Hydrologic Science and Engineering

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department

Fort Collins, CO 80523-1372
(970) 491-7621
CIVE322 BASIC HYDROLOGY
Homework N. 7

Problem 1. Use the kinematic wave equations to determine the outflow hydrograph at the outlet
of a channel reach of the following characteristics: rectangular cross section of width B = 75 ft,
length L = 50000 ft, bed slope So = 0.001 and Manning’s roughness factor n = 0.035. The inflow
hydrograph is tabulated below. Assume there is no lateral inflow (i.e., q = 0).

Inflow Time Inflow Rate (cfs)

(min)
0 2000
12 2089.37
24 2119.82
36 2120.47
48 2107.67
60 2090.22
72 2072.57
84 2056.75
96 2043.47
108 2032.78
120 2024.42
132 2018.00
144 2013.16
156 2009.56
168 2006.90

2140
2120
2100
Discharge (cfs)

2080
2060
2040
2020
2000
1980
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
TIme (min)
 Kinematic waves govern the flow when inertial and pressure forces are not important.
Thus, in a kinematic wave the gravity and frictional terms are balanced, so the flow does not
accelerate appreciably. For these kinds of waves, the energy grade line is parallel to the channel
bottom.

The continuity and momentum equations governing kinematic waves are,

∂Q ∂ A
+ =q
∂x ∂ t

So = S f
The momentum equation above is equivalent to a rating curve of the following form:

Q = bAm
Manning equation is one such rating curve,

1.49 S f
Q= R2/3 A
n
It can be shown that the celerity of kinematic waves, ck, is,

dx dQ
ck = = = bmAm −1
dt dA
Assuming a wide rectangular channel, like the one of this problem, Manning equation
reduces to:

1.49 B S f
Q= y5/3
n
and thus, the kinematic wave celerity is,
 dQ 5 1.49 S f 2 / 3 5
ck = = ( y )= V
Bdy 3 n 3
If an observer moves with the kinematic wave flow at a speed equal to the kinematic
wave celerity, the observer would see the flow rate increase at a rate equal to the lateral inflow
rate, q.

dQ ∂Q 1 ∂Q
= + =q
dx ∂x ck ∂t
Thus, for conditions of no lateral inflow like those of the problem at hand, that is, for q = 0,
kinematic waves do not attenuate; they simply translate downstream without dissipation. Routing
of kinematic waves for those cases reduces to determining the time of travel of the wave through
a reach,

x t t
L = x − xo = ∫ dx = ∫ ck dt = ck ∫ dt = ck (t − to ) = ck Δt
xo to to

L
Δt =
ck
The table below presents the routing procedure for this simple kinematic wave problem.
The problem is reduced to defining the time of arrival at the downstream end of the reach of
individual kinematic waves associated with individual discharges. To do so,

A.- For each value of discharge, determine the corresponding flow depth by solving Manning
equation:

Qn
y=( )3 / 5
1.49 B So
For Q = 2000 cfs
y = ((2000) 0.035/1.49/75/sqrt(0.001))^(3/5) = 5.999 ft

B.- For each kinematic wave (i.e., discharge) compute corresponding kinematic celerity using

dQ 5 1.49 S o 2 / 3 5
ck = = ( y )= V
Bdy 3 n 3
ck = (5/3) (1.49sqrt(0.001)(5.999)^(2/3)/0.035 = 7.408 ft/s

C.- For each wave, compute time of travel using,

L
Δt =
ck
Δt = (50000 ft)/(7.408 ft/s) = 112.489 min

D.- For each wave compute time of arrival at downstream end as,

t = to + Δt
For Q = 2000 cfs starting at to = 0, the time of arrival t = 112.489 min

This procedure should be repeated for all values of the inflow hydrograph. The results are
tabulated and graphed below. Observe the steepening of the rising limb and the flattening of the
receding limb of the hydrograph.

Inflow Time Qi (cfs) y (ft) Ck (f/s) Δt (min) Outflow Qo (cfs)

(min) Time (min)
0 2000 5.999434344 7.408105814 112.489394 112.489394 2000
12 2089.376006 6.158887474 7.538793023 110.539357 122.539357 2089.376006
24 2119.821057 6.212577631 7.582542609 109.9015695 133.9015695 2119.821057
36 2120.477685 6.21373219 7.583482018 109.8879553 145.8879553 2120.477685
48 2107.678143 6.191200698 7.56513871 110.1544023 158.1544023 2107.678143
60 2090.223522 6.160386294 7.540016061 110.5214268 170.5214268 2090.223522
72 2072.574363 6.129123616 7.514485095 110.8969308 182.8969308 2072.574363
84 2056.756058 6.101013397 7.491491529 111.2373057 195.2373057 2056.756058
96 2043.479684 6.07735355 7.472110891 111.5258252 207.5258252 2043.479684
108 2032.788467 6.05825599 7.456449037 111.760079 219.760079 2032.788467
120 2024.420852 6.043281003 7.44415658 111.9446272 231.9446272 2024.420852
132 2018.006765 6.031785351 7.434713301 112.0868149 244.0868149 2018.006765
144 2013.167595 6.02310267 7.427576802 112.1945091 256.1945091 2013.167595
156 2009.562045 6.016627983 7.422252873 112.2749854 268.2749854 2009.562045
 2140
2120
Discharge (cfs) 2100
2080
Qi (cfs)
2060
Qo (cfs)
2040
2020
2000
1980
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time (min)