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ENGINEERING HYDROLOGY

5 RUNOFF AND HYDROGRAPH

1. INTRODUCTION

It is the graphical variation of discharge with time at any given location on the stream.

2. IMPORTANT ASSOCIATED POINTS WITH TYPICAL HYDROGRAPH

(i) 'tr ' is the duration of rainfall.

(ii) 'tB 'is the base time and it is a total time for which catchment contribute flow at the section
where the hydrograph is plotted.
(iii) Shape of rising limb depends on catchment as well as rainfall characteristics.
(iv) Shape of falling limb depends only on catchment characteristics.
(v) Segment B to C is called crest segment and it contains one of the most important property
of flood that is peak discharge.
(vi) 'TL' is the lag time and is a time interval between center of mass of rainfall and center of
mass of hydrograph.
(vii) B and C are inflection points, at which curvature of graph changes.

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3. FACTORS AFFECTING FLOOD HYDROGRAPH

The factors that affect the shape of the hydrograph can be broadly grouped into climatic factors
and physiographic factors.

Physiographic factors Climatic factors

1. Basin characteristics
1. Storm characteristics
(a) Shape
(a) Precipitation
(b) Size
(b) Intensity
(c) Slope
(c) Duration
(d) Nature of the Valley
(d) Magnitude
(e) Elevation
(c) Movement of storm
(f) Drainage density
2. Infiltration characteristics
(a) land use and cover
2. Initial loss
(b) soil type and geological conditions
(c) Lakes, swamps and other stage
3. Channel characteristics
(a) Cross section
3. Evaporation.
(b) Roughness
(c) Storage capacity

3.1. Shape of the Basin

The shape of basin influence time taken for water from the remote parts of the catchment
to arrive at the outlet. Thus the occurrence of the peak and hence the shape of the
hydrograph are affected by the basin shape.

Shape of Catchment Hydrograph

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3.2. Size
Small basins be different from the large ones in terms of the relative importance of
various phases of the runoff phenomenon. In small catchment the overland flow phase is
predominant over the channel flow. Hence the land use and intensity of rainfall have
important role on the peak flood. On large basins these effects are suppressed as the
channel flow phase is more predominant.
3.3. Stream Density
It is defined as the total number of streams per unit area of the catchment.
3.4. Drainage density
This is defined as total length of streams per unit area of the catchment. Some examples
of drainage density are as follows.

Type of Catchment Shape of Hydrograph

4. DETERMINATION OF DIRECT RUNOFF HYDROGRAPH (DRH)

Hydrograph having base flow is known as flood hydrograph or storm hydrograph.

Flood

hydrograph Direct runoff hydrograph

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Direct runoff = depth

n=

So, Mathematically it can expressed as

or

Here, n is in cm
A is in km2
t is in hr
O is in m3/sec
Example:
A 4-hour storm occurs over an 80 km2 watershed. The details of the catchment are as follows.

Sub-area Φ-index Hourly Rain (mm)

(km2) (mm/hour) 1st hour 2nd hour 3rd hour 4th hour

15 10 16 48 22 10

25 15 16 42 20 8

35 21 12 40 18 6

5 16 15 42 18 8

Calculate the runoff from the catchment and the hourly

Distribution of the effective rainfall for the whole catchment.

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Sol.

Effective Rain (km2 . mm)

Sub-area
1st hour 2nd hour 3rd hour 4th hour
(16 – 10) × 15 = (48 – 10) × 15 = (22 – 10) × 15 = (10 – 0) × 15
15
90 570 180 =0
(16 – 15) × 25 = (42 – 15) × 25 = (20 – 15) × 25 =
25 0
25 675 125
(40 – 15) × 35 =
35 0 0 0
665
(42 – 16) × 5 =
5 0 (18 – 16) × 5 = 10 0
130
Total 115 2040 315 0
Average ER
115/80 = 1.4375 2040/80 = 25.50 315/80 = 3.9375 0
(mm)

2470
Total direct runoff = 115 + 2040 + 315 = 2470 km2 mm =  106 = 2.47Mm3
103

5. UNIT HYDROGRAPH

The problem of predicting the flood hydrograph resulting from a known storm in a catchment
has received considerable attention. A large number of methods are proposed to solve this
problem and most popular and widely used method is the unit hydrograph method. This method
was first suggested by Sharman in 1932.
The unit hydrograph of a drainage basin is defined as a hydrograph of direct runoff resulting
from 1 cm of effective rainfall applied uniformly over the basin area at a uniform rate during a
specified period of time (D-hr).

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• Thus one can have a 6-hr unit hydrograph, 12-hr unit hydrograph etc.
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• A 6-hr unit hydrograph will have an effective rainfall intensity of cm/hr.
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• The effective rainfall intensity means the rainfall which will produce once runoff.
• In the D-hr unit hydrograph, D should not be more than any of the following (a) time of
concentration, (b) lag time or (c) period of rise
• Volume of water contained inside the unit hydrograph (i.e. area of unit hydrograph) is equal
to (1 cm ×Catchment area)
5.1. Assumption made in the theory of unit hydrograph (As proposed by Sherman)
is as follows:
The following assumptions are made while using the unit hydrograph principle :
1. Effective rainfall should be uniformly distributed over the basin, that is, if there are “N’
rain gauges spread uniformly over the basin, then all the gauges should record almost
same amount of rainfall during the specified time.
2. Effective rainfall is constant over the catchment during the unit time, i.e. intensity is
constant.
3. The direct runoff hydrograph for a given effective rainfall for a catchment is always the
same irrespective of when it occurs. (Time invariance) Hence, any previous rainfall event
is not considered to effect the new rainfall.

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Note: This antecedent precipitation is otherwise important because of its effect on soil-
infiltration rate, depression and detention storage, and hence, on the resultant
hydrograph.
4. The ordinates of the unit hydrograph are directly proportional to the effective rainfall
hyetograph ordinate. Hence, if a 6-h unit hydrograph due to 1 cm rainfall is given, then
a 6-h hydrograph due to 2 cm rainfall would just mean doubling the unit hydrograph
ordinates. Hence, the base of the resulting hydrograph (from the start or rise up to the
time when discharge becomes zero) also remains the same.
Example: A flood hydrograph of river draining a catchment of 189 km2 due to a 6 hour
isolated storm is in the form of a triangle with a base of 66 hour and a peak ordinate of
30 m3/s occurring at 10 hours from the start. Assuming zero base flow, develop the 6-
hour unit hydrograph for this catchment.
Sol. Catchment area = 189 km2
Flood hydrograph due to a 6h storm

∴ Volume of runoff
1
=  66  3600  30
2
= 3.564 × 106 m3
∴ Effective rainfall

3.564  106
= = 0.018857 m
189  106
= 1.8857 cm
For getting ordinates of 6 h unit hydrograph for the catchment, it is required to divide the
ordinates of the flood hydrograph of 1.8857 and the peak will be 15.91 m 3/s at 10 hr
from start. Its base will also be 66 hr.
5.2. Derivation of UH from a simple flood hydrograph of isolated storm
Different steps required to derive UH are:
Step 1. From the given flood hydrograph. separate the base flow by any one of the
methods. Most commonly used method to draw a straight line for simplicity.

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Step 2: Determine the volume of DRH by the formula:

Volume of DRH =  Qt = area under DRH

Step 3: Divide this volume by known area of catchment to get rainfall or rainfall excess
in (cm).
Step 4: Divide the ordinates of DRH by the depth of rainfall excess to obtain ordinates of
UH.
Step 5: Plot the ordinates of UH against time to get the UH of the catchment.
Example: The following are the ordinates of the flood hydrograph from a catchment area
of 780 km2 due to 6 hr storm. Derive the 6 hr unit hydrograph of the basin.

Time (hrs) 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78

Discharge (m3/sec) 40 64 245 360 405 350 270 205 145 100 70 50 40

Sol. Assume a base flow of 40 m2/sec. Then

Area under DRH
= [(64 – 40) + (215 – 40) + (360 – 40) + (405 – 40) + (350 – 40) + (270 – 40) + (205
– 40) + (145 – 40) + (100 – 40) + (70 – 40) + (50 – 40)] × 6 × 60 × 60
= (24 + 175 + 320 + 365 + 310 + 230 + 165 + 105 + 60 + 30 + 10) × 6 × 60
= 1794 × 6 × 60 × 60 m3
∴ DRH in depth

 1794  6  60  60 
 6
 100  cm = 4.968 cm
 780  10 

Therefore, the ordinates of UH are obtained by dividing the ordinates of DRH hydrograph
by rain excess 4.968 cm to get ordinates of UH.

Time (hrs) 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78
Ordinates of
0 4.83 35.22 64.42 74.47 62.4 46.29 33.21 21.13 12.077 6.04 2.01 0
UH

5.3. Unit Hydrograph of Different Duration

A unit hydrograph where duration is D-hr can only be applied to storm of duration D-hr
to obtain direct runoff. If however the rainfall duration is different, the unit hydrograph
of duration equal to the duration of rainfall is to be used. If such unit hydrograph is not
available and only D-hr unit hydrograph is available then the D-hr unit hydrograph has
to be converted into the unit hydrograph of duration equal to that of the rainfall. In this
process two conditions arise :
Case (i) changing a short Duration Unit Hydrograph to Longer duration
If the desired long duration of the unit graph is an integral multiple of the short, (say a
3- hour unit graph is given and a 6-hour unit graph is required) assume two consecutive
unit storms of 3 hr duration producing a net rain of 1 cm each.
Draw the two unit hydrograph, the second unit graph being lagged by 3 hours.

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Draw now the combined hydrograph by superposition. This combined hydrograph will now
produce 2 cm in 6 hours.
To obtain the 6-hour unit graph divide the ordinates of combined hydrograph by 2.
It can be observed that this 6-hour unit graph derived has a longer time base by 3 hours
than the 3-hour unit graph, because of a lower intensity storm for a longer time.
In such situations the U.H. of any duration can be obtained from the U.H. of given duration
using the S-curve technique.
A S-curve hydrograph may be defined as the hydrograph of direct runoff resulting from
1
a continuous effective rainfall of uniform intensity cm/h.
D
As shown below, the S-curve is constructed by adding together a series of D h unit
hydrograph, each lagged by D h with respect to the previous one.
The S-curve hydrograph attains a constant ordinate, called the equilibrium discharge
denotes by Qt, approximately at the end of the base period TB of the unit hydrograph.
TB
Thus the number of unit hydrographs needed to produce the S-curve is .
D

Since the rainfall rate is equal to the runoff rate at the equilibrium state, it follows that
1 A
Qe = A . km2 − cm / h = 2.778 m3 / s
D D
Where A is the area of the basin in km2 and D is the duration of unit hydrograph in hours
which is used in the construction of the S-curve.
Consider two D-h S-curves A and B displaced by Th. If the ordinates of B are subtracted
from that of A, the resulting curve is a DRH produced by a rainfall excess of duration T h
1 
and magnitude   T  cm. Hence if the ordinate difference of A and B, i.e. (SA – SB)
D 

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are divided by T/D, the resulting ordinates denote a hydrograph due to an ER of 1 cm

and of duration T i.e. a T-h unit hydrograph.

Example :
The 6-hour unit hydrograph of a catchment is triangular in shape with a base width of 64
hours and a peak ordinate of 30 m3/s. Calculate the equilibrium discharge of the S6-
curve of the basin.
Sol. Direct runoff

1
 64  3600  30 = 3.456  106 m3
2
ER = 1 cm
3.456  106
Area =  102
1
= 345.6 × 106 = 345.6 km2
Equilibrium discharge Qs = 2.778 A/D m 3/s
345.6
Qs = 2.778  = 160.0128 m3 / s
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5.4. Limitations of Unit Hydrographs

(i) Precipitation must be rainfall only. Snow melt runoff can not be satisfactory
represented by unit hydrograph.
(ii) The catchment should not have unusually large storages in terms of tanks, ponds,
large flood bank storages, etc. which affect the linear relationship between storage and
discharge.
(iii) If the precipitation is decidedly non uniform, unit hydrographs can not be expected
to give good results.

6. SYNTHETIC UNIT HYDROGRAPH

Unit hydrographs can be derived if rainfall and runoff records are available for the basin under
consideration. But there are many basins, which are not gauged and for which unit-graphs may
be required. Hence some method of deriving unit hydrographs for ungauged basins is
necessary.
This is usually done by relating the selected basin characteristics to the unit hydrograph shape.
Once such relations are established between the basin parameters and unit hydrograph
parameters for the basins having sufficient data, the same relations are applied to get the unit
hydrograph of ungauged basins in the same hydro meteorologically homogeneous area from
the known basin parameters. The unit hydrograph thus obtained is known as Synthetic unit
hydrograph.
Note : Unit hydrograph developed from rainfall and stream flow data on a catchment applies
only for that catchment and point on stream where the stream flow data was measured.
Synthetic unit hydrograph is used to develop unit hydrograph for the locations on the stream
in the same catchment or for a nearby catchment of a similar character.
Snyder selected three parameters for development of SUH. Theses parameters relate the
catchment characteristics
(i) Basin time width T
(ii) Peak discharge QP
(iii) Lag time i.e. basin lag time tp. (Snyder defined lag time as time interval from mid pt. of
rainfall to peak of UH (instead of centroid).

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He proposed the following three equations for these three parameters

Lag time, tp = Ct(LLca)0.3
Basin time width T = (72 + 3tp)
2.78Cp A
Peak discharge QP =
tp

Where tp is in hr
Ct is a coefficient reflecting slope, land use, and associated storage characteristics of basin. Its
value varies between 1.35 to 1.65, average being 1.5
L = basin length measured along the water course from the basin divide to the gauging station
in km.
Lca = Distance of centroid of catchment from the gauging point (in km)
T is in hr
QP is in m3/s
A = Catchment area in km2

CP = a regional constant having value between 0.56 to 0.69

Synder used the standard duration tr (or D-hr) in hr for unit hydrograph

tp
tr = Dhr =
5.5

If a synthetic unit hydrograph of other duration then D’hr is required, then lag time , tpr’ is given

by

D '− tr
tpr = tp =
4

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To plot the smooth synthetic unit hydrograph, US army crops of engineering gave the width of

SUH as

5.87
W50 = 1.08
 Qp 
 
 A 

3.35 W50
W75 = =
 Qp 
1.08
1.75
 
 A 

Where W50 and W75 are the width of synthetic unit hydrograph in hr at 50% and 75% of QP

respectively, where QP is in m3/s and A is area of catchment in km2.

Example: Derive 3-hr synthetic unit hydrograph of basin with following data with a catchment
area of 2500 km2
Length of main stream = 120 km
Distance of centroid from outlet = 80 km
Ct and Cp of the catchment are assumed to be 1.5 and 0.6 respectively. Use Synder’s method.
Sol. Tp = Ct(LLca)0.3
Ct = 1.5, L = 120 km, Lca = 80 km
tp = 23.484 hrs
Standard duration tr = D

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 tp   23.484 
=   =   = 4.27hrs
 5.5   5.5 
Required duration D’ = 3 hrs
Lag time
D '+ tr
tpr = tp + = tp + 0.25 (D '− tr )
4
Or tpr = 23.484 + 0.25 (3 – 4.27) = 23.16 hrs
 0.6  2500  3
Qp = 2.78   = 180 m / sec
 23.16 

T = 72 + 3 × 23.16 = 141.48 hours

With these values Qp, T and tpr a smooth curve may be drawn.
To plot the smooth synthetic unit hydrograph (SUH), US army corps Engineers gave the width
of SUH as :
5.87
W50 = 1.08
 Qp 
 
 A 
3.35
W75 = 1.08
 Qp 
 
 A 
Where W50 and W75 are widths in hrs of SUH at 50 % and 75% of QP
5.87
W50 = 1.08
= 100.62 hrs
 180 
 2500 
 
And
3.35
W75 = 1.08
= 57.42 hrs
 180 
 2500 
 
Hence the synthetic unit hydrograph (SUH) may be drawn as shown in Figure below :

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7. INSTANTANEOUS UNIT HYDROGRAPH (IUH)

● A unit hydrograph of infinitesimal duration is called instantaneous unit hydrograph. It is

mainly used where rainfall duration and intensity is variable because in that case we need
to divide the rainfall in very such durations and find out the response of that to runoff.
● Main advantage of IUH Is that it is independent of the duration of effective rainfall
hyctograph and one parameter less than D-hr unit hydrograph.
● IUH is independent of rainfall characteristics, it is indicative of catchment storage
characteristics.
● Instantaneous unit hydrograph is also obtained from S-curve. But that is an approximate
method.
1 dS
● Ordinate of instantaneous hydrograph is given by u ( t ) = , I = intensity of rainfall, S =
i dt
ordinate S-curve. (due to rainfall intensity of 1/D cm/hr)
● Thus ordinate of instantaneous unit hydrograph is the slope of S-curve of intensity 1 cm/hr
(i.e. S-curve derivate from a unit hydrograph of 1 hr duration).
● Clark Model
● Clark showed that IUH may be obtained by routing the rainfall excess.,
● He used the concept of time area diagram.

● With the help of IUH runoff is calculated using the following expression
tT
Run off = Q ( t ) =  u ( t − t ') (I ( t ') dt )
0

● Nash Model : Uses routing through a cascade of linear reservoir

● Note : Linear reservoir is the one in which storage is directly proportional to outflow
discharge.

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