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HEC-SSP TRAINING MANUAL

Technical Report · December 2019

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6825857

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 TIGRAY WATER WORKS STUDY, DESIGN
AND SUPERVISION ENTERPRISE

HEC-SSP TRAINING MANUAL

Prepared By Mehari Hiben (PE, MSc)

Irrigation, Drainage, Flood protection & Land reclamation schemes Engineer
TWWSDSE HEC-SSP Training Manual

Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 2
2. Installing HEC-SSP ....................................................................................................................... 2
3. Create New Study ....................................................................................................................... 2
4. Create Excel Data ........................................................................................................................ 5
5. Importing Excel Data ................................................................................................................... 6
6. Plotting and Tabulating the Data ................................................................................................ 7
7.Performing General Frequency Analysis...................................................................................... 9
7.1 Starting a New Analysis ....................................................................................................... 10
7.2 General Settings and Options ............................................................................................. 11
7.3 Analytical Frequency Analysis ............................................................................................. 14
7.4 Viewing and Printing Results ............................................................................................... 16
7.4.1 Tabular Results ............................................................................................................. 16
7.4.3 Graphical Output .......................................................................................................... 18
7.4.3 Viewing the Report File ................................................................................................ 20
7.6 Summary Results (Design Storm) ........................................................................................ 22

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TWWSDSE HEC-SSP Training Manual

1. Introduction

Every stream or river has instances of extremely augmented flow. Therefore, when designing
engineered hydrologic systems, it is imperative that Water Resources Engineers can attempt to
understand the temperament of these flows and storms by applying statistics to the recorded
flows to determine hydrologic extremes. These values, such as the 100-year flood, assist a
designer in enumerating the flow parameters around which a spillway or Diversion weir must
be built in order to minimize risk. we will use HEC-SSP program to analyze the hydro-
metrological data extremes.

2. Installing HEC-SSP

1. Download HEC-SSP software from http://www.hec.usace.army.mil/

2. Run the installation to your PC, after installation has completed, you can run the
software. The first time you start HEC-SSP you will be asked to accept the license
agreement. Read the terms and conditions (scroll to end of the box) and accept these.

3. Create New Study

3. Open up HEC-SSP. Under the File tab, select New Study in order to create the template
used in this case study.

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4. Give your study Name and Description as in example, HEC-SSP Exercise, HEC-SSP
Exercise Case Study @ Maychew respectively and place it in a directory where you will
be able to find it. Make sure to set Unit System to SI and not English, once these have
been established, click OK.

5. Adding a Background Map by default, when you start a new project in HEC-SSP a default
map window (called Base Map) will open in the Desktop window. Having a background
map is optional in HEC-SSP. Not having a map does not prevent the user from importing
and entering data, or performing an analysis and viewing results. The map is mostly a
visual aid of the study area. Additionally, when you bring in gage data you can enter the
map coordinates of the gage and it will show up on the map. The user must supply a
coordinate system other than X-Y (i.e. Geographic) for imported gage data to be
displayed properly. Once a gage is located on the map you can right click on it to open a
shortcut menu for viewing the data, or graphing and tabulating the results.

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TWWSDSE HEC-SSP Training Manual

To add a map layer to the default map, go to the Maps menu and select Add Map
Layers. When this option is selected a file chooser window will appear, allowing the
user to select map layers to bring into the map. The Create Copy option on the window
will make a copy of the selected map and place it in the Maps subdirectory within the
study folder.
Currently, the HEC-SSP software can load the following types of map layers: United
States Geologic Survey (USGS) DLG, AutoCAD DXF, shape file, Raster Image, USGS DEM,
Arc Info DEM, ASCII NetTIN, and Mr Sid.
An example map is shown in Figure 3-1. This map contains a shape file of Met Station in
Maychew town.

Figure 3-1: Maychew Met. Station Base Map.

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TWWSDSE HEC-SSP Training Manual

4. Create Excel Data

6. Create a new XLS file (Excel 97 format) with two columns hydro-meteorological data to
be imported

Figure 4-1: RF data for Maychew meteorological Station

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TWWSDSE HEC-SSP Training Manual

5. Importing Excel Data

7. Currently, HEC-SSP can only import data from Excel 97-2003 Workbooks (*.xls). Use
Data Import tab to import the series of annual maxima, the first step in importing data
from an Excel spreadsheet is to select the browse button, at the end of the Excel File
field. Once an Excel file is selected, a data view window will open showing the data
contained in the selected spreadsheet.

8. Be sure to define the A, B, C, E and F parts of the data as in the example on next page,
make sure E-part must be IR-YEAR, select to Import to Study DSS file. As you can see, a
dataset has appeared in the menu on the left of the screen.

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TWWSDSE HEC-SSP Training Manual

Figure 5-1: Data Importer with MS Excel Import Option Selected.

6. Plotting and Tabulating the Data

After the data is imported into the study, the user can select any one of the data sets in the
study explorer. A shortcut menu will open when clicking the right mouse button while a data
set is selected. The shortcut menu contains options to change the name, plot, and tabulate
the data. These options are also available from the Data menu; however, the data must be
selected in the study explorer before these options are available. If you select the Plot option,
you will get a plot similar to the one shown in Figure 6-1.

9. If you right click on the Maychew RF Data, and select Plot, a hydrograph appears:

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TWWSDSE HEC-SSP Training Manual

Figure 6-1 Plot of Peak Annual RF Data.

10. Likewise, if you hit right click on the Maychew RF Data, and select Tabulate, a table with
the dates and RF values will open as shown in Figure 6-2. It should be noted that each
year is not a calendar, but rather a hydrologic year. We are on our way to finding
hydrologic extremes!

Data values in the table can be edited after selecting the Edit>Allow Editing menu
option. To save any edits, select the File>Save menu option.

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TWWSDSE HEC-SSP Training Manual

Figure 6-2 Table Containing Peak Annual RF Data.

7.Performing General Frequency Analysis

With data successfully imported into the HEC-SSP program, it is ready to be analysed. The
current version of HEC-SSP allows the user to perform generalized frequency analyses of flow
and stage data, as well as other data types. The user can choose between different analytical
distributions or perform a graphical fit to the data.

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7.1 Starting a New Analysis

11. General frequency analysis can be started in two ways, either by right clicking on the
General Frequency Analysis folder in the study explorer and selecting New, or by going
to the Analysis menu and selecting New and then General Frequency Analysis. When a
new general frequency analysis is selected, the General Frequency Analysis editor will
appear as shown in the Figure below.

Figure 7-1 General Frequency Analysis Editor.

12. The user is required to enter a Name for the analysis, while a Description is optional. A
data set (flow, stage, or other) must be selected from the available data sets stored in
the current study DSS file. The list of data that can be selected for a general frequency
analysis will only include those data that have an irregular interval, like IR-CENTURY and
IR-YEAR (E-part pathname).

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7.2 General Settings and Options

Once the analysis name and data set are selected, the user can begin to perform the
computations. Contained on the General Frequency Analysis editor are four tabs. The tabs are
labeled General, Options, Analytical, and Graphical. This section of the manual explains the use
of the General and Options tabs.

13. Log Transforms; There are two options contained within the Log Transform setting: Use
Log Transform and Do not use Log Transform. If the user selects Use Log Transform,
then the frequency analysis will be performed on the logs of the data. If the user selects
Do not use Log Transform, then the frequency analysis will be performed on the raw
data values without taking the logs of the data. The default setting is Use Log
Transform.

14. Confidence Limits; Confidence limits provide a measure of the uncertainty in the
computed value for a given exceedance probability. By default, HEC-SSP calculates the
90 percent confidence interval (i.e. the 5% and 95% confidence limits). The user has the
option to override the default values. For this exercise set the confidence limits to 95%
(i.e. the 2.5% and 97.5%).

15. Time Window Modification; This option allows the user to narrow the time window
used for the analysis. The default is to use all of the data contained in the selected data
set. The user can enter either a start date and end date or both a start and end date.

16. Data Sampling; Two methods are available for sampling data within HEC-SSP: Partial
Duration and Annual Maximum. An annual maximum series is ordinarily used when the
primary interest lies in the larger events or when the second, third, fourth… nth largest
event in any year is of little concern in the analysis. Conversely, a partial duration series
represents the frequency of all independent events of interest, regardless of whether
two or more occurred in the same year. Choosing either Partial Duration or Annual
Maximum will enable and disable various other features throughout the General
Frequency Analysis. Annual Maximum is the default.

17. Plotting Positions; Plotting positions are used for plotting the raw data points on the
graph. There are four options for plotting position methodologies within HEC-SSP:
Weibull, Median, Hazen, and user entered coefficients. Use The default method,
Weibull plotting position formula.

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TWWSDSE HEC-SSP Training Manual

Figure 7-2. General Frequency Editor with General Settings Tab Selected.

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In addition to the general settings, there are also several options available to the user for
modifying the computations of the frequency curves. The following are in the options tab:

18. Low Outlier Threshold; High and low outlier tests are based on the procedures outlined
in Bulletin 17B, and are applied in the same manner in the General Frequency Analysis.
The calculated outlier magnitudes, by the Bulletin 17B procedure, are used as default
values for the high and low outlier thresholds in HEC-SSP. The user has the option to
enter a different value for the low outlier threshold, Further discussion of outlier
thresholds can be found in Bulletin 17B. To use the low outlier threshold, simply check
the box and enter the value.

19. Historic Period Data; All historic data that provides reliable estimates outside the
systematic record should be used in order to improve the frequency computations.
HEC-SSP uses historic data as recommended in Bulletin 17B. This calculation is applied in
the same manner in the General Frequency Analysis. To use historic data, check the box
labelled Use Historic Data. The user can enter a starting year for the historic period,
ending year for a historic period, and a High Threshold value. If the user enters a high
threshold value, then any data in the systematic record greater than that value will also
be treated as a historical annual maximum. The user can also enter historic data that
are not contained in the systematic record. This is done in the table at the bottom
labelled Historic Events.

Note: The program treats all data in the data set as systematic data. If historic events
are included in the data set, then the user can define the analysis time window (General
tab – Time Window Modification) so that it only bounds the systematic record. Then
define the historic events in the Historic Events table. Instead of using the Time
Window Modification option, another option is to enter a High Threshold value so that
the historic data point(s) would be treated as historic data (rather than part of the
systematic record).

20. User Specified Frequency Ordinates; This option allows the user to change the
frequency ordinates used in computing the resulting frequency curves and confidence
limits. The default values listed in percent chance exceedance are 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10,
20, 50, 80, 90, 95, and 99. Check the box next to Use Values from Table below to
change or add additional values. Once this box is checked, the user can add/remove
rows and edit the frequency values. To add or remove a row from the table, select the
row(s), place the mouse over the highlighted row(s) and click the right mouse button.
The shortcut menu contains options to Insert Row(s) and Delete Row(s). The program
will use the default values, even if they are not contained in the table, when the Use
Values from Table below option are not checked. Finally, all values in the table must be
between 0 and 100.

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21. Output Labelling; This option allows the user to change the default labels for data
contained in the output tables and plots. The user can change both the name of the
data as well as how the units of the data are labelled.

Figure 7-3. General Frequency Editor with Options Tab Selected.

7.3 Analytical Frequency Analysis

Once the new analysis has been defined and the user has all of the general settings and
options, the user can choose between performing an Analytical Frequency analysis or a
Graphical Frequency analysis. This section of the manual describes how to use the Analytical
Frequency analysis option.

22. When the user selects the Analytical tab on the General Frequency Analysis editor, the
window will appear as shown in Figure 7-4. As shown, three additional tabs will appear
on the screen: Settings, Tabular Results, and Plot. The Settings tab contains additional
settings for the analytical frequency analysis. These settings include: Distribution,
Generalized Skew, and Expected Probability Curve.

23. Distribution; This option allows the user to select from available analytical distributions
to perform the frequency analysis. The current version of HEC-SSP contains three
distribution choices: None, Normal, LogNormal, Pearson III, and LogPearson III. If the
user has selected to transform the data to log space (General tab), then the only
available choices for distribution will be None, LogNormal, and LogPearson III. If the
user did not select the option to transform the data to log space (General tab), then the
only available choices for distribution will be None, Normal and Pearson III. Finally, if

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the user has selected to use a partial duration series on the General Tab, then no
distributions will be available for use for exercise this try to use Normal & Pearson III
interchangeably.

24. Generalized Skew; There are three options contained within the generalized skew
setting: Use Station Skew, Use Weighted Skew, and Use Regional Skew. Use the default
skew setting Station Skew. With this setting, the skew of the computed curve will be
based solely on computing a skew from the data points.

25. Expected Probability Curve; This setting has two options: Compute the expected
probability curve and do not compute the expected probability curve. The default
setting is to not compute the expected probability curve. When computed, this curve
will be shown in both the tables and the plots as an additional curve to the computed
curve. The expected probability adjustment is a correction for bias in the computed
frequency curve. The use of the expected probability curve is a policy decision. It is
most often used in establishing design flood criteria. The basic flood frequency curve
without the expected probability adjustment is the curve used in computation of
confidence limits, risk, and in obtaining weighted averages of independent estimates of
flood frequency discharge (Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data, 1982).

Figure 7-4: Analytical Analysis Tab of the General Frequency Analysis Editor.

26. Compute; Hit Compute to determine the flood frequency curve. Then hit Plot Curve to
see the flood frequency curve. If the computations are successful, the user will receive a
message that says “Compute Complete”. At this point, the user can begin to review the
results of the Analytical Frequency computations.

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TWWSDSE HEC-SSP Training Manual

Figure 7-5: Compute General Frequency Analysis Editor.

7.4 Viewing and Printing Results

The user can view output for the frequency analysis directly from the General Frequency
Analysis editor (Tabular and Graphical output) or by using the plot and view buttons at the
bottom of the editor. The output consists of tabular results, an analytical frequency curve plot,
a graphical frequency curve plot, and a report documenting the data and computations
performed.
Plot Analytical, Graphical Curve or View report for results using the two Log distribution
methods, i.e. Log Pearson Type III and Log Normal.

7.4.1 Tabular Results

Once the computations for the analytical frequency analysis are completed, the user can view tabular
output by selecting the Tabular Results tab under the Analytical analysis tab.

The tabular results can be printed by using the Print button at the bottom of the General Frequency
Analysis editor. When the print button is pressed, a window will appear giving the user options for how
they would like the table to be printed.

27. As shown in Figure 7-6, the window contains three tables. The top table contains results
of the computed frequency curve. The very left column of the top table is the Percent
Chance Exceedance for all the computed values. The next three columns in the top
table contain the computed frequency curve and the 95% and 5% confidence limits that
correspond to that computed curve. The last three columns of the top table contain a
computed frequency curve and confidence limits for an analysis based on user-adjusted
statistics for the mean, standard deviation, adopted skew, and equivalent years of
record. User entered adjusted statistics are an option that the user can set on the Plot
tab, If the user has not entered adjusted statistics, then these columns will be empty.
Data in the frequency curve table can be re-sorted. Click the Percent Chance
Exceedance column header (two mouse clicks are required the first time). The percent
chance exceedance ordinates, along with frequency curve and confidence limits values,
will sort so that the lowest values are on top or the highest values are on top.

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28. Two additional tables are shown at the bottom of the window: Statistics and Number of
Events. The Statistics table consists of the mean, standard deviation, station skew, user
entered regional skew, weighted skew (weighted between station skew and regional
skew), and the adopted skew for the analysis. The Number of Events table contains the
number of historic events, high outliers, low outliers, zero or missing values, systematic
events, and the number of years in the historic period (this value only comes into play if
the user entered historic data).
29. Additionally, the lower right portion of the table will show if Log Transform is On or Off,
and which analytical distribution was selected for the analysis.

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Figure 7-6: Tabular Results Tab for Analytical Analysis.

7.4.3 Graphical Output

In addition to tabular results, a Plot tab is available for viewing a graphical plot of both the
computed frequency curve, as well as a computed curve based on any user-adjusted statistics.
When the Plot tab is selected the window will change to what is shown in Figure 7-7. As shown
in Figure 7-7, the plot contains the computed frequency curve, 95% and 5% confidence limits,
and raw data points plotted by the user selected plotting position method.
The computed statistics for the frequency curve are shown in a table on the right side of the
window. Below the computed statistics is a table labeled "User Statistics". There is a check box
and a data entry field for the Mean, Standard Deviation, Adopted Skew, and Equivalent Years of
Record. The user can enter values into any or all of these fields. The user statistics option
allows the user to see how the curve would change if any or all of the statistics were different.
When data is entered into the user statistics fields, and the check boxes are turned on, the user
must press the compute button again in order for the computations to be performed with the
user entered statistics. After the compute button is pressed, both the plot and the table on the
Tabular Results tab will be updated to reflect any user entered statistics.

30. Graphical output of the analytical frequency curve can be obtained by selecting either
the Plot tab under the analytical analysis tab, or by pressing the button labeled Plot
Analytical Curve at the bottom of the general frequency editor. When the Plot
Analytical Curve button is pressed, a frequency curve plot will appear in a separate
window as shown in Figure 7-7. The analytical frequency curve plot can be sent to the
printer by selecting the Print option from the File menu at the top of the window.
Additional printing options available from the File menu are Page Setup, Print Preview,
and Print Multiple (used for printing multiple graphs on the same page).

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Figure 7-7: Plot Tab of the General Frequency Analytical Analysis.

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7.4.3 Viewing the Report File

When the General Frequency analysis computations are performed, a report file of the
statistical computations is created. The report file lists all of the input data and user settings,
plotting positions of the data points, intermediate results, each of the various statistical tests
performed (i.e. high and low outliers, historical data, etc…), and the final results. This file is
often useful for understanding and describing how the software arrived at the final frequency
curve.

31. To view the report file, press the View Report button at the bottom of the General
Frequency analysis editor. When this button is pressed, a window will appear
containing the report as shown in Figure 7-8. Plots, tables, and reports can also be
created by selecting menu options from the Results menu. At least one General
Frequency analysis must be selected in the study explorer before selecting one of the
menu options on the Results menu.

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Figure 7-8: General Frequency Analysis Report File.

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7.6 Summary Results (Design Storm)

To see the results of the General Frequency Analysis from the tabular results, computed design
storms associated with required return period, with both distributions together with the upper
and lower percent confidence intervals (i.e. 0.05 and 0.95). are summered as follows.

Table 7-1: Design Storm Summery

Distribution Log Pearson III Log Normal

Type
Return Design 95% 95% Design 95% 95%
Period Discharge Confidence Confidence Discharge Confidence Confidence
T QT Interval Interval QT Interval Interval
(Upper) (Lower) (Upper) (Lower)
QTU QTL QTU QTL
(Years) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)
50 89.4 132.9 73.5
100 98.5 154.8 79.2
200 108 179.1 84.9
500 121.3 215.6 92.7
1000 132 246.9 98.7

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