparent that tp = tL + D/2, using this definition. Some define lag time as the
time from center of mass of effective rainfall to the center of the runoff hydrograph.

Figure 2.4: Runoff Hydrograph

i. Hydrograph Analysis
One of the major tasks of the hydrograph analysis is to produce rainfall-runoff relationships for a
catchment area, for predicting runoffs as a result of certain rains which does not involve the
direct measurement of runoff.

Hydrograph describes the whole time history of the changing rate of flow from a catchment due
to rainfall event rather than predicting only the peak flow (Rational Method). A natural
hydrograph would be the result of continuous measurements of discharge (with a recording
device) producing the required relationship for any times interval, e.g. for a single flood event
related to a single storm.

Hydrograph may also show mean values of events observed over a long period (of several years)
as daily, monthly or annual averages in their temporal distribution over a year (or the rainy
season or any other defined period of interest) giving the solution of specific problems (average
storage behavior, average available discharge, etc).

Depending upon the unit of time involved, we have:

1. Annual hydrographs showing the variation of daily or weekly or 10 days daily mean
flows over a year.
2. Monthly hydrographs showing the variation of daily mean flows over a month
3. Seasonal hydrographs representing the variation of the discharge in a particular season
such as the monsoon season or dry season
4. Flood hydrographs or hydrographs due to storm representing stream flow due to a storm
over a catchment

The hydrograph of stream flow against time has two main components, the area under the hump,

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labeled surface runoff (which is produced by volume of water derived from the storm event),
and the broad band near the time axis, representing base flow contributed from groundwater.

At the beginning of the rainfall, the river level (and hence the discharge) is low and a period of
time elapses before the river begins to rise. During this period the rainfall is being intercepted by
vegetation or is soaking into the ground and making up soil-moisture deficits. The length of the
delay before the river rises depends on the wetness of the catchment before the storm and on the
intensity of the rainfall itself.
When the rainfall has satisfied catchment deficits and when surfaces and soils are saturated, the
rain begins to contribute to the stream flow. The proportion of rainfall that finds its way into a
river is being the effective rainfall, the rest being lost as in the form of evaporation, detention on
the ground and vegetation surface or retention in the soil. As the storm proceeds, the proportion
of effective rainfall increases and that of lost rainfall decreases.

The volume of surface runoff, represented by the area under the hydrograph minus the base flow,
can be considered in two main subdivisions to simplify the complex water movements over the
surface and in the ground. The effective rainfall makes the immediate contribution to the rising
limb from A to the peak of the hydrograph and, even when the rainfall stops; continue until the
inflection point (condition of maximum storage). Beyond this point, it is generally considered
that the flow comes from the water temporarily stored in the soil. This so-called interflow
continues to provide the flow of the recession curve until the water from the whole of the
effective rainfall is completely depleted at B.

The boundary between surface runoff and base flow is difficult to define and depends very much
on the geological structure and composition of the catchment. Permeable aquifers, such as
limestone and sandstone strata, sustain high base flow contributions, but impervious clays and
built-up areas provide little or no base flow to a river. The base flow levels are also affected by
the general climatic state of the area: they tend to be high after period of wet weather and can be
very low after prolonged drought. Groundwater provides the total flow of the recession curve
until the next period of wet weather.

The main aims of the engineering hydrologist are to quantify the various components of the
hydrograph, by analyzing past events, in order to relate effective rainfall to surface runoff, and
thereby to be able to estimate and design for future events. As a result of the complexity of the

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processes that create stream flow from rainfall, many simplifications and assumptions have to be
made.

ii. Factors affecting flood hydrograph

Table 2.5 Factor affecting flood hydrograph

Physiographic factors Climate factors
1 Basin characteristics 1 Storm characteristics: precipitation, intensity,
U Shape duration, magnitude and movement of storms
U Size
U Slope
U Nature of the valley
U Elevation
U Drainage density Initial losses
2 Infiltration characteristics 2
U Land use and cover
U Soil type and geological conditions
U Lakes, swamps and other storages Evapotranspiration
3 Channel characteristics; cross-section, roughness 3
and storage capacity

iii. Effective Rainfall

At the start of a hydrograph analysis it is advisable to begin with a hydrograph produced by a
single rain event to identify the runoff characteristics of the catchment area. Such a single event
hydrograph is produced by the net or effective rain forming a flood wave or the direct runoff
which will be super imposed on the existing flow (base flow) of the river.

The portion of rainfall that finds its way into a river is known as the effective rainfall, the rest
being lost in evaporation, detention on the vegetation and ground surface or retention in the soil.
As the storm proceeds, the portion of effective rainfall increases and that of lost rainfall
decreases.

For the purposes of correlating direct runoff hydrograph (DRH) with the rainfall, which produces
the flow, it is necessary to obtain the effective rainfall hydrograph (hyetograph) (ERH) which
can be obtained by deducting the losses from the total rain. At the beginning of a storm there
could be considerable interception of the rainfall and initial wetting of surfaces before the rainfall
become ‘effective’ to form surface runoff.

The loss-rate is dependent on the state of the catchment before the storm and is difficult to assess
quantitatively. The two simplified methods of determining the effective rainfall are:
I. The φ-index method
II. The initial and continuing loss method.

I. The φ-index method: this method assumes a constant loss rate of φ-mm from the beginning
of the rainfall event. This amount accounts for interception, evaporation loss and surface
detention in pools and hollows.
II. Initial and continuing loss rate method: In this method all the rainfall up to the time of rise
of the hydrograph is considered lost, and there is a continuing loss-rate at same level after
words.

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

A choice between the two methods depends on knowledge of the catchment but, as the timing of
the extent of initial loss is arbitrary, the fixing of the beginning of effective rainfall at the
beginning of runoff in the stream neglects any lag time in the drainage process and thus
somewhat unrealistic. A constant loss-rate, the φ-index, would therefore seem to be more readily
applicable.

iv. Separation of Base Flow and Runoff

The total runoff consists of direct runoff and the base flow. For hydrograph analysis the base
flow has to be separated from the total runoff.

There are several methods of base flow separation. Some of them that are in common use are:
Straight-line method (Method-I)
The separation of the base flow is achieved by joining with a straight-line beginning of the direct
runoff to a point on the recession limb representing the end of the direct runoff. Point B the end
of the recession limb may be located by an empirical equation for the time interval N (days) from
the peak to the point B is
0.2 2
N = 0.83A Where A = drainage in km and N in days

Method-II
In this method the base flow curve existing prior to the commencement of the surface runoff is
extended till it intersects the ordinate drawn at the peak Point C. This point is joined to point B
by a straight line. Segment AC and CB separate the base flow and surface runoff.

Method-III
In this method the base flow recession curve after the depletion of the floodwater is extended
backwards till it intersects the ordinate at the point of inflection (line EF). Points A and F are
joined by an arbitrary smooth curve. This method of base-flow is realistic in situations where the
groundwater contributions are significant and reach the stream quickly. The surface runoff
obtained after the base-flow separation is known as direct runoff hydrograph (DRH).

Tim

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

Figure 2.6: Base flow separation

2.3. The Unit Hydrograph (UH)

A major step forward in hydrological analysis was the concept of the unit hydrograph introduced
by the American engineer Sherman in 1932.

The unit hydrograph (UH) of duration D is defined as the storm runoff due to unit depth (e.g. 1
mm rain depth) of effective rainfall, generated uniformly in space and time on the catchment in
time T. The duration can be chosen arbitrarily so that we can have a 1h UH, a 6h UH, etc. in
general a D-h hour unit hydrograph applicable to a given catchment. The definition of unit
hydrograph implies the following.

1. The unit hydrograph represents the lumped response of the catchment to a unit rainfall excess
of D-h duration to produce a direct-runoff hydrograph. It relates only the direct runoff to the
rainfall excess. Hence the volume of water contained in the unit hydrograph must be equal to the
rainfall excess. As 1 mm depth of rainfall excess is considered the area of the unit hydrograph is
equal to a volume given by 1 mm over the catchment.
2. The rainfall is considered to have an average intensity of excess rainfall (ER) of 1/D mm/h for
the duration-h of the storm.
3. The distribution of the storm is considered to be all over the catchment.

The requirement of uniformity in a real distribution of the effective rainfall is rarely met and
indeed unless the non-uniformity is pronounced, its effect is neglected.

The figure shows the definition of rainfall-runoff relationship with 1mm of uniform effective
rainfall occurring over a time T producing the hydrograph labeled T-UH. The units of the
ordinates of the t-hour unit hydrograph are m3/s per mm of rain. The volume of water in the
surface runoff is given by the area under the hydrograph and is equivalent to the 1mm depth of
effective rainfall over the catchment area.

The unit hydrograph method makes several assumptions that give it simple properties assisting in
its application.

1 There is a direct proportional relationship between the effective rainfall and the storm runoff.

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

This is known as Law of proportionality. (Figure 2.7 b) above shows that two units of effective
rainfall falling in time T produce a surface runoff hydrograph that has its ordinates twice the T-
UH ordinates, and similarly for any proportional value. For example, if 6.5 mm of effective
rainfall fall on a catchment area in T- h, then the hydrograph resulting from that effective rainfall
is obtained by multiplying the ordinates of the T-UH by 6.5. From this law it can be seen that
different rain intensities with the same duration of the rain will produce hydrographs with
different magnitudes but the same base length; however, there will be only one unit hydrograph
for the same duration.

2. The total hydrograph of direct runoff due to n successive amounts of effective rainfall (for
instance R1 and R2) is equal to the sum of the n successive hydrographs produced by the
effective rainfall (the latter lagged by T h on the former). This is known as Law of
Superposition. Once a TUH is available, it can be used to estimate design flood hydrographs
from design storms. The law of superposition is demonstrated in Figure 2.7 c above.
3. The third property of T-UH assumes that the effective rainfall-surface runoff relationship
does not change with time, i.e., the same T-UH always occurs whenever the unit of effective
rainfall in T h is applied on the catchment. Using this time invariance assumption, once a
T-UH has been derived for a catchment area, it could be used to represent the response of the
catchment whenever required.

Example: Given below are the ordinates of a 6-h unit hydrograph for a catchment. Calculate the
ordinates of the DRH due to a rainfall excess of 3.5 cm occurring in 6-h.
Time (h) 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 69
U-H ordinates (m3/s) 0 25 50 85 125 160 185 160 110 60 36 25 16 8 0
Solution: The desired ordinates of the DRH are obtained by multiplying the ordinates of the unit
hydrograph by a factor of 3.5 as in the following table. The resulting DRH and the unit
hydrograph are shown in the following figure. Note that the time base of DRH is not changed
and remains the same as that of the unit hydrograph. The intervals of coordinates of the unit
hydrograph (shown in col.1) are not in any way related to the duration of rainfall excess and can
be any convenient value.
Time (h) Ordinates of 6-h unit Ordinates of 3.5 cm DRH
hydrograph (m3/s) (m3/s)
0 0 0
3 25 87.5
6 50 175.0
9 85 297.5
12 125 437.5
15 160 560.0
18 185 647.5
24 160 560.0
30 110 385.0
36 60 210.0
42 36 126.0
48 25 87.5
54 16 56.0
60 8 28.0

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

69 0 0
Example: Two storms each of 6-h duration and having rainfall excess values 3.0 cm and 2.0 cm
respectively occur successively. The 2-cm ER rain follows the 3 cm rain. The 6- h unit
hydrograph for the catchment is the same as given in the previous example. Calculate the
resulting DRH.

Solution: First, the DRH, due to 3.0 and 2.0 cm ER calculated as in previous example by
multiplying the ordinates of the unit hydrograph by 3 and 2 respectively. Noting that the 2 cm
DRH occurs after the 3 cm DRH, the ordinates of the 2 cm DRH are lagged by 6 hours as shown
in col. 4 of the following table.Col.3 and 4 give the proper sequence of the two DRHs. Using the
method of superposition, the ordinates of the resulting DRH are obtained by combining the
ordinates of 3 cm and 2 cm DRH at any instant. By this process the ordinates of the 5 cm DRH
are obtained in col.5. Figure (following graph) shows the component 3 and 2 cm DRH as well as
the composite 5 cm DRH obtained by the method of superposition.

Time Ordinate of Ordinate of 3 cm Ordinate of 2 cm Ordinate of 5 cm Remark

(h) 6-h UH DRH (col.2) x 3 DRH (col.2 DRH
(m3) lagged by 6-h) x (col.3+col.4)
2 (m3/s)
1 2 3 4 5 6
0 0 0 0 0
3 25 75 0 75
6 50 150 0 150
9 85 255 50 305
12 125 375 100 475
15 160 480 170 650
18 185 555 250 805
(21) (172.5) (517.5) (320) (837.5) Interpolated
value
24 160 480 370 850
30 110 330 320 650
36 60 180 220 400
42 36 108 120 228
48 25 75 72 147
54 16 48 50 98
60 8 24 32 56
(66) (2.7) (8.1) (16) (24.1) Interpolated
value
69 0 0 (10.6) (10.6) Interpolated
value
72 0 0 0 0
Note:
1. The entries in col.4 are shifted by 6 h in time relative to col.2.
2. Due to unequal time interval of ordinates a few entries have to be interpolated to
complete the table. These interpolated values are shown in parentheses.

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

900
800
700
600
500 3 cm DRH
400 2 cm DRH
300 5 cm DRH
200
100
0
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 69 72

2.3.1 Derivation of the Unit Hydrograph from single storms

The derivation of the unit hydrograph of a catchment from single storms proceeds in the
following stages:
1 The rainfall records are scanned to find a storm of desired duration that gives a fairly uniform
distribution in time and space. The hyetograph of this storm is constructed using a convenient
uniform interval of time.
2 The base flow is separated from the hydrograph using one of the methods.
3 The surface runoff volume is determined as a depth of flow by numerical integration:
3.6 ∆ t ∑ Q
d=
A
Where, d = depth of surface runoff in mm
∆t = uniform time interval in hours at which the ordinates of the surface runoff are measured
ΣQ = sum of all ordinates of surface runoff hydrograph in m3/s
A = catchment area in Km2
4 The ordinates of the surface runoff hydrograph are divided by the runoff depth d due to the
ordinates of the unit hydrograph.
5 The unit hydrograph for effective rainfall of duration T, the TUH, is plotted, and the area
under the curve is checked to see if the enclosed volume is equivalent to unit effective rainfall
over the area of catchment.

Example: The ordinates of a 6-h unit hydrograph of a catchment are given below:
Time (h) 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 69
Ordinate 0 25 50 85 125 160 185 160 110 60 36 25 16 8 0
s of 6-h
UH
Derive the flood hydrograph in the catchment due to the storm given below:
Time from start of storm (h) 0 6 12 18
Accumulated rainfall (cm) 0 3.5 11.0 16.5
The storm loss rate ( index) for the catchment is estimated as 0.25 cm/h. The base flow can be
assumed to be 15 m3/s at the beginning and increasing by 2.0 m3/s for every 12 hours till the end
of the direct runoff hydrograph.
Solution: The effective rainfall hyetograph is calculated as in the following table.
The direct runoff hydrograph is next calculated by the method of superposition as indicated in
the following table. The ordinates of the unit hydrograph are multiplied by the ER values
successively. The second and third sets of ordinates are advanced by 6 and 12 h respectively and
the ordinates at a given time interval added. The base flow is then added to obtain the flood
hydrograph.

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 Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

Interval 1st 6 h 2nd 6 h 3rd 6 h

Rainfall depth (cm) 3.5 (11.0-3.5) = 7.5 (16.5-11.0) = 5.5
Loss @ 0.25 cm/h for 6 h 1.5 1.5 1.5
Effective rainfall (cm) 2.0 6.0 4.0

Time Ordinates DRH due DRH due DRH due to Ordinates Base Ordinates
(h) of UH to 2cm ER to 6cm ER 4cm ER of final Flow (m3 of flood
col.2 x 2.0 col.2 x 6.0 col.2x4.0 DRH /s) hydrograph
(advanced (advanced (col.3+4+5) (m3/s)
by 6h) by 12h) col. 6+7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
0 0 0 0 0 0 15 15
3 25 50 0 0 50 15 65
6 50 100 0 0 100 15 115
9 85 170 150 0 320 15 335
12 125 250 300 0 550 17 567
15 160 320 510 100 930 17 947
18 185 370 750 200 1320 17 1337
(21) (172.5) (345) 960 340 1645 (17) 1662
24 160 320 1110 500 1930 19 1949
(27) (135) (270) (1035) 640 1945 19 1964
30 110 220 960 740 1920 19 1939
36 60 120 660 640 1420 21 1441
42 36 72 360 440 872 21 893
48 25 50 216 240 506 23 529
54 16 32 150 144 326 23 349
60 8 16 96 100 212 25 237
66 (2.7) (5.4) 48 64 117 25 142
69 0 0 - - - - -
72 0 16 32 48 27 75
75 0 0 - - - -
78 0 0 (10.8) (11) 27 38
81 0 0 27 27
84 27 27
Example: Following are the ordinates of a storm (flood) hydrograph of a river draining a
catchment area of 423 km2. Draw a 6-h unit hydrograph for the catchment.
Time from -6 0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84 90 96 102
start of
storm (h)
Discharge 10 10 30 87.5 115.5 102.5 85 71 59 47.5 39 31.5 26 21.5 17.5 15 12.5 12 12
(m3/s)
Solution:
The storm hydrograph is plotted to scale as above. Denoting the time from the beginning of
storms as t, by inspection of above figure:
A = beginning of DRH t=0
B = end of DRH t = 90 h
Pm = peak t = 18 h

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

Hence, N = (90 – 18) = 72 h = 3 days (by eye observation). N is the time interval (days) from
the peak to the point the end. By equation, N = 0.83 (423)0.2 = 2.78 days = 67 hours.

So for compromising sake, N = 70 hours is adopted for convenience. A straight line joining A
and B is taken as the divide line for base flow separation. The ordinates of DRH are obtained by
subtracting the base flow from the ordinates of the storm hydrograph. The calculations are shown
in the following table.

Volume of DRH = 60 x 60 x 6 (Sum of DRH ordinates)

=60 x 60 x 6 x 587 = 12.68 Mm3
Drainage area = 423 km2 = 423 Mm2
Runoff depth = ER depth = 12.68 = 0.02997 m = 0.03 m = 3 cm.
423
The ordinates of DRH (col.4) are divided by 3 to obtain the ordinates of 6- h unit hydrograph.
Time from Ordinates of storm Base Flow (m3/s) Ordinates of DRH (m3/s) Ordinates of 6-h
beginning of storm hydrograph (m3/s) (Col 2 – Col 3) unit hydrograph
(h) (col.4 / 3)
1 2 3 4 5
-6 10.0 10.0 0 0
0 10.0 10.0 0 0
6 30.0 10.0 20 6.7
12 87.5 10.5 77 25.7
18 111.5 10.5 101 33.7
24 102.5 10.5 92 30.7
30 85.0 11.0 74.0 24.7
36 71.0 11.0 60.0 20.0
42 59.0 11.0 48.0 16.0
48 47.5 11.5 36.0 12.0
54 39.0 11.5 27.5 9.2
60 31.5 11.5 20.0 6.6
66 26.0 12.0 14.0 4.6
72 21.5 12.0 9.5 3.2
78 17.5 12.0 5.5 1.8
84 15.0 12.5 2.5 0.8
90 12.5 12.5 0 0
96 12.0 12.0 0 0
102 12.0 12.0 0 0

120
100
80 Ordinate of Storm
Hydrograph
60 Base Flow
40 Ordinate of DRH
20 Ordinate of 6-h UH
0

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

2.3.2 Changing of the Duration of the UH

There are two methods to change the duration of unit hydrograph: (i) by superposition from
u(T1,t) to u(T2,t), where T2 = n*T1, with n an integer > 1, hence only enlargements of multiple
of T1 are possible, (ii) by S-curve technique from u(T1,t) to u(T2,t) where T2 = α*T1, with α a
real > 0, hence, T2 may be larger than T1 but also smaller than T1. It should be remembered that
a unit hydrograph refers to unit depth of rainfall excess so if the duration is T hours the excess
rainfall intensity is 1/T.

Method of superposition
If a D-h unit hydrograph is available, and it is desired to develop a unit hydrograph of nDh,
where n is an integer, it is easily accomplished by superposing n unit hydrograph with each
graph separated from the previous one by D-h.

Example: Given the ordinates of a 4-h unit hydrograph as below, derive the ordinates of a 12-h
unit hydrograph for the same catchment.
Time (h) 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44
Ordinates 0 20 80 130 150 130 90 52 27 15 5 0
of 4-h UH

Solution: The calculations are performed in a tabular form in the following table. In this:
Col.3 = ordinates of 4-h UH lagged by 4h
Col.4 = ordinates of 4-h UH lagged by 8h
Col.5 = ordinates of DRH representing 3 cm ER in 12h
Col.6 = ordinates of 12-h UH = col.5 / 3
Time (h) Ordinates of 4-h UH (m3/s) DRH of 3 cm Ordinates of
3
in 12-h (m /s) 12-h UH
col.2 + 3 + 4 (m3/s) col.5/3
A B C
Lagged by 4-h Lagged by 8-h
1 2 3 4 5 6
0 0 - - 0 0
4 20 0 - 20 6.7
8 80 20 0 100 33.3
12 130 80 20 230 76.7
16 150 130 80 360 120.0
20 130 150 130 410 136.7
24 90 130 150 370 123.3
28 52 90 130 272 90.7
32 27 52 90 169 56.3
36 15 27 52 94 31.3
40 5 15 27 47 15.7
44 0 5 15 20 6.7
48 0 5 5 1.7
52 0 0 0

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

450
400
350
300 A
250 B
200 C
150 A+B+C
100 Ordinate of 12-h UH
50
0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52

The above figure shows three 4-h unit hydrographs A, B, C. Curve B begins 4h after A and C
begins 4h after B. Thus the combination of these three curves is a DRH of 3 cm due to an ER of
12h duration. If the ordinates of this DRH are now divided by 3, one obtains a 12-h unit
hydrograph.
The S – Hydrograph (S – curve)
Solution of the previous example by the S-curve method
The computations are shown in the following table:
Time (h) Ordinates of S-curve S-curve S-curve Col.4 – col.5 Col.6
4-h UH addition ordinates lagged by 12/4
(m3/s) (m3/s) (m3/s) (col.2 12h (m3/s) =12h UH
+ col.3 ordinates
(m3/s)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0 0 - 0 - 0 0
4 20 0 20 - 20 6.7
8 80 20 100 - 100 33.3
12 130 100 230 0 230 76.7
16 150 230 380 20 360 120.0
20 130 380 510 100 410 136.7
24 90 510 600 230 370 123.3
28 52 600 652 380 272 90.7
32 27 652 679 510 169 56.3
36 15 679 694 600 94 31.3
40 5 694 699 652 47 15.7
44 0 699 699 679 20 6.7
48 699 699 694 5 1.7
52 699 699 0 0
The computations are shown in the above table. Col.2 shows the ordinates of the 4-h unit
hydrograph. Col.3 gives the S-curve additions and col.4 the S-curve ordinates. The sequence of
additions is shown by arrows.
At t = 4h,
Ordinates of 4-h UH = ordinates of the S-curve.
This value becomes the S-curve addition at t = 2 x 4 = 8h.
At this t =8h,
The ordinates of UH (80) + S-curve addition (20) = S-curve ordinate (100).
This value becomes S-curve addition at 3 x 4 = 12h and so on.
Col.5 shows the S-curve lagged by 12h. Col.6 gives the subtraction of lagged S-curve (col.5)
from the S-curve ordinates (col.4). Ordinates shown in col.6 are divided by T/D = 12/4 = 3 to
obtain the ordinates of the 12-h unit hydrograph shown in col.7.

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

2.4 Applications of Unit Hydrograph

Use: As the unit hydrographs establish a relationship between the ERH and DRH for a
catchment, they are of immense value in the study of the hydrograph of a catchment. They are of
great use in:
(i) The development of flood hydrographs for extreme rainfall magnitude for use in the
design of hydraulic structures,
(ii) Extension of flood flow records based on rainfall records, and
(iii) Development of flood forecasting and warning systems based on rainfall
Limitations:
i. Unit hydrograph assumes uniform distribution of rainfall over the catchment.
ii. Intensity is assumed constant for the duration of rainfall excess.
iii. It is generally felt that about 5000 km2 is the upper limit for unit hydrograph use. Flood
hydrographs in very large basins can be studied by dividing them in to a number of
smaller sub basins and developing DRHs by the unit hydrograph method. These DRHs
can then be routed through their respective channels to obtain the composite DRH at the
basin outlet.
iv. The lower limit is usually taken as about 200 ha.
v. Precipitation must be from rainfall only. Snowmelt runoff cannot be satisfactory
represented by unit hydrograph.
vi. The catchment should not have usually large storage in terms of tanks, ponds, large flood
bank storage etc. which affect the linear relationship between storage and discharge.
vii. If the precipitation is decidedly non uniform, unit hydrograph cannot be expected to give
good results.

2.5 Synthetic Unit Hydrographs

To develop unit hydrographs to a catchment, detailed information about the rainfall and the
resulting flood hydrograph are needed. However, such information might be available only at a
few locations and in a majority of catchments, especially those, which are at remote locations;
the data could normally be scarce. In order to construct UH for such areas, empirical equations of
regional validity, which relate the important hydrograph characteristics to the basin
characteristics are of most important. Unit hydrographs derived from such relationships are
known as synthetic unit hydrographs.

2.5.1 Snyder’s method

Snyder (1938), based on a study of a large number of catchments in the Appalachian highlands
of eastern United States developed a set of empirical equations for synthetic-unit hydrographs in
those areas.

The most important characteristic of a basin affecting a hydrograph due to a given storm is basin
lag. Actually basin lag (also known as lag time) is the time difference between the centroids of
the input (rainfall excess) and the output (surface runoff), i.e. TL. Physically it represents the
mean time of travel of water particles from all parts of the catchment to the outlet during a given
storm. Its value is determined essentially on physical features of the catchment, such as size,
length, stream density and vegetation. For its determination, however, only a few important
catchment characteristics are considered. For simplicity, Synder has used somewhat different

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

definition of basin lag (denoted by tp) in his methodology. This tp is practically of the same order
of magnitude as TL and here the term basin lag is used to denote Synder’s tp.

1. The first of the Synder’s equation relates the basin lag tp, defined as the time interval from the
midpoint of the unit rainfall excess to the peak of the unit hydrograph (figure 2.8) to the basin
characteristics as:
tp = Ct ( L Lca )0.3 -------------------------------------------------------(1)
Where, tp in hours.
L=basin length measured along the water course from the basin divide to the gauging station in
km.
Lca = distance along the main water course from the gauging station to a point opposite (nearest)
the watershed centroid in km.
Ct = a regional constant representing watershed slope and storage. However, studies by many
investigators have shown that Ct depends upon the region under study and wide variation with
the value of Ct ranging from 0.3 to 6.0 have been reported.
2. Synder adopted a standard duration tr hours of effective rainfall given by
tr = tp / 5.5 ----------------------------------------(2)
3
3. The peak discharge Qps (m /s) of a unit hydrograph of standard duration tr h is given by
Synder as
Qps = 2.78 Cp A / tp ------------------------------------- (3)
Where A = catchment area in km2 and Cp = regional constant. Like Ct, the value of Cp also varies
quite considerably depending upon the characteristic of the region and values of C p in the range
of 0.31 to 0.93 have been reported.
4. If a non- standard rainfall duration tR h is adopted, instead of the standard value t r to derive a
unit hydrograph, the value of the basin lag is affected. The modified basin lag is given by:
t –t 21 t
t′p = tp + R r = tp + R ------------------------- (4)
4 22 4
Where t′p = basin lag in hours for an effective duration of t R h and tp is as given by equations (1)
and (2). The value of t′p must be used instead of tp in equation (3).
5. Thus the peak discharge for a non- standard ER of duration tR is in m3/s.
Qp = 2.78 Cp A/ t′p ------------------------------(3a)
Note that when tR = tr and Qp = Qps,
6. The time base of a unit hydrograph is given by Synder as:
t' p
tb= 3 + days = (72 + 3 t′p) hours ------------(5)
8
where tb = time base, While Eq.(5) gives a reasonable estimates of t b for large catchments, it
may give excessively large values for the time base for small catchments.
7. To assist in the sketching of unit hydrograph, the width of the unit hydrograph at 50 % of the
peak have been found for US catchments by the US Army Corps of Engineers. These widths
(in time units) are correlated to the peak discharge intensity and are given by:
5.87
W50 = 1.08 ----------------------------- (6)
q
W
and W75 = 50 ------------------------------ (7)
1.75
Where, W50 = width of unit hydrograph in h at 50 % peak discharge
W75 = width of unit hydrograph in h at 75 % peak discharge.

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

q = Qp / A = peak discharge per unit catchment area in m3/s / km2

Example: The two catchments A and B are considered meteorologically similar. Their
catchment characteristics are given below:

Catchment A Catchment B
L = 30 km L = 45 km
Lca = 15 km Lca = 25 km
A = 250 km2 A =400 km2
For catchments A, a 2-h unit hydrograph was developed and was found to have a peak discharge
of 50 m3/s. The time of peak from the beginning of the rainfall excess in the unit hydrograph was
9.0 h. Using Synder’s method; develop a unit hydrograph for catchment B.
Solution: For catchment A:
tR = 2.0 h tR
Time to peak from beginning of ER = ---- + tp
2
or 9 = 2/2 + tp
 tp = 9-1 = 8.0 h
From Eq.(4): tp = 21/22  tp + tR/4
or 8 = 21/22  tp + 2/4 = 21/22  tp + 0.5
 tp = (8 – 0.5)  22/21 = 7.857 h
tp = 7.857 h
From Eq. (1): tp = Ct (L Lca)0.3
or, 7.857 = Ct (30  15)0.3
 Ct = 7.857/(30  15)0.3 = 1.257

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

Ct = 1.257
From Eq.(3a): Qp = 2.78  Cp  A / tp
or, 50 = 2.78  Cp  250 / 8
 Cp = 50  8 / 2.78  250
Cp = 0.576

For catchment B
Using the values of Ct = 1.257 and Cp = 0.576 in catchment B, the parameters of the synthetic
unit hydrograph for catchment B are determined.

From Eq.(1): tp = Ct (L Lca)0.3

= 1.257 (45  25)0.3 = 10.34 h
tp = 10.34 h

From Eq.(2): tr = tp / 5.5 = 10.34 / 5.5 = 1.88 h

tr = 1.88 h

Using tR = 2.0 h i.e. for a 2-h unit hydrograph,

From Eq.(4): tp = 21/22  tp + tR/4
= 21/22  10.34 + 2/4 = 10.37 h
tp = 10.37 h

From Eq.(3a): Qp = 2.78  Cp  A / tp

= 2.78  0.576  400 / 10.37 = 61.77 m3/s say 62 m3/s
Qp = 62 m3/s

From Eq.(6): W50 = 5.87 / q1.08 = 5.87 / (Qp / A)1.08

= 5.87 / (62 / 400)1.08 = 44 h
W50 = 44 h

From Eq.(7): W75 = W50 / 1.75 = 44 / 1.75 = 25 h

W75 = 25 h
Time base:
tb = 72 + 3tp = 72 + (3  10.37) = 103 h
tR
tb = 5 [t′p + ---- ] hours
2
= 5 [10.37 + 2 / 2] = 56.85 h say 57 h
Considering the values of W50 and W75 and noting that the area of catchment B is rather small, t b
= 57 h is more appropriate in this case.

Since the coefficients Ct and Cp vary from region to region, in practical applications it is
advisable that the value of these coefficients are determined from known unit hydrographs of
meteorologically homogeneous catchments and then used in the basin under study. This way
Snyder’s equations are of use in scaling the hydrograph information from one catchment to
another similar catchment.

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2.6 Unit Hydrograph from a Complex Storm

In nature storms are most likely occurring with changing intensities over their total duration.
Natural hydrograph related to such complex storms may be considered as several superimposed
hydrographs related to single storms of constant intensity forming the total given storm.

The resulting storm from the complex storm is divided into sub storms of equal duration and
constant intensity. After defining the effective rain from the individual storm and computing the
direct runoff hydrograph, the composite DRH is obtained.

At various time intervals 1D, 2D, 3D, … from the start of the ERH, let the ordinates of the unit
hydrograph be u1, u2, u3, … and the ordinates of the composite DRH be Q1, Q2, Q3,….

Then;

Q 1=R1 u1
Q2=R1 u2 + R2 u 1
Q 3=R 1 u3 + R2 u2 + R3 u 1
Q3=R 1 u4 + R 2 u3 + R3 u2 + R4 u1

Time
Figure 2.10: Unit hydrograph from complex storm

From the above equation the values of u3, u2, and u1 … can be determined. However this
method suffers from the disadvantage that the errors propagate and increases as the calculations
proceeds.

The Un at higher n values (towards the end of the recession limb) can contain oscillations, if so,
the final values may be smoothened to find a reasonable curvature. The reason for such behavior
is the accumulation of small errors through the whole process of calculation. Matrix methods
with optimization schemes are useful to reduce the number of unknown variables.

The other approach is to fit a suitable shape of UH to an average profile of the individual UH. An
arithmetic mean of superimposed ordinates may be lower than the individual peaks. The proper
procedure is to compute average peak flow and time to peak. The average unit hydrograph is
then sketched to conform to the shape of other graphs, passing through the computed average
peak and having the required unit volume.

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2.7 Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (IUH)

For a given catchment a number of unit hydrographs of different durations are possible. The
shape of these different UHs depends upon the value of D. As the value of D is reduced, the
intensity of rainfall excess being equal to 1/D increases and the unit hydrograph becomes more
skewed. A finite UH is indicated as the duration D→0. The limiting case of a unit hydrograph of
zero duration is known as instantaneous unit hydrograph (IUH). This IUH is a fictitious,
conceptual UH which represent the direct runoff from the catchment due to an instantaneous
precipitation of the rainfall excess volume of 1 unit (cm). IUH is represented by U(t) or
sometimes by U(0,t). It is a single-peaked hydrograph with a finite base width and its important
properties being:
1) 0 ≤ u ≤ u(t) a positive value, for t > 0;
2) u(t) = 0 for t ≤ 0;
3) u(t) i0 for ti∞
∞
depth
4) ∫ u ( t ) dt =unit catchment ;∧¿
0 the
5) Time to peak = time to the centroid of the curve

Figure 2.11: Unit hydrograph of different duration

Consider an effective rainfall I(t) of duration t0 applied to a catchment . Each infinitesimal

element of the ERH will operate on the IUH to produce a DRH whose discharge at time t is
given by:

t
Q ( t ) =∫ u (T −t ) I ( t ) dt t’ = t when t < t0
0
t’ = t when t ≥ t0

The above equation is called the convolution integral. The main advantage of IUH is that, it is
independent of the duration of ERH and thus has one parameter less than a D-h unit hydrograph.
This fact and the definition of IUH make it eminently suitable for theoretical analysis of excess-
runoff relationship of a catchment. For a given catchment IUH, being independent of rainfall

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characteristics, is indicative of the catchment storage characteristics. Derivation of IUH as dt is

made smaller and smaller, i.e., as dt→0 an IUH results.

2.8 Dimensionless Unit Hydrograph

Dimensionless unit hydrograph is used to develop a synthetic UH in place of Synder’s equations.

A typical UH developed by SCS has ordinates expressed as a ratio to the peak discharge (Q/Q p)
and the abscissa as ratio of time to peak time (t/tp).
⇒ Q/Qp = 1.0, when t/tp = 1.0

2.9 Hydrology of Un-gauged Catchments

Due to different reasons that may pertain to technical or economical, there are some catchments
that are un-gauged. There should be a means so that the hydrology of these catchments can be
produced. Engineers and scientists have studied such cases and came up with the acceptable
means to the problem.

2.9.1 Synthetic Unit Hydrograph (UH)

Deriving a unit hydrograph for an un-gauged requires a relation between the physical geometry
of the area and the resulting hydrographs. Three approaches have been used: formulas relating
hydrograph features to obtain characteristics, transportation of unit hydrographs, and storage
routing. Basin characteristics formulas usually pertain to time of peak, peak flow, and time base
of the unit hydrograph. When these features are established, the hydrograph can be sketched to
provide the necessary unit volume.
Synthetic unit hydrographs, once developed for a watershed area, can be used with historical or
design rainfalls to produce storm hydrographs at the outlet of the watershed. As the watershed
changes over time, the UH can be updated to better represent land use and channel alterations.
Synthesis UHs developed along two main lines thought; one assumed that each watershed had a
unique UH related to specific watershed characteristic, and the second assumed that all UHs
could be represented by a single family of curves or a single equation. However, the formulas all
have certain limiting assumptions and should be applied to new areas with extreme caution.

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Some calibration to adjacent watersheds where stream flow exists should be attempted, if
possible.
The first line of development was based on the rational method modified to include the time-area
curve for a particular watershed. Clark (1945) assumed that watershed response would be given
by routing the time-area curve through an element of linear storage, which tends to attenuate and
time-lag the hydrograph. Each UH would be unique for a watershed, and this method thud
represented a significant improvement over the time-area method.
The second approach to UH development assumed mathematical representation for the shape of
the UH. A useful approach was advanced by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS, 1964, 1986).

2.9.2 Snyder’s Method

Snyder (1938) was the first to develop a synthetic UH based on a study of watershed in the
Appalachian Highlands. In basins ranging from 10 to 10,000mi2, Snyder’s relations are:

t p =Ct ( LLc )0 . 3
1
Where: tp =basin lag(hr),
L =length of the main stream from the outlet to the divide (mi),
Lc =length along the main stream to a point nearest the watershed centroid (mi),
Ct =coefficient usually ranging from 1.8 to 2.2 (Ct has been found to vary from 0.4 in
mountainous area to 8.0 along the Gulf of Mexico),

Figure 2.12: Basin Characteristics

A
Q p =640 C p
tp 2
Where: Qp =peak discharge of the unit hydrograph (cfs),
A =drainage area (mi2),
Cp =storage coefficient ranging from 0.4 to 0.8 where the larger values of C p are
associated with smaller values of Ct
tp
T b=3+
8 3

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

Where; Tb is the time base of the hydrograph, in days. For small watersheds, Eq. (3) should be
replaced by multiplying tp by a value that varies from 3 to 5 as a better estimate of T b. Equations
(1), (2), and (3) define points for a unit hydrograph produced by an excess rainfall of duration
D= tp/5.5. For other rainfall excess duration D’, an adjusted formula for tp becomes:
'
t p =t p +0 .25( D´−D ) (4)
Where t´p is the adjusted lag time (hr) for duration D´(hr). Once the three quantities t p, Qp, and Tb
are known, the UH can be sketched so that the area under the curve represents 1.0 in. of direct
runoff from the watershed.
Snyder’s method is still one of the most popular methods because of its simplicity. Caution
should be used in applying Snyder’s method to the new area without first deriving coefficients
for gauged streams in general vicinity of the problem basin. The coefficient Ct and Cp have been
found to vary considerably from one region to another.

Figure 2.13: Elements of synthetic unit hydrograph

Important relationships:
Basin lag tp
n
L Lca
t p=C tL ( )
√S
CtL and n are basin constants. (n= 0.38 and CtL = 1.715, 1.03, 0.50 for mountainous, foot-hill
and valley drainages of USA) Standard duration of effective rainfall, tr (in hours)
tp
t r=
5.5

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Peak discharge Qp (m3/s) of unit hydrograph of standard duration tr

2.78 C p A
Q ps=
tp

Where A = km2, Cp = regional constant

If a non-standard rainfall duration tR h is adopted, instead of the value tr to derive a unit
hydrograph the value of the basin lag is affected. The modified basin lag is given by:
' t R −t r 21 tR
t p =t p + = t p+
4 22 4
Where t’p = basin lag in hours for an effective duration of tR. Therefore, Qp,
2.78 C p A
Q p=
t p'
Note that when tR = tr implies QP = Qps
The time base of unit hydrograph is given by Snyder as:
t p'
( )
t b= 3+
8
days=( 72+3 t p' ) hours
This equation gives reasonable estimates of time base for large catchments; it may give
excessively large values of time base for small catchments. Taylor and Schwartz recommend
t
( )
t b=5 t p' + R hours
8
With tb taken as the next larger integer value divisible by tR i.e. tb is about five times the time to
peak. To assist in the sketching of unit hydrographs,
5.87 W 50
W 50= 1.08 ∧W 75=
q 1.75
Where W50 = width of unit hydrograph in hour at 50% peak discharge
W75 = width of unit hydrograph in hour at 75% peak discharge
q = Qp/A = peak discharge per unit catchment area in m3/s/km2

Since the coefficients Ct and Cp vary from region to region, in practical applications it is
advisable that the value of these coefficients are determined from known unit hydrographs of
meteorologically homogeneous catchments and then used in the basin under study. This way
Snyder’s equations are of use in scaling the hydrograph information from one catchment to
another similar catchment.

2.9.3 Dimensionless Unit Hydrograph

The Soil Conservation Service (SCS) dimensionless unit hydrograph procedure is one of the
most well-known methods for deriving synthetic unit hydrographs in use today (Note: the agency
is now known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service or NRCS, but the acronym SCS is
still used in association with its UHG method). References for this method can be found in most
hydrology textbooks or handbooks. The primary reference for this method may be considered as
the Soil Conservation Service - National Engineering Handbook, Section 4, Hydrology (SCS
1972). There are a number of versions of this reference occurring both before and after the given
date. The dimensionless unit hydrograph used by the SCS was developed by Victor Mockus and

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was derived based on a large number of unit hydrographs from basins which varied in
characteristics such as size and geographic location. The unit hydrographs were averaged and the
final product was made dimensionless by considering the ratios of q/qp (flow/peak flow) on the
ordinate axis and t/tp (time/time to peak) on the abscissa, where the units of q and qp are
flow/inch of runoff/unit area. This final, dimensionless unit hydrograph has a time-to-peak
located at approximately 20% of its time base and an inflection point at 1.7 times the time-to-
peak.

Figure 2.14: SCS Dimensionless unit hydrograph and mass curve

For discussion purposes, this curvilinear unit hydrograph may be represented by an equivalent
triangular unit hydrograph as in Figure 2.15.

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

Figure 2.15: Illustration of dimensionless curvilinear unit hydrograph and equivalent triangular
hydrograph.
Recall that the unit hydrograph is the result of 1-inch of excess rainfall (of duration D) spread
uniformly over the basin. Using the geometry of the triangles (area = 1/2 base times height), one
can calculate that the unit hydrograph has 37.5% (or 3/8) of its volume on the rising side and the
remaining 62.5% (or 5/8) of the volume on the recession side.

Figure 2.16: Illustration of volume breakdown of SCS triangular unit hydrograph.

Using the dimensionless timing values on the x-axis, one can solve for the time base in terms of
the time-to-peak. The following relationships are made and will be useful in further developing
the peak rate relationships.
T b=2.67+T p (5)
andT r=T b−T p=1.67 T p (6)
Again using the geometric relationships (area = 1/2 base times height) of the triangular unit
hydrograph, the total volume under the hydrograph is found by:

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q pT p q pT r q p
Q= + = (T p +T r) (7)
2 2 2
The volume, Q, is in inches and the time, T, is in hours. The peak rate, qp, in inches per hour, is
found to be:
2Q
q p= (8)
T p +T r
The term, qp, in the above equation is converted to cubic feet per second and the drainage area, A
(mi2), is brought into the equation, which results in:
645.53 x 2 x A x Q
q p= (9)
T p +T r
f (the area under the unit hydrograph) from 1-square mile in 1-hour (3600 seconds). Substituting
in relationships developed in equation 1 above, equation 5 is rewritten:
484 x A x Q
q p= (10)
Tp

Because the above relationships were developed based on the volumetric constraints of the
triangular unit hydrograph, the equations and conversions are also valid for the curvilinear unit
hydrograph, which, proportionally, has the same volumes as the triangular representation. The
conversion constant (or peaking factor) 484 is the result of the large number of unit hydrographs
from a wide range of basin characteristics and actually reflects the ability of the watershed to
retain and delay the flow.
This constant may not be applicable to all watershed types. Steep terrain and urban areas may
tend to produce higher early peaks and thus values of the peaking factor may tend towards 600.
Likewise, flat swampy regions tend to retain and store the water, causing a delayed, lower peak.
In these circumstances values may tend towards 300 or lower (SCS 1972; Wanielista, et al.
1997). It would be very important to document any reasons for changing the constant from 484,
effectively changing the shape of the unit hydrograph.
When changing the shape of the unit hydrograph, one must keep in mind the ratios of the
volumes under the rising and falling sides of the original dimensionless unit hydrograph and the
resulting volume under the unit graph must remain at 1 inch. The table below illustrates possible
values for the peaking factor and the associated ratios of recession limb length to rising limb.
The data below does not include a reference value for swampy regions; however, this would be a
rather low value, as well. Again, it is important to note that experience and judgment are very
important in determining the most appropriate values for a region.
Table 2.6 Hydrograph peaking factors and recession limb ratios (Wanielista, et al. 1997)
General description Peaking factor Limb ratio (recession to rising)
Urban areas; steep slopes 575 1.25
Typical SCS 484 1.67
Mixed urban/rural 400 2.25
Rural, rolling hills 300 3.33
Rural, slight slopes 200 5.5
Rural, very flat 100 12.0

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The peak rate may also be expressed in terms of other timing parameters besides the time-to-
peak. From the previous figures:
D
T p= +T lag (11)
2
where D = the duration of the unit excess rainfall and T lag = the basin lag time, which is defined
as the time between the center of mass of excess rainfall and the time to peak of the unit
hydrograph.
The peak flow is now written as:
484 x A x Q
q p=
D (12)
+T lag
2
The SCS (1972) relates the lag time, Tlag, to the time of concentration, Tc by:
L = 0.6 x Tc (13)
Time of concentration is the time from the end of excess precipitation to the inflection point on
the recession limb of the hydrograph. Combining this with other relationships, as illustrated in
the triangular unit hydrograph, the following relationships develop:
D+T c =1.7 T p (14)
D
And +0.6 T c =T p (15)
2
From this, the duration D may be expressed as:
D=0.133 x T c (16)
Eq. (16) provides a desirable relationship between duration and time of concentration, which will
provide enough points to accurately represent the unit hydrograph, particularly the rising limb.
Eq. (16) IS NOT an equation for calculating the duration of the unit hydrograph. The duration of
the SCS unit hydrograph is simply chosen as D and locks in the peak time by Eq. (11), above.
The peak flow rate could now be expressed in terms of the time of concentration as :
726 x A x Q
q p= (17)
Tc
As a final note, for a unit hydrograph, the volume of runoff, Q, would be equal to 1-inch.
Application of SCS Unit Hydrograph
It is necessary to estimate the lag time for a given basin (of area, A) in order to derive the SCS
dimensionless unit hydrograph. Eq. (11) on the previous page:
D
T p= +T lag (18)
2
The timing parameter is somewhat difficult to estimate and rather subjective; however, this
parameter has considerable influence on the values of the unit hydrograph

Timing Parameter(s):
There are several methods that may be considered for estimating the timing of the unit
hydrograph.
SCS Lag Approach

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The SCS lag method is an empirical approach developed by the SCS for estimating the lag time
or the distance from the center of mass of excess rainfall to the peak discharge. The SCS also
recommends that the lag equation be used on basins that are considered to be somewhat
homogeneous in nature and under than 2000 acres in size, although this may be debatable. Due
to these potentially restrictive recommendations, the method may not be applicable to NWSRFS-
sized basins; however, due to its relative ease of use and the potential to eventually have a
modeling capability for smaller basins, this method will be discussed here. The SCS lag equation
is given as:
L0.8 x ( S +1 )0.7
T lag= 0.5 (19)
1900 x ( %slope )
Where; Tlag = lag time in hours
L = Length of the longest drainage path in feet
S = (1000/CN) - 10 (CN=curve number)
%Slope = average watershed slope in %
The parameter S represents the potential maximum moisture retention of the soil and is related to
soil and cover conditions of the watershed. It is empirically-determined using an SCS curve
number (CN) which can be obtained from tables in SCS publications. The remaining parameters
are the Length, L, and the % Slope. The length, L is the length of the longest drainage path from
the watershed outlet to the watershed divide, which is generally obvious for most watersheds.
The more difficult parameter is the average slope of the watershed. This is a rather subjective
parameter, as it is highly dependent on the viewpoint of the user. It is generally insufficient to
use the slope of the longest drainage path as this will usually produce a more mild slope and is
not representative of the near-stream areas which may have considerably higher slopes and cause
faster responses.
The impact of a low value for slope is to produce a longer lag time, as can be seen from equation
14. The longer lag time has the effect of reducing the peak of the unit hydrograph as can be
seen from equations Eq. (11) and Eq. (12).
Lindsey, Kohler, and Paulhus (1949) provide a means of estimating the average watershed slope
that involves overlaying a grid on the basin, which has been sketched on a topographic map. The
average slope is found by:
N∆Z
% slope= x 100 (20)
l
Where; N = total number of contour crossings on the grid lines
∆Z = the contour interval
l = the length of all the grid lines
Where N = total number of contour crossings on the grid lines, ∆Z = the contour interval and l =
the length of all the grid lines. In a geographic information system (GIS), there is a grid already
associated with the digital elevation model (DEM), thus the average slope could be calculated by
summing the number of potential contour crossings on each row and column. The contour
interval should be the expected accuracy of the DEM (i.e. 5 meters in the vertical). There is the
potential problem of the contour lines not being perpendicular to the rows and columns. Horton
(1926) suggested the average slope could be calculated by:

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N ∆ Zsecθ
% slope= x 100 (21)
l
Where; qθ = the angle between the contours and the grid lines (rows and columns). Due to the
difficulty in evaluatingθ, Horton suggested that an average value of sec θ= 1.571 could be used.
Thus equation 15 could be written:
N ∆ Z x 157.1
% slope= (22)
l
In recent years, GIS have become somewhat common place and provide an excellent means for
calculating the watershed slopes based on either a DEM or a triangular irregular network (TIN),
or on stream segments themselves.
Segmental Approach
In the segmental velocity or segmental approach, the parameter being estimated is essentially the
time of concentration or longest travel time within the basin. In general, the longest travel time
corresponds to the longest drainage path; however, there may be situations and basin
configurations that allow for some shorter travel distances to have longer travel times, due to
roughness and/or flow type. The flow path is broken into segments with the flow in each
segment being represented by some type of flow regime. The most common flow representations
are overland, sheet, rill and gully, and channel flow. A number of equations or graphs are
available to estimate the travel velocity of surface flow in each type of condition. The travel
times are then estimated by dividing the segment length by the associated velocity. The sum of
all of the travel times represents the time of concentration.
A common SCS relationship between time of concentration and lag time is given by:
L = 0.6 x Tc (23)
The velocities in each segment may be calculated by a number of means. For channel segments,
the velocity could be estimated via the Manning equation:
1.49 2/ 3 1 /2
v= Rh S (24)
n
Where; V = velocity
n = Manning roughness coefficient
Rh = hydraulic radius
S = slope in ft/ft
This would require knowledge of the channel parameters and/or shapes for the basin in question.
An equation similar in form to the Manning equation may be recommended;

v=k S1 /2 (25)

Where k is a coefficient based on the flow type. McCuen (1989) and SCS (1972) provide values
of k for several flow situations. The values of K are assuming that slope is given in percent
Table 2.7 Coefficients of velocity (fps) versus slope (%) relationship for estimating travel
velocities (McCuen 1989; SCS 1972).

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k Land use/ flow regime

0.25 Forest with heavy ground litter, hay meadow (overland flow)
0.5 Trash fallow or minimum tillage cultivation; contour or strip cropped; woodland
0.7 Short grass pasture (overland flow)
0.9 Cultivated straight row (overland flow)
1.0 Nearly bare and untilled (overland flow); alluvial fans in western mountain regions
1.5 Grassed waterway
2.0 Paved area (sheet flow); small upland gullies

Timing Wrap-up
It is essential to have or estimate the "timing" of the unit hydrograph. The timing is what locks in
the time of the peak and helps to define the peak flow. Recall that the lag time is from the center
of mass of excess precipitation to the peak of the unit hydrograph. Therefore; if we have a
duration of 2 hours and we calculate the lag time of the basin to be 6 hours, then the time to peak
would be 6 hours + 1 hour (half the duration) = 7 hours. As you can see from the equations
(particularly 5.11 & 5.12), the lag time is the desired timing, although we can also use the time of
concentration - which can be related to lag time. We have discussed only a small number of
methods of looking at the timing of a basin. There are many other equations, although the
thought process is generally the same - you must find the lag time of the basin (or time of
concentration) in order to compute the peak flow of Eq. 12.
Conclusions
The following items, in no particular order of importance, must be considered when deriving the
SCS unit hydrograph:
1. Slope - The slope is the average slope of the basin. This is somewhat of a concern as
the response time may not be well represented by the average slope, or the contributing area(s)
may be smaller than the overall basin area and may be associated with a higher value of the
average slope.
2. The constant 484 in the equation for peak flow of the unit hydrograph - As
mentioned this may not be applicable for all areas of the country. This will require input from an
experienced hydrologist to determine the most appropriate values for various basins. A default
value of 484 will be used.
3. Duration - The duration of the unit hydrograph plays a role in determining the peak
flow via the time to peak. Equation 5.11 provides guidance for determining a value of the
duration, and hence the computational time step, such that there are sufficient points on the rising
side of the unit hydrograph to adequately represent and simulate runoff from a precipitation
event.
4. Triangular Shape - A triangular unit hydrograph is produced. The triangular unit
hydrograph represents 1-inch of excess precipitation (the volume under the unit hydrograph).
While the curvilinear unit hydrograph is more traditional in shape; there will be minimal
difference in the overall simulation capabilities between the two unit hydrographs. This is
particularly true for single event simulations.

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Overview of Computations
Below is a description of the required user inputs for the SCS method.

SCS Example
Let's look at an example of the computations. The pertinent data for a watershed is given in the
table below:

Develop a 1-hour unit hydrograph using the SCS method and the SCS lag equation for lag time.
Use the triangular approach for the final shape.

Solution
While there are number of places to begin, let's start by computing the lag time. Recall the lag
equation

The value S is 1000/CN - 10 which is found to be 1000/70 - 10 = 4.28.

You should now be able to compute a lag time of 4.8 hours with the above equation.
The time to peak would now be found from:

Where; D = the duration which was given as 1 hour.

Therefore, the time to peak = 1/2 + 4.8 = 5.3 hours.
The peak flow would now be obtained from:

and would be computed as 8,218 cfs/inch. Recall that A is

the drainage area and Q = 1 inch.

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Recall

The time base would be 2.67 x 5.3 hours = 14.15 hours.

The triangular unit hydrograph would now be:

Figure 2.17 - Final triangular unit hydrograph.

This could now be altered in the calibration process. Values at hourly intervals may be extracted
or interpolated.

2.9.4 Extrapolation of flow data to un-gauged sites

All too often the stream flow data that are available from measured gauging stations are not from
location for which a project site analysis is to be made. Methods are required to develop
extrapolation of measured flow data which will be representative of a given site on a stream. In
regions where stream flow does not vary with respect to the contributing drainage area flow
duration curves can be plotted for the gauged sites. From these developed flow duration curves, a
family of parametric flow duration curves can be developed, in which flow is plotted against the
average annual runoff ( R ) or annual discharge, Q at the respective gages for several exceedence
interval percentages. A separate curve is developed for each exceedence interval used. A
correlation analysis is then performed to obtain the best-fitting curve for the data taken from the
measured records of stream flow.

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

Figure 2.18: FDC for gauging stations in a homogeneous drainage basin

Figure 2.19: Parametric flow duration curves

2.9.5 Determination of average annual discharge:

To use the parametric flow duration curves effectively, it is necessary to determine the average
annual discharge, Q, at the point or location on the stream for which a flow analysis is to be
made. Isohytal maps developed for normal annual precipitation in a river basin are helpful for
determining the annual discharge. The records of precipitation and stream flow data should
represent the same period of record.
Utilizing the records of average annual precipitation input to the basins at measured streams
nearby or having similar hydrologic characteristics, a runoff coefficient is estimated for the
drainage basin being studied. The product of this coefficient and the computed normal annual
precipitation input to the basin and the basin area can be used to calculate the average annual
discharge as:

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

T With the average runoff annual discharge estimate it is possible to enter the parametric flow
duration curve and determine values of flow for different exceedence percentages for which the
parametric flow duration curve has been developed.

Example: Hydrology of Ungauged Catchment

A drainage basin has a power plant site located at the mouth of the catchment. An upstream
reservoir regulates the flow at the upper portions of the drainage. The area of the hydrologic map
representative of the drainage basin below the reservoir has been planimetered and given in table
A below. A runoff coefficient for the basin on the annual basis is 0.65. The historic monthly
flows of a nearby stream gauge on the downstream side of the stream are presented in table B.
The gauge records are considered to be a good representation of seasonal variation of runoff for
the ungauged portion of the river drainage basin. The outflows from the reservoir are given in
table C. Using the information provided compute the river flow at its mouth that would be useful
for the hydropower study. Scale of the isohytal map is 1:400,000.

Table a: Values of planimetered areas downstream of the reservoir

Avg value of precipitation Planimetered Area (mm2)
between Isohytal lines (mm)
762 11.94
889 26.13
1016 14.45
Table b: Monthly flows for an average year in a representative gauged stream
Fe Ma Apri Se No De
Month Jan May June July Aug Oct
b r l pt v c
No. of
Days 31 28 31 30 31 30 31 31 30 31 30 31
Dischar
ge 7.1 7. 9. 33.1 80.0 64.3 22.5 11.8 9.4 9.4 9. 8.4
(m3/s) 1 14 88 3 2 1 7 4 0 0 51 4

Table c: Out flow from the upper reservoir

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

Month Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
No. of Days 31 28 31 30 31 30 31 31 30 31 30 31
Discharge
(m3/s) 7.11 7.14 9.88 33.13 80.02 64.31 22.57 11.84 9.40 9.40 9.51 8.44
Run off
(m3/s)/(day) 220.41 199.92 306.28 993.9 2480.62 1929.3 699.67 367.04 282 291.4 285.3 261.64
Yearly Total
(m3/s)(days) 8317.48

Month Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Monthly
flow
0.0
(m3/s) 0.05 0.05 0.07 0.23 0.54 0.44 0.15 0.08 0.06 0.06 0.06 6

Step 5: Compute the total flow at the outlet Step 6: Compute the flow duration curve
Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Monthly
flow
(m3/s) 0.05 0.05 0.07 0.23 0.54 0.44 0.15 0.08 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06
Flow from
upper 2.2 1.8
Res(m3/s) 1.42 1.27 7 2.83 5.66 7.08 7.08 5.66 1.98 4 1.70 1.56
Total Flow 1.47 1.32 2.34 3.06 6.20 7.52 7.23 5.74 2.04 1.90 1.76 1.62

Flow Descending %Exceeded or

Flow order Rank Equaled
7.52 7.52 1 8.33%

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Engineering Hydrology; Lecture Note 2018

7.23 7.23 2 16.67%

6.20 6.20 3 25.00%
5.74 5.74 4 33.33%
3.06 3.06 5 41.67%
2.34 2.34 6 50.00%
2.04 2.04 7 58.33%
1.90 1.90 8 66.67%
1.76 1.76 9 75.00%
1.62 1.62 10 83.33%
1.47 1.47 11 91.67%
1.32 1.32 12 100.00%

3
Figure 2.20: Flow duration curves the firm flow = 1.32 m /sec

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