Unit Hydrograph

Unit Hydrograph
The unit hydrograph is defined as the hydrograph of
storm runoff resulting from an isolated rainfall of some
unit duration occurring uniformly over the entire area
of the catchment, produces a unit volume (i.e., 1 cm) of
runoff.
Basic Assumptions of unit hydrograph
• The effective rainfall is uniformly distributed within its duration
• The effective rainfall is uniformly distributed over the whole drainage
basin
• The base duration of the direct runoff due to an effective rainfall of
unit duration is constant
• The ordinates of DRH are directly proportional to the total amount of
DR of each hydrograph
• For a given basin, the runoff hydrograph due to a given period of
rainfall reflects all the combined physical characteristics of basin.
 Derivation of the unit hydrographs
The following steps are adopted to derive a unit hydrograph from an observed
flood hydrograph
(i) Select from the records isolated (single-peaked) intense storms.
(ii) Select a flood hydrograph of the selected storm.
(iii) Separate the base flow from the total runoff.
(iv) From the ordinates of the total runoff hydrograph deduct the
corresponding ordinates of base flow, to obtain the ordinates of direct
runoff.
(v) Divide the volume of direct runoff by the area of the drainage basin to
obtain the net precipitation depth over the basin.
(vi) Divide each of the ordinates of direct runoff by the net precipitation depth
to obtain the ordinates of the unit hydrograph.
(vii) Plot the ordinates of the unit hydrograph against time since the beginning
of direct runoff.
 Derivation of flood hydrograph from given unit
hydrograph
Q. The ordinate of 3 hr UH is given below. Assume base flow is 15
m3/s. Derive the DRO for 2 cm, 4 cm and 6 cm excess rainfall.

Time
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63
(hr)

Ordinate
of 3 hr
0 12 75 132 180 210 183 156 135 144 96 87 66 54 42 33 24 18 12 6 6 0
UH
(m3/s)
 Ordinate of 3 hr DRH due to 2 cm DRH due to 4 cm DRH due to 6 cm
Time (hr)
UH (m3/s) RE RE RE
0 0 0 0 0
3 12 24 48 72
6 75 150 300 450
9 132 264 528 792
12 180 360 720 1080
15 210 420 840 1260
18 183 366 732 1098
21 156 312 624 936
24 135 270 540 810
27 144 288 576 864
30 96 192 384 576
33 87 174 348 522
36 66 132 264 396
39 54 108 216 324
42 42 84 168 252
45 33 66 132 198
48 24 48 96 144
51 18 36 72 108
54 12 24 48 72
57 6 12 24 36
60 6 12 24 36
63 0 0 0 0
66 0 0 0 0
69 0 0 0 0
Derivation of required Time UH from given D-hr
UH (where T is the multiple integral of D)
Q. The ordinate of 3 hr UH is given below. Assume base flow is 15
m3/s. Derive the 9hr UH.
Time
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63
(hr)

Ordin
ate of
3 hr 0 12 75 132 180 210 183 156 135 144 96 87 66 54 42 33 24 18 12 6 6 0
UH
(m3/s)
 Ordinate of 3 hr DRH - sum of 3 Ordinate of 9 hr
Time (hr) Lagged by 3 hr Lagged by 6 hr
UH (m3/s) storms UH
0 0 0 0 0 0
3 12 0 0 12 4
6 75 12 0 87 29
9 132 75 12 219 73
12 180 132 75 387 129
15 210 180 132 522 174
18 183 210 180 573 191
21 156 183 210 549 183
24 135 156 183 474 158
27 144 135 156 435 145
30 96 144 135 375 125
33 87 96 144 327 109
36 66 87 96 249 83
39 54 66 87 207 69
42 42 54 66 162 54
45 33 42 54 129 43
48 24 33 42 99 33
51 18 24 33 75 25
54 12 18 24 54 18
57 6 12 18 36 12
60 6 6 12 24 8
63 0 6 6 12 4
66 0 0 6 6 2
69 0 0 0 0 0
 Assignment # 3
1. In a typical 6 hr storm, 4 cm excess rainfall is occurring. The flow
recorded in the catchment as shown below. Derive an unit hydrograph
for 6 hr storm. Assume base flow id 100 m3/s.
Time
0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66
(hr)
Q
100 100 300 700 1000 800 600 400 300 200 100 100
(m3/s)

2. Derive the DRO for 3 cm, 6 cm and 9 cm excess rainfall using the
ordinate of UH from part 1.
3. Derive the 9hr UH using the UH from part 1.
Note: Prepare graph for each part.
 Assignment # 4
Topic: The phenomenon of flooding and its causes and Brief overview of recent
floods in Pakistan.
Note: The assignment should be provided in word format. The grading of the assignment will be based upon
originality, content, references and formatting.