Lecture No. 6.

0
Unit Hydrograph
Prepared by:
Engr. Marlowe L. Labusnog
 Topic Learning Outcomes
By the end of this lecture, the student must be able to:
 define what is a unit hydrograph;
 derive the unit hydrograph of a certain watershed
based from its direct-runoff hydrograph or vice
versa; and
 apply the unit hydrograph to estimate the floods in
a catchment.
 Unit Hydrograph

• Unit Hydrograph – a direct runoff hydrograph

(DRH) resulting from 1in. (usually taken as 1cm in
SI units) of excess rainfall generated uniformly over
the drainage area at a constant rate for an effective
duration.
• The unit hydrograph is a simple linear model that
can be used to derive the hydrograph resulting from
any amount of excess rainfall.
Unit Hydrograph

Source: Subramanya (2008)

 Unit Hydrograph
Assumptions:
1. The excess rainfall has a constant intensity within the effective
duration.
2. The excess rainfall is uniformly distributed throughout the
whole drainage area.
3. The base time of the DRH (the duration of direct runoff)
resulting from an excess rainfall of given duration is constant.
4. The ordinates of all DRH’s of a common base time are directly
proportional to the total amount of direct runoff represented by
each hydrograph.
5. For a given watershed, the hydrograph resulting from a given
excess rainfall reflects the unchanging characteristics of the
watershed.
 𝒏≤ 𝑴
𝑸 𝒏= ∑ 𝑷 𝒎 𝑼 𝒏 −𝒎+𝟏
𝒎=𝟏

Source: Chow, et al. (1988)

Unit Hydrograph

𝒏≤ 𝑴
𝑸 𝒏= ∑ 𝑷 𝒎 𝑼 𝒏 −𝒎+𝟏
𝒎=𝟏
where:
Qn = storm hydrograph ordinate at time nΔt
Pm = rainfall excess depth in time interval
mΔt to (m+1)Δt
M = total no. of discrete rainfall pulses
Un-m+1 = UH ordinate at time (n-m+1)Δt

Source: Chow, et al. (1988)

Unit Hydrograph

Source: Chow, et al. (1988)

 Example No. 1
• Given below are the ordinates of a 6-h unit hydrograph
for a catchment. Calculate the ordinates of the DRH
due to a rainfall excess of 3.5cm occurring in 6h.
Time (hr.) 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 69

UH ordinate
0 25 50 85 125 160 185 160 110 60 36 25 16 8 0
(m3/s-cm)
 RE = 3.5 cm
Ordinate of Ordinate of
Time
6-h UH (m /s- 3.5cm DRH
3
(hr.) 3
cm) (m /s)
0 0.00 0.00
3 25.00 87.50
6 50.00 175.00
9 85.00 297.50
12 125.00 437.50
15 160.00 560.00
18 185.00 647.50
24 160.00 560.00
30 110.00 385.00
36 60.00 210.00
42 36.00 126.00
48 25.00 87.50
54 16.00 56.00
60 8.00 28.00
69 0.00 0.00
 Example No. 2
• Calculate the streamflow hydrograph for a storm of 6in excess
rainfall, with 2in in the first half-hour, 3in in the second half-hour and
1in in the third half-hour. The half-hour unit hydrograph is given in the
table below. Assume the baseflow is constant at 500cfs throughout
the flood. Check that the total depth of direct runoff is equal to the
total excess precipitation (watershed area = 7.03mi2).
Time (1/2
Time (1/2 hrs) 1 2 3 Un (cfs/in)
hrs.)
Rainfall Excess (in.) 2 3 1 0 0
1 403.86
2 1078.90
3 2343.01
4 2505.91
5 1460.10
6 453.08
7 380.96
8 274.19
9 172.92
Direct Runoff Hydrograph and Streamflow:

Baseflow = 500 cfs

Time (1/2 Direct Runoff (cfs) Streamflow
hrs.) 1 2 3 Sum (cfs)
0.00 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 500
0.50 1 807.71 0.00 0.00 807.71 1307.71
1.00 2 2157.81 1211.57 0.00 3369.38 3869.38
1.50 3 4686.03 3236.71 403.86 8326.60 8826.60
2.00 4 5011.83 7029.04 1078.90 13119.77 13619.77
2.50 5 2920.20 7517.74 2343.01 12780.96 13280.96
3.00 6 906.17 4380.30 2505.91 7792.38 8292.38
3.50 7 761.91 1359.25 1460.10 3581.27 4081.27
4.00 8 548.37 1142.87 453.08 2144.33 2644.33
4.50 9 345.84 822.56 380.96 1549.36 2049.36
5.00 10 0.00 518.76 274.19 792.94 1292.94
5.50 11 0.00 0.00 172.92 172.92 672.92
6.00 12 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 500
Total 54437.61505
 Example No. 3
• Find the half-hour unit hydrograph using excess rainfall hyetograph
and direct runoff hydrograph given in Table 7.4.2.
Table 7.4.2 Excess rainfall hyetograph and direct runoff hydrograph.
Time Excess Direct Runoff
(1/2 h) Rainfall (in.) (cfs)
1 1.06 428
2 1.93 1923
3 1.81 5297
4 9131
5 10625
6 7834
7 3921
8 1846
9 1402
10 830
11 313
Solution:
M= 3
N= 11
N-M+1 = 9

Time Excess Direct Runoff

UH (cfs/in) UH (cfs/in)
(1/2 h) Rainfall (in.) (cfs)
1 1.06 428 403.86 403.77
2 1.93 1923 1078.90 1078.98
3 1.81 5297 2343.01 2343.15
4 9131 2505.91 2505.44
5 10625 1460.10 1460.75
6 7834 453.08 452.74
7 3921 380.96 380.42
8 1846 274.19 275.77
9 1402 172.92 170.93
10 830
11 313
 S-Hydrograph Method
 The method in which a unit hydrograph of a given
excess-rainfall duration is changed into another
duration
The S-curve is
made by lagging
the unit
hydrograph by tR
an infinite number
of times and
summing the
result.

Source: Chow, et al. (1988)

 Sample Problem
One inch of rain falls during 2 hours (tR), and yields the
following hydrograph. What is the hydrograph if one inch of
rain falls during 4 hours (t’R)?
2-hr Unit
Time
Hydrograph Procedure:
(hrs)
(cfs/in) 1. Create the S-Curve.
0 0
2. Lag by t’R.
2 69
4 143 3. Subtract the lagged S-
6 328 Curve from the original S-
8 389 Curve.
10 352
12 266
4. Divide the result by t’R/tR.
14 192
16 123
18 84
20 49
22 20
24 0
26 0
 Sample Problem
2-hr Unit 4-hr Unit
Time Lagged S-
Hydrograph S-Hydrograph Hydrograph
(hrs) Hydrograph
(cfs/in) (cfs/in)
0 0 0 0 0.00
2 69 69 69 34.50
4 143 212 212 106.00
6 328 540 471 235.50
8 389 929 717 358.50
10 352 1281 741 370.50
12 266 1547 618 309.00
14 192 1739 458 229.00
16 123 1862 315 157.50
18 84 1946 207 103.50
20 49 1995 133 66.50
22 20 2015 69 34.50
24 0 2015 20 10.00
26 0 2015 0 0.00
 Synthetic Unit Hydrograph
 A synthetic hydrograph is one developed with minimum use of
stream flow data and which must be related to watershed and
precipitation conditions.
Source: Chow, et al. (1988)
 Snyder’s Method
Snyder defined a standard unit hydrograph as one whose rainfall duration tr is
related to the basin lag tp by

For a standard unit hydrograph:

1. Basin lag, tp

where:
tp = basin lag (hours)
L = length of the main stream from the outlet to the upstream divide (km or mi.)
Lc = distance from the outlet to a point on the stream nearest the centroid of the
watershed area
C1 = 0.75 (1.0 for the English system)
Ct = coefficient derived from gaged watersheds in the same region
 Snyder’s Method
2. Peak discharge per unit of watershed area

where:
C2 = 2.75 (640 for the English system)
Cp = coefficient derived from gaged watersheds in the same region.

 From a derived unit hydrograph of the watershed,

If tpR = 5.5tR, then tR = tr, tpR = tp, and qpR = qp, and Ct and Cp are computed
using the eq. 2 and eq. 3. If tpR is quite different from 5.5tR, the standard
basin lag is

and equations 1 and 4 are solved simultaneously for tr and tp. The values
of Ct and Cp are then computed from equations 2 and 3 with qpR = qp and
tpR = tp.
 Snyder’s Method
3. The relationship b/n qp and the peak discharge per unit drainage
area qpR of the required unit hydrograph is

4. The base time is estimated by

where: C3 = 5.56 (1290 for the English system)

5. The width in hours of a unit hydrograph at a discharge equal to a

certain percent of the peak discharge qpR is given by

where: Cw-75 = 1.22 (440 for English system) for the 75% width
Cw-50 = 2.14 (770 for English system) for the 50% width
 Sample Problem
1. From the basin map of a given watershed, the following
quantities are measured: L = 150km, Lc = 75km, and drainage
area = 3500 km2. From the unit hydrograph derived for the
watershed, the following are determined: tR = 12h, tpR = 34h,
and peak discharge = 157.5 m3/s-cm. Determine the
coefficients Ct and Cp for the synthetic unit hydrograph of the
watershed.
2. Compute the six – hour synthetic unit hydrograph of a
watershed having a drainage area of 2500km2 with L =
100km and Lc = 50km. This watershed is a sub – drainage
area of the watershed in the first problem.
NRCS (SCS) Unit Hydrograph
Procedure

Source: Mays (2011)

Source: Mays (2011)
 Time of Concentration
 Time of concentration – the time for a particle of water to
travel from the hydrologically most distant point in the
watershed to a point of interest, such as the outlet of the
watershed.
 Two methods to determine the time of concentration:
• Lag method
• Upland or Velocity Method
 Lag Method
 Time Lag (tL) – the time from the center of mass of the rainfall
excess to the peak discharge

where: t L = time lag (hours)

Y = slope in percent
L = hydraulic length (feet)
S = potential maximum retention
 The SCS uses the following relationship between time of
concentration (tc) and the lag (tL):
Source: Mays (2011)
 Velocity Method
 The velocity (upland) method is based upon defining the time of
concentration as the ratio of the hydraulic length (L) to the
velocity (V):

where: t c = time of concentration (hours)

L = hydraulic length (feet)
V = velocity (ft/s)
 Alternatively, the time of concentration is equal to the sum of the
travel times for different segments

for k segments, each with different land uses.

 Time to Peak
 Time to peak (tp) – the time from the beginning of rainfall to the
time of the peak discharge

where: tp = time to peak (hours)

tR = duration of the rainfall excess (hours)
tL = lag time (hours)
 The SCS recommends that t = 0.133t and since t = 0.6t , then
R c L c
 Peak Discharge
 The area of the unit hydrograph equals the volume of direct
runoff Q, which is estimated by the equation

 Based upon geometry, the direct runoff Q is

where: tr = recession time of the dimensionless triangular unit

hydrograph
qp = peak discharge
 Peak Discharge
 Let , then

 The above equation can be modified to express qp in ft3/s, tp in

hours, and Q in inches:

 The factor 645.33 is the rate necessary to discharge 1in of runoff

from 1mi2 in 1hr.
 Peak Discharge
 Using tr = 1.67tp gives K =0.75, hence

 For SI units,

where: A = watershed area (sq. km.)

 NRCS (SCS) Unit Hydrograph
Procedure
1. Compute the time of concentration using the lag method or the
velocity method.
2. Compute the time to peak tp = 0.67 tc and then the peak
discharge qp.
3. Compute time base tb and the recession time tr
Triangular hydrograph: tb = 2.67 tp
Curvilinear hydrograph: tb = 5tp
4. Compute the duration tR = 0.133 tc and the lag tL = 0.6 tc
5. Compute the unit hydrograph ordinates and plot. For the
triangular only tp, qp, and tr are needed. For the curvilinear, use
the dimensionless ratios in Table 8.8.1.
 Sample Problems
1. Determine the weighted curve numbers for a watershed with 40
percent residential (1/4-acre lots), 25 percent open space, good
condition, 20 percent commercial business (85 percent
impervious), and 15 percent industrial (72 percent impervious),
with corresponding soil groups of C,D, C, and D. If the
watershed experienced a rainfall of 6in, what is the runoff
volume?
2. For the watershed in the first problem, determine the triangular
SCS unit hydrograph. The average slope of the watershed is
3percent and the area is 3.0mi2. The hydraulic length is 1.2 mi.
Ans. qp = 1962cfs.
 References
Bedient, et al. (2013). Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis.
Pearson Education Limited. England.
Chow, et al.(1988). Applied Hydrology. McGraw-Hill Book Co.
Singapore.
Mays, L.W. (2011). Water Resources Engineering. John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. USA.
Subramanya, K. (2008). Engineering Hydrology. Tata McGraw-
Hill Publishing Company Limited. India.
Thank You!