Watershed and River Flow

Modeling using HEC-

HMS and HEC-RAS:
Introduction to Surface
Water Modeling
Jayantha Obeysekera, Ph.D.,P.E.
Chief Modeler
South Florida Water Management District
Florida, USA

Affiliate Research Professor, Florida Atlantic University

SLAAS Workshop: April 24-25, 2017

 Program- Day 1
08:30 – 09:00 Registration and Introductions

09:00 – 10:00 Introduction to Surfacewater Modeling, Data Storage

System, DSSVue
10:00 – 10:30 DSSVue Exercise

10:30 – 10:45 Tea break

10:45 – 12:00 Hydrologic Modeling Using HEC-HMS

12:00 – 01:00 Lunch break

01:00 – 02:00 Building a model with HEC-HMS

02:00 - 04:00 HEC-HMS Exercise & Tea Break

04:00 – 05:00 Hydrologic Modeling using GIS

 Program – Day 2
08:30 – 09:30 Basin delineation exercise with QGIS

09:30 - 10:30 Advanced Capabilities of HEC-HMS: Optimization &

Continuous Simulation
10:30 – 10:45 Tea break

10:45 - 12:00 River Flow Modeling using HEC-RAS

12:00 – 01:00 Lunch break

01:00 - 02:00 Building a model with HEC-RAS (Brides and Culverts)

02:00 – 04:00 HEC-RAS Exercise and Tea Break

04:00 - 04:30 Closing Comments

Introduction to surface water
modeling
 Typical modeling problems
What is the resulting flood discharge near a particular
town or village due to a 100-year rainfall event?

What is the temporal variability of river discharge at a

particular location over an extended period (many decades)

To what height should a flood wall or a levee be built for?

What is the impact of groundwater pumping for water

supply on a near by wetland?

…any many more.

Modeling is perhaps the only way!

Hydrologic Modeling
 Land Phase of the Hydrologic
Cycle
39
1 0 0 Moisture over land
P r e c i pdi t a t i o n o n l a n

61 385
Evaporation from land Precipitation
on oce an
Snow
melt

Surface Precipitation
runoff
424
Evaporation
from ocean

Infiltration
Groundwater Wat
er t ab l
Recharge e

38 Surface discharge
Groundwater flow
• Surface Zone
1 Groundwater
• Unsaturated Zone Impervious
strata discharge

• Groundwater Zone
 Classification of Hydrologic
Models
Watershed
System

Deterministic Stochastic

Lumped Distributed

Steady Unsteady
Modeling Surface Water
 Hydrologic Modeling Using
HEC Models
HEC-DSS Database

Watershed Unsteady Flow

Rainfall Rainfall-Runoff Routing
• Observed
• Design
HEC-HMS HEC-RAS
(statistical
Modeling)

HEC-RTS for Flood Forecasting

 Popular Models
Lumped Models
Rational Formula (oldest)
HEC-HMS (USACE)
Mike Basin (DHI)
TR-55 (US SCS)
…
 Popular Models (Cont.)
1-D Models
HEC-HMS/HEC-RAS (USACE)
MIKE-11 (DHI)
MIKE Urban (includes EPA
SWMM)
XP SWMM (EPA etc.)
….
 Popular Models (Cont.)
2-D/3-D Models
MIKE SHE/MIKE-11 (DHI)
MIKE FLOOD / MIKE 21 (DHI)
FLO 2D (includes EPA
SWMM,US)
TUFLOW (Australia)
Delft-3Di (Dutch)
RAS-2D
Lumped Approach for Subbasins

Watershed outlet

Flow
routing
in
Rivers
Reservoirs

Subwatershed
modeled as a lumped
system
 Lumped Modeling
(Subwatershed)
Discharge (cu.m/s)
Rainfall Rate (mm/hr)

Rainfall Excess “Black Box”

Losses Time
Time
1. Unit Hydrograph (unit response
function)
2. Linear Reservoir
3. Clark Method (Linear
Reservoir+Time Area Diagram)
 Unit Hydrograph Approach (Unit
Response Function)
1 cm of Rainfall excess

For a gaged sub-basin, stream flow and

rainfall measurements are used to
derive directly the unit hydrograph.
Q(t) Unit hydrograph

For an ungaged sub-basin, a synthetic unit

hydrograph can be derived indirectly using
subbasin characteristics. These include:
Basin size, slope, shape, stream length,
basin and channel roughness
Rainfall-Runoff Response
(Event Modeling)
Event vs. Continuous
Event Continuous
Hydraulic (River Flow)
Modeling
 Generalized Equation
for Surface Water Flow
Modeling
Reynolds Transport Theorem
dA
Control volume

V dA
V θ
C.V. V
dA θ

C.S.

B = An extensive property (Mass, Momentum or Energy)

m=mass

Rate of change of extensive property = Rate change in

what is stored + Net rate of flow through C.S.
 Continuity Equation
(lumped)

Mass cannot be
created or destroyed

Storage

Simplest form of
continuity equation
Rare of change Inflow Outflow
in storage rate rate
Continuity Equation (1D)
q

out in
Momentum Equation (1D)

Surface+body Net momentum Net momentum

forces storage outflow

Gravity Friction Drag Wind Unbalanced pressure

Assuming
drag, wind
Forces=0
 Momentum (Cont.)
Classic Equations of Open Channel Flow (St. Venant Equations)

Momentum

Continuity

Momentum
Acceleration terms Pressure Friction Gravity
Local Convective Gradient

Assuming q, W ≈0
 Classification of Flows

Inertial Inertial Surface Surface Body Type

Local Convective Pressure Friction Gravity
Gradient
x x x ✓ ✓ Kinematic
Wave
x x ✓ ✓ ✓ Diffusion
Wave Model
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Dynamic Wave
Model
x x x ✓ ✓ Steady
Uniform Flow
x ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Steady Non-
uniform Flow
✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Unsteady Non-
uniform Flow
 Solution Method
Direct Numerical Solution
Time
Transforms the PDE t x-t plane

into a system of algebraic

Finite-difference equations
(linear or non-linear) j
(Q,h)

i x
Space