UNIT HYDROGRAPH METHOD

Unit Hydrograph Method: The hydrograph of direct surface discharge measured at the outlet
of drainage area, which produces a unit depth of direct runoff (i.e., a Pnet of 1 cm over the
entire area of the catchment) resulting from a unit storm of specified duration (called unit
period) is called a unit hydrograph of that duration.

The theory of unit hydrograph is based on the following assumptions:

i. The net rainfall is of uniform intensity within its duration (i.e., unit period).
ii. The net rainfall uniformly occurs over the entire area of the drainage basin.
iii. For a given drainage basin, the base period of the hydrographs of direct runoff
corresponding to net rains of different intensities but same unit duration, is constant.
iv. The ordinates of direct runoff hydrographs due to net rains of different intensities (but
same unit duration) are proportional.
v. A unit hydrograph reflects all the physical characteristics of the basin.
Uses of Unit Hydrographs
i. Once a unit hydrograph for a duration tr has been developed for a basin, the storm
hydrograph for that basin for any other storm of different intensity but the same duration
can be easily developed.
ii. The unit hydrograph may be used for the development of maximum flood hydrograph
from the maximum rainfall for the design of spillways and larger hydraulic structures.
iii. The available stream flow records can be extended using the rainfall records, which are
generally available for a longer period.
iv. The unit hydrograph can be used for flood forecasting and flood warning based on the
observed rainfall in the basin
Limitations of the Unit Hydrograph Theory
i. The unit hydrograph theory cannot be applied to catchment areas greater than 5000
km2, because for larger areas, the rainfall is not uniformly distributed and it does not
remain constant.
ii. The principle of linearity of responses is not strictly correct.
iii. The direct-runoff hydrograph of a drainage basin due to a given pattern of effective
rainfall does not remain constant.
iv. The unit hydrograph cannot be applied if the major portion of the storm is in the form
of snow.
A unit hydrograph is a specific type of hydrograph in that it represents the effects of the
physical characteristics of the basin on the completely defined, standardized input rainfall
excess. The essence of the unit hydrograph is that since the physical characteristics of the
watershed shape, size, slope etc are relatively constant over few years, one might expect
considerable similarity in the shape of hydrographs resulting from similar rainfall
characteristics. It is called a unit hydrograph because, for convenience, the runoff volume under
the hydrograph is commonly adjusted to 1 cm or 1 mm equivalent depth over the watershed.
Formally we define the unit hydrograph of a drainage basin (watershed) as a hydrograph of
direct runoff resulting from one centimeter of rainfall excess of a specified duration generated
uniformly over the watershed area at a uniform rate.
An important feature of the unit hydrograph is its specified time period. This is the duration of
rainfall excess that produce the unit hydrograph, and its duration must be included in the name
of the unit hydrograph. For a given basin a 1-hr unit hydrograph will be different from the 3-
hr unit hydrograph. A 1-hr unit hydrograph is produced by 1 mm of rainfall excess falling over
the basin in 1 hr at a rate of 1 mm/hr, and a 3-hr unit hydrograph by 1 mm of rainfall excess
occurring uniformly during 1 3-hr period, at a rate of 1/3 mm/hr.
Derivation of unit hydrographs
The unit hydrograph is best derived from the hydrograph of a storm of reasonably
uniform intensity, duration of desired length, and a relatively large runoff volume.
In this section we discuss two methods of deriving a unit hydrograph from
observed rainfall and the resulting hydrograph of a given watershed.
Method one: simple proportioning of the direct runoff
The steps are:
 1. Separate the base flow from direct runoff,
2. Determine the volume of direct runoff, and
3. Divide the ordinate of the direct runoff hydrograph by observed runoff depth.
Example01: Given the following hydrograph of a given watershed having drainage area of
104 km2 derive the unit hydrograph for the watershed.

Solution:
The direct runoff ordinates are obtained by subtracting the base flow from the total stream flow,
that Col. [3] - Col. [4]. Calculate the direct runoff depth
Then the unit hydrograph ordinate Col. [6] is obtained by dividing Col. [5] by 11.70 cm. Note
that it is informative to indicate the full unit of the unit hydrograph in this case m3/s/cm.

Method 2: Unit hydrograph derivation by convolution method

The process by which the design storm is combined with the transfer function (that is the unit
hydrograph) to produce the direct runoff hydrograph is called convolution. Analytically
speaking, convolution is referred to as theory of linear superposition. Conceptually, it is a
process of multiplication, translation with time and addition.
The basic assumptions inherent in the convolution method are:
a. The excess rainfall has a constant intensity within the effective duration. This implies
that the storm selected for analysis should be of short duration, since these will most
likely produce an intense and nearly constant excess rainfall rate, yielding a well-
defined single peaked hydrograph of short time base.
b. The excess rainfall is uniformly distributed throughout the whole drainage area. In this
case drainage area should not be too large (about 30 km2, max) and for large watershed,
the area should be subdivided and each sub-area analyzed for storms covering the whole
sub-area.
c. The base time of the direct runoff hydrograph resulting from an excess rainfall of given
duration is constant.
 d. The ordinates of all direct runoff's of a common base time are directly proportional to
the total amount of direct runoff represented by each hydrograph.
e. For a given watershed, the hydrograph resulting from a given excess rainfall reflects
the unchanging characteristics of the watershed. So unit hydrographs are applicable
incase of channel and watershed physical conditions such as afforestation /
deforestation/ widening of channel remain unchanged and watersheds do not have
appreciable storage. For the changed condition a new unit hydrograph should be
produced
The discrete convolution equation. The discrete convolution equation is given by

Note that the time interval used in defining the excess rainfall hyetograph ordinates must be
the same as that for which the unit hydrograph was specified. Total number of discharge
ordinate N derived from M excess rainfall pulses is given by M + 1 + the number of unit
hydrograph ordinates V. That is N = M+1+V
Suppose that there are M pulses of excess rainfall and N pulses of direct runoff in the storm
considered, then N equations can be written for Qn, n = 1, 2, ..., N, in terms of N - M +1
unknown values of the unit hydrograph. If Qn and Rm are given and Un-m+1 is required, the
set of equations is over determined, because there are more equations N than unknowns N-
M+1. Thus, unique solution is not possible find.
Example02:
In a storm, the rainfall excess of 0.5 cm, 0.7 cm, 0.0 cm and 0.8 cm occurred in four successive
hours. The storm hydrograph due to this storm has the hourly ordinates (m3/s) as given below:
0.5, 44.5, 110.5, 85.5, 102.8, 94.0, 38.4, 18.6, 10.9, 5.3, 2.9, 0.5. If there is a constant base flow
of 0.5 m3/s, find the hourly ordinates of the unit hydrograph.
Solution:
The direct runoff ordinates Qn (m3/s) are 0.0, 44.0, 110.0, 85.0, 102.3, 93.5, 37.9, 18.1, 10.4,
4.8, 2.4, 0.0. The depth of effective rainfall are R1 = 0.5 cm, R2 = 0.7 cm, R3 = 0.0, and R4 =
0.8 cm
Using the equation below:

Unit hydrograph application. Once the unit hydrograph has been determined it can be applied
to find the direct runoff and stream flow hydrographs using Eq.
Example03
Calculate the stream flow hydrograph for a storm with rainfall excess of nearly 0 cm in the first
half hour, 4 cm in the second half-hour and 1 cm the third half-hour. Use the half hour unit
hydrograph ordinate given in column [3]. Assume the base flow is constant at 20 m3/s
throughout the flood. Calculate also the watershed area from which this Unit hydrograph is
derived.

and so on. In tabular form it is easily calculated by simply shifting one time step of the resulting
hydrograph from individual excess rainfall. see columns [4] , [5] and [6].

The peak flow resulting from the storm was 300 m3/s and occurred at 2 hours. The watershed
area is calculated from the principle that the volume of the direct runoff under the unit
hydrograph is 1 cm in our case 1 cm, and it is 30 km2.
Example04
The ordinates of a 5-hour unit hydrograph over a catchment are:
 S-Hydrograph
S-curve or the summation curve is the hydrograph of direct surface discharge that would result
from a continuous succession of unit storms producing 1 cm in tr–hr.

An S-curve is the hydrograph of direct runoff, which occurs due to a continuous effective
rainfall of 1cm every T hours of uniform intensity of (1/T) cm per hour. The S-Curve is
obtained by adding together a series of unit hydrograph of T duration, each unit hydrograph
lagged by T hours with respect to the previous unit hydrograph as shown above. The S-
hydrograph method allows the conversion of an X- hour unit hydrograph into a Y-hour
unit hydrograph, regardless of the ratio between X and Y. The procedure consists of the
following steps:
i. Determine the X hour S-hydrograph. Accumulating the unit hydrograph ordinates at
intervals equal to X, thus deriving the X-hour S-hydrograph.
ii. Lag the X -hour S-hydrograph by a time interval equal to Y hours.
iii. Subtract ordinates of these two S-hydrographs.
iv. Multiply the resulting hydrograph ordinates by X/Y to obtain the Y-hour unit
hydrograph.
v. The volume under X-hour and Y-hour unit hydrograph is the same. If Tb is the time
base of the X-hour unit hydrograph, the time base of the Y-hour unit hydrograph is
Tb - X + Y
Example05:
Derive a 3-hr UH from 2-hr UH. The 2-hr UH is given in Columns [1] and [2]

One-hour period ordinates of the 2 hr UH is read from the graph of the 2 hr UH Column [2].
In calculating 2-h SH direct cumulative are not used, only sequential 2 hr cumulative is
considered.
Example06:
Given the 1hr UH derive the ½ hr UH
Example07
Given the 1hr UH, derive the 3hr UH.

The unit hydrograph for effective rainfall of duration T is then 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.
When all the single-peaked storms have been analysed and a corresponding number of unit
hydrographs obtained, it will be noted that no two are identical, though they will all have the
same general shape.
Example08:
Given a 4 hour Unit Hydrograph, determine the 2 hour UH
In this case you develop the S curve by offsetting the S curve additions by 4 hours as shown in
Column:

One way that an average unit hydrograph may be constructed is by taking the arithmetic means
of the peak flows (Up) and the times to peak (Tp), plotting the average peak at the appropriate
mean value of Tp, and drawing the hydrograph to match the general shapes of the individual
unit hydrographs. The resulting average unit hydrograph is then checked to ensure that the
enclosed volume of runoff equivalent to a unit of effective rainfall.

Synthetic unit hydrographs

Where there are no stream flow data to develop unit hydrograph of a given watershed by the
foregoing methods, synthetic unit hydrograph method is utilized. Synthetic unit hydrograph
procedures are used to develop unit hydrographs for other locations on the stream in the same
watershed or for nearby watersheds of similar physio-hydro-climatological characteristics. The
mostly used SUHs are listed below but the details about each will be covered as you progress
in the program. Listed in their order of the most used:
i. SCS Unit Hydrograph
ii. Snyder’s unit hydrograph.
iii. Clark Unit Hydrograph
iv. ModClark Unit Hydrograph
Other Runoff Estimation Techniques
This section provides an overview of more advanced methods that can be used to estimate the
surface runoff storm hydrograph in a location along the river. These methods include:
i. Hydrodynamic methods which use the Kinematic approach.
ii. Linear models