Autor, Gleizel J.

HYDROLOGY
BSCE-III
RESEARCH WORK
I. Methods of plotting hydrograph

1. Unit Hydrograph - a direct runoff

hydrograph that is a result of one unit
(one inch or one cm) of constant intensity
uniform rainfall occurring over the entire
watershed.

2. Storm Hydrograph - It shows the

relationship between rainfall and
discharge in a river.

3. Snyder’s Synthetic Unit

Hydrograph - retains all the features of
the unit hydrograph but does not require
rainfall-runoff data. It is derived from
model and experience, and it is used to
simulate basin diffusion by assessing the
basin lag based on a specific method.
 4. Annual Hydrograph - it shows the variation of rainfall daily, weekly, or 10
daily mean flow over a year.
5. Monthly Hydrograph - represents the variation of rainfall over a month.
6. Seasonal Hydrograph - It shows the variation of discharge in a season.
7. Flood Hydrograph - It shows the response of drainage after a duration of
rainfall.

II. Illustrate and discuss the typical hydrograph showing method of

separating direct and groundwater run-off.
Hydrograph Components
• Direct Runoff
o Surface Runoff
o Interflow
• Baseflow
o Delayed interflow
o Groundwater runoff

Elements of the Hydrograph

• Rising Limb
o Rising portion of the hydrograph (mostly surface runoff)
• Crest
o Zone of hydrograph around peak discharge
• Recession Limb
o Portion of the hydrograph after the peak discharge. Corresponds to
water released from storage in the basin.

Hydrograph Time Characteristics

• Time to Peak, tp
o Time from beginning of rising limb to peak discharge.
• Time of Concentration, tc
o Time required for water to travel from the hydraulically remotest
point in the basin to the basin outlet.
• Lag Time, tl
o Time between center of mass of effective rainfall and center of
mass of direct runoff hydrographs.
• Time Base, tb
o Duration of direct runoff hydrograph.
Baseflow is a type of streamflow that is
not directly caused by excessive rainfall
during a storm event. In other words, this
is the flow in the stream that would exist
in the absence of direct runoff from
rainfall. Estimating baseflow and direct
runoff is essential for understanding a
watershed's hydrology, including the
interaction of surface and subsurface
water, the impact of urbanization in runoff
generation, and the health of aquatic
habitat within a stream. The method given
here is appropriate for a single peak
hydrograph produced by a single storm
event.
Separating baseflow with the straight-line
method is only appropriate for single
storm events. Other strategies must be
employed for continuous hydrographs. To
separate baseflow using the straight-line
method, look at the streamflow
hydrograph to identify when the direct
runoff begins and finishes. Using Excel,
open the input streamflow hydrograph
and plot the streamflow numbers on the y-
axis as indicated in the picture below. The
onset of runoff is reasonably
straightforward to recognize by looking at
the streamflow numbers because the hydrograph rises rapidly on 09/25/2000.
Assume that the direct runoff starts at 8:15 a.m. on September 25, 2000
(streamflow = 1.9 cfs). The next step is to determine when the direct runoff finishes.
This point is often positioned somewhere on the streamflow hydrograph's
descending limb. It is reasonable to presume that the point on a flashy hydrograph
is near the end of the falling limb. Assume that the runoff ceases at 8:00 a.m. on
09/28/2000 (streamflow = 12 cfs).
Once the start and end times of runoff have been determined, create a third column
in Excel for baseflow and populate it with numbers equal to streamflow until 8:15
AM on September 25th, 2000. This signifies that all of the discharge up to this point
has been baseflow. Similarly, after 8:00 AM 09/28/2000 to the end of the
hydrograph, the baseflow equals streamflow. The data between 1.9 cfs (at 8:15
a.m. on September 25, 2000) and 12 cfs (at 8:00 a.m. on September 28, 2000) are
then linearly interpolated to produce the full baseflow hydrrograph. The direct
runoff hydrograph is obtained by
subtracting the baseflow column from the
streamflow data, as illustrated below.

The baseflow time series and a direct

runoff hydrograph is produced at the end of
this stage. The picture below depicts the
hydrographs of baseflow (red region) and
direct runoff (blue line) on a single plot.
III. Illustrate and discuss the derivation of unit hydrograph.
1. Separate the baseflow from the observed streamflow hydrograph in order
to obtain the Direct Runoff Hydrograph (DRH).
For this example, use the horizontal line method to separate the baseflow.
From observation of the hydrograph data, the streamflow at the start of the
rising limb of the hydrograph is 100 m3/s.
2. Compute the volume of Direct Runoff. This volume must be equal to the
volume of the Effective Rainfall Hyetograph (ERH).

Thus, for this

example:
VDRH = (200+600+900+700+500+300+200+100) m 3/s (3600) s = 12'600,000 m3
3. Express VDRH in equivalent
units of depth:
VDRH in equivalent units of
depth = VDRH/Abasin =
12'600,000 m3/(315000000 m2)
= 0.04 m = 4 cm.
4. Obtain a Unit Hydrograph by
normalizing the DRH.
Normalizing implies dividing the
ordinates of the DRH by
the VDRH in equivalent units of
depth.

5. Determine the duration D of the ERH associated with the UH obtained

in 4. In order to do this:

a. Determine the volume of

losses, VLosses which is equal to the
difference between the volume of gross
rainfall, VGRH, and the volume of the direct
runoff hydrograph, VDRH .
VLosses = VGRH - VDRH = (0.5 + 2.5 + 2.5
+0.5) cm/h 1 h - 4 cm = 2 cm
b. Compute the f-index equal to the ratio of
the volume of losses to the rainfall
duration, tr. Thus,
f-index = VLosses/tr = 2 cm / 4 h = 0.5 cm/h
c. Determine the ERH by subtracting the
infiltration (e.g., f-index) from the GRH:

As observed in the table, the duration of the effective rainfall hyetograph is

2 hours. Thus, D = 2 hours, and the Unit Hydrograph obtained above is a
2-hour Unit Hydrograph. Therefore, it can be used to predict runoff from
precipitation events whose effective rainfall hyetographs can be
represented as a sequence of uniform intensity (rectangular) pulses each
 of duration D. This is accomplished by using the principles of superposition
and proportionality, encoded in the discrete convolution equation:

where Qn is the nth ordinate of the

DRH, Pm is the volume of the mth rainfall
pulse expressed in units of equivalent
depth (e.g., cm or in), and Un-m+1 is the
(n-m+1)th ordinate of the UH, expressed
in units of m3/s/cm.

B. Using the UH obtained in A., predict the total streamflow that would be
observed as a result of the following ERH:
As observed in the table, the ERH can be
decomposed into a sequence of rectangular
pulses, each
of 2 hours
duration.
Thus, we
can use the
2-hour UH
obtained
in A.

1. Determine the volume of each ERH

pulse, Pm, expressed in units of equivalent depth:
2. Use superposition and proportionality principles:

a. Columns 2 - 5: Apply the proportionality principle to scale the UH by the

actual volume of the corresponding rectangular pulse, Pm. Observe that
the resulting hydrographs are lagged so that their origins coincide with the
time of occurrence of the corresponding rainfall pulse.
b. Column 6: Apply the superposition principle to obtain the DRH by
summing up Columns 2 - 5.
 c. Column 7: Add back the baseflow to obtain the Total Streamflow
Hydrograph.

References:

M. (2022, April 07). What is hydrograph, types of hydrograph and components.

Retrieved February 27, 2023, from https://civilmint.com/what-is-hydrograph/

Ramírez, J. A. (n.d.). CE322 Basic Hydrology: Unit Hydrographs - Example.

Retrieved February 27, 2023, from
https://www.engr.colostate.edu/~ramirez/ce_old/classes/cive322-
Ramirez/CE322_Web/Example_UnitHydrographs.htm

Ramírez, J. A. (n.d.). Unit Hydrograph Analysis. Retrieved February 27, 2023,

from https://www.engr.colostate.edu/~ramirez/ce_old/classes/cive322-
Ramirez/CE322_Web/comet1/outlinee.htm

S. (2022, August 03). Baseflow separation using straight line method. Retrieved
February 27, 2023, from
https://serc.carleton.edu/hydromodules/steps/baseflow_separa.html