IJSRD - International Journal for Scientific Research & Development| Vol.

1, Issue 11, 2014 | ISSN (online): 2321-0613

Literature Study on Application of HEC-HMS for Event and

Continuous Based Hydrological Modeling
M.M Patel1 Prof. H.M.Gandhi2 Dr. N.J. Shrimali3
1
M.E. [Water Resources & Management] Student, 2Associate Professor, H.O.D, 3Associate Professor
1, 2, 3
Department of civil Engineering
1,2
Shantilal shah Engineering College, Bhavnagar, Gujarat
3
The M. S. University, Baroda, Gujarat, India
Abstract--- Hydrologic models are simplified, conceptual The function of model is to convert the given input into an
representations of a part of the hydrologic cycle. The output. A hydrological model is the mathematical
Hydrological Cycle is the journey water takes as it circulates representation of the response of a catchments system to
from the land to the sky and back again. This circulation and hydrologic events during the time period under
conservation of earth‟s water as it circulates from the land to consideration. Hydrological phenomena are extremely
the sky and back again is called the „hydrological cycle‟ or complex, highly non-linear and highly variable in space and
„water cycle‟. The water cycle is never-ending cycle. time.
Hydrological models are primarily used for hydrologic A model is needed to predict the watershed runoff for the
prediction and for understanding hydrologic processes. design and management of water resources utilization and
Watershed hydrological modeling and associated calibration flood control projects.
and validation processes require a large set of spatial and
A. Event-process model
temporal data. In practice, the availability and quality of
these data are often an issue to cope with. Sometimes one Event process models are designed to simulate individual
has to compromise the overall modeling quality because of events and it Emphasis on infiltration and surface runoff. It
insufficient high-resolution data for developing, calibrating gives peak discharge and volume.
and validating the model. The current paper describes the B. Continuous-process model
study of various literatures on development such a strategy
Continuous-process models are Designed for long-term
by combining fine-scale event and coarse-scale continuous
simulations and it Emphasis on all hydrologic processes. It
hydrological modeling with hydrologic engineering center‟s
simulates Drought and water balance.
hydrologic modeling system (HEC-HMS).
1) History of HEC-HMS
Keywords: event modeling, continuous modeling, HEC-
HMS, Losses, Transformation, Base flow The computation engine draws on over 30 years‟ experience
with hydrologic simulation software. Many algorithms from
HEC-1 (HEC, 1998), HEC-1F (HEC, 1989), PRECIP (HEC,
I. INTRODUCTION
1989), and HEC-IFH (HEC, 1992) have been modernized
Water is a scarce commodity and a decisive factor for socio- and combined with new algorithms to form a comprehensive
economic development and food security particularly in arid library of simulation routines. The current research program
and semi-arid regions. Serious water shortages and poor is designed to produce new algorithms and analysis
water management have appeared to be limitations to the techniques for addressing emerging problems.
economic development. The initial program release was called Version 1.0 and
Flash floods are also very common along with erosion and included most of the event- simulation capabilities of the
land slide triggered by high rainfall intensity and runoff HEC-1 program. It did introduce several notable
velocity. High volume of sediment delivered to river improvements over the legacy software including an
channels causes‟ modification, silting up of reservoirs, and unlimited number of hydrograph ordinates and gridded
eventual failure of hydraulic structures. runoff representation. The tools for parameter estimation
For sustainable development and management of water with optimization were much more flexible than in previous
resources and mitigation of floods and similar geo-hazards, programs. The maiden release also included a number of
a sound understanding of hydrologic processes is crucial. "firsts" for HEC including object-oriented development in
This leads to a reliable representation of the rainfall-runoff the C++ language and multiplatform support in a program
relation at various spatial and temporal scales. Runoff rates with a graphical user interface.
and groundwater recharges from a rainfall event are key The second major release was called Version 2.0 and
parameter inmost water resources development schemes, focused on continuous simulation. The addition of the soil
such as, storage reservoirs of surface water, diversion weirs, moisture accounting method extended the program from an
flood protection structures, and hydropower and irrigation event-simulation package to one that could work equally
projects. well with event or continuous simulation applications. The
This paper represents the literature review on application of reservoir element was also expanded to include physical
HEC-HMS (The hydrologic engineering center‟s hydrologic descriptions for an outlet, spillway, and overflow. An
modeling system) for event and continuous hydrological overtopping dam failure option was also added.
modeling. The third-party graphics libraries used to implement the
A model is a simplified representation of reality. multi-platform interface used in Version 1.0 and Version 2.0
Mathematical model consists of series of equations defining were sold and soon became unavailable. Faced with the
the system we are dealing with. prospect of using unsupported graphics tools, the design

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 Literature Study on Application of HEC-HMS for Event and Continuous Based Hydrological Modeling
(IJSRD/Vol. 1/Issue 11/2014/0046)

team evaluated alternatives and chose to move the program For continuous modeling Methodology used for study is as
to the Java™ language. The simulation engine was described in Table 2:
converted to Java™ and a completely new interface was
B. Xuefeng Chu et al
designed. During the process, careful attention was paid to
lessons learned from earlier versions. The result was Paper represented by M. M. G. T. De Silva et al describes a
Version 3.0 with the new interface plus new simulation case study of Event and Continuous Hydrologic Modeling
capabilities for infiltration, reservoir outlet structures, piping with HEC-HMS on Mona Lake watershed.
dam failure, and analysis tools.
2) Application of HEC-HMS Joint event and continuous hydrologic modeling with the
The program is a generalized modeling system capable of Hydrologic Engineering Center‟s Hydrologic Modeling
representing many different watersheds. A model of the System HEC-HMS is discussed in this technical note and an
watershed is constructed by separating the hydrologic application to the Mona Lake Watershed in west Michigan
cycle into manageable pieces and constructing boundaries is presented. Specifically, four rainfall events were selected
around the watershed of interest. Any mass or energy flux in for calibrating/verifying the event model and identifying
the cycle can then be represented with a mathematical model parameters. The calibrated parameters were then used
model. In most cases, several model choices are available in the continuous hydrologic model.
for representing each flux. Each mathematical model The Soil Conservation Service curve number and soil
included in the program is suitable in different environments moisture accounting methods in HEC-HMS were used for
and under different conditions. Making the correct choice simulating surface runoff in the event and continuous
requires knowledge of the watershed, the goals of the models, respectively, and the relationship between the two
hydrologic study, and engineering judgment. rainfall-runoff models was analyzed. The simulations
The program features a completely integrated work provided hydrologic details about quantity, variability, and
environment including a database, data entry utilities, sources of runoff in the watershed. The model output
computation engine, and results reporting tools. A graphical suggests that the fine-scale (5 min time step) event
user interface allows the seamless movement between the hydrologic modeling, supported by intensive field data, is
different parts of the program. Program functionality and useful for improving the coarse-scale (hourly time step)
appearance are the same across all supported platforms. continuous modeling by providing more accurate and well-
Among various literature found some of most appropriate calibrated parameters.
literature is presented over hear. Methodology used:
EVENT BASED MODELING
II. LITERATURE REVIEW Parameters Methods used
Base flow parameters Recession baseflow
A. M. M. G. T. De Silva et al Loss parameters SCS-CN
Paper represented by M. M. G. T. De Silva et al describes a Runoff transform parameters Clark transform
Modeling of event and continuous flow hydrographs with CONTINUOUS BASED MODELING
HEC–HMS; A case study in the Kelani River basin Sri Parameters Methods used
Lanka. Base flow parameters Recession baseflow
An extremely high rainfall event in November 2005 was Soil moisture
used for calibration of model parameters and extremely high Loss parameters
accounting
rainfall events in April–May 2008, May–June 2008, and Runoff transform parameters Clark unit hydrograph
May 2010 were used for validation of the event model. Two
Table 3: Event Based Modeling
consecutive extreme flood events occurred during April to
June 2008 were selected for model calibration under Using WMS, overland flow directions and accumulations
continuous simulations. The time series data from January were computed and the drainage network and subbasin
2005 to December 2007 and January 2009 to December boundaries were determined.
2010 were used for validation. The calibrated, direct runoff C. Reshma T et al
and baseflow parameters were then used in the continuous
Paper represented by Reshma T et al describes Simulation of
hydrologic model.
Event Based Runoff Using HEC-HMS Model for an
For event modeling Methodology used for study is as
Experimental Watershed.
described in below table:
In this study, Hydrologic Engineering Center –Hydrologic
PARAMETERS METHODS Modeling System (HEC-HMS) hydrological model has been
Base flow parameters Recession baseflow used to simulate runoff process in Walnut Gulch watershed
Loss parameters Green and ampt located in Arizona, USA. Estimation of accurate runoff for a
Runoff transform parameters Clark unit hydrograph given rainfall event is a difficult task due to various
Table 1: Event modeling Methodology influencing factors. Several computer based hydrological
model have been developed for simulation of runoff in
PARAMETERS METHODS
watershed and water resource studies.
Base flow parameters Recession baseflow
The HEC-HMS model has been applied for 7 rainfall events
Loss parameters Soil moisture accounting
of sub watershed of Walnut Gulch watershed. The model
Runoff transform parameters Clark unit hydrograph has been calibrated for four rainfall events and validated for
Table 2: Continuous modeling Methodology three rainfall events.

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 Literature Study on Application of HEC-HMS for Event and Continuous Based Hydrological Modeling
(IJSRD/Vol. 1/Issue 11/2014/0046)

1) Methodology used basin. The HEC–HMS successfully reproduced low flows

• Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Land Use/Land Cover and thus the model is a useful tool to estimate low flows in
(LU/LC) data was used for watershed delineation. advance based on drought forecasts. The HEC–HMS is
• To compute infiltration, rainfall excess conversion to useful to analyze future extreme conditions by taking the
runoff and flow routing, methods like Green-Ampt, advantage of the characteristics of distinct modeling
Clark‟s Unit hydrograph and Kinematic wave routing approaches and the availability of various data.
were chosen.
• The model has been calibrated and validated for the REFERENCES
seven rainfall events. [1] Xuefeng Chu, A.M.ASCE; and Alan Steinman, “Event
From the results, it is observed that HEC-HMS model has and Continuous Hydrologic Modeling with HEC-HMS”
performed satisfactorily for the simulation runoff for the Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering, Vol.
different rainfall events. 135, No. 1, February 1, 2009.
D. Rabi Gyawali et al [2] M. M. G. T. De Silva, S. B. Weerakoon, and Srikantha
Paper represented by Rabi Gyawali et al describes Herath “Modeling of event and continuous flow
Continuous Hydrologic Modeling of Snow-Affected hydrographs with HEC–HMS; A case study in the
Watersheds in the Great Lakes Basin Using HEC-HMS. Kelani River basin Sri Lanka” Journal of Hydrologic
Watershed and subwatershed models are calibrated and Engineering. Submitted May 15, 2012; accepted May 15,
validated on a daily time step using gauge precipitation 2013;posted ahead of print May 17, 2013.
measurements, observed snow water equivalent data, and [3] Rabi Gyawali, S.M.ASCE; and David W. Watkins, and
physically based parameters estimated using geospatial M.ASCE “Continuous Hydrologic Modeling of Snow-
databases. Affected Watersheds in the Great Lakes Basin Using
1) Methodology used: HEC-HMS” JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGIC
• The watersheds were disaggregated into a number of ENGINEERING © ASCE / JANUARY 2013 / 29.
subbasins, with each subbasin featuring a USGS stream [4] Mesay Daniel Tulu “Event based rainfall-runoff
gauge at its outlet. modeling in semi-arid regions” institute of applied
• Meteorological data inputs, required for each subbasin, geology, department of civil engineering and natural
were summarized. hazards, boku university vienna, austria September 2010
• Theissen polygons were used to compute areal average [5] ESTRI RAHAJENG “Application HEC-HMS to Predict
precipitation based on available gage measurements. Hydrograph (Case Study in Lebak Petal Sub Basin) msc.
• Parameter estimation of SMA in HMS was discussed. In Information Technology for Natural Resources
Unlike the seasonal parameterization approach used in Management Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia.
that study, a single parameter estimate was used for Afita 2010 international conference.
different variables throughout the calibration and [6] HEC-HMS “user‟s manual” version 3.5, august 2010
validation periods in this study, spanning 2004–2009.
• Geographic information system (GIS) and State Soil
Geographic (STATSGO) databases have been used for
parameter estimation in this hydrologic study.
The results show modest improvements resulting from the
increased spatial resolution of the HEC-HMS models, in
addition to the benefits of the more process based snow
algorithm in HEC-HMS, particularly for the snow-
dominated St. Louis watershed. However, both LBRM and
HEC-HMS models had difficulty reproducing peaks in late
winter and early spring runoff, and discrepancies could not
be attributed to any systematic errors in the snowmelt
models.

III. CONCLUSION
From Study of these various literatures related to application
of HEC-HMS for event and continuous hydrological
modeling it is concluded that this type of study provides
greater response of basin to various hydrological events. The
study demonstrates the usefulness of HEC–HMS
applications in disaster mitigation, flood control and water
management in medium size river basins in tropics. The
ability of HEC–HMS to simulate the magnitude and timing
of the peaks in extreme floods in the River basin
underscores the significance of the model application as a
flood prediction tool. The model is a useful tool to issue
early warnings during extreme rainfall conditions in the

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