Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4
SURFACE RUNOFF
AND
HYDROGRAPH ANALYSIS
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4.0 SURFACE RUNOFF AND HYDROGRAPH ANALYSIS
CONTENTS
4.1 Surface Runoff
o Rainfall-Runoff relationship
o Components of hydrograph
o Storm hydrograph and annual hydrograph
o Groundwater recession
o Separation techniques
4.2 Hydrograph Analysis
o Unit hydrograph development
o Derivation of unit hydrograph
o S-Hydrograph and Lagging methods
o Synthetic unit hydrograph
o Snyder method
o SCS method
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LEARNING OUTCOME
a) Draw the resultant hydrograph based on divers

catchment and rainfall runoff conditions
b) State and apply base flow separation techniques and
estimate direct runoff values
c) Derive Unit Hydrograph from historical data
d) Change unit hydrograph time lag
e) Derive Unit Hydrograph using synthetic methods
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4.1 Surface Runoff

Rainfall-Runoff relationship
Storm hydrograph and annual hydrograph
Components of hydrograph
Groundwater recession
Separation techniques
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Introduction
Runoff: draining or flowing off of precipitation from a catchment area through a
surface channel.
a.k.a. direct runoff (DR), rainfall excess (RE) or effective rainfall (ER)
It is the net precipitation after deducting all losses
Consist of 3 constituents :
direct precipitation over surface of the stream small portion of total flow where
precipitation balances by evaporation and can be ignored.
surface runoff true surface runoff and subsurface storm flow
groundwater inflow or base flow
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Introduction
Runoff = Surface Runoff + Groundwater Inflow
Categorizes based on time delay between precipitation and runoff;
Direct runoff: enter the stream immediately after rainfall or snow melt
Subsurface runoff: leaches into the soil and moves laterally without joining water
table
Base flow: delayed flow that reaches the stream essentially as groundwater flow
Different routes of runoff 6

4.1 Surface Runoff
Factors affecting runoff: The runoff rate and its volume from an area,
mainly influenced by following two factors:
climatic factors
physiographic factors
a) Climatic factors: b) Physiographic factors: the different
Type and form of precipitation characteristics of watershed and
rainfall intensity channel:
duration of rainfall size and shape of watershed
rainfall distribution slope of watershed
direction of the prevailing wind orientation of watershed
land use
soil moisture
soil type
topographic characteristic
drainage density
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Climatic factors: type and form of precipitation
A precipitation which occurs in form of rainfall, starts immediately in form of
surface flow over the land surface,
While a precipitation which take place in form of snow or hails, the flow of water
on ground surface will not take place immediately, but after melting of the
same.
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Climatic factors: rainfall intensity
If rainfall intensity greater than
infiltration rate of the soil, the surface
runoff takes place very shortly,
While in case of low intensity rainfall,
there is fund a reverse trend to the
same. Thus, high intensities rainfall
yield higher runoff.
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Climatic factors: duration of rainfall
Rainfall duration is directly related to the volume of runoff, due to the fact, that
infiltration rate of the soil goes on decreasing with the duration of rainfall, till it
attains a constant rate.
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Climatic factors: rainfall distribution
Runoff from a watershed depends very much on the distribution of rainfall,
The rainfall distribution for this propose can be expressed by the term of
distribution coefficient, which my be defined as the ratio of maximum rainfall at
appoint to the mean rainfall of the watershed. The greater value of the
distribution coefficient, grater the peak runoff.
Uniform Distribution Nonuniform Distribution
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Climatic factors: direction of the prevailing wind
If the direction of the prevailing wind is same, as the drainage system then it
has a great influence on the resulting peak flow and also on duration of surface
flow, to reach the outlet.
A storm moving in the direction of stream slope, produces a higher peak in
shorter period of time, than the storm moving in opposite direction
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Physiographic factors;
size and shape of watershed
slope of watershed Watershed characteristics
orientation of watershed
land use
soil moisture Infiltration characteristics
soil type
topographic characteristic
Channel characteristics
drainage density
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Physiographic factors: Watershed characteristics
size and shape of watershed In small catchment, overland flow phase is
predominant over the channel flow
slope of watershed slope of the main stream controls the velocity of the flow
in the channel
orientation of watershed
Effect of watershed orientation on the hydrograph Effect of catchment shape on the hydrograph
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Physiographic factors: Infiltration characteristics
land use and urbanization Vegetation and forests increase the infiltration and
storage capacities of soils
soil moisture and soil type
Effect of urbanization on the hydrograph
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Physiographic factors: Channel characteristics
topographic characteristic The topography of drainage basins is a sensibly
permanent characteristic which influences mainly the concentration or time
distribution of the discharge from a drainage basin.
drainage density Is defined as the ratio of total channel length to the total
drainage area
Effect of drainage density on the hydrograph

4.1 Surface Runoff
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4.1 Surface Runoff
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Storage of water in a basin exists as;
Surface storage (i.e. surface detention &
channel storage)
Interflow storage
Groundwater storage (base flow)
Hydrograph of Stream Flow
Graphical representation of discharge flowing in
a river at a given direction with passage of time.
A plot between time (X-axis) and discharge (Y-
axis)
Represent discharge fluctuations in the river at
a given site; indicates peak flow that governs
the design of given hydraulic structure.
Peak flow maximum flow in the river due to
any given storm.
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Essential components of a hydrograph are
Rising limb
Crest segment
Recession limb
Rising Limb
a.k.a. concentration curve
Represent the increase in discharge
Crest segment
Contains the peal flow
Occurs when the runoff from various parts of the catchment simultaneously
contribute amount of flow at basin outlet
Recession limb
End of crest segment to the commencement of groundwater flow, represents
withdrawal of water from the basin storage
The starting of recession represents the condition of maximum storage
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Channel interception
Rain that fall directly into the channel
Causes initial rise in discharge
Occurs for only short period of time and
ceases when rainfall stop
Surface runoff (overland flow)

Water that flows over soil surface
From impervious surface, where P > I
Represents a quickflow response to storm
Relative small in forest but high for urban
area
Subsurface flow (interflow)

Water that infiltrates the soil and moves in
soil to stream
Main portion of storm water in forests
Takes the longest to get to the stream
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Baseflow
Water below the water table from
the groundwater that flows in the
channel
Occurs all year round in perennial
streams
Responds very slow if at all to
storm
Total discharge (Q)

All forms of water moving to
Lag time
channel
Lag time: The time between the
center of mass discharge of rainfall
excess and the time of the peak
discharge
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4.1 Surface Runoff
tb 23
4.1 Surface Runoff
There are few types of hydrograph:
Annual Hydrograph (regimes)
Monthly Hydrograph
Seasonal Hydrograph
Flood or Storm Hydrograph
Annual hydrograph varies from month to month

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4.1 Surface Runoff
There have hydrograph function to Analyzes
measured rainfall and runoff to obtain an
estimate of transfer function;
Input Function Rainfall Hyetograph
Transfer Function Concept of Unit Hydrograph
Output Function Total Runoff
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Annual Hydrograph: A hydrograph plotted over a period of one year
Showing long-term balance of precipitation, evaporation and streamflowin a
watershed.
There are three (3) distinct types of annual hydrographs which can be
observed in different streams:
Perennial stream
Intermittent stream
Ephemeral stream
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Perennial Stream: have a continuous flow regime typically of a well-defined
channel in a humid climate.
Consist of;
long recession time
dependable yield
effluent stream
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Intermittent Stream: generally have flow during the wet season.
Consist of;
shorter recession time
limited yield mainly from surface runoff
influent/ effluent stream
stream remains dry over the dry months
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Ephemeral Stream: typically in arid zone and generally have flow only during
and, for a short period, after storms.
Consist of;
spikes
no baseflow, not dependable
influent stream
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4.1 Surface Runoff
The quick-response surface runoff incorporates overland flow, interflow
and channel direct precipitation, and it is the most significant component in
a hydrograph.
Baseflow is analyzed separately because it behaves quite differently in
character from surface runoff.
The baseflow usually finished at a higher level at the end of the storm and
thus there is enhanced river flow from groundwater storage after a
significant rainfall event.
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Recession Curve - Recession/ depletion represents the withdrawal of
water from the storage which built up in the basin during the earlier phases
of the hydrograph
Behavior independent of storm and dependent on basin.
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Total runoff hydrograph = Direct runoff hydrograph + Baseflow function
Purpose: to separate quick response & slow response flow
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Establishing a relationship between surface-flow and effective rainfall
Separation of quick-response flow (surface flow and subsurface flow)
from slow response flow (base flow).
Base flow separation methods
a) Method I (Straight Line Method)
b) Method II (Intersection method)
c) Method III (Recession curve method)
d) Constant Discharge Method
e) Constant Slope Baseflow Separation
f) Concave Baseflow Separation
g) Master - Depletion - Curve Method
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4.1 Surface Runoff
a) Method I (Straight Line method)
Joining beginning of surface runoff, Point A to a point on recession limb (end
of direct runoff), Point B with a straight line.
Point A can be identified when sharp change of runoff rate at beginning of
hydrograph while Point B can be determined from empirical equation for the
time interval, N (days) as;
N = 0.83A0.2 days
where A=drainage area in km2
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4.1 Surface Runoff
b) Method II (Intersection method)
Extend base flow curve at beginning Point A till it intersects with ordinate
drawn at the peak discharge at Point C.
Connect Point AC and CB with a straight line that demarcate base flow and
surface runoff.
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4.1 Surface Runoff
c) Method III (Recession Curve method)
Extend backward of base flow recession curve at Point F till it intersects the
ordinate at point of inflection, Pi
F with a straight line and Point F and A with an arbitrary smooth curve
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4.1 Surface Runoff
d) Constant Discharge Method
Easiest method
Line intersects lowest discharge rate, prior to rising limb and recession limb
Constant Discharge baseflow separation;
Line separating base flow & direct runoff begins at the point of lowest
discharge rate.
Extends at a constant discharge rate until intersects the recession limb.
Discharge, Q (m3/s)
qe
qs
ts Time, t te
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4.1 Surface Runoff
e) Constant slope Baseflow separation
Flow from aquifer begins at the recession
Point where direct runoff ends
Select the inflection point
Concave to Convex
Discharge, Q (m3/s)
qe
qs
ts Time, t te
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4.1 Surface Runoff
f) Concave Baseflow Separation
Starting and ending point same as constant slope
Baseflow decrease until the time of peak discharge
More realistic but detail calculation is needed
Where;
qr = recession or threshold q
qs = initial Q (choose the 1st value when the hydrograph start to rise)
qm = q base at peak time (minimum baseflow value)
tr = also known as the inflection point, hydrograph goes from convex to concave,
slope between adjacent two points being greater 1 to less than 1
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4.1 Surface Runoff
g) Master-Depletion- Curve Method
use when the most accurate model of hydrograph recessions is needed
combine data from several recessions to make general recession model
from this an equation of the form qt = qoe-Kt can be derived, which gives
discharge qt at any time t after discharge qo is measured
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Other Available Methods for Base flow separation
Fixed Interval
Local Minimum
Sliding Interval
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Separation techniques - Example
Discharge (m3/s)
Time (hours)
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4.1 Surface Runoff
Discharge (m3/s)
Total direct runoff due to

storm determined from
area under the plot
Time (hours)
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Unit hydrograph development
Derivation of unit hydrograph
S-Hydrograph and Lagging methods
Synthetic unit hydrograph
Snyder method
SCS method
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Wisler & Brater (1949) - the hydrograph of surface runoff resulting from a
relatively short, intense rain, called a unit storm.
It is the hydrograph that results from 1 cm of rainfall excess generated
uniformly over the watershed at a uniform rate during specified time period
(Chow et al., 1988)
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There are 4 aspects of this definition that should be given special notice;
1 cm depth of rainfall excess over basin area.
Uniform spatial distribution of rainfall over the watershed.
A rainfall excess rate that is constant with time
Specific duration of rainfall excess.
Assumption in unit hydrograph :
time invariance runoff produced from a given drainage basin due to
a given effective rainfall shall always be the same irrespective of the
time of its occurrence.
Linear response-the runoff response of a drainage basin to the excess
rainfall is assumed to be linear in which if an input x1(t) causes an
output y1(t), and an input x2(t) causes an output y2(t), then an input
x1(t) + x2(t) will cause an output y1(t) + y2(t).
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Limitation of U.H. :
Excess rain only occurs uniformly over the entire basin
Intensity should be constant during the entire duration.
Unreliable for basins exceeding about 5000 km2 or less than 2 km2.
Precipitation only considered from rainfall
Catchment should not have unusual large storages which will affect
the linear relationship between storage and discharge.
If precipitation is decidedly non-uniform, UH will not give good result.
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Rules of Thumb: the storm should be fairly uniform in nature and the
excess precipitation should be equally as uniform throughout the basin.
This may require the initial conditions throughout the basin to be spatially
similar.
Second, the storm should be relatively constant in time, meaning that
there should be no breaks or periods of no precipitation.
Finally, the storm should produce at least an inch of excess precipitation
(the area under the hydrograph after correcting for base flow).
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Procedure to derive unit hydrograph
i. Plot the flood hydrograph
ii. Separate the baseflow by using the separation methods
iii. Calculate the total volume of direct flow and the equivalent runoff
depth
iv. Calculate the ordinates of unit hydrograph by dividing each direct
flow with runoff depth
v. Plot the unit hydrograph
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S-Hydrograph and Lagging methods
S-Curve Hydrograph (Summation Curve Hydrograph)
Used for deriving unknown U.H. of desired unit duration. The duration
of unknown hydrograph is either shorter or not an integral multiple of
duration of known hydrograph.
S-curve is produced by continuous effective rainfall representing by a
continuous rising curve, which ultimately attains a constant value when
equilibrium discharge reached (entire catchment starts contributing to
runoff).
When using S-curve for determining U.H. of unknown duration (t1), S-
curve lagged by t1 hr when subtracted from origin S-curve is the unit
hydrograph of t1 hr.
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Synthetic unit hydrograph
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Snyder method
Apply for basins which are not gauged. U.H. are synthesized from known
U.H. of a meteorologically homogeneous basin.
Most appropriate for large watersheds, but calibration of coefficients is
recommended.
Formation of U.H. includes time to peak, time base, duration of rainfall
excess, peak discharge, width of unit hydrograph at both 50% and 75% of
peak discharge.
Caution should be used in applying Snyders method to a new area
without first deriving coefficients for gauged streams in the general vicinity
of the problem basin. The coefficients Ct and Cp have been found vary
considerably form one region to another.
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Snyder method
Time of peak depends on 2 elements: duration of rainfall excess (td) and
time lag (tp).
Time lag,tp is the time interval from midpoint of unit rainfall excess to the
peak of unit graph, tp = Ct (L Lca)0.3.
Duration of rainfall excess of t hours is given by;
tp 2
tr = = tp
5.5 11
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Snyder method
Peak discharge Qps for unit hydrograph of standard unit duration of tr
hour is given by
A
Q ps = 2.78C p
tp
For non-standard unit duration,tR, time to peak

t R tr
t 'p = t p +
4 and
21 tR
= tp +
22 4
A
Peak discharge, Q p = 2.78C p
t 'p
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Snyder method
Time base for this U.H, tb is given by
tb = ( 72 + 3t ' p ) hrs for large catchment while
tR
tb = 5 t ' p + hrs for smaller catchment
2
The shape of Synders U.H. is largely controlled by 2 times parameters,
W50 and W75 which represent the time widths of U.H. at discharges of
50% and 75% of peak discharge.
5.87 Qp
where W50 = 1.08 and
W
W75 = 50 qp =
q 1.75 A
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SCS method
Suitable for large number of actual watershed (multiple watershed)
The area under UH = depth of DR, Q = 1inch
Made dimensionless by:
ASSUMPTION
UHG had a Curvilinear or approximated by a triangular UH.
The area under UHG = the depth of DR which is 1 (unit)
3/8 of total volume is occurred before Tp
Point of inflection (located at the recession limb) = Tr = 1.7 x tp
For time base, tb:-
Curvilinear , tb= 5tp
Triangular, tb= (8/3)tp
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THANK YOU
FOR YOUR KIND
ATTENTION
58

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Download all notes and other lectures materials of CEW541 at;

a) Draw the resultant hydrograph based on divers

4.1 Surface Runoff

Different routes of runoff 6

Uniform Distribution Nonuniform Distribution

Effect of urbanization on the hydrograph

Effect of drainage density on the hydrograph

Surface runoff (overland flow)

Subsurface flow (interflow)

Total discharge (Q)

Annual hydrograph varies from month to month

Total direct runoff due to

4.2 Hydrograph Analysis

For non-standard unit duration,tR, time to peak

tb = ( 72 + 3t ' p ) hrs for large catchment while

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