1.

Direct Runoff
2. Interflow
3. Base Flow CATCHMENTS CHARACTERISTICS

RAINFALL CHARACTERISTICS

COMPONENT OF RUNOFF AFFECTING

Topic 3
SURFACE RUNOFF

STREAM FLOW INFILTRATION

MEASUREMENT

VELOCITY – AREA Phi-index- 

METHOD Method
1. Mean-section
2. Mid-section
INTRODUCTION

 If the amount of water falling

on the ground is greater than
the infiltration rate of the
surface, runoff or overland
flow will occur. Runoff
specifically refers to the
water leaving an area of
drainage and flowing across
the land surface to points of
lower elevation.
Runoff flowing into a stormwater
drain
COMPONENT OF RUNOFF
 COMPONENT OF RUNOFF
Water used by plants and
Water evaporated directly returned to the atmosphere
from surface puddles
Transpiration
Evaporation Evapotranspiration
Water retained by the soil Soil water

water running on
the surface Overland flow
Direct runoff

Water flowing underground but

feeding the water course Interflow
Groundwater accreditation

Water lost to groundwater

3.1 COMPONENT OF RUNOFF
 Runoff is one of the important components of hydrologic
cycle. The runoff is defined as that part of precipitation
which flows through the rivers or streams.
 A part of precipitation goes to atmosphere by way of
evaporation and transpiration. The remaining part goes to
the stream or river of the catchment as:
 i. Direct runoff : It is part of runoff which enters the stream
immediately after the precipitation
 ii. Interflow /subsurface flow : It is that amount of rainfall,
which first goes into the soil and then starts flowing laterally
towards nearby streams or rivers without joining the water
table.
 iii. Base flow : It is the delayed flow, defined as that part of
rainfall which after falling over the ground surface,
percolated into the soil and meets to the water table/ground
water and finally joining to the streams or oceans.
CATCHMENT AREA
CATCHMENTS AREA
 The area of land draining in to a stream or a water course
at a given location is called catchment area / drainage area
/ drainage basin / watershed.
 A catchment area is separated from its neighboring areas
by a ridge called divide / watershed.
 A watershed is a geographical unit in which the hydrological
cycle and its components can be analyses. The equation is
applied in the form of water-balance equation to a
geographical region, in order to establish the basic
hydrologic characteristics of the region. Usually a watershed
is defined as the area that appears, on the basis of
topography, to contribute all the water that passes through
a given cross section of a stream.
FACTORS AFFECTING RUNOFF
 Catchment characteristics
 Size of watershed
 Shape of watershed
 Slope of watershed
 Watershed orientation
 Land use
 Soil moisture
 Soil types
 Topographic characteristics
 Rainfall characteristics
STREAM FLOW MEASUREMENT

Stream discharge can be measured using;

(1) Volumetric Gauging (buckets)
(2) Float Gauging,
(3) Current Metering,
(4) Dilution Gauging (Constant Injection Or Salt Gulp
Methods),
(5) Structural Methods (weirs, notches, orifices & flumes)
(6) Slope-area Methods.
(7) Rating Curve Indirect method

The choice of method depends on the characteristics of the stream

and on the application.
FLOW ESTIMATION: BUCKETS
FLOW ESTIMATION: FLOAT

Suitable for straight channel, V = L/T

FLOW ESTIMATION: WEIRS
FLOW ESTIMATION: STAFF GAUGE
FLOW ESTIMATION: CURRENT METERS
Cup-type

Propeller type

Inductance
FLOW ESTIMATION(DILUTION GAUGING): SALT
GULP
STREAMFLOW MEASUREMENT

 i. Velocity-area method
 ii. Mean section

 iii. Mid section

 EXAMPLE
Using the rating of the current meter as V = 0.05 + 0.8N, where V
is in m/s and N is in rev/s, compute the corresponding stream
flow to the following observations shown in table below.
Distance from Depth (m) Current meter Revolutions Time(s)
bank (m) depth (m)
0.6 1.0 0.6d 15 50
1.2 4.0 0.2d 30 55
0.8d 48 53
2.0 5.5 0.2d 40 46
0.8d 60 54
3.0 6.5 0.2d 45 48
0.8d 67 52
3.8 4.5 0.2d 33 54
0.8d 51 50
4.5 2.5 0.2d 26 48
0.8d 44 55
5.0 1.0 0.6d 20 47
 MEAN METHOD
Distance Depth Current Revolutions Time(s) Revolution Velocity Width Average Average Area Flowrate,
from bank (m) meter /sec (N) (m/s) (m) depth Velocity Q (m3/s)
(m) depth (m) (m/s)
(m)
0.6 1.0 0.6d 15 50 0.3 0.29 0.6 0.5 0.15 0.3 0.045
1.2 4.0 0.2d 30 55
0.8d 48 53
2.0 5.5 0.2d 40 46
0.8d 60 54
3.0 6.5 0.2d 45 48
0.8d 67 52
3.8 4.5 0.2d 33 54
0.8d 51 50
4.5 2.5 0.2d 26 48
0.8d 44 55
5.0 1.0 0.6d 20 47
 MEAN METHOD
Distance Depth Current Revolutions Time(s) Revolution Velocity Width Average Average Area Flowrate,
from bank (m) meter /sec (N) (m/s) (m) depth Velocity Q (m3/s)
(m) depth (m) (m/s)
(m)
0.6 1.0 0.6d 15 50 0.3 0.29 0.6 0.5 0.15 0.3 0.045
1.2 4.0 0.2d 30 55 0.55 0.64 0.6 2.5 0.47 1.5 0.705
0.8d 48 53 0.91
2.0 5.5 0.2d 40 46 0.87 0.85 0.8 4.75 0.75 3.8 2.85
0.8d 60 54 1.11
3.0 6.5 0.2d 45 48 0.94 0.94 1.0 6.0 0.9 6.0 5.4
0.8d 67 52 1.29
3.8 4.5 0.2d 33 54 0.61 0.73 0.8 5.5 0.84 4.4 3.70
0.8d 51 50 1.02
4.5 2.5 0.2d 26 48 0.54 0.59 0.7 3.5 0.66 2.45 1.62
0.8d 44 55 0.8
5.0 1.0 0.6d 20 47 0.43 0.39 0.5 1.75 0.49 0.88 0.43

14.75
 MID METHOD
Distance Depth Current Revolutions Time(s) Revolution Velocity Width (m) Average Area Flowrate, Q
from bank (m) meter /sec (N) (m/s) Width (m3/s)
(m) depth (m) Area
(m)
0.6 1.0 0.6d 15 50 0.3 0.29 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.174
1.2 4.0 0.2d 30 55
0.8d 48 53
2.0 5.5 0.2d 40 46
0.8d 60 54
3.0 6.5 0.2d 45 48
0.8d 67 52
3.8 4.5 0.2d 33 54
0.8d 51 50
4.5 2.5 0.2d 26 48
0.8d 44 55
5.0 1.0 0.6d 20 47
 MID METHOD
Distance Depth Current Revolutions Time(s) Revolution Velocity Width (m) Average Area Flowrate, Q
from bank (m) meter /sec (N) (m/s) Width (m3/s)
(m) depth (m) Area
(m)
0.6 1.0 0.6d 15 50 0.3 0.29 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.174
1.2 4.0 0.2d 30 55 0.55 0.64 0.6 0.7 2.8 1.79
0.8d 48 53 0.91
2.0 5.5 0.2d 40 46 0.87 0.85 0.8 0.9 4.95 4.21
0.8d 60 54 1.11
3.0 6.5 0.2d 45 48 0.94 0.94 1.0 0.9 5.85 5.50
0.8d 67 52 1.29
3.8 4.5 0.2d 33 54 0.61 0.73 0.8 0.75 3.38 2.47
0.8d 51 50 1.02
4.5 2.5 0.2d 26 48 0.54 0.59 0.7 0.6 1.5 0.89
0.8d 44 55 0.8
5.0 1.0 0.6d 20 47 0.43 0.39 0.5 0.25 0.25 0.1

15.13
VELOCITY AREA METHOD
 The quantity of water flowing in a stream is called stream
flow or stream discharge. The discharge is expressed in
terms of volume per unit time passing any given point in the
stream. The SI unit for discharge is cubic meters per second
(m³/s). Stream discharge varies with time and season. In dry
season associated with little rainfall, the stream flow is low.
But in wet season with heavy rainfall, the stream flow
increases tremendously. Low flow rates in stream can cause
some environmental problems especially if the stream
receives discharges from waste water treatment plant
because there is less water in the stream to dilute the waste
water. Low stream discharges also cause problems if the
stream is used as a source for water supply.
Based on current meter gauging data given in
table below, compute the stream flow for Sg.
Jelai by using velocity-area method. Given V =
0.5N + 0.04
Distance from left Vertical Stream Time (s) Revolution
water edge (m) depth (m) depth
(m)
1.0 0.20 0.6D 50 9
2.0 0.36 0.6D 50 14
4.0 0.82 0.6D 50 25
6.0 1.30 0.2D 50 34
0.8D 50 31
8.0 1.44 0.2D 50 39
0.8D 50 33
10.0 1.32 0.2D 50 32
0.8D 50 29
12.0 0.84 0.2D 50 22
PHI INDEX – Ø METHOD
The Ø- index is the mean precipitation rate
occurring for the duration of the rainfall event. Ø-
index is the average rainfall intensity above
which rainfall volume is equal to runoff volume
(shaded area) shown in Figure 3.4 . The
unshaded area below the line is also measured
rainfall, which is not runoff, represents loss due
to infiltration. Ø- index represents the combined
effects of interception, depression storage and
infiltration. However , infiltration is the largest
loss compared to other losses.

Ø- index = Total infiltration / Rainfall duration

Figure 1. Ø- index
EXAMPLE

A storm event with 100 mm precipitation

produced a direct runoff of 58 mm over a
certain catchment area. Estimate the Ø- index
for the catchment using the rainfall data given
below. Compute the rainfall excess.
SOLUTION
1.Total infiltration = 100 -58 = 42 mm = 4.2 cm
2.Assume time of rainfall excess = 8 hrs (rainfall duration)
10
3.Therefore, Ø- index = Total infiltration / Rainfall duration
= 4.2 / 8.0
= 0.525 cm / hr
4. But this Ø- index will make the first and eight hour
rainfalls
ineffective since their values are less than 0.525 cm/hr.
5. Therefore, select a new time of rainfall excess, adjust the
infiltration, and calculate the Ø- index again.
New time of rainfall excess = 6 hours.
Adjusted infiltration based on 6 hrs rainfall excess,
 = 100.0 – 4.0 – 5.0 – 58.0
= 33 mm = 3.3 cm
6. Then, Actual Ø- index = 33 / 6.0
= 5.5 mm/ hr
The rainfall excess is computed by subtracting the rainfall reading and
the Ø- index. The result are tabulated below.

Time (hr) Rainfall (mm) Ø- index. Rainfall

mm/hr excess
1 4.0 5.5 0
2 9.0 5.5 3.5
3 15.0 5.5 9.5
4 23.0 5.5 17.5
5 18.0 5.5 12.5
6 16.0 5.5 10.5
7 10.0 5.5 4.5
8 5.0 5.5 0
Total 58 mm

7. Check : Total rainfall excess = 58 mm = Total runoff ( OK)

 EXAMPLE
From the table below, determine the Ø- index if
direct runoff is 58 mm
Time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
(Hour)
Rainfall 4.0 9.0 15.0 23.0 18.0 16.0 10.0 5.0
(mm)
2. Using table below, determine index-phi Ø, if
direct runoff is 15 cm
Time 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
(Hour)
Rainfall 2 10 2 8 2 1 0
(mm)