CEE3430 Engineering Hydrology HEC‐HMS Bare Essentials Tutorial and Example

Margaret Matter and David Tarboton

February 2010

This tutorial provides some bare essentials step by step guidance on starting to use HEC‐HMS following Example 5‐1
(page 335) of Bedient et al. (2008), but presented in terms of the current version of HEC‐HMS (Version 3.5). This is not
intended to be comprehensive or to replace the HEC‐HMS documentation; rather it is a getting started guide intended
to get you through a first run using the program and provide the bare essential knowledge from which you can learn
more by exploring the software and more comprehensive manuals.

HEC HMS website and resources

(a) Main HEC‐HMS website: [Link]
(b) HEC‐HMS , version 3.5 download: [Link]
(c) User’s Manual: [Link]
HMS_Users_Manual_3.[Link]
(d) Quick Start Guide(for new users and includes a tutorial): [Link]
hms/documentation/HEC‐HMS_QuickStart_Guide_3.[Link]

1. Steps for download and installation:

 On the “Download” page, under the “Windows” section, click on “Primary Download Site”
 A “File Download – Security Warning” will appear with the question, “Do you want to run or save this file?”
 Click on “Run” to run [Link]
 Takes a few seconds to download
 Message appears: “Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for HEC‐HMS 3.5”, click “Next”
 Read Terms and Conditions, and click “I agree to the above Terms and Conditions for Use”, and click “Next”
 Destination Folder: If the program is to be save on in a location other than the default, click “Change”
 And near the top, under “Look In,” select the drive and folder in which the program will be stored
 Additional Tasks: “Would you like setup to create a shortcut which will appear on every users desktop?” Check
“Create a desktop shortcut,” and click “Next”
 Click “Install” ‐‐‐takes seconds to install
 A final InstallShield message appears: click “Finish”

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2. R Running a simple
s case:
This ffollows Exam
mple 5.1, the “Small‐Waters
“ shed Example
e,” from pagee 335 of Bedieent et al. (200
08) upgraded
d for the
curreent HEC‐HMS version (3.5)).

Stepss:

a. D
Double click on
o the HEC‐HM
MS 3.5 icon and
a the program screen, siimilar to the p
picture below
w, appears

b. O
On the menu bar, click on “File”
 For new projects,
p click on “New”
 For existin
ng projects, click on “Open
n ” and selectt from existingg projects.

c. TThe “New” prroject will be the

t setup in Example
E 5.1
 Create a project
p name (I chose “Ex5 5.1”),
 Select where the proje ect work will be
b stored,
 Provide a description, and
 Select thee units to use.
 Click “Create

2
The n
new project screen:

3
d. B
Begin to set up the basin
 At the top p on the menu bar, select “Componentss”
 Select “Baasin Model Manager”
M and click on “New
w”
o Provide a basin n name and description
d
o Click on “Creatte”
 The folder, “Basin Mod dels,” appears in the Wate
ershed Explorrer (on left of screen) undeer the projectt name, Ex5.1
1
 Close the Basin Managger (click X)

e. SSet up basin details

d
 Double click on (or exp pand) the foldder, “Basin Models,” and a small watersshed icon app pears, as sho own below,
Basin 1”
labeled “B
 Click on th he watershed d icon. This re
esults in 3 chaanges on the sscreen: (i) it w will make active the waterrshed
creation tools
t under th
he menu bar (to the right of o the magniffying glass: Su ubbasin, Reacch, Reservoir,, Junction,
Diversion,, Source, and Sink creationn tools); (ii) in
n the lower leeft corner in the Component Editor, info ormation mayy
be input to
t the Basin Model;
M and (iii) the Basin Model
M templaate appears in n the Desktopp area. It is in this space
that the basin
b model will
w be set up with the Wattershed Creattion tools.

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 Refer to Example
E 5.1 fo
or details aboout the waterrshed.
 HMS is fleexible on how
w you may pre efer to organiize steps in crreating a mod del, so the steeps below aree one way to
create a project
p watersshed and enter informatio on and data.
o Adding 3 subbasins: Click on the Subbasin Creation toool. Move thee cursor over to the deskto op area, and
he pointer cursor should tu
th urn to a crossshairs for placcement of thee subbasin. Click on the deesktop area
to
o place the su
ubbasin, and a popup will appear
a in wh ich a subbasin name and d description m
may be input.
Click “Create” when finishe ed. A subbasin feature apppears on the b basin templatte. Repeat th he steps for
he 2 remainin
th ng subbasins.
o Lo ocation of thee features added to the waatershed withh the creation n tools may b be changed byy selecting
th
he arrow tool, left‐clicking on the objecct and dragginng it to a diffeerent locationn.
o Adding the 2 ju unctions: Clicck on the “Junnction Creatioon tool” and m move the cursor over to th he Desktop
arrea and place
e the 2 junctioons on the waatershed tem mplate.
o Add a channel reach for the e reach from A to B. Click on the “Reacch Creation To ool” and place (by
dragging) a reaach in your baasin model de esktop area.
 At this point you have the necessary componentts, but they n eed to be con nnected. Speecifically subbbasins 1 & 2
should be e connected to Junction‐1 (at location A) A and Subbassin‐3 to Juncttion‐2 (at locaation B). Juncction 1 needs
to be connected to the e reach and th he reach to ju
unction 2. Coonnecting thee features is d done by selectting the
arrow poiinter and righht‐clicking on the upstream m object (e.g.,, Subbasin‐1); from the meenu, select “C Connect
Downstre eam”; the cursor turns to crosshairs
c and
d connect Subbbasin‐1 to Ju unction‐1 dow wnstream by clicking on
the junction. Similarly, connect the e other 2 subbbasins and th e reach to the appropriatee junctions, and junction 1
to the reaach. Once thiss is done the “reach”
“ should be a thickeer blue line annd the connections should d be thinner

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 black lines as indicated
d. You can move the objeccts around th e screen and by clicking on the labels, move them
to arrangee the layout nicely
n

 Input basin information to elements of the wate

ershed:

To input information foor an elemen nt of the wate

ershed, click oon the elemen
nt either in th
he conceptuaal basin
n the Desktop
created in p area or in th
he Watershed d Explorer. Thhe appropriatte informatioon input fieldss for the
particularr feature appe
ear in the Commponent Edittor in the lowwer left cornerr

o Click on Subbaasin‐1. Initiallyy, there are 5 tabs in the CComponent Ed ditor (Left‐haand corner): SSubbasin,
Lo
oss, Transformm, Baseflow anda Options. Depending o n the method ds selected th hese tabs willl
ap
ppear/disapp pear.
o Su T “downstrream” point is already filleed, in since th
ubbasin tab: The he connection n was made in n the Desktop
p
arrea but may also
a be entere ed or edited here.
h Enter tthe area. Chaange the loss method to cu urve number..
Change the baseflow metho od to none. Check
C that thhe transformaation method is Clark Unit Hydrograph.
o Click on the losss tab and inpput SCS curve e number from m page 335.
o Click on transform tab and Input TC and R from page 335.

 Similarly, enter data fo

or Subbasin 2.
 Subbasin‐‐3: Enter the area
a and set baseflow metthod to 0. Sett loss method
d and CN. This subbasin has a user‐
specified Unit Hydrogrraph for the Transform
T Meethod. Until thhe hydrograp
ph informatio
on has been in
nput, cells of
the Transfform tab are not active.
 Input Unitt Hydrograph h for Subbasin
n‐3:
o Go to Compon nents on the main
m menu att the top, seleect “Paired D ata Manager,,”
o Data Type: Scrroll down and d select “Unit Hydrograph CCurves”
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 o Click “New” onn the right—pprovide name e and descripttion; then click “Create”
o n the Watersh
In hed Explorer, the folder, “P
Paired Data” was created;; double click to expand to o the folder
“U
Unit Hydrograaph Curves,” and double click
c on the “U Unit Hydrograaph Curves foolder to get th
he UH icon
with
w the name e it was given (eg, Pattern 1). Click on thhe Unit Hydro
ograph icon to o get the Pairred Data
Component Ed ditor. Set the
e units and du
uration. Switcch to the “Tabble” tab and eenter the Unitt Hydrograph
data for Subbaasin 3 from paage 335.

 Note the data entered are colored blue,

b indicating that the d ata are not p permanent. Saave the file (iee, “File, Save””
at the main menu), and the data turn from blue to black, indiicating that th hey are now permanent.
 Select Sub
bbasin‐3 in th
he Watershed d Manager: Under the Trannsform tab in n the Componnent Editor, seelect the UH
pattern (e
eg, Pattern) to
o use for Subbasin‐3 in sim mulations.
 Reach‐1:
o Reach tab: Input informatio on from page 335 for Muskkingum Routiing
o Routing tab: Muskingum
M K and x, and 2 subreaches ((2 subreachess is somewhaat arbitrary an nd indicates
how many sub breaches the reach
r is split in to).
 Input Hyeetograph:
o Inn Components on the main n menu at the e top, select ““Time Series Data Manageer”,
o Data Type: Select “Precipitaation gage”, clickc on “New
w,” provide naame and desccription, and cclick “Create.”
And close.
o A folder, “Time e Series Data,,” is added to o the Watershhed Manager.
o Exxpand in sequ uence to “Preecipitation Gaages,” then “G Gage 1,”

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 o Under “Gage 1” 1 is a storm event
e with a generic
g date. Click on the storm event to enter hyetograph data
annd informatio on.
o Fiill in informattion on the foollowing tabs: Time‐Seriess Gage, Time Window, and d Table
o Tiime‐Series Gaage tab: Unitss = Incrementtal inches, an d Time Intervval = 1 Hr
o Tiime Window:: define the tiime window to t include tim me for the preecipitation evvent.
o Taable tab: Hou urly time increements shoulld be on the l eft side of the table for th
he period defined under
th
he Time Wind dow tab. Ente er hourly preccipitation incrrements interrpreted from the precipitaation plot in
e precipitationn event, input zeroes for tthe remainingg time
Fiig. E5‐1(b) in the text. At the end of the
in
ncrements.
o Saave the file.

 Under Component on the Main menu , select “M Meteorologic Model Manaager,” click “N New;” fill in name and
on, and click “Create.”
descriptio “
o As before, a fo older, “Meteo orologic Mode els” is added to the Basin‐1 schematic iin the Watersshed Explorerr.
o Exxpand the folder out to “M Met 1”
o In n the Compon nent editor, under
u the Metteorology Moodel tab,
o Under Precipittation, select “Specified Hyyetograph”
o Under “Units System,”
S select the units to
o be used.

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o Basins tab: the e basin model to be used already
a be ideentified on th
he left side of the table, annd on the
right, under thhe column heaading, “Includ de Subbasins,,” select “Yes,” since it is aassumed that precipitation
n
iss distributed uniformly
u oveer the basin.
o Frrom “Met 1” in the Watershed Explorer, double clic k on the raind drops icon fo or “Specified H
Hyetograph”
an nd assign a prrecipitation gage
g to each subbasin
s (in tthis case, the same one to the 3 subbassins).
o Saave the projeect, since it’s a good habit.

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 Model Co
ontrol Specificcations:
o Under Compon nents, select “Control Specifications M anager,” and click “New.” Add name an nd
description, an
nd click “Create.” A folder,, “Control Speecifications” iis added to th he Basin‐1 sch
hematic in
th
he Watershed d Explorer.
o Exxpand the folder out to “C Control 1,” clicck on it, and ffill in the info
ormation in th
he Componen nt Editor area.
o Define the time window to include time for the rainfaall as well as tthe runoff response (I wen nt to 20 June
19
983, 24:00).

 Save the project.

p

 Running Simulations
S and Viewing Results (an exaample of onee method):

o Main
M Menu: Se elect “Compu ute”, then select “Create a Simulation R Run”
o Create a simulation run with a name, wh hich can be deescribed afteer it is created
d; there are 4 steps:
 1st stepp: the name, click “Next”
 2nd steep: select the basin model,, then click “N
Next”
rd
 3 step: select a me eteorological model, then click “Next”
th
 4 step: lastly, sele ect a control specifications
s s model, and click “Finish”
o Below the Maiin Menu, righht of the comp ponent creatiion tools, is an button with h a raindrop n
next to a red
& yellow sun (tthe “computee current fun” button). Cli ck it to run th
he simulation n.

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 o A message boxx appears sayying that HEC‐‐HMS is finishhed computin ng your simulaation run; clo
ose the
message
m box.
o Errrors in mode el runs, as well in building the basin moodel, appear in the messagge area beloww the Desktop
p
arrea.

 Viewing Results:
R
o Right of the “R Run Simulation” button, is a button tab le with a glob
bal, the “Glob
bal Summary”” button. Click
k
it to view a sum
mmary of simmulation results.

11
 To view graphical and tabular resultts, go to the Watershed
W Exxplorer area aand click on B
Basin Models folder, for
he Componen
example, then go to th nt Editor area and click on the “Results”” tab.

 Select thee Run # of which you want to review the results

o Output
O for anyy component of the basin (eg, Subbasinn‐2, Reach‐1, Junction‐2) m
may be obserrved by
clicking on thee component & selecting thhe output forrmat type. Moore than 1 type may be vieewed at once
e.

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Refe
erence
Bedieent, P. B., W. C. Huber and
d B. E. Vieux, (2008), Hydro
ology and Flooodplain Analyysis, 4th Editiion, Prentice Hall, 795 p.

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