Chapter 3

Hydrograph Analysis
Hydrograph Analysis
Components of Runoff q (m3/s)

Hydrograph Characteristics
Unit Hydrograph Theory
Synthetic Unit Hydrographs t (hr)

The major characteristics of streamflow are:

its volume for a certain duration (month or year)
different uses & storage
its extreme values

drought & flood

 Hydrograph Analysis
i (mm/hr) q (m3/s)

t (hr) t (hr)
input system output
(Rainfall) (Basin) (Runoff)

Components of Runoff Interception, depression

Channel Precipitation storage, soil moisture are
LOSSES for streamflow.
Surface Runoff
The other portions of
Interflow
precipitation reach streams
Groundwater Flow sooner or later.
 COMPONENTS OF RUNOFF
interception Loss for streamflow
In a rainfall block

i (mm/hr)
storage

depression
i moisture
(mm/hr)
infiltration
soil ater
streamflow
streamflow
groundw
interflow surface runoff

channel precipitation

channel precipitation
In the channel surface flow
interflow

groundwater table
groundwater GW flow
flow
Hydrograph
Hydrograph  discharge vs time
(m3/s, lt/s) (min, hr, day, month, yr)
Sometimes plotted as stage vs time.

Q (m3/s, lt/s)

HYDROGRAPH

t (min, hr, day, week,

month, year)

The comparison of hydrographs with the corresponding

rainfall hyetographs provides a lot of information about the
rainfall-runoff relation of the basin.
Hydrograph
r
tL peak rate

inflection

q (m3/s)
points
crest
rising limb

The crest of the hydrograph (concentration falling limb

(recession curve)
curve)
(depletion curve)
is governed by the duration
surface runoff
(direct runoff)

of rainfall. A GW recession
base flow

tp t (hr)
tb

Shape of the rising limb = f(rainfall intensity & basin

characteristics s.a. infiltration
capacity, shape, slope, etc.)

Shape of falling limb = f(basin characteristics s.a. depression,

surface & subsurface storages)
Characteristics of the rainfall do not impact the falling limb
since recession starts after the end of the rainfall.
 channel precipitation
surface flow
interflow

Hydrograph shapes groundwater GW

groundwater
table

for different
flow flow

conditions Case 1 i<f Case 2 i<f

F<SMD F>SMD

i : rainfall rate

q (m3/s)

q (m3/s)
f : infiltration rate

F : total amount of
infiltrated water
t (hr)
SMD : soil moisture
t1 t2 t (hr) t1 t2

deficiency Case 3 i>f Case 4 i>f

F<SMD F>SMD

q (m3/s)
q (m3/s)
q (m3/s)

q (m3/s)
no rain
The shape of the
B 
A
hydrograph varies
t (hr) with the
orientation of the storm in t1 t2 t (hr) t1 t2 t (hr)

Basin A
Hydrograph Separation Techniques

Separation line between surface runoff & baseflow is not

definite & varies widely depending on the existing
conditions.

Inaccuracies in separation are not very important for many

storms, since the max. rate of discharge is only slightly
affected by the base flow.

Methods for seperation:

Simple Method
Approximate Method
Barnes (Semi-log) Method
 Seperation Methods
Q 9
1
(m3/s) 8
1. Barnes (Semi-log) Method
7
6
5 q q q q
4 (m3/s) (m3/s) 1 Total flow (SF+SSF+BF)
(m3/s) 3
(m /s)

q  q 0 e α1t
3

2
1 4 Base flow (BF)
3
1
9
2 (SF+SSF) (1) – (4)
8

4 q  q 0 eα2t
7
6 
5
4
2 5 Subsurface flow (SSF)
3

5 3 Surface flow (SF) (2) – (5)

2


1 t (hr)
E (linear)
Master depletion curve (representative depletion curve)

q = q0e-αt
log q = log q0 - t α log e
y a b x

y = a + bx (straight line on semi-log paper)

log q (m3/s)
master depletion line
Slope is related to
storage coefficient
of the basin

t (hr)
Unit Hydrograph (UH) Theory
Hydrograph of surface runoff (direct runoff) resulting from
1 cm of excess rainfall which is uniformly distributed over
basin area at a uniform rate during a specified period of time.

Depth = 1 mm for arid or semi-arid regions or if basin is small.

Given by Sherman in 1932.

It is assumed that the UH is representative for the runoff

process of a basin.

Baseflow should be separated from total flow to find direct

runoff, and all the losses should be subtracted from total
precipitation before any analysis.
Unit Hydrograph (UH) Theory
UH assumptions:
1. Excess rainfall is uniformly distributed within a
specified period of time.
2. Excess rainfall is uniformly distributed over the
basin area.
3. Base time of direct runoff is constant for a
specified duration of rainfall.
4. Ordinates of direct runoff hydrograph are directly
proportional to the total amount(depth) of direct
runoff ( = depth of excess rainfall) for the same
duration rainfalls.
5. Unit hdrograph is unique for a basin.
1. Linearity assumption
i
(Principle of superposition, (mm/hr)
ni
i
Principle of proportionality) t (hr)
tr

q hydrograph for
(m3/s) ni mm/hr rain
nq i
hydrograph for
i mm/hr rain
qi

t (hr)
tb (same base time)

2. Principle of time-invariance
When basin characteristics change  UH changes
 Unit Hydrograph

The unit hydrograph is denoted as dUHt ( d in cm, t in hr)

The depth of flow for a hydrograph  the area under the
hydrograph.
q
(m3/s)
V  q dt  q * Δt
d =  =
a 3 q3 q4 A A A
a 2 q2 qn an+1

t
q
a1 1
t t t
t (hr) ∑q = sum of ordinates of the
hydrograph (m3/s)
.. dt = time interval (s)
V = q*t A = basin area (m2)
d = depth (m)
Figure 7.18 Determination of volume of runoff
Unit Hydrographs of Different Durations

There are 2 methods to obtain UHs of different durations

for a basin when a UH of certain duration is known
The lagging method
S-curve method

The Lagging Method

A UH of certain duration can easily be obtained by using

the lagging method if a UH of different duration is known
for the basin.

The only condition is that the durations be multiples of

each other.
HYDROGRAPH ANALYSIS – lagging method
i
i
(mm/hr) 1 cm
(mm/hr)
1 cm
1 cm
t (hr)
tr t (hr)
tr tr
q
q
(m3/s)
(m3/s)

UHtr [UH2] UHtr [UH2]

tr hour lagged UHtr [UH2]

t (hr) t (hr)
tb tb tr

i
i (mm/hr)
(mm/hr) 1 cm 1 cm
1 cm 1 cm t (hr)
tr t (hr)
tr tr tr
addition of two hydrographs q
q addition of two hydrographs = 2UH2tr [2UH4]
3
(m /s) = 2UH2tr [2UH4] (m3/s)

UH2tr [UH4]
UHtr [UH2]
UHtr [UH2]
tr hour lagged UHtr
[UH2] tr hour lagged UHtr [UH2]
t (hr)
tb tr t (hr)
tb tr
UH2 + (2 hr lagged) UH2 = 2UH4
 HYDROGRAPH ANALYSIS – lagging method
i i i
(mm/hr) (mm/hr) (mm/hr)
1 cm 1 cm 1 cm 1 cm 1 cm 1 cm
t (hr) t (hr) t (hr)
tr tr tr tr tr tr
q q q
(m3/s) (m3/s) (m3/s)

UHtr UHtr UHtr

tr hour lagged UHtr tr hour lagged UHtr
2 tr hour lagged UHtr

t (hr) t (hr) t (hr)

tb tb tr tb tr tr

i
(mm/hr)
1 cm 1 cm 1 cm

tr tr tr
t (hr) UHt + (t hr. lag) UHt + (2t hr.lag) UHt =3UH3t
q
(m3/s)

addition of 3 hydrographs = 3UH3tr

UH3tr qp es
As tr es tp es
UHtr
tr hour lagged UHtr
2 tr hour lagged UHtr
tb es
t (hr)
tb tr tr
The S-Curve Method
It is used to obtain UHs of different durations that are
not multiples of each other.
S-curve is the hydrograph that would result from an
infinite series of UHs of tr durations, each delayed tr hours
wrt the preceding one.
In other words, it is the hydrograph of the runoff of
continuous rainfall with an intensity of 1/tr.
S-curve has the form of a mass curve, the discharge of the
basin becoming constant after the time of concentration.
Thus each S-curve is unique for a specified UH duration, in
a particular drainage basin.
 S - Curve
i i i
(mm/hr) (mm/hr) (mm/hr)
t (hr) t (hr) t (hr)
tr tr tr
tr tr tr
q q q
(m3/s) (m3/s) (m3/s)

t (hr) t (hr) t (hr)

tb tr tb tr tr tb tr

i
(mm/hr)
tr tr tr
t (hr) n = tb/tr
tr
q Qe = i * A (mm/hr * km2)
(m3/s)
Qe = d/tr * A = 1/tr * A
(d= 1 cm)
S - curve Qe
UHt r A
Q e  2.78
tr
t (hr) Qe = constant outflow (m3/s)
tr tb tr A = area of basin (km2)
tr = duratio of UH (hr)
S - Curve

There may be fluctuations around the constant flow Qe

due to a number of reasons.

One of them may be the duration of effective

precipitation, tr.

It may be shorter or longer than the actual effective

precipitation duration with uniform intensity.

Another one may be the uneven distribution of rainfall in

the basin or nonlinearities in the system.
 Obtaining UH using S-curve (t2 < t1)
i i i
(mm/hr) (mm/hr) (mm/hr)
t (hr) t (hr) t (hr)
t1 t1 t1 t1 t1 t1 t1 t1 t1
t2 S t1 t2
q St1 q q St1
(m3/s) (m3/s) (t2 hr. lag) St1 3
(m /s) (t2 hr. lag) St1

t2
t
Diff. = UHt
t t1 2
t
(hr) (hr)
t2 tb (hr)
t2

i
(mm/hr)
t (hr)
Diff. = St1 - (t2 h.l.) St1 t1 t1 t1
t2
q St1
(m3/s) (t2 hr. lag) St1
Diff. = (t2 . 1/t1) UHt2= t2/t1 UHt2
t1
UHt 2 = Diff.
t2
t1
UH t  [s t  (t 2 hr. lag) s t ] Diff. = tt2 UHt
2
2
t2 1 1 1
t
(hr)
t2 tb
7. Determine the representative UH for the basin by
averaging
the peak flows,
times to peak, and
time bases of the UHs.
The average UH is then sketched following the shapes of
the individual hydrographs.
8. Adjust the area under the curve to unit depth.
q
(m3/s)
qp2
qp3 . average peak

qp1
q +q +q
,t p1 + t +t
( p1 p2
3 p3 p2
3 p3
)
average unit
hydrograph

average base time

tb1 + tb2 + tb3
( 3 )
tp3 tp2 tp1 tb2 tb3 tb1 t (hr)
 Example UH1 of a basin is given.
Determine UH2 , UH3 and area of this basin by lagging method

Time UH1 1 hr.lag 2 hr.lag

(hr) m3/ UH1 2UH UH UH1 3UH3 UH
s 2 2 3
0 0 0 0
0 0
1 12 12 6
0 12 4
2 36 48 24
3 24 12 60 30 0 48 16

4 18 36 42 21 12 72 24
5 12 30 15
24 3 78 26
6 6 18 9 6
18 2 54 18
7 0 6 3
4
8 12 0 0 18 36 12

9 6 12 18 6

0 6 6 2
0 0 0

q 108 108 108

Σq* Δt Σq* Δt
UH1 + (1 hr. lag) UH1 = 2 UH2 d   A 
A d
UH1 + (1 hr. lag) UH1 + (2 hr. lag) UH1 = 3 UH3
108*1*3600  38.88*106 m2  38.88 km2
A 0.01
Example UH1 of a basin is given.
Determine UH2 and UH3 of this basin by S-curve method

 

1 h.l 2 h.l 3 h.l 4 h.l 5 h.l 6 h.l 2 h.l dif 3 h.l dif


t (hr) UH1
UH1 UH1 UH1 UH1 UH1 UH1 S1 S1 f UH S1 f UH3
2
0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 12 0  12 12 6  12 4

3
36

24
12

3
0

12 0
 48

72
0

12
48

60
24

30
 0
48

72
16

24

4 18
6
2
4
36 12 0
 90 48 42 21  12 78 26

6
12

6
18

12
24

18
36

24
12

36

0

12 0
102

108
72

90
30

18
15

9
 48

72
54

36
18

12

7 0 6 12 18 24
 36 12 108 102 6 3  90 18 6


0 6 12 18 24 36 108 108 0 0 10 6 2
8

9
0 6 12  18 24 108 108
2
10 0 0

1 1 8

UH  [S  (2 hr.lag) S ] UH  [S  (3 hr.lag) S ]
N = tb / tr = 7/1 2 1 1 3
3 1 1
2
=7
t1
UH t 2  [s  (t 2 hr. lag) st1 ]
t 2 t1
Synthetic Unit Hydrograph

Snyder Method
SCS Method
(developed by Soil Conservation Services, 1957)
Espey Method
Mockus Method
DSİ Synthetic Unit Hydrograph Method
Time Area Method