Hydrology and
Floodplain Analysis,
Chapter 2
CEVE 412
Dr. Phil Bedient
Jan 2012
Overview
Watershed Concepts
Unit Hydrographs
Synthetic Hydrographs
Hydrologic Loss
Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Chapter 2.1
Watershed Basics Revisited
Watershed: Basic unit used in most
hydrologic analysis relating to water balances
or runoff
y Often characterized by one main channel and
tributaries with subareas of drainage
Watershed Basics
Hydrograph: plot of flow rate vs. time for
given location
y Main hydrologic response function for a watershed
Important Parameters
Drainage Area (A): Area of watershed that
contributes to an outlet
y Reflects volume of water generated by rainfall
Channel/Watershed Slope (S/S0)
y Influences flow and flow rate
Soil Types
y Determine infiltration rates
Important Parameters
Land Use and Land Cover
y Affect rates of runoff during rainfall
Land Use Effects
Actual Unit Hydrographs
for Brays Bayou in
Houston, Texas
Faster response and
higher peak flow with
development
Requires providing
downstream capacity
Important Parameters
Main Channel/Tributary Characteristics
y Affect streamflow response in numerous ways
○ Slope
○ Cross-Sectional Area
○ Manning’s Roughness Coefficient
○ Obstructions
○ Meander Pattern
Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Chapter 2.2
Unit Hydrograph
Defined as 1-in of precipitation spread
uniformly over a watershed in a given
duration
y 0.5 hr UH
y 1 hr UH
y 3 hr UH
Used to easily represent the effect of
rainfall on a particular basin
y Hypothetical unit response of watershed to a
unit of rainfall
UH Example
2-Hr UH
y Note that 0.5 in/hr fall for the 2 hours
UH Applications
Development of design
storm hydrograph
Development of
watershed hydrograph
Developing UHs - Gages
Rules for using a gauged watershed
y Storms must have simple structure and relatively
uniform spatial and temporal distribution
y Watershed is 1 – 10 mi2
y Direct runoff is 0.5 – 2.0 in
y Duration of rainfall excess is 25%-30% of lag time
y Use multiple storms of similar duration to obtain
an average UH
y Repeat #5 for storms of different durations
Developing UHs – Single Storm
Procedure for using a single storm hydrograph
y Analyze hydrograph
○ separate base flow
y Calculate total volume of DRO
○ convert to inches (mm) over watershed
y Subtract infiltration
○ Rainfall excess = DRO
○ Evaluate duration D of rainfall excess produced by DRO
hydrograph
y Divide ordinates of DRO hydrograph
○ By volume in inches
○ Check to make sure it is 1.0 in of total rainfall
y Plot results as Unit Hydrograph
UH developed from a single
storm
Total storm hydrograph
Hydrograph minus
baseflow, rainfall minus
losses
Hydrograph adjusted
to be a 2-hr UH
Concerns with UHs
Assumptions of linearity are inherent in
UH development
Linearity can be violated if…
y intensity variations are large over long-
duration storms
y Storage effects in watershed are important
Typically should not exceed areas of 5 –
10 mi2
y Divide the watershed into subareas if needed
S-Curve Method
Allows for the construction of UH of any
duration
Creating the S-Curve
y Add and lag series of UH of duration, D, by
time period D
○ Gives runoff hydrograph from continuous
rainfall excess intensity of 1/D
○ Equilibrium hydrograph or an S-Curve
S-Curve Method
S-Curve to UH
y Shift the curve by D’ hr
y Subtract ordinates between the two curves
○ Receive curve (b)
y Multiply all ordinate
by D/D’
y Receive UH of
duration D’
Unit Hydrograph Convolution
Deriving hydrographs from multiperiod
rainfall excess
or
y Where
○ Qn = storm hydrograph ordinate
○ Pi = rainfall excess
○ Uj = UH ordinate
y where j = n - i + 1
Unit Hydrograph Convolution
Can view this
graphically
y Note that the final
hydrograph goes
to time-step 10
○ UH goes from 0-7
○ 4 Rainfall periods
of 1 time step
UH Convolution Example
Pn= [0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 0.0, 0.5] in
Un= [0, 100, 320, 450, 370, 250, 160, 90, 40, 0] cfs
Time (hr) P1Un P2Un P3Un P4Un P5Un Qn
0 0 0
1 50 0 50
2 160 100 0 260 Storm Hydrograph - Qn
3 225 320 150 0 695 1400
4 185 450 480 0 0 1115 1200
Outflow (cfs)
1000
5 125 370 675 0 50 1220 800
6 80 250 555 0 160 1045 600
400
7 45 160 375 0 225 805
200
8 20 90 240 0 185 535 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
9 0 40 135 0 125 300 Time (hr)
10 0 60 0 80 140
11 0 0 45 45
12 0 20 20
13 0 0
Unit Hydrograph Convolution
Can reverse procedure
y Multiperiod rainfall excess hydrograph Æ UH
Uses matrix methods
y [Q] = [P][U] Æ
[PTP][U] = [PT][Q] Æ
[U] = [PTP]-1[PT][Q]
Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Chapter 2.3
Synthetic Unit Hydrographs
UHs developed for ungaged basins
y Based on data for similarly gauged basins
Revolutionized ability to predict hydro
response
y Produce storm hydrographs from rainfall data
Can be updated to reflect changes in
watershed geography/land cover
Variety of approaches but most based on
tp (lag time) and Qp (peak flow)
Synthetic Methods
Snyder’s Method (1938)
Clark Method (1945)
Nash IUH (1958)
SCS (1957, 1964)
Kinematic Wave (1970s)
Snyder’s Method (1938)
First to develop a synthetic UH
y Studied watersheds in Appalachian Highlands
Simple and popular method
tp = Ct*(L*Lc)0.3 Qp = 640*Cp A/tp
Tp = lag time (hr) Qp = peak flow (cfs)
Ct = coeff. (1.8-2.2) Cp = coefficient (0.4-0.8)
L = length of main A = area (sq mi)
stream (mi)
Lc = length to centroid
(mi) Tb = 3 + tp/8
Tb = time base of
hydrograph (days)
Snyder’s Method (1938)
Example
y Skecth the approximate shape of hydrograph for an area of
100 mi2
y Given: Ct = 1.8 L = 18 mi
Cp = 0.6 Lc = 10 mi
tp = Ct*(L*Lc)0.3
= 8.6 hr
Qp = 640*Cp A/tp
= 4465 cfs
Tb ~ 4tp
= 34.4 hr
Duration = tp/5.5 hr
= 1.6 hr
SCS Method (1957, 1964)
Developed by Soil
Conservation
Service
Dimensionless
hydrograph
y Developed from a
large number of UHs
from gauged
watersheds ranging
in size/location
SCS Method - Triangle
Early method assumed a simple triangle
hydrograph with certain parameters
D – rain duration (hr)
TR – time of rise (hr)
B – time of fall (hr)
QP – peak flow (cfs)
tP – lag time from
centroid of rainfall
to QP
SCS Method - Triangle
Volume of direct runoff from hydrograph
y Where
SCS Method - Triangle Lag Time
Lag time (tP) is most often estimated
using formula below
y Make sure units match
y L = length to divide (ft)
y y = average watershed slope (%)
y S = 1000/CN – 10”
○ CN = curve number from soil/land use table
SCS Method Æ Curved Hyd.
SCS dimensionless UH can be used to
develop a curved hydrograph
y Use same tP and Qp
y Shaped curves in the figure are
used to develop the entire UH
Clark UH Method (1945)
Based on the use of a watershed
Modeled as a linear channel in series
with a linear reservoir
y Accounts for translation and attenuation
Creates instantaneous UH (IUH) from
the outflow (Oi) from the linear reservoir
y Inflow (Ii) to the linear reservoir is the outflow
from the linear channel
Clark UH – Broken Down
Linear Channel
y Uses time-area relationship
y Estimates time distribution of runoff from basin
y Time of Concentration (TC) – time of runoff
from most remote part of basin to outlet
Clark UH – Broken Down
Linear Reservoir
y Represents storage and resistance effects from
basin
y Si = Roi
○ Si = storage at the end of period I
○ Oi = outflow during period I
○ R = storage coefficient
Clark UH – Broken Down
Allows for a modification of the continuity equation…
y Ii = average inflow in period i, determined from area-time method
y Oi = outflow during period i
y Si = storage at the end of period i
y R = storage coefficient
○ Slope of the storage-outflow curve for the linear reservoir
Clark UH – Broken Down
Tc and R are the two major parameters of this method
y Obtained from observed hydrographs on gaged basins
y Inflection point at time, Tc, from end of rainfall burst, is where
inflow to the linear reservoir = 0
○ Can express continuity equation as:
y Estimate R by dividing DRO discharge at inflection point by
slope of hydrograph at that point
Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Chapter 2.4
Applications
For complex watersheds:
1. Design storm hydrographs (10-yr, 25-
yr,100-yr)
2. Evaluate effects of land use changes,
storage additions, and other variables
3. Simulate storm hydrographs (Ch. 4)
4. Analysis of flood control options (Ch. 4)
UH Applications
1. Design storm hydrographs (10-yr, 25-yr,100-yr)
2. Evaluate effects of land use changes, storage
additions, and other variables
UH Applications
3. Simulate storm hydrographs for each
subbasin by adding, lagging and routing
flows produced by UH.
4. Evaluate effects of changes in scenario R
○ Changes in: rainfall patterns, land use
distributions (i.e. devloped/undeveloped),
reservoirs or detention basins, and other
variables
Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Chapter 2.5
Instantaneous UH
A mathematical extension of
UHs rainfall excess D
approaches zero while the
quantity remains constant
Runoff produced by the
“instantaneous rainfall” is
what is called instantaneous
hydrograph
Useful because there is a
unique function for a
watershed independent of
time or antecedent
conditions.
Kinematic Wave
Used to develop stream hydrograph and
measure overland flow
The Kinematic Wave is used because it
assumes that the weight or gravity force
of flowing water is simply balanced by
the resistive force of bed friction
Has been intergrated into HEC-HMS
and can be used for Storm Water
Management Models
Kinematic Wave
Kinematic (kw) wave
routing used to
derive overland flow
hydrographs
Can be added to
produce collector or
channel
hydrographs
Then can be flood
routed as channel or
stream hydrographs.
Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Chapter 2.6
What’s the difference?
Evaporation: water in its
liquid or solid state
transformed into water
vapor and mixes with the
atmosphere
Evapotranspiration (ET):
combined loss of water
vapor from surface of plants
(transpiration) and
evaporation of moisture
from soil
Approximately 70% of the
mean annual rainfall in the
United States is returned to
the atmosphere as ET
Evaporation Calculation Methods
Water Budget
y For a lake is based on the continuity
equation where you can solve for
evaporation knowing:
E = -∆S + I + P - O – GW (2–33)
∆S = Change in Storage
I = Inflow
P = Precipitation
O = Outflow
GW = Groundwater flow (infiltration)
Evaporation: Mass Transfer
Method
Mass Transfer
y Based primarily on the concept of turbulent transfer of
water vapor from a water surface to the atmosphere
y In the form of a diffusive flux of water vapor
E = (es - ea)(a + bu), (2–34)
Where:
es = saturation vapor pressure at Ts of the water surface
ea = vapor pressure at some fixed level above the water
surface
○ the product of relative humidity times saturation vapor
pressure at Ta of the air
u = wind speed
a, b = empirical constants
Energy Budget Method
Most accurate but complex method since it
requires radiation measurements
y Overall Lake Energy Budget:
y Solve for Evaporation:
Where:
QN = net radiation absorbed by body of water
Qh = sensible heat transfer
Qv = advected energy of inflow and outflow
Qθ = increase in energy stored in the water body
Le = Latent heat of vaporization
Measuring Evaporation
Pan Evaporation
y Pan: open galvanized iron tank (4 ft in diam. & 10 in.
deep).
y Filled up to 8 in. and refilled when the depth has fallen
to 7 in.
y Water level measured daily, & evaporation computed as
the difference between observed levels. Adjusted for
precipitation
y Pan Coefficient =
0.64 – 0.81
Measuring Evaporation
Combined Methods:
y Mass transfer + Energy Budget Method
y Penman Equation:
y Advantage: water or soil surface temperature
need not be known.
Penman Equation
Evapotranspiration (ET)
Influencing and limiting factors:
Potential ET : Max possible loss
Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Chapter 2.7
Infiltration
Infiltration volume is subtracted from a
precipitation event in order to determine the net
volume of RF (= direct runoff).
Horton’s Infiltration capacity: the actual infiltration
rate will follow the limiting curve:
Horton Equation
Empirical approach
y Equation assumes ( I > f) infiltration capacity decreases
as a function of time regardless of the actual amount of
water available for infiltration.
y Without detailed measurements of actual loss rates and
because urban watersheds have high imperviousness,
empirical approaches usually give quite satisfactory
results.
Φ Index Method
y Simplest method: Infiltrations is calculated by
finding the loss difference between gross
precipitation and observed surface runoff
measured as a hydrograph.
y Method assumes that the loss is uniformly
distributed across the rainfall pattern.
Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Chapter 2.8
Green and Ampt Method
Used to predict cumulative infiltration as a function of time and
readily available soil parameters (major advantage).
5 principles:
1. The soil under consideration is homogeneous and stable.
2. The supply of ponded water at the surface is not limited
(subject to modification)
3. A wetting front exists and advances at the same rate as
water infiltrates
4. The capillary suctions is uniform and constant
5. The soil is uniformly saturated above the wetting front, the
vol. water contents remain constant and below the
advancing wetting front.
Soil Properties - Terminology
Moisture content (θ) = ratio of the volume
of water to the total volume of a unit of
porous media.
Porosity (n) = ratio of interconnected void
volume to total sample volume.
Hydraulic conductivity (K) = volume of
water that will flow through a unit soil
column in a given time.
Capillary suction (ψ) = measure of the
combined adhesive forces that bind the
water molecules to solid walls and the
cohesive forces that attract water
molecules to each other.
Unsaturated K
Q = -K(θ) ∂h/∂z
q = Darcy velocity
z = depth below surface
h = potential or head = z + ψ
K(θ) = unsaturated K
Equation for infiltration
f = Ks(1 – Mdψ/F)
same restrictions as Horton’s ( i ≠ f), where:
Ks = vertically saturated K
Md = moisture deficit
F = cumulative depth of water infiltrated into the soil
Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Chapter 2.9
Snow
13% of precipitation in the US falls as snow
Dominant source of streamflow
Major factors influencing timing and
amount of snowmelt:
1. Energy of snowpack
2. Areal extent of snowcover
3. Storage effects
Snow water equivalent (SWE): depth of water
if all the snow melted
SWE = .01dsρs
Where: ds = snowdepth, ρs = density of snow
Snowmelt calculations
Energy balance and budget
∆H/∆t = QN + Qg + Qc + Qe + Qp
Qg = conduction of heat to snowpack from underlying ground,
Qc = convective transport of sensible heat from air to snowpack,
Qe = release of latent heat of vaporization by condensation of water vapor
onto snowpack,
Qp = advection of heat to snowpack by rain.
Snowmelt calculations
Melt Equations: linearization of energy budget or
empirical
M = Df(Ti – TB)
M = daily melt as a depth of water equivalent
Ti = index air temperature
TB = base melt temperature
Df = degree-day melt factor