EECQ - 4242 - Stream Flow Hydrograph Analysis - Part 2
EECQ - 4242 - Stream Flow Hydrograph Analysis - Part 2
Hydrology 1B
Unit hydrograph
1.2. The Unit Hydrograph
The unit hydrograph is the unit pulse response function of a linear hydrologic system. The unit
hydrograph of a watershed is defined as:
a direct runoff hydrograph (DRH) resulting from 1 cm (in SI units) of excess rainfall generated
uniformly over the drainage area at a constant rate for an effective duration.
The unit hydrograph is a simple linear model that can be used to derive the hydrograph resulting from
any amount of excess rainfall. The following basic assumptions are inherent in this model:
1. The excess rainfall has a constant intensity within the effective duration.
2. The excess rainfall is uniformly distributed throughout the whole drainage area.
3. The base time of the DRH (the duration of direct runoff) resulting from an excess rainfall of a
given duration is constant.
4. The ordinates of all DRH's of a common base time are directly proportional to the total amount
of direct runoff represented by each hydrograph.
5. For a given watershed, the hydrograph resulting from a given excess rainfall reflects the
unchanging characteristics of the watershed.
Under natural conditions, the above assumptions cannot be perfectly satisfied. However, when the
hydrologic data to be used are carefully selected so that they come close to meeting the above
assumptions, the results obtained by the unit hydrograph model are generally acceptable for practical
purposes
Assumption 1: the storms 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.
Assumption 2: the unit hydrograph may become inapplicable when the drainage area is too large to
be covered by a nearly uniform distribution of rainfall. In such cases, the area has to be divided and
each subarea analyzed for storms covering the whole subarea.
Assumption 3: the base time of the direct runoff hydrograph (DRH) is generally uncertain but depends
on the method of baseflow separation. The base time is usually short if the direct runoff is considered
to include the surface runoff only; it is long if the direct runoff also includes subsurface runoff.
Assumption 4: the principles of superposition and proportionality are assumed so that the ordinates
𝑄𝑛 of the DRH may be computed by equation 22. However, actual hydrologic data are not truly linear
and when you apply equation 22, the resuting hydrograph is only an approximation. It is however
satisfactory in many practical cases.
Assumption 5:, the unit hydrograph is considered unique for a given watershed and invariable with
respect to time. This is the principle of time invariance, which, together with the principles of
superposition and proportionality, is fundamental to the unit hydrograph model. Unit hydrographs
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
are applicable only when channel conditions remain unchanged, and watersheds do not have
appreciable storage. This condition is violated when the drainage area contains many reservoirs, or
when the flood overflows into the flood plain, thereby producing considerable storage.
The principles of linear system analysis form the basis of the unit hydrograph method. Table 1 shows
a comparison of linear system concepts with the corresponding unit hydrograph concepts. In
hydrology, the step response function is commonly called the S-hydrograph, and the impulse
response function is called the instantaneous unit hydrograph which is the hypothetical response to
a unit depth of excess rainfall deposited instantaneously on the watershed surface.
𝑄𝑛 = ∑ 𝑃𝑚 𝑈𝑛−𝑚+1 (1)
𝑚=1
The reverse process, called deconvolution, is needed to derive a unit hydrograph given data on 𝑃𝑚 and
𝑄𝑛 .
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 as shown in Table 2
Table 2. The set of equations for discrete time convolution
𝑛≤𝑀
𝑄𝑛 = ∑ 𝑃𝑚 𝑈𝑛−𝑚+1 ; 𝑛 = 1, 2, … , 𝑁
𝑚=1
If 𝑄𝑛 and 𝑃𝑚 are given and 𝑈𝑛−𝑚+1 is required, the set of equations in Table 2 is overdetermined,
because there are more equations (N) than unknowns (𝑁 − 𝑀 + 1).
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
Example 1.3.1. Find the half-hour unit hydrograph using the excess rainfall hyetograph and direct
runoff hydrograph given in Table 3 below.
Solution. The ERH and DRH in Table 3 have 𝑀 = 3 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑁 = 11 pulses respectively.
The number of pulses in the unit hydrograph is 𝑁 − 𝑀 + 1 = 11 − 3 + 1 = 9
Substituting the ordinates of the ERH and DRH into the equations in Table 2 yields a set of 11
simultaneous equations.
These equations may be solved by Gauss elimination to give the unit hydrograph ordinates. Gauss
elimination involves isolating the unknown variables one by one and successively solving for them. In
this case, the equations can be solved from top to bottom, working with just the equations involving
the first pulse 𝑃1, starting with
𝑄1 428
𝑈1 = = = 404 𝑐𝑓𝑠⁄𝑖𝑛
𝑃1 1.06
Table 3. Excess rainfall hyetograph and direct runoff hydrograph
Time (1/2 h) Excess rainfal Direct runoff
(in) (cfs)
1 1.06 428
2 1.93 1923
3 1.81 5297
4 9131
5 10625
6 7834
7 3921
8 1846
9 1402
10 830
11 313
The derived unit hydrograph is given in table 4. Solutions may be similarly obtained by focusing on
other rainfall pulses. The depth of direct runoff in the unit hydrograph can be checked and found to
equal to 1.00 inch as required
In cases where the derived unit hydrograph does not meet this requirement, the ordinates are
adjusted by proportion so that the depth of direct runoff is 1inch (or cm)
In general, the unit hydrographs obtained by solutions of the set of equations in Table 2 for different
rainfall pulses are not identical. To obtain a unique solution a method of successive approximation can
be used. It involves four steps:
1. assume a unit hydrograph, and apply it to all excess rainfall blocks of the hyetograph except
the largest
2. subtract the resulting hydrograph from the actual DRH, and reduce the residual to unit
hydrograph terms
3. compute a weighted average of the assumed unit hydrograph and the residual unit hydrograph,
and use it as the revised approximation for the next trial
4. repeat the previous three steps until the residual unit hydrograph does not differ by more than
a permissible amount from the assumed hydrograph.
The resulting unit hydrograph may show erratic variations and even have negative values. If this occurs,
a smooth curve may be fitted to the ordinates to produce an approximation of the unit hydrograph.
Erratic variation in the unit hydrograph may be due to nonlinearity in the effective rainfall-direct runoff
relationship in the watershed, and even if this relationship is truly linear, the observed data may not
adequately reflect this. Also, actual storms are not always uniform in time and space, as required by
theory, even when the excess rainfall hyetograph is broken into pulses of short duration.
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
The time interval used in defining the excess rainfall hyetograph ordinates must be the same
as that for which the unit hydrograph was specified.
d. The discrete convolution equation may then be used to yield the direct runoff hydrograph.
e. By adding an estimated baseflow to the direct runoff hydrograph, the streamflow hydrograph
is obtained.
Example. Calculate the streamflow hydrograph for a storm of 6 in excess rainfall, with 2 in in the first
half-hour, 3 in in the second half-hour and 1 in in the third half-hour. Use the half-hour unit hydrograph
computed in the previous Example and assume the baseflow is constant at 500 cfs throughout the
flood. Check that the total depth of direct runoff is equal to the total excess precipitation
(𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 7.03 𝑚𝑖 2 ).
Solution. The calculation of the direct runoff hydrograph by convolution is shown in Table 5. The unit
hydrograph ordinates from Table 3 are laid out along the top of the table and the excess precipitation
depths down the left side.
The time interval is in ∆𝑡 = 0.5 ℎ intervals.
For the first time interval, 𝑛 = 1 in Equation (1), and
𝑄1 = 𝑃1 𝑈1 = 2.00 × 404 = 808 𝑐𝑓𝑠
For the second time interval,
𝑄2 = 𝑃2 𝑈1 + 𝑃1 𝑈2 = 3.00 × 404 + 2.00 × 1079 = 1212 + 2158 = 3370 𝑐𝑓𝑠
𝑄1 = 𝑃1 𝑈1 = 2.00 × 404 = 808 𝑐𝑓𝑠
For the third time interval,
𝑄3 = 𝑃3 𝑈1 + 𝑃2 𝑈2 + 𝑃2 𝑈2 = 1.00 × 404 + 3.00 × 1079 + 2.00 × 2343
= 404 + 3237 + 4686 = 8327 𝑐𝑓𝑠
Etc.
𝑓𝑡 3 . ℎ 3600 𝑠
= 54438 × 0.5 × = 9.80 × 107 𝑓𝑡 3
𝑠 1ℎ
Check with the corresponding depth of direct runoff:
The corresponding depth of direct runoff is found by dividing by the runoff volume by the watershed
area
𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎, 𝐴 = 7.03 𝑚𝑖 2 = 7.03 𝑥 52802 𝑓𝑡 2 = 1.96 × 108 𝑓𝑡 2
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
Table 5. Calculation of the direct runoff hydrograph and streamflow hydrograph for the example
*baseflow = 500 cfs
Time Excess Unit hydrograph ordinates (cfs/in) Direct Streamflow
(1/2 h) rainfall runoff (cfs)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
(in) (cfs)
404 1079 2343 2506 1460 453 381 274 173
n=1 2.00 808 808 1308
2 3.00 1212 2158 3370 3870
3 1.00 404 3237 4686 8327 8827
4 1079 7029 5012 13120 13620
5 2343 7518 2920 12781 13281
6 2506 4380 906 7792 8292
7 1460 1359 762 3581 4081
8 453 1143 548 2144 2644
9 381 822 346 1549 2049
10 274 519 793 1293
11 173 173 673
Total 54438
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
𝑉𝑑 9.80 × 107
𝑟𝑑 = = = 0.500 𝑓𝑡 = 6.00 𝑖𝑛
𝐴 1.96 × 108
which is equal to the total depth of excess precipitation as required.
The streamflow hydrograph is found by adding the 500 cfs baseflow to the direct runoff hydrograph,
as shown on the right-hand side of Table 5 and graphically in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Streamflow hydrograph from a storm with excess rainfall pulses of duration 0.5 h and amount
2 in, 3 in, and 1 in, respectively. Total streamflow = baseflow + direct runoff (Previous Example).
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
Figure 2. Snyder’s synthetic unit hydrograph (a) standard unit hydrograph (𝑡𝑝 = 5.5 𝑡𝑟 ) (b) required
unit hydrograph (𝑡𝑝 𝑟 ≠ 5.5 𝑡𝑟 )
From the relations, five characteristics of a required unit hydrograph [Fig. 2] for a given excess rainfall
duration may be calculated:
Snyder defined a standard unit hydrograph as one whose rainfall duration 𝑡 𝑟 is related to the basin lag
𝑡𝑝 by:
𝑡𝑝 = 5.5 𝑡𝑟 (2)
1. The basin lag is
𝑡𝑝 = 𝐶1 𝐶𝑡 (𝐿𝐿𝑐 )0.3 (3)
where 𝑡𝑝 is in hours, L is the length of the main stream in kilometers (or miles) from the outlet to the
upstream divide, 𝐿𝑐 is the distance in kilometers (miles) from the outlet to a point on the stream
nearest the centroid of the watershed area, 𝐶1 = 0.75, and 𝐶𝑡 is a coefficient derived from gaged
watersheds in the same region.
2. The peak discharge per unit drainage area in 𝑚3 ⁄𝑠 . 𝑘𝑚2 of the standard unit hydrograph is
𝐶2 𝐶𝑝
𝑞𝑝 = (4)
𝑡𝑝
where 𝐶2 = 2.75 and 𝐶𝑝 is a coefficient derived from gaged watersheds in the same region.
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
To compute 𝐶𝑡 and 𝐶𝑝 for a gaged watershed, the values of L and 𝐿𝑐 are measured from the basin map.
From a derived unit hydrograph of the watershed are obtained values of its effective duration 𝑡𝑟 in
hours, its basin lag 𝑡𝑝 𝑟 in hours, and its peak discharge per unit drainage area, 𝑞𝑝 𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑚3 ⁄𝑠 . 𝑘𝑚2 . 𝑐𝑚
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
Regionalization of UH parameters
A further innovation in the use of Snyder's method has been the regionalization of unit hydrograph
parameters. Espey, Altman and Graves (1977) developed a set of generalized equations for the
construction of 10-minute unit hydrographs using a study of 41 watersheds ranging in size from 0.014
to 15 mi2, and in impervious percentage from 2 to 100 percent. Of the 41 watersheds, 16 are located
in Texas, 9 in North Carolina, 6 in Kentucky, 4 in Indiana, 2 each in Colorado and Mississippi, and 1 each
in Tennessee and Pennsylvania. The equations are:
𝑇𝑝 = 3.1𝐿0.23 𝑆 −0.25 𝐼 −0.18 𝜑1.57
𝑄𝑝 = 31.62 × 103 𝐴0.96𝑇 −1.07
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
Given the peak discharge and lag time for the duration of excess rainfall, the unit hydrograph can be
estimated from the synthetic dimensionless hydrograph for the given basin.
Figure 5 (a) shows such a dimensionless hydrograph, prepared from the unit hydrographs of a variety
of watersheds. The values of qp and Tp may be estimated using a simplified model of a triangular unit
hydrograph as shown in Figure 7.5 (b) where the time is in hours and the discharge in 𝑚3 ⁄𝑠 (Soil
Conservation Service, 1972)
The Soil Conservation Service suggests the time of recession may be approximated as 1.67 Tp. As the
area under the unit hydrograph should be equal to a direct runoff of 1 cm
, it can be shown that:
𝐶𝐴
𝑞𝑝 = (10)
𝑇𝑝
where C = 2.08
A is the drainage area in (𝑘𝑚2 )
Further, a study of unit hydrographs of many large and small rural watersheds indicates that the basin
lag:
𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑎𝑔 𝑡 𝑝 ≅ 0.6𝑇𝐶 ,
where TC is the time of concentration of teh watershed
As shown in Figure 7.5 (b), time of rise 𝑇 𝑝 can be expressed in terms of lag time 𝑡 𝑝 and the duration
of effective rainfall 𝑡 𝑟 :
𝑡𝑟
𝑇𝑝 = + 𝑡𝑝 (11)
2
Figure 5. Soil Conservation Service synthetic unit hydrographs (a) Dimensionless hydrograph and (b)
triangular unit hydrograph. (Source: Soil Conservation Service, 1972.)
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
Example 7.7.3. Construct a 10-minute SCS unit hydrograph for a basin of area 3.0 𝑘𝑚2 and time of
concentration 1.25 h.
Solution.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡 𝑟 = 10 𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 0.166 ℎ,
𝐿𝑎𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑝 = 0.6𝑇𝑐 = 0.6 𝑥 1.25 = 0.75 ℎ,
0.166
𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑇𝑝 = 𝑡 𝑟 𝑙2 + 𝑡𝑝 = + 0.75 = 0.833 ℎ.
2
𝐶𝐴 2.08 𝑥 3.0
𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐸𝑞. (10), 𝑞𝑝 = = = 7.49 𝑚3 ⁄𝑠 . 𝑐𝑚
𝑇𝑝 0.833
The dimensionless hydrograph in Fig. 5 may be converted to the required dimensions by multiplying
the values on the horizontal axis by 𝑇𝑝 and those on the vertical axis by 𝑞𝑝 . Alternatively, the triangular
unit hydrograph can be drawn with 𝑡𝑏 = 2.61𝑇𝑝 = 2.22 h. The depth of direct runoff is checked to equal
1 cm.
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
Fig. 7.6.(a):
𝑔(𝑡) = ∆𝑡[ℎ(𝑡) + ℎ(𝑡 − ∆𝑡) + ℎ(𝑡 − 2∆𝑡) + ⋯ ] (15)
Figure 7.6 Using the S-hydrograph to find a unit hydrograph of duration ∆𝑡 ' from a unit hydrograph of
duration ∆𝑡
where the summation is multiplied by ∆𝑡 so that g(t) will correspond to an input rate of 1, rather than
1⁄∆𝑡 as used for each of the unit pulses.
Theoretically, the S-hydrograph derived should be a smooth curve because the input excess rainfall is
assumed to be at a constant, continuous rate.
The summation process will result in an undulatory form if:
1. there are errors in the rainfall abstractions or baseflow separation,
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
2. the actual duration of excess rainfall is not the derived duration for the unit hydrograph.
3. there is nonuniform temporal and areal distribution of rainfall;
4. when the natural data are not linear, the resulting unstable system oscillations may produce
negative ordinates. In such cases, an optimization technique may be used to obtain a smoother
unit hydrograph.
After the S-hydrograph is constructed, the unit hydrograph of a given duration can be derived as
follows:
Step 1: Advance, or offset, the position of the S-hydrograph by a period equal to the desired duration
∆𝑡 and call this S-hydrograph
an offset S-hydrograph, g'(t) [Fig. 7.6(b)], defined by:
𝑔′ (𝑡) = (𝑔(𝑡 − ∆𝑡 ′) (16)
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
For t = 2.0
1
ℎ (𝑡 ) = [3166 − 202] = 1976 𝑐𝑓𝑠⁄𝑖𝑛
1.5
Table 6. Calculation of a 1.5-h unit hydrograph by the S-hydrograph method (from previous example)
If the quantities 𝐼(𝜏) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑄(𝑡) have the same dimensions, the ordinate of the IUH must have
dimensions [𝑇 −1 ].
With l = t − τ, the IUH has the following properties:
0 ≤ u(l) ≤ some positive peak value for l > 0
u(l) = 0some positive peak value for l ≤ 0
u(l) → 0 as l → 0
(1.3.6.2)
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EECQ 4242: Eng. Hydrology 1B
∞ ∞
The quantity 𝑡𝐿 is the lag time of the IUH. It can be shown that 𝑡𝐿 gives the time interval between the
centroid of an excess rainfall hyetograph and that of the corresponding direct runoff hydrograph. Note
the difference between 𝑡𝐿 and the variable 𝑡𝑝 used for synthetic unit hydrograph lag time − 𝑡𝑝
measures the time from the centroid of the excess rainfall to the peak, not the centroid, of the direct
runoff hydrograph.
The ideal shape of an IUH that of a single-peaked direct-runoff hydrograph, however, an IUH can have
negative and undulating ordinates.
There are several methods to determine an IUH from a given ERH and DRH.
A. For an approximation, the IUH ordinate at time t is simply set equal to the slope at time t of an
S-hydrograph constructed for an excess rainfall intensity of unit depth per unit time. This
procedure is because the S-hydrograph is an integral curve of the IUH i.e., its ordinate at time
t is equal to the integral of the area under the IUH from 0 to t. The IUH so obtained is in general
only an approximation because the slope of an S-hydrograph is difficult to measure accurately.
B. The IUH can be determined by various methods of mathematical inversion, using, for example,
a. orthogonal functions such as Fourier series or Laguerre functions.
b. integral transforms such as the, Laplace transform, the Fourier transform, and the Z
transform
c. mathematical modeling related to watershed geomorphology
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