Surface Water Hydrology

Professor Rajib Maity

Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Lecture – 25
Flow Characteristics Curves and Estimation of Reservoir Storage

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Lecture number-25 will discuss two things. One is the flow characteristics curve and secondly,
the estimation of reservoir storage, how much water needs to be stored while we are designing
one reservoir.

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The two major concepts, one is the flow characteristics curve, and the estimation of reservoir
storage will be covered in this lecture.
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The outline of this lecture goes like this. So, first, we will give the introduction, and under these
two curves that flow duration curve and flow mass curve; And then, using these characteristic
curves and how these can be utilized for the estimation of the reservoir storage; and also some
maintainable demands for a particular reservoir. The calculation based on the variable storage
and variable demand will also be discussed. One algorithm, the sequent peak algorithm will be
discussed and after that summary will be presented.

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Flow-Duration Curve

Introduction:

It is a cumulative frequency curve that shows the discharge versus the percent of the time; that
particular value is equaled or exceeded. In fig.1 y-axis shows the daily discharge; it can be daily
or any other temporal scale of course. And in the x-axis shows the percentage probability.
 Fig.1 shows the flow-duration curve
If take any point on the y-axix in the fig.1, then this amount of discharge value that will be
equaled or exceeded for this much percentage of the time. So, it represents the flow
characteristics in a stream throughout the range of the discharge, regardless of its sequence of
occurrence. It is utilized widely to study the streamflow variability, how it varies, particularly on
an annual scale. And then, we also this kind of diagram is known as the discharge frequency
curve.

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Development of the Flow-Duration Curve

 First, the streamflow data are arranged in descending order of discharges.

 The data can be divided into class intervals if the number of the data point is very large.
Daily, weekly, ten daily or monthly values can be used.

 Next, the Weibull plotting position formula can be used as follows, where N is the
number of data points. The probability of the flow magnitude Q (a specific discharge or
class value) being equaled or exceeded (expressed in percentage):
where m is the order number of the discharge sorted in descending order.

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 The discharge Q is plotted against Pp, which is known as the flow duration curve.

 Depending upon the data range and use of the plot, arithmetic or semi-log or log-log scale
can be used.

 The value of Q at any percentage probability Pp represents the flow magnitude in a year
that can be expected to be equaled or exceeded Pp percent of the time and it is also termed
as dependable flow (Qp).

 For instance, Q100 represents 100% dependable flow, which is a finite value for perennial
rivers, whereas for the intermittent or ephemeral river it is zero.

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In fig.2 blue line is for the perennial river, and the red line is intermittent or ephemeral rivers are
shown. Here it is not 0 at the 100 percent, so far as the perineal viewer is concerned. But,
whereas for the other type it is touching 0, maybe around some percentage here, so that Q100 is 0.
 Fig. 2shows the flow duration curve for a different types of rivers
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Characteristics of Flow-Duration Curve

 The presence of water regulating structures modifies the natural/virgin flow-duration
curve of a stream.
  The slope of the curve depends upon the time period of the data. For instance,
monthly discharge data of a stream gives a milder slope than that of daily data due to
smoothening effect.

 The steep slope indicates a stream with a highly variable discharge and a flat slope
indicates low variability.

 A flat curve at the lower part indicates considerable base flow, whereas a flat curve
on the upper part indicates river basins having large flood plains.

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Applications of the flow-duration curve:

 Calculation of dependable flow for planning and management of water resources.

 Assessment of hydropower potential of a river.

 Flood control studies and design of drainage systems

 Studying and comparing drainage basin characteristics, such as the effect of basin
geology on low flows.
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Example

The daily flows of a river for four consecutive years are given. The discharges are provided in
class intervals along with the number of days the flow belonged to the class. Calculate the 75%
and 95% dependable flows for the river.
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Solution

A datasheet is prepared in a tabulated form as per the procedure.

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The smallest values of class intervals are plotted against the percentage probability values (PP)
on a normal graph paper.

The 75% and 95% dependable flows are 114 m3/s and 65 m3/s respectively.

Fig.3 shows the flow duration curve- example

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Introduction:

 A plot of cumulative runoff amount or flow volume against time.

 It is a graphical representation of the equation

where, V = Ordinate of the mass curve at any time t; t0 = Time at the beginning of the curve; and
Q = Discharge rate

 As the plot of discharge (Q) against time (t) represents runoff hydrograph, a flow-mass
curve is an integral curve of the hydrograph. Similarly, the slope of the flow-mass curve
represents the discharge at that instant.

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One typical flow-mass curve is shown in fig.4. The blue line is shown for e different months and
the cumulative flow volume is shown in meter cube per thing. A is the starting point of the curve
and B is the one, and there are some reach points.
 Fig.4 shows the flow mass curve

The slope of the Mass curve at any point (E point) represents the discharge at that instant. When
the slope is flat that time the discharge is less; when the slope is high, the discharge is high. In
fig.4 the month of March, the discharge rate is less and in the month of say, August, September,
the discharge is very high. And if we just add up the starting and the ending point, the dotted
line that is shown here; the slope of this average line AB that is the average discharge, that is
occurring place over the entire time that has been shown in the x-axis.

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Estimation of Storage Volume of a Reservoir

Calculation of the required storage volume of a reservoir to meet the water demand throughout
the year is a crucial task for the planning of water resources.
The inflows and demands are assumed to repeat in cyclic progression and it is assumed that
future flows will not contain a more severe drought compared to the historical. The reservoir is
assumed to be full at the beginning of a dry period.

The analysis can be done in two ways

Numerically: By taking the maximum difference between the cumulative supply and demand
values

Graphically: Using the flow-mass curve

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Numerical Solution:

Required storage in a reservoir to maintain an uninterrupted water supply depends on the water
demand by the users and the inflow of water to the reservoir. If the inflow of water is lower than
the demand, the maximum amount of water extracted from storage equals the cumulative
difference between supply and demand volumes from the start of the dry season.

The required storage (S) can be expressed in terms of maximum cumulative deficiency as
VD = Demand volume, VS = Supply volume

A reservoir’s minimum storage volume is the largest of such S values over distinct dry periods.

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Graphical Solution:

The cumulative flow-volume curve is shown in fig. 5. Now, there are two almost two cycles are
there; the M is the first reach point, then P is another reach point.

1. MN and PQ represent the constant demand line with slope (Demand rate) D1 and D2
respectively.

2. Draw tangents M1N1 and P1Q1 parallel to the demand lines MN and PQ on the mass
curve passing through E and F respectively

3. The vertical distance between the demand lines and the corresponding tangents are the
values of required storage (S1 & S2) and the largest of them is the minimum required
storage. The reservoir will be depleted from point M (full capacity) to E, and reach the
lowest capacity at E as the demand is larger than the supply rate.

Fig.5 shows the flow mass curve

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Example

Monthly flow values in river during 2019 are given.

Calculate:

A) the minimum storage required to maintain a demand rate of 50 m3/s numerically.

B) the average constant demand that can be sustained by the river?

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Solution

From the given data prepare the following table.

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Solution

Column 7 indicates the depletion of storage; the first negative value indicates the beginning of a
dry period and the last value the end of the dry period. Column 8 indicates the filling up of
storage and spillover if any.
So, the maximum cumulative excess demand is the minimum storage required to maintain a
constant demand during the dry period.

A) Therefore, the minimum storage required as obtained from column 7 = 3441 cumec. day

B) The average constant demand that can be sustained by the river = mean of average inflow =
1704.9 cumec. day

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Calculation of Maintainable Demand

The flow-mass curve can also be used to tackle the reverse problem i.e., estimation of the
maximum demand rate that can be sustained by given reservoir storage.

Tangents are drawn at varying slopes from the “ridges” across the next “valley”. The suitable
demand that can be sustained by the reservoir in that dry period is the demand line that just
requires the provided storage. The lowest of the several demand rates is the maximum steady
demand that the reservoir can support.
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Calculation of Variable Demand

In practice, demand varies with time. This variable demand should be incorporated in reservoir
design.

A demand-mass curve (variable demand curve) is superposed on the flow-mass curve with
proper matching time. In addition to societal demand, variable natural demands should be
incorporated. It depends on the different times of the year or the total time period, the demand
can vary.

Needed storage is represented by the maximum vertical distance between the two curves,
assuming the reservoir is full at the first intersection of the two curves.

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Example

Compute the amount of storage needed to meet the demands varying from month to month as
given in the table. The reservoir area is 10 km2. Prior commitments are for 10 cm per unit area
for each month.
Solution

Next, we compute the difference between total demand and total inflow to get cumulative
demand/excess as follows:
The required storage

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Sequent Peak Algorithm

Another algorithm is also utilized to determine the storage and that is using the residual mass
curve. So, there are many variations are there in this basic flow-mass curve method for better
graphical plotting; and handling large data sometimes, this method is useful. To calculate the
required storage from the residual mass curve, the sequent peak algorithm is utilized; and there
are mainly two steps;

I. Finding the maximum cumulative deficit spanning consecutive sequences of deficit

periods, as well as determining the maximum of these cumulative deficits.

II. Repeating the analysis over two cycles.

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Sequent Peak Algorithm

 Calculate the cumulative net-flow volumes to construct the residual mass curve. A typical
diagram is shown in fig.6

 Find the initial peak, P1, and the second peak, P2, which is of a bigger magnitude than P1.

 Locate the lowest trough T1 between P1 and P2 and calculate storage S1 i.e., (P1 – T1).

 Starting with P2 repeat the procedure and calculate storage S2 i.e., (P2 – T2).

 Repeat the procedure for all the sequent peaks available in the two consecutive periods,
i.e., determine the sequent peak Pj, the corresponding Tj, and the jth storage (Pj – Tj) for all
j values.

 The required reservoir storage capacity

This maximum value is we can use as a storage requirement for the reservoir using the sequent
peak algorithm.

Fig.6 shows the residual mass curve

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Summary

In summary, we learned the following points from this lecture:

 Flow characteristics curves, such as flow-duration curve and flow-mass curve, are
explained.

 Storage requirements of reservoirs to maintain a constant and variable demand using the
graphical and numerical techniques are presented.

 The concept of the residual mass curve and the use of sequent peak algorithm to calculate
storage requirement from the residual mass curve are discussed.