Module-3

Unit Hydrograph

3.1 Introduction

A Unit Hydrograph is defined as the hydrograph of direct runoff resulting from one unit
depth (1 cm) of rainfall excess occurring uniformly over the basin and at a uniform rate for a


specified duration (D hours). If it is D hr rain, intensity of the rainfall is cm/hr. The following


steps are involved in the methodology of unit hydrograph.

1. Select the duration D, because the unit hydrograph changes with duration. For a rainfall
of longer duration, the intensity would be smaller and will have larger time base. And for
a rainfall of smaller duration, the intensity would be larger and may have smaller time
base as shown in figure 3.1.
Here, the area under the hydrograph equal to
rain falling over the catchment. An ideal or
theoretical hydrograph is assumed to be
triangular shape. Volume of the rain falling
over the catchment is equal to the volume of
the DRH at outlet point.
To select the duration, we have to select what
is the most likely rainfall on the catchment. For
Figure 3.1 Variation of
finding this relation,
hydrograph with intensity of
Find the basin lag (i.e., the centre of the rainfall
hydrograph to the centre of the ERH) Duration is
1/3rd to 1/5th of the lag. Typically, 1/4th of the lag is taken as the good duration of
hydrograph.
2. Select few storms which occur with a duration D, i.e., duration 10% of D (0.9D to 1.1D)
3. The rainfall excess of the selected storm should be high. A range of ER values of 1.0 to
4.0 cm is sometimes preferred.
4. Measure the runoff at outlet point
 5. Plot the DRH for the different selected storms
6. Take the average of all these values. Best way is to take average of all the peaks.

Once the unit hydrograph is plotted, this can be used to estimate runoff for any given rainfall.

3.2 Applications of the Unit Hydrograph

Calculation of direct runoff hydrograph in catchment due to a given rainfall event (with
recorded rainfall values), is easy if a unit hydrograph is readily available. Remember that a unit
hydrograph is constructed for a unit rainfall falling for a certain T-hours, where T may be any
conveniently chosen time duration. The effective rainfall hyetograph, for which the runoff is to
be calculated using the unit hydrograph, is obtained by deducting initial and infiltration losses
from the recorded rainfall. This effective rainfall hyetograph is divided into blocks of T-hour
duration. The runoff generated by the effective rainfall for each T-hour duration is then obtained
and summed up to produce the runoff due to the total duration. Estimating direct runoff for any
given rainfall using unit hydrograph can be obtained using several ways.

1. If D hr ERH with intensity I cm/hr (here, I≠ )



(If I= , whatever unit hydrograph we derived,


directly it gives DRH) and u1, u2, u3… are the

ordinates of unit hydrograph, then direct runoff
ordinate can be found by using the following
table.

Duration (t) UH(u) DRH(u×(I/D))

0 0 0
D u1 u1×(I/D)
2D u2 u2×(I/D)
Figure 3.2 hydrograph with
3D u3 u3×(I/D)
intensity I cm/hr
4D u4 u4×(I/D)

Here the duration of the rainfall is same as that of the duration of the Unit hydrograph.

2. If the duration of the rainfall is more or less than the duration of the unit hydrograph,
Here the Effective Rainfall Hyetograph is of duration 2D. We have to find out the DRH
 of rainfall 2D and intensity I cm/hr. In this case, the concept of time invariance and the
principle of linearity are used. It leads to the method of superposition (i.e. plot the
hydrograph of different durations
individually and then add to get the total
hydrograph as shown in figure 3.3). The
direct runoff ordinates can be obtained
by using the following table.

Duration
(t) UH(u) shifted 'u' DRH
0 0 0 0
D u1 0 u1
2D u2 u1 u1+u2
3D u3 u2 u2+u3 Figure 3.3 Method of
4D u4 u3 u3+u4 superposition for same intensity

If the unit hydrograph ordinates are given for a duration D and needs to find out the DRH
for nD then, lag (shifting) the unit hydrograph ordinates by nD hr, then add those values to
obtain direct runoff hydrograph.

3. If we want to find the DRH with the Effective

rainfall hyetographs of different intensities with
duration D, then follow the method of superposition
similar to the above case 2.

Duration (t) UH(u) shifted 'u' DRH

0 0 0 0
D u1 0 u1×(I1/D)
2D u2 u1 U2(I1/D)+u1(I2/D)
3D u3 u2 …

These are the cases when the duration of the rainfall is

same as the duration of the unit hydrograph. Figure 3.4 Method of
superposition for different
intensity
3.3 Conversion of the duration of the unit hydrograph

Preparing unit hydrographs for a given catchment and covering wide range of durations is
usually not possible due to lack of data. Therefore, one needs to convert an existing or derived
unit hydrograph for one storm duration (say, D hours) to another (say, nD hours) that could be
either shorter (to better cope with spatial and intensity variations) or longer (to reduce the
computational work and also recognizing the coarseness of the available data). The following
two methods are used for the conversion of the duration of a given unit hydrograph:

1. Method of superposition

2. Summation curve (or S-curve) method.

1. Method of Superposition

If n number of D-hour unit hydrographs, each one separated from the previous one by D
hour, is added, one would obtain a characteristic hydrograph for n units of rainfall excess and
nD-hour duration. Dividing the ordinates of this characteristic hydrograph by n would,
obviously, yield a unit hydrograph (with unit rainfall excess) of duration equal to nD hours.

Fig. 3.5 Derivation of unit hydrograph of duration 2 t from t-h UH

Figure 3.5 illustrates the method of superposition which, obviously, requires n to be an integer.
When n is not an integer, the summation curve (or S-curve) method is to be used.

2. Summation curve (or S-curve) method.

The S-curve (or S-hydrograph) is a direct runoff hydrograph resulting from a continuous
effective rainfall of uniform intensity. The S-curve is obtained by adding together a series of unit
hydrographs of, say, D-hour duration each lagged by D hour in relation to the preceding one
(Fig. 3.6). The intensity of effective rainfall for this S-hydrograph would, therefore, be 1/D
cm/hr. This means that each S-curve applies to a specific duration D within which one unit of
direct runoff is generated. If the time base of the D-hour unit hydrograph is T hour then a
continuous rainfall producing one unit of runoff in every period of D hours would yield a
constant outflow at the end of T hours. Therefore, one needs to combine only T/D unit
hydrographs to produce an S-curve whose equilibrium flow rate Qe (in m3/s) would be the
product of area of the catchment basin and the intensity of the effective rainfall (or rainfall


excess) i.e., 1/D cm/hr [= m/hr]



ଵ
Qe = (A×106) ቂ ቃ m3/hr
ଵ଴଴஽

஺
= ቂ஽ × 10ସ ቃ m3/hr

where, A = area of the catchment basin in km2, and

D = duration in hours of the effective rainfall of the unit hydrograph.

ଵ ଵ ଵ
Alternatively, Qe = (A×106) ቂ ቃቂ × ቃ m3/s
ଵ଴଴஽ ଺଴ ଺଴

஺
= 2.78 m3/s
஽

The S-curve ordinates sometimes oscillate at and around the equilibrium discharge. This may be
due to the unit hydrograph (used for the derivation of the S-curve) which might have been
derived from storms not satisfying the requirements of an ideal storm for the derivation of the
unit hydrograph. An average S-curve can, however, be still drawn so as to attain the equilibrium
discharge rather smoothly.
 Figure 3.6 Illustration of S-hydrograph

The S-curve, obtained from a D-hour unit hydrograph of a catchment basin, can be used to obtain
unit hydrograph (for the same catchment, of course) of another duration, say, D′ hour as
explained in the following steps:

1. Draw two S-curves (obtained from a D-hour unit hydrograph) with their initial points
displaced on time axis by D′ hour, Fig. 3.7.

2. The effective rainfall hyetographs (ERH) producing these two S-curves are also drawn in the
same figure. The two ERH are also displaced by D′ hour. The difference between these two
effective rainfall hyetographs represents a storm of duration D′ with an intensity of 1/D cm/hr
and, hence, a rainfall of magnitude D′/D cm.

3. The difference between the ordinates of the two S-curves at any time [i.e. S(t)-S (t – D′)] gives
the ordinate of a direct runoff hydrograph at that time, Fig. 3.7. This hydrograph is, obviously,
for the storm of duration D′ with an intensity of 1/D cm/hr having rainfall excess of D′/D cm
which is the runoff volume.

4. Compute the ordinates of the D′-hour unit hydrograph by multiplying the S-curve differences
[i.e., S(t) – S(t – D′)] with the ratio D/D′.

Figure 3.7 Derivation of D′ hour UH by S-curve method

Earlier, it has been stated that one requires combining T/D unit hydrographs suitably for
obtaining a S-curve. However, one can construct S-curve without requiring to tabulate and
adding T/D unit hydrographs with successive time lags of D hours. The difference of two S-
curves (derived from a D-hour unit hydrograph) lagged by D hour itself is nothing but the D-
hour unit hydrograph itself. Therefore, the ordinate U(t) of a D-hour unit hydrograph at any time
t is given as

U(t) = S(t) – S (t – D) -----------------------------(1)

or S(t) = U(t) + S(t – D) --------------------------(2)

The term S(t – D) is called the S-curve addition which is an ordinate of S-curve itself but at time
(t – D). It may be noted that for t ≤ D.

S(t) = U(t)

And for t > D, one has to use Eq. (2) for constructing S-curve.

3.4 Unit hydrograph from a complex storm

When suitable simple isolated storms are not available, data from complex storms of long
duration will have to be used in UH derivation. The problem is to decompose a measured
composite flood hydrograph into its component DRHs and base flow. a common UH of
appropriate duration is assumed to exist. Consider a rainfall excess made up of three consecutive
durations of D-h and effective rainfall values of R1, R2, and R3. By base flow separation of the
resulting composite DRH is obtained (Fig. 3.8).

Figure 3.8 Unit hydrograph from a complex storm

Let the ordinates of the composite DRH be drawn at a time interval of D-h. At various time
intervals 1D, 2D, 3D,… from the start of the ERH, let the ordinates of the UH be u1, u2, u3,...and
the ordinates of the composite DRH be Q1, Q2, Q3,… then

Q1 = R1u1
Q2 = R1u2+R2u1

Q3 = R1u3+R2u2+R3u1

………………so on.

From the above equations, the values of u1, u2, u3 … can be determined. However this method
suffers from the disadvantage that the errors propagate and increase as the calculations proceed.

Example 1: Given the ordinates of a 4-h Unit hydrograph as below derive the ordinate of a 12-h
UH for the same catchment.

Time(h) 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44
Ordinate 0 20 80 130 150 130 90 52 27 15 5 0
of 4-h
UH

Solution:

Ordinates of 4-h UH (m3/s) DRH of 3 cm ordinate of 12 h

Time Lag by Lag by in 12 h (m3/s) UH (m3/s)
(h) UH 4h 8h Col (ii)+(iii)+(iv) Col (v) /3
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi)
0 0 0 0.0
4 20 0 20 6.7
8 80 20 0 100 33.3
12 130 80 20 230 76.7
16 150 130 80 360 120.0
20 130 150 130 410 136.7
24 90 130 150 370 123.3
28 52 90 130 272 90.7
32 27 52 90 169 56.3
36 15 27 52 94 31.3
40 5 15 27 47 15.7
44 0 5 15 20 6.7
48 0 5 5 1.7
52 0 0
 Figure 3.9 Construction of 12 hr UH from a 4 hr UH

Example 2: Assume that a 6-hour unit hydrograph (UH) of a catchment has been derived, whose
ordinates are given in the following table and a corresponding graphical representation is shown
in Figure 3.10.

Time 0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84
(hrs)
Ordinates 0 5 15 50 120 201 173 130 97 66 40 21 9 3.5 2
of UH
 250

200
Discharge(Cumec)

150

100

50

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Time (hrs)

Figure 3.10 A 6 hr unit hydrograph

Assume further that the effective rainfall hyetograph (ERH) for a given storm on the region has
been given as in the following table:

This means that in the first 6 hours, 2cm excess rainfall has been recorded, 4cm in the next 6
hours, and 3cm in the next.

The direct runoff hydrograph can then be calculated by the three separate hyetographs for the
three excess rainfalls by multiplying the ordinates of the hydrograph by the corresponding
rainfall amounts. Since the rainfalls of 2cm, 4cm and 3cm occur in successive 6-hour intervals,
the derived DRH corresponding to each rainfall is delayed by 6 hours appropriately.

These have been shown in the figures indicated.

Figure 3.11 DRH corresponding to 2 cm excess rainfall in 0-6 hours

Figure 3.12 DRH corresponding to 4 cm excess rainfall in 6-12 hours

 Figure 3.13 DRH corresponding to 3 cm excess rainfall in 12-18 hours

The final hydrograph is found out by adding the three individual hydrographs, as shown in
Figure 3.14.

1600

1400

1200
Discharge(Cumec)

1000
DRH for 0-6 hr rainfall
800
DRH for 6-12 hr rainfall
600
DRH for 12-18 hr rainfall
400 Summed up DRH

200

0
0 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96

Time(hrs)

Figure 3.14 Final direct runoff hydrograph derived from summation of individual DRHs
The calculations to generate the direct runoff hydrograph (DRH) from a given UH and ERH can
be conveniently done using a spreadsheet program, like the Microsoft XL.

A sample calculation for the example solved graphically is given in the following table. Note the
6 hour shift of the DRHs in the second and subsequent hours.

Direct runoff Direct runoff Direct runoff Direct

UH due to 2 cm ER due to 4 cm ER due to 3 cm ER runoff
ordinates in first 6 hrs in second 6 hrs in third 6 hrs hydrograph
Time(hrs) (m3/s) (i) (ii) (iii) (i)+(ii)+(iii)
0 0 0 0 0 0
6 5 10 0 0 10
12 15 30 20 0 50
18 50 100 60 15 175
24 120 240 200 45 485
30 201 402 480 150 1032
36 173 346 804 360 1510
42 130 260 692 603 1555
48 97 194 520 519 1233
54 66 132 388 390 910
60 40 80 264 291 635
66 21 42 160 198 400
72 9 18 84 120 222
78 3.5 7 36 63 106
84 2 4 14 27 45
90 0 8 10.5 18.5
96 0 0 6 6

The last column in the above table gives the ordinates of the DRH produced by the ERH. If the
base flow is known or estimated, then this should be added to the DRH to obtain the 6-houly
ordinates of the flood hydrograph.

Example 3: Given the ordinates of a 4-h UH as below derive the ordinate of a 12-h UH for the
same catchment using S-Curve method.
Time(h) 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44
Ordinate 0 20 80 130 150 130 90 52 27 15 5 0
of 4-h
UH

Solution:

Ordinates S-Curve
Time of 4-h S-Curve ordinate S-Curve lagged Col(vi)/(12/4)
(hr) UH addition (ii)+(iii) by 12 hr Col(iv)-Col(v) 12 hr UH
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) ordinates
0 0 - 0 - 0 0.0
4 20 0 20 - 20 6.7
8 80 20 100 - 100 33.3
12 130 100 230 0 230 76.7
16 150 230 380 20 360 120.0
20 130 380 510 100 410 136.7
24 90 510 600 230 370 123.3
28 52 600 652 380 272 90.7
32 27 652 679 510 169 56.3
36 15 679 694 600 94 31.3
40 5 694 699 652 47 15.7
44 0 699 699 679 20 6.7
48 699 699 694 5 1.7
52 699 699 699 0 0.0