Hydraulic Engineering II

Lecture 2
2018 Intake - Semester IV
Surface Water Hydrology
2-3 Streamflow Measurement Module: CE 3012 –
Hydraulic Engineering II
and Runoff Analysis
Dr. R. L. H. Lalith Rajapakse
Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering Group
Department of Civil Engineering

January 2021
Module Outline

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Module Outline

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Module Outline

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Module Outline

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 Basic Introduction
The module covers:
❖ Non-uniform flow in open channels (River Hydraulics)
❖ Surface water hydrology
❖ Groundwater hydrology
❖ Coastal hydraulics
What is HYDROLOGY then ?
An engineering science dealing with the space and time
characteristics of the quantity and quality of water including its
occurrence, distribution, circulation, storage, and sustainable
development and management of this invaluable natural resource.

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 Basic Introduction
Hydrologic Cycle
❖ Essential to maintain
❖ Balance between and within each portion of this cycle
❖ Extraction and replenishment characteristics, and water quality in the case of usage

(Source:
Environment
8 Canada, 2004)
 Basic Introduction
Why it is important to learn about HYDROLOGY?

Evapotranspiration
Atmosphere

Interception
Precipitation
Surface store (Ground)
Overland flow
Channel store Evaporation
Infiltration
Evaporation
Soil store Channel flow
Percolation Through Surface store (Lake)
flow
Groundwater store Surface store (Sea)
Return flow
Groundwater flow (Baseflow)

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 Basic Introduction
Basic concepts of HYDROLOGY?
❖ Watershed Water Balance
S
P = P + Gin − ET − Gout − O
ET t
where
P – Precipitation
Gin – Groundwater inflow
Gout – Groundwater outflow
ET – Evapotranspiration
O – Catchment outflow (Runoff)

Gin
O
S
Gout
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Streamflow Measurement and Runoff Analysis
 Streamflow Measurement and Runoff Analysis
Measurement of streamflow
Stage Method

Sectional staff gauges

hi

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Streamflow Measurement and Runoff Analysis
Measurement of streamflow - Importance
Stream flow is one of the most important topics in engineering hydrology because it is
directly related to water supply, flood control, reservoir design, navigation, irrigation,
drainage, water quality, and many other engineering as well as day to day applications.
Measurement of streamflow – Purpose & methods
▪ Serves as the basis for many water resources engineering designs
▪ Two approaches or parameters:
• Measurement of water stage
• Measurement of flow velocity
Measurement of Water Stage
Water stage: The elevation above some arbitrary datum of water surface at a station
Types of Gauges used in Measuring River Stage:
• Staff gage – Vertical or inclined
• Suspended – Weight gauge
• Continuous recording gauge
• Crest – stage gauge (used to indicate high water mark) 13
Measurement of Water Stage

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Measurement of Water Stage

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Measurement of Water Stage

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Measurement of Water Stage

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Measurement of Water Stage

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Relating river stage (level) to streamflow (discharge)
• The water level (stage) is recorded during the measurement of the
stream flow.
• With enough measurements, we can construct a stage-discharge
relationship for a particular site.
• Based on this relationship, we only need to monitor the river stage
(level) in order to obtain instantaneous discharge values.
• However, this method has limitations in extreme flows as the rating
curves may not cover flood water levels.

A typical rating curve

for a large river at a
gauging station

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Extension of rating curves

Method 1: log Linear Extension

Log(H-a) Linear
H extension

a
Q T Log(Q)
2T

This method does not consider the non-linear variation of cross

sectional area and the variable conveyance with the height.

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Method 2: Based on Chezy formula

Q = AC RS
Taking R to be equal to mean depth ‘d’
Q = Ak d Where k =C S

With the known points a graph of Q vs Ad is plotted. This is a

straight line which can be extended.
Variation of the cross
Linear
Q sectional area with
extension
the height is taken in
Slope to account.
k=CS
However the friction
factor C may not be a
Ad constant with
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varying stage
Method 3: Based on Manning’s Formula
Q = (1/n) A R 2/3 S 1/2
S – Taken as the bed slope which can be measured
R and A – Can be calculated for different stages if the cross
section at stage site is known
From known stage vs Q values a graph of stage vs ‘n’ is
plotted.
Stage

Stage Q A R 2/3S½ n
- - - -
n
- - - -
The graph can be extended and the Q, corresponding to the extended stage is
calculated using ‘n’ from the graph and A and R from cross section.
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Measurement of streamflow
Velocity - Area Method

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Measurement of streamflow
Velocity - Area Method

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Measurement of streamflow
Slope Area Method

Vi = (V0.2 + V0.8 ) 2
n
Q = Vi  iWi
i =1

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Estimation of streamflow - Velocity-area method
In certain cases (floods), it is difficult to
measure velocity.

For some sections, one can measure the

geometrical characteristics of cross-sectional
area and channel slope and use Manning
equation to obtain the streamflow, Q.

Manning’s Equation is used to estimate flow rates.

Q = (1/n) A R 2/3 S 1/2

where Q = flow rate (m3/s)

n = Manning roughness coefficient (empirical)

A = cross sectional area (m2)

R = hydraulic radius = A / P (m)

S = Slope (head loss per unit length

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of channel)
Estimation of streamflow – Graduated Weirs and Flumes

• Commonly used on small streams and rivers

• Rigid, stable structures with closely defined cross‐sectional area.
• Use of Rectangular vs. Triangular weir section?
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Estimation of streamflow – Other Methods

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Estimation of streamflow – Other Methods

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Estimation of streamflow – Use of Current meter

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Estimation of streamflow – RADAR and Other Techiniques
Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler

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 Frequency Analysis
Probability of Exceedance and Return period
Example:
Following table is a set of maximum annual daily rainfall data at a particular
location for the period 1990 to 1999.
Year 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Maximum 152 160 120 110 165 125 145 138 152 112
daily rainfall
(mm)
Arrange the data in descending order,
Year Maximum daily rainfall (mm) Position in descending order (m)
1994 165 1
1991 160 2
1990, 1998 152 3
1996 145 5
1997 138 6
1995 125 7
1992 120 8
1999 112 9 Total no.32
1993 110 10 N=10
Probability of exceedance of a certain rainfall value is the
probability of an event equaling or exceeding that value.
According to the above data, the probability of exceedance of 165
mm is 1 /10.
Similarly the prob. of exceedence of 160 mm is 2 / 10 and 152 mm
is 4 /10 and so on.
Probability in the above is taken as m / M (California formula).
However this formula is inaccurate for larger values of m. Other
methods,

P = m / N+1 (Weibul formula)

P = [m -0.5] / N (Hazen formula
P = [m-3/8] / [N+1/4] (Gringorten formula)
P = [m-0.3] / [N+0.4] (Chegodayev formula)
P = [m-0.44] / [N+0.12] (Blom formula)
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Return Period:

If an event is likely to occur once in x number of years then x is the return

period of that event Tr.
Tr = 1 / P where P is the probability of exceedence of the event assuming that
the probability is calculated using annual maximum values.
(For details please refer page 380, Applied Hydrology)

The meaning of the return period is that if we consider a very long period
(say in the order of 10,000 years or more) then approximately in, 1 / Tr x no.
of years the event will be satisfied.
Probability that an event will occur at least once within a certain period:
If the return period of an event is Tr what is the probability that this event
will occur at least once within a period of N number of consecutive years.
Probability of exceedance in a given year = 1 / Tr = Probability of occurrence
Probability that this event will not occur in a given year = 1 – 1 / Tr = q

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Probability that this event will not occur in N number of
consecutive years = q x q x q x ……
= qN
Probability that the event will not not occur within N number
of consecutive years ( ie, it will occur at least once within N
number of consecutive years) = 1 – qN
= 1- { 1 – 1 / Tr }N
Example: If Tr is 1000 years for some event, the probability that
the event will occur at least once within a 25 year period is,
= 1 – { 1 – 1 / 1000 }25
= 0.0247
= 2.47 %
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Probability that an event will occur several times within a certain period:
Binomial distribution applicable to discrete variables:
If p is the probability of an event occurring during a single trial ( p = probability
of success) and q is the probability of that event not occurring during a single
trial (q = probability of failure) then the probability associated with 0, 1, 2, …..
up to n successes in n trials are given by the curves of the binomial expansion,

(q + p ) n
= q + C1q
n n n −1
p + C2 q
n n−2
p + ............. + p
2 n

1st term 2nd term 3rd term m

Probability of having m successes in n trials is given by the (m+1)th term of the

binomial expansion of ( q + p )n
Example: Estimate the probability of a flood, equal to or greater than a flood with
50 years of return period occurring 3 times in the next 10 years.
p = 1/50 = 0.02 Required probability = (3+1) th term nC3qn-3p3
q = 1- 0.02 = 0.98 = n(n − 1)(n − 2 ) n−3 3
q p
n = 10, m = 3 3
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= 10x9x8x0.987x0.023 / 3x2x1= 8.33 x 10-4
 Rainfall Intensity and Return Periods
Intensity – Duration – Frequency Relationships (IDF Curves)

I
Tr

D
The intensity of storms decreases
with the increase of storm duration.
A storm of any given duration will
have a higher intensity if its return
period is long. For a storm of given
duration, storms of higher intensity
in that duration are rarer than I
storms of lower intensity.
100 year

50 year
10 year

D
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 RAINFALL INTENSITY DURATIOIN FREQUENCY CURVES RAINFALL INTENSITY DURATIOIN FREQUENCY CURVES
STATION COLOMBO STATION KANKASANTHURAI

300 160

140
250

Rainfall Intensity (mm/hr)

Rainfall Intensity (mm/hr)

120
200 100

150 80

60
100
40
50 20

0 0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
2yr: I= 1658*[t+30]^-0.80272 Duration (min)
2yr: I= 2571[t+22]^-0.83121 Duration (min) 10yr:I= 6640*[t+75]^-0.92338
10yr:I=3294[t+26]^-0.80984
50yr:I= 14626*[t+105]^-0.98871 2Yr 50Yr 10Yr
50yr:I=4025[t+28]^-0.80078 2Yr 50Yr 10Yr

RAINFALL INTENSITY DURATIOIN FREQUENCY CURVES RAINFALL INTENSITY DURATIOIN FREQUENCY CURVES
STATION GALLE STATION HAMBANTOTA
250
250

200

Rainfall Intensity (mm/hr)

200
Rainfall Intensity (mm/hr)

150
150

100
100

50 50

0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 7
2yr: I= 1806*[t+35}^-0.78257 Duration (min) 2yr: I= 1566*[t+17]^-0.82985 Duration (min)
10yr:I= 3861*[t+48]^-0.82798 10yr: I= 3074*[t+32]^-0.85164
50yr:I= 5933*[t+55}^-0.84987 50yr: I= 4848*[t+42]^-0.87402 38
100yr:I=6471*[t+55}^-0.84823 2Yr 10Yr 50Yr 100Yr 100yr: I= 5618*[t+45]^-0.88033 2Yr 10Yr 50Yr 100Y
 Hydrologic data series
Complete duration series (Fig. a)
- All available data

Partial duration series

- Values greater than a predefined base value

Annual exceedance series (Fig. b)

- If the base value is selected so that the number of values in the
series is equal to the number of years of the record, then the series
is called annual exceedance series

Extreme value series

- Includes the largest or smallest values occurring in each of the
equally-long time intervals of the record

Annual series
- If the time interval length is taken as one year then the extreme
value series is called an annual series
- Annual Maximum Series (Fig. c)
- If the largest annual values are selected
- Annual Minimum Series
- If the smallest annual values are selected

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Return period calculation of hydrologic events are based on annual
exceedance series or annual maximum series.
Return periods TE calculated based on the annual exceedance series are
related to the return periods T calculated from annual maximum series by,
−1
  T 
TE = ln  
  T − 1 
Annual exceedance series gives
conservative values but the usage
of annual exceedance series is
limited by the fact that some
events may not be independent.

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 Extreme value distributions
The study of extreme hydrologic events involves the selection of a sequence of the
largest or smallest observations (maximum or minimum) from the data set (complete
duration series). Since these observations are located in the extreme tail of the
probability distribution of parent population, their probability distribution is
different from that of the parent population.
There are three types of extreme value distributions.
Type I (EVI)
Type II (EVII)
Type III (EVIII)

Probability distribution function

Complete series
1 P(xi)
No of events in
each x

x
(For details please refer pp 385 –
Frequency Histograms Relative Frequency Function 394, Applied Hydrology)
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42 (Source: Applied Hydrology)
43 (Source: Applied Hydrology)
Gumbel’s Extreme Value Analysis:
Previous method is applicable only if the sample size is infinite. However, in most of the
hydrological analysis, sample size is limited to about 100 or less (example: annual series for 30
years has only 30 events). Gumbel’s method is used for finite sample sizes.
This is widely used to predict the flood peaks, maximum rainfalls, maximum wind speeds etc.
It assumes an EVI type distribution.
Value of the variant x with a return period T,

xT = x + k N −1

Where N-1 = standard deviation of a sample of size N

(x − x ) 2
=  N −1
k = Frequency factor

yT − yn
= From tables (Functions of sample size N)
Sn
Reduced variant = - (ln ln (T/T-1) 44
yn = reduced mean; a function of sample size N and given in tables;
when N → , y n = 0.5772

S n = reduced standard deviation; a function of sample size N and given in tables;


when N → , Sn = = 1.2825
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Procedure:
1. Note the sample size N. Find x and N-1 for the given data set.
2. Using tables, determine y n and Sn for given N.
3. Find yT for the given T
4. Calculate k
5. Determine xT

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It is essential to confirm whether the given set of data follows EVI
distribution and Gumbel’s method is applicable.
rank
 T 
x m T = N / m (California formula yT = − ln ln  
or any other)  T −1 
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -

If the graph of x vs yT is
a straight line then the
data set belongs to EVI
type distribution and
Gumbel’s method can be
used for analysis.

yT
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TABLE 7.3 REDUCED MEAN IN GUMBEL’S EXTREME VALUE DISTRIBUTION
yn N = sample size

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Source: Engineering Hydrology
 Weibul Formula

48 Source: Engineering Hydrology

 +
49 Source: Engineering Hydrology
50 Source: Engineering Hydrology
51 Source: Engineering Hydrology
52 Source: Engineering Hydrology
 Hydrologic Design
Hydrologic design is the process of assessing the impact of hydrological events on a
project and choosing values for the key variables of the project so that it will function
properly throughout its design lifetime.
Hydrologic designs are done for two types of projects;
1. Water Control Projects
Ex: Drainage and flood control, salinity and sediment control etc.
2. Water Use Projects
Ex: Water supply systems, irrigation, hydropower generation etc.
In both types of projects, main task is to determine a design flow to,
1. route the flow through the system
2. check whether the discharge values are satisfactory
Design for water control is interested with extreme events of short duration, such as
instantaneous peak discharge during a flood (to assess the capacity of structures etc.) or
the minimum flow over a period of few days during a dry period (to ensure sediment
control)

Design for water use is interested with the complete flow hydrograph over a period of
several years.

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Design Storms:
A design storm is a predetermined rainfall event used in the hydrological
analysis. Usually the design storm serves as the system input where the flow
rates through the system are calculated using rainfall-runoff and flow routing
procedures.

A design storm can be a

1. Rainfall depth over a

known period at a given
location
2. Hyetograph specifying
the time distribution of
rainfall during a storm
3. Isohyetal map showing
the spatial distribution of
rainfall

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Design hyetographs from IDF curves
1. Alternating block method
Design return period and the total duration of the
rainfall should be selected first. Hyetograph
ordinates are obtained from the IDF curve.
Select a time interval t and find the ordinates of I1
hyetograph at 1t, 2t, 3t,………nt. Where n t
is the total duration of the hyetograph.

I2
Time Intensity Hyetograph ordinates
1t I1 H1 = I1 t
2t I2 H2 = I2 2t - I1 t
3t I3 H3 = I3 3t – I22 t
.
.
nt In

1t 2t
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 Rainfall Ordinates are
depth H1 arranged
H2 alternatively on
either side from the
H3
H4 peak at the center
H5
H6

Time
0 0.5nt nt

2. Design Hyetographs from Observed Storms

Rainfall 100%
depth % Rainfall
Plot the
Time measured
Rainfall hyetographs in
depth normalized axis
Fit a trend line
Time

Rainfall
depth 0%
0% 100%
% Time
Time
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Plot all available extreme event storms in normalized axis and fit a trend line.
This trend line gives the shape of the design storm. However the magnitude of
the design storm should be calculated separately. Cumulative rainfall depth of
the design storm can be calculated using a statistical method (ex. Gumbel’s
method) with daily rainfall values. Spread this cumulative value in the
hyetograph using the shape established by the trend line.
Estimation of Design Discharges
1. RATIONAL METHOD
where:
Q = peak runoff rate, m3/s
C = runoff coefficient, non-dimensional
Q=CIA I = rainfall intensity, mm/hr
A = area, km2
I can be read from the IDF curves. C is given in text books. This is the easiest method to
calculate discharge for a known rainfall intensity.

Assumptions:
Rainfall occurs uniformly over the entire watershed.
Rainfall occurs with a uniform intensity for a duration equal to the time of concentration for
the watershed.
The runoff coefficient, C, is dependent upon physical characteristics of the watershed, e.g.
soil type.
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Weaknesses of the Rational Method:

Reflects only the peak and gives no indication of the volume or the time distribution of the
runoff.

Lumps many watershed variables into one runoff coefficient.

Lends little insight into our understanding of runoff processes - Beware of cases where
watershed conditions vary greatly across the watershed.

This method is a great oversimplification of a complicated process; however, the method is

considered sufficiently accurate for runoff estimation in the design of relatively inexpensive
structures where the consequences of failure are limited.

Application of rational method is normally limited small catchment areas.

2. HYDROLOGIC MODELS
Design Hydrologic Catchment
Rainfall Model Characteristics
Hyetograph
Design
Discharge
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References/Additional Reading

▪ Chow, V. T. (2009). Open-channel Hydraulics. McGraw Hill/ Blackburn Press.

▪ Chadwick, A., Morfett, J. and Borthwick, M. (2004). Hydraulics in Civil and
Environmental Engineering (4th ed.). CRC Press.
▪ Subramanya, K. (1994). Engineering Hydrology (2nd ed.). Tata McGraw Hill.
▪ Sorensen, R. M. (1997). Basic Coastal Engineering (2nd ed.). Springer Publication.

Way forward...
Additional reading....
Additional exercises ....
Self learning/life-long learning ....

Thank you. 59