RUNOFF HYDROGRAPHS

The Unit Hydrograph Approach

STORM WATER HYDROGRAPHS
Graphically represent runoff rates vs. time
Peak runoff rates
Volume of runoff
Measured hydrographs are best
But not often available
Methods are available to develop a synthetic hydrograph
Use a unit hydrograph (UHG)
DEVELOPMENT OF RO HYDROGRAPHS
Most often interested in hydrographs at the watershed
outlet (and possibly some selected points in the
watershed).
We modify the rainfall hyetograph to reflect watershed
characteristics.
The volume under the effective rainfall hyetograph is equal
to the volume of surface runoff.
HYDROGRAPH COMPONENTS
q
p
is the maximum
flow rate on the
hydrograph
t
p
(time to peak) is the
time from the start of
they hydrograph to q
p
.
t
b
(base time) is the
total time duration of
the hydrograph.
HYDROGRAPH COMPONENTS
t
c
(time of concentration) time it takes water to flow from
the hydraulically most remote point in a watershed to
the watershed outlet
t
L
(lag time) is the average of the flow times from all
locations in the watershed and can be estimated as the
length of time from the center of mass of the first
effective rainfall block, to the peak of the runoff
hydrograph.
If each block of effective rainfall has a duration of D


2
D
t t
L p
+ =
UNIT HYDROGRAPH
Hydrograph of runoff resulting from a unit of rainfall
excess occurring at a uniform rate, uniformly
distributed over a watershed in a specified duration
of time.
UNIT HYDROGRAPHS
Assumptions:
Rainfall intensity is not considered
Linear relationship between stormwater runoff and rainfall
UHG is independent of antecedent conditions
Uniform rainfall distribution
DURATION OF THE UNIT HYDROGRAPH
Each unit hydrograph has a duration that is the
same as the duration of the rainfall excess that
produced it.
Conceptually can have an infinite # of hydrographs
corresponding to different durations.
Practically, a unit hydrograph is applied to rainfall
excesses of duration as much as 25% different than the
duration of the unit hydrograph.

HOW IS THE UNIT HYDROGRAPH USED?
For a unit hydrograph of
duration, D, the volume
underneath the hydrograph
is always 1, produced by 1
unit of excess rainfall.
A hydrograph for a block of
rainfall excess of any depth
is obtained by multiplying
the ordinates of the unit
hydrograph by the depth of
the rainfall excess block.
The result is the ordinates
of the runoff hydrograph.
HOW IS THE UNIT HYDROGRAPH USED?
Rainfall excess is divided into
blocks, each of a uniform
duration, D.
A component hydrograph for
each block of rainfall is
calculated.
The starting time for each
hydrograph coincides to the
starting time of the appropriate
block of rainfall excess.
All the component hydrographs
are added vertically to obtain
the total runoff hydrograph for
the storm.
1 i j
m j
1 i
i j
u r q
+
s
=
=
n i 0 u
m i 0 r
i
i
> =
> =
CHECKING THE VOLUME UNDER A UNIT
HYDROGRAPH.
A 5 . 60
q t
V
i
A
=
Where:
At is the duration time
increment of the
hydrograph (min)
Eq
i
is the sum of the
ordinates of the runoff
hydrograph (cfs)
A is the area (acres)
DERIVING UNIT HYDROGRAPHS
Unit hydrographs can be derived from
records of observed rainfall and streamflow
BUT
For small watersheds, synthetic unit
hydrographs are generally used.
Synthetic unit hydrographs provide
ordinates of the unit hydrograph as a
function of t
p
, q
p
and a mathematical or
empirical shape description.

ESTIMATING THE TIME PARAMETERS
Time of concentration (t
c
)
For some areas, we can sum the time for various
flow segments as the water flows toward the
watershed outlet.
Segments
Overland flow
Shallow channel flow
Flow in open channels.

=
=
n
1 i
i
i
c
v
L
t
LAG TIME, T
L
SCS Equation to calculate
time lag
L = hydraulic length of
watershed (feet)
S = curve number parameter
(inches)
Y = average land slope of the
watershed (%)
t
l
= time lag (hours)

5 . 0
7 . 0 8 . 0
L
Y 1900
) 1 S ( L
t
+
=
TIME TO PEAK AND DURATION

Duration of rainfall excess
should be 1/5 to 1/3 t
p
.
Base time, t
b
t
b
=2.67 t
p
.
Some use t
b
= 5t
p
Some use t
b
=
2
D
t t
L p
+ =
ESTIMATION OF PEAK FLOW PARAMETERS
General form


For a triangular unit
hydrograph with
t
b
=2.67 t
p

Where:
t
p
is the time to peak (hrs)
q
p
is peak flow (cfs)
A is watershed area (square
miles)

p
p
t
KA
q =
p
p
t
A 484
q =
SHAPES OF UNIT HYDROGRAPHS
SCS uses a dimensionless unit hydrograph
(Figure 3.34).
Also have a triangular unit hydrograph derived
to have the same t
p
and q
p
as the
dimensionless hydrograph.
If either of these are used the q
p
and t
p
are
related through
p
p
t
A 484
q =
TRIANGULAR HYDROGRAPHS
Good approximation for peak and duration.
Find the q
p
and t
p
of the unit hydrograph.
Multiply q
p
by the depth of the rainfall excess block.
Use the t
b
approximation to find the duration of the
hydrograph.
EXAMPLE 5.10 IN TEXT (MODIFIED)

Solution:
HSG = D / Commercial T. 5.1 CN = 95
S = 0.53 in.
Assume AMC = II Q = 1.96 in. of runoff
Find points to develop the unit hydrograph
t
l
= 0.75 hr (45 min)
t
p
= 1.25 hr (75 min)
t
b
= 3.33 hr (200 min)
q
p
= 302 cfs / 1 in. of runoff
Plot unit hydrograph
Check area under the triangle 1 in.
Q

(
c
f
s
)

T(min)
600
100
300
150 t
b
= 200
t
p
= 75
50
200
400
q
p
= 302.5 cfs
Volume under triangle = (302.5 cfs x 4,500 sec) / 2 +
[(302.5 x (12,000 4,500 sec)] / 2 = 1,812,000 ft
3

Surface runoff depth = 1,812,000 ft
3
/ 21,780,000 ft
2
=
0.08 ft = 1.0 in. ok
EXAMPLE 5.10 IN TEXT
Solution:
q
p 2.5 rain
= 302.5 cfs x 1.96 in. of SRO
q
p 2.5 rain
= 592.9 cfs
Plot storm hydrograph
Check area under the triangle 1.96 in.
T(min)
Q (cfs)
Surface runoff depth
= 1.96 in. ok
600
100
300
150 t
b
= 200
t
p
= 75
50
200
400
q
p
= 592.9 cfs
Volume under triangle
= 3,557,400 ft
3

AGSM 335
Homework #6
SCS DIMENSIONLESS UNIT HYDROGRAPH
K
t
t
1
p
p
e
t
t
) p ( q
) t ( q
(
(

=

92 . 1
p p
V
t q
5 . 6 K
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
Haan equation




Where:
q
p
is peak flow (in/hr)
To convert from cfs to in/hr
divide by A (acres) and
1.008.
t
p
is time to peak (hrs)
V is volume under the
hydrograph (V=1 for unit
hydrograph)
For a unit hydrograph K should
be close to 3.77
EXAMPLE 5.11 IN TEXT USING SCS UHG
Rainfall excess for each time block of
duration 15 minutes 0.17, 1.10, 0.84
t
p
=52.5 minutes q
p
= 432 cfs
Convert q
p
to in/hr.
Calculate K



76 . 3
1
875 . 86 . 0
5 . 6 5 . 6
92 . 1
92 . 1
=
|
.
|

\
|

=
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
V
t q
K
p p
COORDINATES OF THE UHG
For each time block of duration D, calculate q(t)
using:


These are the ordinates of the UHG.
For each excess rainfall block multiply the depth of
the excess rainfall by all the ordinates of the unit
hydrograph.
Each hydrograph should begin at the time the
rainfall excess block begins. i.e. If the rainfall
excess block occurred at 30 minutes, the
hydrograph should start at 30 minutes.
432
875 .
) (
76 . 3
875 .
1

=

t
e
t
t q
CREATING THE TOTAL RUNOFF HYDROGRAPH
Add the contents of each row (not including the UH
ordinates) to get the total runoff at each time t.
Plot t vs. Q.
UNIT AND RUNOFF HYDROGRAPH
CALCULATIONS
Example of a Unit Hydrograph
qp 432 cfs
K 3.76
tp 0.875 hr
Excess Runoff (in)
t q(t) 0.17 0.84 0.71 0.24 Runoff (cfs)
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.25 57.04 9.70 0.00 9.70
0.50 263.93 44.87 47.91 0.00 92.78
0.75 414.04 70.39 221.70 40.50 0.00 332.59
1.00 417.11 70.91 347.79 187.39 13.69 619.79
1.25 329.67 56.04 350.38 293.97 63.34 763.73
1.50 223.48 37.99 276.92 296.15 99.37 710.44
1.75 136.27 23.17 187.73 234.07 100.11 545.07
2.00 76.90 13.07 114.47 158.67 79.12 365.34
2.25 40.90 6.95 64.59 96.75 53.64 221.93
2.50 20.76 3.53 34.35 54.60 32.71 125.18
2.75 10.14 1.72 17.44 29.04 18.45 66.65
3.00 4.81 0.82 8.52 14.74 9.82 33.89
3.25 2.22 0.38 4.04 7.20 4.98 16.60
3.50 1.00 0.17 1.86 3.41 2.43 7.88
3.75 0.44 0.08 0.84 1.57 1.15 3.64
4.00 0.19 0.03 0.37 0.71 0.53 1.65
4.25 0.08 0.01 0.16 0.31 0.24 0.73
4.50 0.04 0.01 0.07 0.14 0.11 0.32
4.75 0.01 0.00 0.03 0.06 0.05 0.14
5.00 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.06
1.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.02
1.25 0.00 0.00 0.01
0.00 0.00
0.00
PLOTS OF UNIT AND RUNOFF HYDROGRAPHS
0.00
100.00
200.00
300.00
400.00
500.00
600.00
700.00
800.00
900.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00
R
u
n
o
f
f

(
c
f
s
)

Time (hrs)
Unit and Total Runoff Hydrographs
Unit Hydrograph
Total Runoff Hydrograph
BAEN 460
Homework #6