River Analysis Components

Steady Flow Water Surface Profiles. This component of the modelling system is intended for
calculating water surface profiles for steady gradually varied flow. The system can handle a full
network of channels, a dendritic system, or a single river reach. The steady flow component is
capable of modeling subcritical, supercritical, and mixed flow regime water surface profiles.
The basic computational procedure is based on the solution of the one-dimensional energy
equation. Energy losses are evaluated by friction (Manning's equation) and
contraction/expansion (coefficient multiplied by the change in velocity head). The momentum
equation is utilized in situations where the water surface profile is rapidly varied. These
situations include mixed flow regime calculations (i.e., hydraulic jumps), hydraulics of bridges,
and evaluating profiles at river confluences (stream junctions).
The effects of various obstructions such as bridges, culverts, dams, weirs, and other structures
in the flood plain may be considered in the computations. The steady flow system is designed
for application in flood plain management and flood insurance studies to evaluate floodway
encroachments. Also, capabilities are available for assessing the change in water surface
profiles due to channel modifications, and levees.
Special features of the steady flow component include: multiple plan analyses; multiple profile
computations; multiple bridge and/or culvert opening analysis; bridge scour analysis; split flow
optimization; and stable channel design and analysis.
Unsteady Flow Simulation. This component of the HEC-RAS modelling system is capable of
simulating one-dimensional; two-dimensional; and combined one/two-dimensional unsteady
flow through a full network of open channels, floodplains, and alluvial fans. The unsteady flow
component can be used to performed subcritical, supercritical, and mixed flow regime
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(subcritical, supercritical, hydraulic jumps, and drawdowns) calculations in the unsteady flow
computations module.
The hydraulic calculations for cross-sections, bridges, culverts, and other hydraulic structures
that were developed for the steady flow component were incorporated into the unsteady flow
module.
Special features of the unsteady flow component include: extensive hydraulic structure
capabilities Dam break analysis; levee breaching and overtopping; Pumping stations;
navigation dam operations; pressurized pipe systems; automated calibration features; User
defined rules; and combined one and two-dimensional unsteady flow modelling.
Sediment Transport/Movable Boundary Computations. This component of the modelling
system is intended for the simulation of one-dimensional sediment transport/movable boundary
calculations resulting from scour and deposition over moderate to long time periods.
The sediment transport potential is computed by grain size fraction, thereby allowing the
simulation of hydraulic sorting and armoring. Major features include the ability to model a full
network of streams, channel dredging, various levee and encroachment alternatives, and the use
of several different equations for the computation of sediment transport.
The model is designed to simulate long-term trends of scour and deposition in a stream channel
that might result from modifying the frequency and duration of the water discharge and stage,
or modifying the channel geometry. This system can be used to evaluate deposition in
reservoirs, design channel contractions required to maintain navigation depths, predict the
influence of dredging on the rate of deposition, estimate maximum possible scour during large
flood events, and evaluate sedimentation in fixed channels.
Water Quality Analysis. This component of the modelling system is intended to allow the user
to perform riverine water quality analyses.
The current version of HEC-RAS can perform detailed temperature analysis and transport of a
limited number of water quality constituents (Algae, Dissolved Oxygen, Carbonaceous
Biological Oxygen Demand, Dissolved Orthophosphate, Dissolved Organic Phosphorus,
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Dissolved Ammonium Nitrate, Dissolved Nitrite Nitrogen, Dissolved Nitrate Nitrogen, and
Dissolved Organic Nitrogen).
2.6 HEC-HMS
The Hydrologic Engineering Center-Hydrologic Modelling System (HEC-HMS) is designed to
simulate the precipitation-runoff processes of dendritic watershed systems. It is designed to be
applicable in a wide range of geographic areas for solving the widest possible range of
problems. This includes large river basin water supply and flood hydrology, and small urban or
natural watershed runoff. Hydrographs produced by the program are used directly or in
conjunction with other software for studies of water availability, urban drainage, flow
forecasting, future urbanization impact, reservoir spillway design, flood damage reduction,
floodplain regulation, and systems operation.
The program is a generalized modelling system capable of representing many different
watersheds. A model of the watershed is constructed by separating the hydrologic cycle into
manageable pieces and constructing boundaries around the watershed of interest. Any mass or
energy flux in the cycle can then be represented with a mathematical model. In most cases,
several model choices are available for representing each flux. Each mathematical model
included in the program is suitable in different environments and under different conditions.
Making the correct choice requires knowledge of the watershed, the goals of the hydrologic
study, and engineering judgment.
The program features a completely integrated work environment including a database, data
entry utilities, computation engine, and results reporting tools. A graphical user interface allows
the seamless movement between the different parts of the program. Program functionality and
appearance are the same across all supported platforms.
Use of GIS in Urban Flood Modelling
As a result of rapid urbanization and climate changes urban flooding has become an increasing
and continuous threat all over the world. Therefore, better analytical understanding and
visualization of this disaster is essential to develop strategies that will minimize the risk of
urban flooding. At present, 1D River models, digital elevation models and other GIS data sets
for hydraulic modelling and floodplain mapping are often collectively used to predict areas at
risk of flooding. Hydraulic and hydrological modelling are an obvious choice for predicting
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those areas of the floodplain most at risk to flooding and for providing information for use in
the evaluation of the associated economic damage.
Geographic Information System (GIS) has evolved over the last couple of decades into a
powerful tool for storing, managing, analyzing and displaying spatial data (Burrough and
McDonnell, 1998). Generally, the integration of hydraulic models and GIS for floodplain
mapping aims to provide
✓ Functions to extract information describing the channel system from a terrain model to
provide a network description (e.g. topographic data of channel network and adjacent
area)
✓ Tools that are capable of manipulation results from hydraulic models and displaying and
automating mapping of floodplain in GIS (e.g. water surface profiles) (Jones et al, 1998).
Approaches for integrating hydraulic model to GIS have resulted in many different tools for
flood prediction and floodplain mapping, e.g. HEC-GeoHMS, MIKE 11 GIS (Muller and
Rungoe, 1995), HEC-GeoRAS (Ackerman et al., 2000).
Hydraulic models are complex tools, requiring large amounts of input data for their
specification to a particular application and produce a vast amount of output data. The data
requirements for distributed hydraulic models are grouped into topographic and hydrologic data
(Cunge et al., 1980).
Topographic data: describing the channel geometry of the river system and adjacent areas
(channel widths, cross-sectional areas) and elevations of the flood plain.
Hydrologic data: model boundary conditions (e.g. inflow hydrographs) and discharge and water
level data for the calibration of model parameters (e.g. bed roughness and weir coefficients).