Lecture 2b

Part 1

Water Resources Engineering and

Management Research Centre,
UiTM Pulau Pinang 1
© Dr. Shanker Kumar/2005
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Before proceed….still remember ?

 Duration
 Lag Time
 Time of Concentration
 Rising Limb
 Recession Limb (falling limb)
 Peak Flow
 Time to Peak (rise time)
 Recession Curve
 Separation
 Base flow
3
Why ?

 Way to transform design /

measured rainfall into a replicable
runoff ordinate/s for a catchment

>>Input
>>(Transform Function)
>> Output

4
5
Unit Hydrograph Theory

 Sherman - 1932
 Horton - 1933
 Wisler & Brater - 1949 - “the hydrograph of
surface runoff resulting from a relatively short,
intense rain, called a unit storm.”
 The runoff hydrograph may be “made up” of
runoff that is generated as flow through the soil
(Black, 1990).
 The runoff hydrograph results from 1 in. of
rainfall excess, generated uniformly over the
watershed at a uniform rate during a specified
period of time (McCuen, 2004)

6
7
 Types of UHG’s
 T-Hour (t-minute)
- Hydrograph results from a storm
with constant depth of rainfall
excess of 1 in (cm). over a duration
of T-Hours (t-minutes)

o Dimensionless UHG’s
- Axis define in term of ratio’s
- X = t/tp & y = q/qp

8
Deriving a UHG from a Storm
sample watershed = 450 m2

25000 0.8

0.7

20000
0.6

Precipitation (inches)
0.5
15000
Flow (cfs)

0.4

10000
0.3

0.2
5000

0.1

0 0

4
2
0
8
0
8
16
24
32
40
48
56
64

88
72
80

96
10
11
12
12
Time (hrs.)

9
 Estimating Excess Precipitation

0.8

0.7

0.6

Precipitation (inches)
0.5
Assume
Depth of DR (cm) = Sum(Ordinate) 0.4
Uniform loss rate of
0.2 inches per hour.
x Dt / Cathment Area
0.3
P = RF Depth
Loss rate = (P – RE)/ D 0.2

0.1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Time (hrs.)

10
Refer slide 22
Excess Precipitation

0.9

0.8
Derived unit hydrograph is the
result of approximately 6 hours
of excess precipitation.
0.7
Excess Prec. (inches)

Small amounts of
0.6
excess precipitation at
beginning and end may
0.5
be omitted.
0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Time (hrs.)

11
 Sum of ordinates is always = 1 area
in (or cm). of direct runoff

* major drawbacks
1) a lack of spatial uniformity in the
rainfall
2) No constant excess rate
3) Peak & Time to peak are sensitive
to duration of rainfall excess

12
 Derived Unit Hydrograph
Rules of Thumb :
… the storm should be fairly uniform in nature and
the excess precipitation should be equally as uniform
throughout the basin. This may require the initial
conditions throughout the basin to be spatially similar.

… Second, the storm should be relatively constant in

time, meaning that there should be no breaks or periods
of no precipitation.

… Finally, the storm should produce at least an inch

of excess precipitation (the area under the hydrograph
after correcting for base flow). 13
 Separation of Base flow

 Use any reliable base flow separation methods-

compare & choose
(previous lecture)

Constant slope
Concave

Constant discharge

14
Inflection Point - Semi-log Plot
100000

Recession side of hydrograph

10000 becomes linear at approximately hour
64.

1000
Flow (cfs)

100

10

4
9
4
9
4
9
4
29
34
39
44
49
54
59
64
69
74
79
84
89
94
99
10
10
11
11
12
12
13
Time (hrs.)

15
Hydrograph & Base flow

25000

20000

15000
Flow (cfs)

10000

5000

0
0
7
14
21
28
35
42
49
56
63
70
77
84
91
98
105
112
119
126
133
Time (hrs.)

16
Separate Base flow & Derive DRO

25000

20000

15000
Flow (cfs)

10000

5000

6
5
2
9

3
0
7
14

21
28
35
42

49
56
63
70
77
84
91
98
10
11
11
12

13
Time (hrs.)

17
Methods of Developing UHG’s

 From Stream flow Data

 Synthetically
 Snyder
 SCS
 Time-Area (Clark, 1945)
 “Fitted” Distributions

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 Unit Hydrograph Analysis

 Derived from time distribution of

rainfall excess
 For simple situations : Use
Reciprocal Method
- Single peaked & equal intensities
 For complicated situations : Use
Least Square Method

19
UHG from Historical Data

20
 Obtaining UHG Ordinates

• The ordinates of the unit hydrograph are

obtained by dividing each flow in the direct
runoff hydrograph by the depth of excess
rainfall or runoff
( with the assumption :
excess rainfall = excess runoff )
• In this example, the units of the UH would
be cfs/inch (of excess rainfall/DRO).
21
The Process: Simplified

 1. Separate the baseflow from TR

to get DRO
 2. Determine the DR Vol. (depth)
 3. Obtain ordinates of DRO by
dividing DR Vol. (depth)
 Plot Unit Hydrograph

22
Example: Rainfall-Excess Reciprocal
Method
 DRO (t) = {40,70,50,20} ft3/s
 Assume 30 min time increment

 Duration of direct runoff is 2 hrs

 Watershed area = 35 acres

Depth of direct runoff:

(40 + 70+50+20) ft3/s X (30 min) X (60 min/s) X
(1/35 acres) X
(1 acre/43560 ft2) X (12 in/ft)
= 2.55 in

23
Example:
 UH obtained by dividing each ordinates by
depth of direct runoff hydrograph
 Thus, U(t) = {15.7, 27.5, 19.6, 7.8}

 Check for Depth in UHG = 1 in

(15.7+ 27.5+ 19.6+ 7.8) ft3/s X (30 min) X

(60 min/s) X (1/35 acres) X
(1 acre/43560 ft2) X (12 in/ft)
= 1.0 in

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Final UHG

25000
Storm #1 hydrograph

Storm#1 direct runoff

20000 hydrograph

15000
Flow (cfs)

Storm # 1 unit
hydrograph

10000

Storm #1
baseflow
5000

0
14
21
28
35
42
49
56
63
70
77
84
91
98
0
7

105
112
119
126
133
Time (hrs.)

25
Direct Runoff from UHG

26
 Convolution – Existing data
 The process by which the design storm is
combined with transfer function to
produce the direct runoff-hydrograph
 A theory of linear super-positioning

- Process of multiplication + translation

with time & addition
* i.e: the first burst of rainfall excess of
duration D is multiplied by the ordinates
of UH….the second burst and so on…

27
 Convolution: a multiplication-
translation-addition process

0 P1 D t
Rainfall
Excess (PE) 1”
The depth of direct runoff
Equals to the depth of
rainfall excess
U1 0.6 U2
0.4
Unit If 1” of
Hydrograph (UH)
rainfall excess,
P1U1 0.6 P1U2 period of 1D
0.4
Direct Runoff (RO)

0 D 2D t
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 Convolution: a multiplication-
translation-addition process
0 P1 D t

Rainfall
Excess (PE) 2”
The depth of direct runoff
Equals to the depth of
2/D 0.6 U2 rainfall excess
U1 0.4

Unit
Hydrograph (UH) If 2” of
P1U1 1.2 P1U2
rainfall excess
0.8
Period of 1D
Direct Runoff (RO)

0 D 2D t
29
 If 2” of
rainfall excess Convolution: a multiplication-
Period of 2D translation-addition process
P1 P2
0 D 2D t
Rainfall
Excess (PE) 1” 1”
The depth of direct runoff
1/D Equals to the depth of
P1U1 0.6 P1U2 rainfall excess
0.4
Unit
Hydrograph (UH)
P2U1 0.6 P2U2
0.4
Unit
Hydrograph (UH)
1.0
0.4 0.6
Direct Runoff (RO)

0 D 2D 3D t
P1U2 + 30
P1U1 P2U1 P2U2
 Convolution: a multiplication-
translation-addition process

0 D 2D t
Rainfall
Excess (PE) 1”
2” The depth of direct runoff
Equals to the depth of
2/D 1.2 rainfall excess
0.8
Unit
Hydrograph (UH)
0.6
0.4
Unit
Hydrograph (UH) 1.6 If 3” of
0.8 0.6 rainfall excess
Direct Runoff (RO) Period of 2D

0 D 2D 3D t
31
Exp: 2(0.6) + 1(0.4) = 1.6
 Time base for Direct Runoff

 tbRO = tbPE + tbUH – 1

tbRO = Time base for Direct Runoff

tbPE = Time base for Rainfall Excess
tbUH = Time base for UHG

Exp: 2(ordinates) + 2(ordinates) -1 = 3D time units

32
 Example: page 525, (McCuen,2004)

0 D 2D t
Rainfall 0” 0” 0.16” 0.16”
Excess (PE) 0.20”

5 , 6 min (0.1h)
increment Unit
Hydrograph (UH)
tbRO = (5(RFO) +7 (DRO)) – 1
= 11

Direct Runoff (RO)

0 D 2D 3D t
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