Engineering Hydrology Lecture Note

CHAPTER TWO

2. RAINFALL-RUNOFF RELATION SHIPS (APPLICATION OF

DIFFERENT RAIN FALL RUN OFF MODELS)
Questions
What is the coefficient of runoff?
What is peak runoff?
How do you calculate rainfall intensity?
What is the curve number?
What is rational formula?
What is the rational method?
What is the peak discharge?
How do you calculate runoff?
What are the factors that affect runoff?
What is the hydrograph?
What is stage hydrograph?
What is a flashy river?
What factors affect the discharge of a river?
What is a flood hydrograph?
What affects the lag time?
Why are Hydrographs different shapes?
How does the drainage density affect flooding?
What is the definition of lag time?

2.1 Introduction to hydrological Models

o Hydrologic models may be divided in to two categories ,those are :-
I. Physical model and
II. Abstract model
Physical model:-include scale models which represent the system on a reduced scale,
such as a hydraulic model of dam spill way: and analog models, which uses another physical
system having properties similar to those the prototype.
Abstract model:-
 The system operation is described by a set of equations linking the input and
output variables.
 These variables may be a function of space and time.
 Represent the system in mathematical form.
o In engineering hydrology, four types of mathematical models are in current use.
Those are: - deterministic, probabilistic, conceptual and parametric models.

1. Deterministic Hydrological Models

o Formulated by using laws of physical or chemical processes.
o Does not consider randomness.
o A given input produces the same output.

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o Deterministic models permit only one outcome from a simulation with one set of
inputs and parameter values.
o The three main groups of deterministic models:
• Empirical Models (black box)
• Lumped Conceptual Models (grey box)
• Distributed Process (Physically) Description Based Models (white box)

1. Empirical (Black Box) Models

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

o The equation was derived from a simplified conceptual model of travel times on
basins with negligible surface storage.
o C is not a constant parameter, but varies from storm to storm on the same catchment,
and from catchment to catchment for similar storms.

2. Lumped Conceptual Models

o 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.
3. Distributed Process Description Based Models
o 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.
o 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.
o 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.
o The Distributed Process Description Based Models can in principle be applied to
almost any kind of hydrological problem

2. Probabilistic hydrologic model

o Where statistical or stochastic, governed by laws of chance or probability.

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o Statistical models deals with observed samples. Whereas,

o Stochastic models focus on the random properties of certain hydrologic time
series.
3. Conceptual hydrologic model
o Simplified representation of the physical processes, obtained by lumping
spatial and/or temporal variations.
o Described in terms of either ordinary deferential equation or algebraic
equation.
4. parametric hydrological model
o Represents hydrologic processes by means of algebraic equation that contain
key parameters to be determined by empirical means.
Stochastic Time Series Models
o Stochastic models allow for some randomness or uncertainty in the possible outcomes
due to uncertainty in input variables, boundary conditions or model parameters..
o 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..

2.2 Rational Method

o One of the most commonly used for the calculation of peak flow from small areas is
the rational method.
o It has particular application in urban storm drainage, where it is used to calculate peak
run of rates for the design of storm sewers and small drainage structures.
o The popularity of the rational method is attributed to its simplicity, although
responsible care is necessary in order to use the method correctly.

o When adequate data are not available this method can be applied.

Rational Method Assumptions

 The rainfall is uniform both spatially and temporally.

 The drainage area is small.
 The duration of the rainfall is equal to the catchment’s time of concentrations.
 Peak flow occurs when the entire catchment area is contributing.
 The recurrence interval of the peak discharge is equal to that of the rainfall intensity

 Rational method does not take in to account the following characteristics or

processes.
 Spatial or temporal variations in either total or effective rain fall,
 Concentration time much greater than rain fall duration, and
 A significant portion of runoff occurring in the form of stream flow.
 Ethiopian road authority (ERA) states in its drainage design manual that rational
method shall be used only for catchment areas less than 50ha (0.5k2m).
o The peak discharge is the product of :-

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 Run off coefficient

 Rain fall intensity and
 Catchment area with all processes being lumped in to these three
parameters.
o Qp=0.278CIA where; A=catchment area (km2)
I= Rain fall intensity (mm/hr)
Qp= discharge (m3/sec)
C= runoff coefficient (dimensionless)
2.2.1 Runoff Coefficient
o The ground cover and a host of other hydrologic abstractions considerably affect the
coefficient.
o The coefficient of runoff also varies for different storms on the same catchment, and
thus, using an average value for C, gives only a rough estimate of Qp in small
uniform urban areas.
o If the basin contains varying amount of different land cover or other abstractions, a
coefficient can be calculated through areal weighing as shown in equation (2.2).
Typical values are given in table 2.1 below.

Where x = subscript designating values for incremental areas with consistent land cover

Table 2.1: Runoff coefficients for rational formula

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Rainfall intensity
o Is the average rain fall rate for a particular drainage catchment or sub catchment.
o Rainfall intensity, duration curve and frequency curves are necessary to use the
rational method.
Design return period (frequencies) vary with the type of the project and degree of
protection desired. Commonly used return periods are
 5-10 years for storm sewers in residential areas,
 10-50years for storm sewers in commercial areas, and
 50-100 years for flood protection works.

Figure 2.2: Example of IDF Curve

2.2.2 Time of Concentration (Tc)

o The time of concentration is the time required for water to travel from the
hydraulically most remote point of the basin to the point of interest.
o The time for a drop water to flow from the remotest point in the catchment to the
point of out let.
o The time of concentration to any point in a storm sewer drainage system is the sum
of the inlet time to ( the time it takes for flow from the remotest point to reach the
sewer inlet ),and the flow time tf in the upstream sewers connected to the outer point:

tc= to+tf
n

The flow time is given by: tf=∑ L i/Vi

i=1
th
Where: Li= is the length of the i pipe along the flow path

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V =is the flow velocity in the pipe.

o The time of concentration of a water shed can also computed from the method
developed by kirpich (1940) and accepted as soil conservation service formula which
is expressed as (adopted from IDD Manual, (ministry of agriculture ethiopia ).

o Tc=0.948(L3/H)0.385

Where, Tc=time of concentration (hrs)

L= maximum length of flow (km)
H=the difference in elevation between the out let and the most remote point (m)

In choosing storm sewer pipe diameters, the minimum required diameter is computed ,and
the next larger commercially avilable size selected. Ones the design discharge Q entering the
sewer pipe has been calculated by the rational formula, the diameter of the pipe required to
carry this discharge is determined. It is usually assumed that the pipe is flowing full under
gravity but is not pressurised ,so the pipe capacity can be calculated by the manning or
darcy-wiesbach equation for open channel flow.
1.using manning’s equation:-

Q=(AR2/3 Sf1/2)/n

D= (3.21Qn/√So)3/8 this is valid for Q in cubic meter per second

(Proof or/and show the necessary steps as home take assignment)

Where Q=design discharge (m3/s)

A= area of storm sewer (m2)
Sf =friction slope=So= bed slope of pipe
R = hydraulic radius (m)
n=manning’s roughness coefficient
D = diameter of pipe (m)
2. Using Darcy Weisbach: with A, R, and S as for manning’s equation
f

Q= A (8gRSf/f)1/2 when we solve for D , this gives

D = ((0.811fQ2)/(gSo))1/5
(Proof or/and show the necessary steps as home take assignment)

Where f= is the Darcy wesibach friction factor

g= gravity due to acceleration

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Table 2.3: Manning’s Roughness coefficient (n) for overland flow

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SCS Curve Number Method

o The SCS method is suggested by the U.S soil conservation service in 1972.
o It is basically an empirical model for rain fall abstraction which is based on the
potential for the soil to absorb a certain amount of moisture.
o The SCS approach is more sophisticated than rational method since it also considers
 Time distribution of rain fall
 The initial rainfall loss due to interception and depression
storage and
 An infiltration rate that decreases during the course of a
storm.
o Typical application of the SCS method includes the determination of ;
 Design of storm and time distribution of rain fall over a
catchment
 Curve number that represents different land uses
o The SCS method can be used for both the estimation of storm water runoff peak rates
and generation of hydrographs for the routing of storm water flows.
o The SCS method can be used for most design applications, including diversion,
storage facilities and out let structures.
o The drainage area of water shed is determined from topographic maps and surveys.
o The SCS method uses a storm event that has annual extreme daily rain fall values.

23∗AMCII
AMCIII =
10+0 . 13∗AMCCII

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Table 2.4: Runoff Curve Numbers for Urban areas

SCS Hydrograph Analysis

A hydrograph is a graph showing the rate flow (discharge) versus time past at a specific point
in a river or other channel carrying water flow. The rate of flow is typically expressed in
metric units of cubic meters per second (m3/s). It consists the following parameters:

Peak discharge: the highest point on the hydrograph when the rate of discharge is greatest.
Time to peak: time interval from the start of the resulting hydrograph
Discharge: the rate of flow (volume per unit time) passing a specific location in a river or
other channel

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2.3 Stream Flow Hydrograph

o A hydrograph is a graphical plot of discharge of a natural stream or river versus time.
o The hydrograph is a result of a particular effective rainfall hyetograph as modified by
basin flow characteristics.
o By definition, the volume of water under an effective rainfall hyetograph is equal to
the volume of surface runoff.
o It has three characteristic parts:-
 The rising limb
 The crest segment and
 The falling limb or depletion curve.
o The maximum flow rate on the hydrograph is the peak flow, qp,
o The time from the start of the hydrograph to qp is the time to peak, tp.
o The total duration of the hydrograph is known as the base time, tb.
o The lag time, tL is the time from the center of mass of effective rainfall to the peak of
runoff hydrograph.
o 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 for a single block of rainfall with duration D

2.3.1 Hydrograph Analysis

o 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.

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o 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).
o 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.

2.3.2 Factors affecting flood hydrograph

Table 2.8: Factors affecting flood hydrograph

2.3.3 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.

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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.
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.

2.4 The Unit Hydrograph (UH)

o Defined as the hydrograph produced by unit depth of runoff (1in or 1cm) uniformly
distributed over the entire catchment and lasting at specific duration.
o The unit hydrograph (UH) of duration T 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.
o Unit hydrograph can also be defined as the hydrograph of a drainage basin which
gives one centimeter of direct runoff from a rain storm of specific duration.
o The duration can be chosen arbitrarily so that we can have a 1h UH, a 6h UH, etc.

Main assumptions of unit hydrograph

1. The effective rainfall is uniformly distributed over the entire drainage basin.

2. The effective rainfall occurs uniformly within its specified duration.

This requirement calls for selection of storms of so small a duration which would generally
produce an intense and nearly uniform effective rainfall and would produce a well defined
single peak of hydrograph of short time base. Such a storm can be termed as “unit storm”.

3. The effective rainfalls of equal (unit) duration will produce hydrographs of direct runoff
having same or constant time base.

4. The ordinates of the direct runoff hydrographs having same time base (i.e., hydrographs
due to effective rainfalls of different intensity but equal duration) are directly proportional to
the total amount of direct runoff given by each hydrograph. This important assumption is
called principle of linearity or proportionality or superposition.

5. The hydrograph of runoff from a given drainage basin resulting, from a given pattern of
rainfall reflects all the combined physical characteristics of the basin. In other words the
hydrograph of direct runoff resulting from a given pattern of effective rainfall will remain

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invariable irrespective of its time of occurrence. This assumption is called principle of time
invariance

Limitations of Unit Hydrograph

1. The principle of unit hydrograph is applicable to a drainage basin of any size. In practice,
however, uniformly distributed effective rainfall rarely occurs on large areas. Also on large
areas effective rainfall is very rarely uniform at all locations, within its specified duration.
Obviously bigger the area of the drainage basin lesser will be the chances of fulfilling the
assumptions enunciated above. The limiting size of the drainage basin is considered to be
5000 km2. Beyond it the reliability of the unit hydrograph method diminishes.

2. The unit hydrograph method cannot be applied when appreciable portion of storm
precipitation falls as snow because snow-melt runoff is governed mainly by temperature
changes.

3. When snow covered area in the drainage basin is significant the unit hydrograph method
becomes inapplicable. The reason is that the storm rainfall gets mixed up with the snow pack
and may produce delayed runoff differently under different conditions of snow pack.

4. The physical basin characteristics change with seasons, man-made structures in the basin,
conditions of flow etc. Obviously the principle of time invariance is really valid only when
the time and condition of the drainage basin are specified.

5. It is commonly seen that no two rain storms have same pattern in space and time. But it is
not practicable to derive separate unit hydrograph for each possible time- intensity pattern.
Therefore, in addition to limiting drainage basin area up to 5000 km2 if storms of shorter
duration say 1/3 to 1/4 of peaking times are selected it is seen that the runoff patterns do not
vary drastically.

6. The principle of linearity is also not completely valid. This is so because due to variability
in proportion of surface, subsurface and groundwater runoff components during smaller and
larger storms of same duration, the maximum ordinate (peak) of the unit hydrograph derived
from smaller storm is smaller than the one derived from larger storm. Obviously the
character and duration of recession limb which is a function of the peak flow will also be
different. When appreciable non-linearity is seen to exist it is necessary to use derived unit
hydrographs only for reconstructing events of similar magnitude.

7. The unit hydrograph can be used theoretically to construct a flood hydrograph resulting
from a storm having same unit duration. Obviously it necessitates construction of several unit
hydrographs to cover different durations of storms. Thus a 2 hour unit hydrograph can be
applied to storms of 1.5 to 2.5 hours duration.

Advantages of unit hydrograph

 Flood hydrograph can be calculated with the help of very short record of data.

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 In addition to peak flow unit hydrograph also gives total volume of runoff and its
time distribution.

 The unit hydrograph procedure can be computerized easily to facilitate calculations.

 It is very useful in checking the reliability of flows obtained by using statistical

methods.

2.4.1 Applications of Unit Hydrograph

o As the UH establishes a relationship between the DRH and ERH for a catchment,
they are of immense value in the study of the hydrology of a catchment. They are of
great use in:
 The development of flood hydrograph for extreme rainfall magnitudes for
use in design of hydraulic structures.
 Extension of flood-flow records based on rainfall records.
 The development of flood forecasting and warning systems based on rainfall.

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