Engineering Hydrology 4E by Wilson

Engineering Hydrology
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Fourth Edition
E. M. WILSON PhD MSc FICE FASCE

Professor of Hydraulic Engineering, University of Salford
Macmillan Education
Macmillan Education Ltd
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
Companies and representatives throughout

the world
E. M. Wilson 1969, 1974, 1983, 1990
All rights reserved. No part of this publication

may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, without permission.
First edition 1969

Second edition 1974
Reprinted 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980,
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Reprinted 1984, 1986, 1987
Fourth edition 1990
ELBS edition first published 1978

Reprinted 1979, 1981 (twice)
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Additional material to this book can be downloaded from http://extras.springer.com.
ISBN 978-0-333-53180-8 ISBN 978-1-349-20610-0 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-20610-0
Contents
Preface to the Fourth Edition ix

Note on 'Solutions' booklet xii
Acknowledgements x
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Allied sciences
1.2 The hydrological cycle
1.3 Inventory of Earth's water 3
1.4 Hydrology as applied in engineering 3
2 Meteorological Data S
2.1 Weather and climate 5
2.2 Humidity 6
2.3 Temperature 8
2.4 Radiation 9
2.5 Wind 9
2.6 Precipitation 10
2.7 Forms of precipitation other than rain 15
2.8 The extension and interpretation of data 15
2.9 The meteorological section of the Flood Studies Report (1975) 27
2.10 Probable maximum precipitation (PMP) 34
References 37
Problems 38
3 Evaporation and Transpiration 42

3.1 Meteorological factors 42
3.2 Transpiration 43
3.3 Methods of estimating evaporation 44
3.4 Evaporation from land surfaces using Penman's Eo value 51
3.5 Thornthwaite's formulae for evapotranspiration 51
vi Contents
3.6 Direct measurement of evaporation by pans 54
3.7 Consumptive use 55
References 62
Problems 63
4 Infdtration and Percolation 66

4.1 Infiltration capacity of soil 66
4.2 Factors influencing le 66
4.3 Methods of determining infiltration capacity 69
4.4 Soil moisture 72
References 80
Problems 81
5 Groundwater 83
5.1 The occurrence of ground water 83
5.2 Factors of influence 84
5.3 Groundwater flow 88
5.4 The abstraction of groundwater 94
5.5 The yield of wells 96
5.6 Test pumping analysis 105
References 109
Problems 109
6 Surface Runoff 111

6.1 The engineering problem 111
6.2 Catchment characteristics and their effects on runoff 112
6.3 Climatic factors 117
6.4 Rainfall/runoff correlation 119
6.5 Flow rating curves: their determination, adjustment and
extension 120
6.6 Volume and duration of runoff 136
6.7 Estimation of mean flow, Qm 141
References 143
Problems 145
7 Hydrograph Analysis 150

7.1 Components of a natural hydrograph 150
7.2 The contribution of baseflow to stream discharge 151
7.3 Separation of baseflow and runoff 153
7.4 Evaluation of base flow 157
7.5 The unit hydrograph 158
7.6 Unit hydrographs of various durations 160
7.7 The unit hydrograph as a percentage distribution 163
7.8 Derivation of the unit hydrograph 165
Contents vii
7.9 Unit hydrographs from complex or multi-period storms 165
7.10 The instantaneous unit hydrograph 173
7.11 Synthetic unit hydrographs 174
7.12 Synthetic unit hydro graphs from catchment characteristics
by the FSR method 179
7.13 The application of rain to unit hydrographs 186
References 190
Problems 191
8 Flood Routing 198

8.1 Introduction 198
8.2 The storage equation 198
8.3 Reservoir routing 200
8.4 Routing in a river channel 203
8.5 Graphical routing methods 211
8.6 Synthetic unitgraphs from flood routing 213
References 220
Problems 220
9 Hydrological Forecasting 225

9.2 Flood formulae 226
9.3 Frequency analysis 228
9.4 The FSR method of predicting Q and QT for an ungauged
catchment 244
9.5 Synthetic data generation 248
9.6 The cyclical nature of hydrological phenomena 249
References 250
Problems 252
10 Urban Hydrology 261

10.2 The use of the Rational Method 261
10.3 Hydrograph methods 265
References 266
11 International Flood Frequency Growth Curves 268

1l.l World Flood Studies 268
11.2 General conclusions 273
References 273
12 Design Criteria 274

12.1 Risk analysis 274
viii Contents
12.2 Choice of design return period by consideration of design
life and probability of encountering design flow during
this life 275
12.3 Choice of a design value of a rare event 276
References 276
Appendix A. Rainfall and soil characteristics of the British Isles 278
Appendix B. Typical values of Manning's nand Chezy's C 339
Answers to Problems 340
Index 343
Appendix C. Nomogram for determining evaporation Eo from a free

water surface according to the Penman equation Inside
back
cover
Preface to the Fourth Edition
This fourth edition, like its three predecessors, is written for engineering students
and junior engineers; to introduce them to the principles and practice of engineer-
ing hydrology and to show, through many worked examples, how to approach
the many apparently intractable problems which hydraulic engineers meet.
The last decade has been a time of considerable activity in the subject, follow-
ing the publication of the Flood Studies Report by the Institute of Hydrology.
Examples of this on-going work include: advances in urban hydrology, published
as The Wallingford Procedure; the Low Flow Studies, the Flood Studies Supple-
mentary Reports and the World Flood Study from IOH; and the Manual for
Estimation of Probable Maximum Precipitation from the World Meteorological
Organisation.
Short descriptions of some of these subjects have been included in this
edition to encourage deeper study of the original texts. The opportunity has
been taken of enlarging the lists of problems, re-organising several chapters,
updating references and including relevant new material.
I continue to receive and much appreciate comments, corrections and advice
from correspondents around the world, to whom I am grateful.
Manchester, 1989' E. M. Wilson
ix
Acknowledgements
Permission to publish copyright material is gratefully acknowledged as follows.
From the Director, the Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdom

Tables 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.11,4.2 and 6.1
Figures 2.7, 2.17, 4.9, 4.10,6.21,6.24,7.28,9.7,9.8,11.1,11.2,11.3 and
11.4
From the Controller, Her Majesty's Stationery Office
Appendix A: SAAR, 2DM5, r and RP maps for the United Kingdom
Figures 2.6,2.13 and 4.8
From the Soil Survey of England and Wales, the Macauley Institute for Soil
Research, the National Soil Survey of Ireland and Mr B. S. Kear
Appendix A: RP maps for England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the
Isle of Man respectively
From the Director, Irish Meteorological Service
Appendix A: SAAR, 2DM5 and r maps of the Republic of Ireland
From the Director, Ghana Meteorological Service
Figure 2.8
From the Institution of Civil Engineers
Figures 7.25, 7.26 and 7.27
From Professor L. Huisman, Delft University
Figure 5.11
From Mr P. J. Rijkoort, Royal Meteorological Institute, The Netherlands
Appendix C: Nomogram for Penman's equation
From the Cambridge University Press
Table 3.1
x
Acknowledgements xi
From the American Geographical Society, New York
Figure 3.2
From the McGraw-Hi1l Book Company
Figure 4.7
From Dr I. G. Littlewood
Figures 6.13 and 6.14
From the American Water Works Association
Figure 2.18
From the Director, Transport and Road Research Laboratory
Tables 10.1 and 10.2
Figure 10.1
From the Director General, U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation
Tables 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4
Figure 3.4
Grateful acknowledgement of assistance and information is also made to

Mr B. 1. Greenfield of Thames Water Authority
Dr Frank Farquharson, Dr I. G. Littlewood and Dr A. Gustard, all of the
Institute of Hydrology
The Meteorological Office Advisory Services
Messrs Boode B. V., Zevenhuizen, The Netherlands for Figure 5.9
Mrs Margaret Pearson, University of Salford
A 64-page booklet containing model answers to all of the numerical
questions in this book is available from the publishers.
[ISBN 978-0-333-52383-4]
xii
1 Introduction
The science of hydrology deals with the occurrence and movement of water on
and over the surface of the Earth. It deals with the various forms of moisture
that occur, and the transformation between the liquid, solid and gaseous states
in the atmosphere and in the surface layers of land masses. It is concerned also
with the sea-the source and store of all the water that activates life on this
planet.
1.1 Allied sciences

The engineer is normally concerned with the design and operation of engineering
works to control the use of water and in particular the regulation of streams and
rivers and the formation of storage reservoirs and irrigation canals. Nevertheless,
he must be aware of the application of hydrology in the wider context of the
subject, since much of his material is derived from physics, meteorology, ocean-
ography, geography, geology, hydraulics and kindred sciences. He must be aware
of experience in forestry and agriculture and in botany and biology. He must
know probability theory, some statistical methods and be able to use economic
analysis.
Hydrology is basically an interpretive science. Experimental work is restricted,
by the scale of natural events, to modest researches into particular effects. The
fundamental requirement is observed and measured data on all aspects of preci-
pitation, runoff, percolation, river flow, evaporation and so on. With these data
and an insight into the many bordering fields of knowledge, the skilled hydro-
logist can provide the best solutions to many engineering problems that arise.
1.2 The hydrological cycle

The cyclic movement of water from the sea to the atmosphere and thence
by precipitation to the Earth, where it collects in streams and runs back to the
sea, is referred to as the hydrological cycle. Such a cyclic order of events does
2 Engineering Hydrology
occur but it is not so simple as that. Firstly, the cycle may short-circuit at several
stages, for example, the precipitation may fall directly into the sea, lakes or river
courses. Secondly, there is no uniformity in the time a cycle takes. During
droughts it may appear to have stopped altogether, during floods it may seem
to be continuous. Thirdly, the intensity and frequency of the cycle depend on
geography and climate, since it operates as a result of solar radiation, which
varies according to latitude and season of the year. Finally, the various parts of
the cycle can be quite complicated and man can exercise some control only on
the last part, when the rain has fallen on the land and is making its way back
to the sea.
Although this concept of the hydrological cycle is oversimplified, it affords a
means of illustrating the most important processes that the hydrologist must
understand. The cycle is shown diagrammatically in figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1 The hydrological cycle
Water in the sea evaporates under solar radiation, and clouds of water vapour
move over land areas. Precipitation occurs as snow, hail, rain and condensate in
the form of dew, over land and sea. Snow and ice on land are water in temporary
storage. Rain falling over land surfaces may be intercepted by vegetation and
evaporate back to the atmosphere. Some of it infiltrates into the soil and moves
down or percolates into the saturated ground zone beneath the water-table, or
phreatic surface. The water in this zone flows slowly through aquifers to river
channels or sometimes directly to the sea. The water that infiltrates also feeds
the surface plant life and some gets drawn up into this vegetation where trans-
piration takes place from leafy plant surfaces.
The water remaining on the surface partially evaporates back to vapour, but
the bulk of it coalesces into streamlets and runs as surface runoff to the river
channels. The river and lake surfaces also evaporate, so still more is removed
he-re. Finally, the remaining water that has not infiltrated or evaporated arrives
back at the sea via the river channels. The groundwater, moving much more
Introduction 3
slowly, either emerges into the stream channels or arrives at the coastline and
seeps into the sea, and the whole cycle starts again.
1.3 Inventory of Earth's water

It is as well to have a clear idea of the scale of the events that are being dis-
cussed. Table 1.1 lists estimates of the amounts of water involved in the hydro-
logical cycle and the proportion (in percentages) of the total water on Earth
involved in each part of it.
TABLE 1.1 Estimated Earth's water inventory
Location Volume Percentage

(10 3 km 3 ) total water
Fresh-water lakes
Rivers 125125}
062
Soil moisture 65
Groundwater 8250
Saline lakes and inland seas 105 0008
Atmosphere 13 0001
Polar ice-caps, glaciers and snow 29200 21
Seas and oceans 1320000 97'25
Total 1360000 1000

or 136 X 10 18 m 3
Of the 06 per cent of total water that is available as fresh water, about half
is below a depth of 800 m and so is not practically available on the surface. This
means that the stock of the Earth's fresh water that is obtainable one way or
another for man's use is about 4 x 106 km 3 and is mainly in the ground. Spread
over the Earth's land surface it would be about 30 m deep.
The four processes with which the hydrologist is mainly concerned are preci-
pitation, evaporation and transpiration, surface runoff or stream flow, and
groundwater flow. He needs to be able to interpret data about these processes
and to predict from his studies the most likely quantities involved in the extreme
cases of flood and drought. He must be able also to express an opinion about the
likely frequency with which such events will occur, since it is on the frequency
of certain values of extreme events that much hydraulic engineering design is
based.
1.4 Hydrology as applied in engineering

To the practising engineer concerned with the planning and building of hydraulic
structures, hydrology is an indispensable tool. Suppose, for example, that a city
wishes to increase or improve its water supply. The engineer first looks for
sources of supply; having perhaps found a clear uninhabited mountain catch-
ment area, he must make an estimate of its capability of supplying water. How
much rain will fall on it? How long will dry periods be and what amount of
storage will be necessary to even out the flow? How much of the runoff will be
lost as evaporation and transpiration? Would a surface storage scheme be better
than abstraction of the groundwater flow from wells nearer the city?
The questions do not stop there. If a dam is to be built, what capacity must
the spillway have? What diameter should the supply pipelines be? Would affores-
tation of the catchment area be beneficial to the scheme or not?
To all these questions, and many others that arise, the hydrologist can supply
answers. Often the answers will be qualified, and often also they will be given as
probable values, with likely deviations in certain lengths of time. This is because
hydrology is not an exact science. A contractor may be building a cofferdam in
a river and his hydrologist may tell him that, built to a certain height, it will be
overtopped only once, on average, in 100 years. If it is a temporary structure
built for a service life of maybe only 2 years the contractor may decide this is a
fair risk. However, it is a risk. One of the 2 years could be that in which the once
in 100 years flood arrives, and the science of hydrology cannot, as yet, predict
this.
In a broader field of engineering, which is of great and increasing importance,
the development of water resources over a whole river basin or geographical
region may be under consideration. In these circumstances the role of the hydro-
logist is especially important. Now his views and experience are of critical weight
not only in the engineering structures involved in water supply, but also in the
type and extent of the agriculture to be practised, in the siting of industry, in
the size of population that can be supported, in the navigation of inland shipping,
in port development and in the preservation of amenities.
Civilisation is primarily dependent on water supply. As the trend towards
larger cities and increasing industrialisation continues, so will the role of the
hydrologist increase in importance in meeting the demands of larger populations
for water for drinking, sanitation, irrigation, industry and power generation.
2 Meteorological Data
2.1 Weather and climate

The hydrology of a region depends primarily on its climate, secondly on its
topography and its geology. Climate is largely dependent on the geographical
position on the earth's surface. Climatic factors of importance are precipitation
and its mode of occurrence, humidity, temperature and wind, all of which
directly affect evaporation and transpiration.
Topography is important in its effect on precipitation and the occurrence of
lakes, marshland and high and low rates of runoff. Geology is important because
it influences topography and because the underlying rock of an area is the
groundwater zone where the water that has infiltrated moves slowly through
aquifers to the rivers and the sea.
The pattern of circulation in the atmosphere is complex. If the earth were a
stationary uniform sphere, then there would be a simple circulation of atmos-
phere on that side of it nearest the sun. Warmed air would rise at the equator and
move north and south at a high altitude, while cooler air moved in across the sur-
face to replace it. The high warm air would cool and sink as it moved away from
the equator, until it returned to the surface layers when it would move back to
the equator. The side of the earth remote from the sun would be uniformly dark
and cold.
This simple pattern is upset by the earth's daily rotation, on its own axis,
which gives alternate 12-hour heating and cooling and also produces the Coriolis
force acting on airstreams moving towards or away from the equator. It is
further upset by the tilt of the earth's axis to the plane of its rotation around
the sun, which gives rise to seasonal differences. Further effects are due to the
different reflectivity and specific heats of land and water surfaces. The result of
these circumstances on the weather is to make it generally complex and difficult
to predict in the short term. By observations of data over a period of time, how-
ever, long-term predictions may be made on a statistical basis.
The study of hydrology necessitates the collection of data on (among other
factors) humidity, temperature, precipitation, radiation and wind velocity. All
of these main factors are considered in this chapter.
5
2.2 Humidity
Air easily absorbs moisture in the form of water vapour. The amount absorbed
depends on the temperatures of the air and of the water. The greater the tern
perature of the air, the more water vapour it can contain. The water vapour
exerts a partial pressure usually measured in either bars (1 bar = 100 kN/m2 ;
1 millibar = 102 N/m 2) or mm height of a column of mercury (Hg) (1 mm Hg =
1.33 mbar).
Suppose an evaporating surface of water is in a closed system and enveloped
in air. If a source of heat energy is available to the system, evaporation of the
water into the air will take place until a state of equilibrium is reached when the
air is saturated with vapour and can absorb no more. The molecules of water
vapour will then exert a pressure that is known as saturation vapour pressure, or
es, for the particular temperature of the system.
The value of es changes with temperature as indicated in table 2.1. These
values are also plotted as a curve connecting e s and temperature CC) in figure
2.1. Referring to figure 2.1, consider what can happen to a mass of atmos-
pheric air P whose temperature is t and whose vapour pressure is e.
34
I
32 t-
30
/
ry 28 l-
/:i
T
26
E
E 24 I-
<L " 22
'"
~ 20 I-
I
ew,V ~
)1 ~r-
'"C. 18
;; 16
0
"- 14
:
I---+--+-+-t---+--+---J---J,L--t-,, __ ~ / v ~ 'C? ~~ ~r--
V ~ \ I ~
0
>
c: 12 I
.<;> 1 / ~ 1\ I
0
.20
10
I ",I !?. _ _ -<6> __ ! _-+f-'r~~1p-,.,..-+c...-----1
i
8
(/) I ,...- "'":: .3 (e, t)
6
t-~_
--!~-----tH--+-!.
_ i~"'----t
4
2 F-+---+---+--+-____t D --+--+---+-------i--t---i
oL-~~~_L_L_I~~~-~~L_L_~~_L_L~~I~~I~~~~~I~
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 2022 24 26 28 30 32 34
Temperature (DC)
Figure 2.1 Saturation vapour pressure of water in air

Since P lies below the saturation vapour pressure curve, it is clear that the
air mass could absorb more water vapour and that if it did so while its tem-
perature remained constant, then the position of P would move vertically up
dashed line (j) until the air was saturated. The corresponding vapour pressure
of P in this new position would be es . The increase (e s - e) is known as the
saturation deficit.
Meteorological Data 7
TABLE 2.1 Saturation vapour pressure as a function of temperature t

(negative values oft refer to conditions over ice; 1 mm Hg = 1.33 mbar)
ea (mmHg)
t 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
re)
-10 2.15
-9 2.32 2.30 2.29 2.27 2.26 2.24 2.22 2.21 2.19 2.17
-8 2.51 2.49 2.47 2.45 2.43 2.41 2.40 2.38 2.36 2.34
-7 2.71 2.69 2.67 2.65 2.63 2.61 2.59 2.57 2.55 2.53
-6 2.93 2.91 2.89 2.86 2.84 2.82 2.80 2.77 2.75 2.73
-5 3.16 3.14 3.11 3.09 3.06 3.04 3.01 2.99 2.97 2.95
-4 3.41 3.39 3.37 3.34 3.32 3.29 3.27 3.24 3.22 3.18
-3 3.67 3.64 3.62 3.59 3.57 3.54 3.52 3.49 3.46 3.44
-2 3.97 3.94 3.91 3.88 3.85 3.82 3.79 3.76 3.73 3.70
-1 4.26 4.23 4.20 4.17 4.14 4.11 4.08 4.05 4.03 4.00
-0 4.58 4.55 4.52 4.49 4.46 4.43 4.40 4.36 4.33 4.29
0 4.58 4.62 4.65 4.69 4.71 4.75 4.78 4.82 4.86 4.89
1 4.92 4.96 5.00 5.03 5.07 5.11 5.14 5.18 5.21 5.25
2 5.29 5.33 5.37 5.40 5.44 5.48 5.53 5.57 5.60 5.64
3 5.68 5.72 5.76 5.80 5.84 5.89 5.93 5.97 6.01 6.06
4 6.10 6.14 6.18 6.23 6.27 6.31 6.36 6.40 6.45 6.49
5 6.54 6.58 6.54 6.68 6.72 6.77 6.82 6.86 6.91 6.96
6 7.01 7.06 7.11 7.16 7.20 7.25 7.31 7.36 7.41 7.46
7 7.51 7.56 7.61 7.67 7.72 7.77 7.82 7.88 7.93 7.98
8 8.04 8.10 8.15 8.21 8.26 8.32 8.37 8.43 8.48 8.54
9 8.61 8.67 8.73 8.78 8.84 8.90 8.96 9.02 9.08 9.14
10 9.20 9.26 9.33 9.39 9.46 9.52 9.58 9.65 9.71 9.77
11 9.84 9.90 9.97 10.03 10.10 10.17 10.24 10.31 10.38 10.45
12 10.52 10.58 10.66 10.72 10.79 10.86 10.93 11.00 11.08 11.15
13 11.23 11.30 11.38 11.75 11.53 11.60 11.68 11.76 11.83 11.91
14 11.98 12.06 12.14 12.22 12.96 12.38 12.46 12.54 12.62 12.70
15 12.78 12.86 12.95 13.03 13.11 13.20 13.28 13.37 13.45 13.54
16 13.63 13.71 13.80 13.90 13.99 14.08 14.17 14.26 14.35 14.44
17 14.53 14.62 14.71 14.80 14.90 14.99 15.09 15.17 15.27 15.38
18 15.46 15.56 15.66 15.76 15.96 15.96 16.06 16.16 16.26 16.36
19 16.46 16.57 16.68 16.79 16.90 17.00 17.10 17.21 17.32 17.43
20 17.53 17.64 17.75 17.86 17.97 18.08 18.20 18.31 18.43 18.54
21 18.65 18.77 18.88 19.00 19.11 19.23 19.35 19.46 19.58 19.70
22 19.82 19.94 20.06 20.19 20.31 20.43 20.58 20.69 20.80 20.93
23 21.05 21.19 21.32 21.45 21.58 21.71 21.84 21.97 22.10 22.23
24 22.27 22.50 22.63 22.76 22.91 23.05 23.19 23.31 23.45 23.60
25 23.75 23.90 24.03 24.20 24.35 24.49 24.64 24.79 24.94 25.08
26 25.31 25.45 25.60 25.74 25.89 26.03 26.18 26.32 26.46 26.60
27 26.74 26.90 27.05 27.21 27.37 27.53 27.69 27.85 28.00 28.16
28 28.32 28.49 28.66 28.83 29.00 29.17 29.34 29.51 29.68 29.85
29 30.03 30.20 30.38 30.56 30.74 30.92 31.10 31.28 31.46 31.64
30 31.82 32.00 32.19 32.38 32.57 32.76 32.95 33.14 33.33 33.52
Alternatively, if no change were to take place in the humidity of the air
while it was cooled, then P would move horizontally to the left along line ~
until the saturation line was intersected again. At this point P would be satu-
rated, at a new temperature td, the dew-point. Cooling of the air beyond this
point would result in condensation or mist being formed.
If water is allowed to evaporate freely into the air mass, neither of the above
two possibilities occurs. This is because the evaporation requires heat, which is
withdrawn from the air itself. This heat, called the latent heat of evaporation,
hr, is given by the equation
hr =606.5 - 0.695t calJg
So, as the humidity and vapour pressure rise, the temperature of the air falls and
the point P moves diagonally along line a> until saturation vapour pressure is
reached at the point defined by ew and tw.This temperature tw is called the
wet-bulb temperature and is the temperature to which the original air can be
cooled by evaporating water into it. This is the temperature found by a wet-
bulb thermometer.
The relative humidity is now given as
h = e/e s, or as a percentage, h = 100 e/e s per cent
and is a measure of the air's capacity, at its existing temperature, to absorb
further moisture. It is measured by blowing air over two thermometers, one with
its bulb wrapped in wet muslin and one dry. The air flow past the bulb has an
influence on the wet-bulb reading and the two thermometers can either be
whirled around on a string or more conveniently have the air current provided
by a clockwork fan. In this latter case the instrument is called a psychrometer.
The value of e for air temperature t may be obtained from the equation
where tw = wet-bulb temperature

t = dry-bulb temperature
ew = the corresponding partial pressures for tw (from table 2.1)
'Y = psychrometer constant (assuming the air speed past the bulbs
exceeds 3 mJs and t is measured in c, then:
for e in mbar, 'Y = 0.660
for e in mm Hg, 'Y =0.485).
2.3 Temperature
Air temperature is recorded by thermometers housed in open louvred boxes,
known as Stevenson screens, about 1.25 m above ground. Protection is necessary
from precipitation and the direct rays of the sun.
Many temperature observations are made using maximum and minimum
thermometers. These record, by indices, the maximum and minimum tem-
peratures experienced since the instrument was last set.
The daily variation in temperature varies from a minimum around sunrise,
-t
to a maximum from to 3 hours after the sun has reached its zenith, after which
there is a continual fall through the night to sunrise again. Accordingly, maximum
and minimum observations are best made in the period from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
after the minimum has occurred.
The mean daily temperature is the average of the maximum and minimum
and is normally within a degree of the true average as continuously recorded.
Temperature is measured in degrees Celsius, commonly, though erroneously,
called centigrade. The Fahrenheit scale is still also in common use.
Vertical temperature gradient. The rate of change of temperature in the atmos-

phere with height is called the lapse rate. Its mean value is 6.5 C per 1000 m
height increase. This rate is subject to variation, particularly near the surface,
which can become very warm by day, giving a higher lapse rate, and cool by
night, giving a lower lapse rate. The cooling of the earth, by outward radiation,
on clear nights can be such that a temperature inversion occurs, with warmer
air overlying the surface layer.
As altitude increases, barometric pressure decreases so that a unit mass of air
occupies greater volume the higher it rises. The temperature change due to this
decompression is about 10 c per 1000 m if the air is dry. This is the dry-adiabatic
lapse rate. If the air is moist, then as it is lifted, expanding and cooling, its water
vapour content condenses. This releases latent heat of condensation, which
prevents the air mass cooling as fast as dry air. The resulting saturated-adiabatic
lapse rate is therefore lower, at about 56 QC per 1000 m in the lower altitudes.
Distribution of temperature. Generally, the nearer to the equator a place is, the
warmer that place is. The effects of the different specific heats of earth and
water, the patterns of oceanic and atmospheric currents, the seasons of the year,
the topography, vegetation and altitude all tend to vary this general rule, and all
need consideration.
2.4 Radiation
Most meteorological recording stations are equipped with radiometers to measure
both incoming short-wave radiation from sun and sky, and net radiation, which
is the algebraic sum of all incoming radiation and the reflected short-wave and
long-wave radiation from the earth's surface. The net radiation is of great import-
ance in evaporation studies, as will be seen in chapter 3.
2.5 Wind
Wind speed and direction are measured by anemometer and wind vane respec-
tively. The conventional anemometer is the cup anemometer formed by a circlet
of three (sometimes four) cups rotating around a vertical axis. The speed of
rotation measures the wind speed and the total revolutions around the axis gives
a measure of wind run, the distance a particular parcel of air travels in a specified
time.
Because of the frictional effects of the ground or water surface over which
the wind is blowing, it is important to specify in any observation of wind, the
height above ground at which it was taken. An empirical relationship between
wind speed and height has been commonly used
u/uo = (z/zo)O.15
where Uo =wind speed at anemometer at height Zo
u =wind speed at some higher level z.
In recent years there has been some effort to standardise observation heights
and in Europe wind speed is usually observed 2 m above the surface.
Figure 2.2 shows an instrument array for making meteorological observations
at regular, short time-intervals. Instruments, which record automatically on
magnetic tape, include net-radiation radiometer, wet and dry bulb thermometers,
wind vane, anemometer and incident solar radiometer at the mast-top.
2.6 Precipitation
The source of almost all our rainfall is the sea. Evaporation takes place from the
oceans and water vapour is absorbed in the air streams moving across the sea's
surface. The moisture-laden air keeps the water vapour absorbed until it cools to
below dew-point temperature when the vapour is precipitated as rain, or if the
temperature is sufficiently low, as hail or snow.
The cause of the fall in temperature of an air mass may be due to convection,
the warm moist air rising and cooling to form cloud and subsequently to precipi-
tate rain. This is called convective precipitation. This is typified by the late
afternoon thunderstorms that develop from day-long heating of moist air, rising
into towering anvil-shaped clouds. Orographic precipitation results from ocean
air streams passing over land and being deflected upward by coastal mountains,
thus cooling below saturation temperature and spilling moisture. Most orographic
rain is deposited on the windward slopes. The third general classification of rain-
fall is cyclonic and frontal precipitation. When low-pressure areas exist, air tends
to move into them from surrounding areas and in so doing displaces low-pressure
air upward, to cool and precipitate rain. Frontal rain is associated with the
boundaries of air masses where one mass is colder than the other and so intrudes
a cool wedge under it, raising the warm air to form clouds and rain. The slope
of these frontal wedges can be quite flat and so rain areas associated with fronts
may be very large.
2.6.1 Recording precipitation. Precipitation occurs mainly as rain, but can

occur also as hail, sleet, snow, fog or dew. Britain has a humid climate and rain
provides the great bulk of its moisture, but in other parts of the world precipi-
tation can be almost entirely snow, or, in arid zones, dew.
In the United Kingdom, rainfall records are received and recorded by the
Figure 2.2 Meteorological observation array. On lower arm left, net

radiation; right, wet and dry bulb thermometers. On upper arm left,
wind direction; right, wind run. At top, solar and sky radiation. There
is a rain gauge with anti-splash screen in the middle distance
Meteorological Office from some 6500 rain gauges scattered over Great Britain
and Northern Ireland, the majority giving daily values of rainfall. In addition
there are a further 260 stations equipped also with recording rain gauges that
record continuously.
Standard rain gauges in Britain are made from copper and consist of as-in.
diameter copper cylinder, with a chamfered upper edge, which collects the rain
and allows it to drain through a funnel into a removable container of metal or
glass from which the rain may be poured into a graduated glass measuring-
cylinder each day. There are prescribed patterns for the standard gauge and for
its installation and operation.
Recording gauges (or autographic rain recorders) usually work by having a
clockwork-driven drum carrying a graph on which a pen records either the total
weight of container plus water collected, or a series of blips made each time a
small container of known capacity spills its contents. Such gauges are more
expensive and more liable to error but may be the only kind possible for remote,
rarely visited sites. They have the great advantage that they indicate intensity of
rainfall, which is a factor of importance in many problems. For this reason some
stations are equipped with both standard and recording gauges.
The Meteorological Office has recently designed a new range of rain gauges
[1] . The new standard gauge for daily rainfall measure is a circular catchment of
150 cm 2 (55 in. diameter) installed at a rim height of 300 mm above ground
level. The larger and more accurate new gauge has an area of750 cm 2 (122 in.
diameter) also set with a rim 300 mm above ground. The material used in manu-
facture is fibre glass. A new tipping-bucket mechanism has been designed and is
available with a telemetry system to provide for distant reading by telephone
interrogation. The gauge is provided with a telephone connection and number,
which can be dialled in the ordinary way. The quantity of rain collected since
the last setting of the gauge to zero is transmitted in increments of 1 mm by
three groups of audible tones representing hundreds, tens and units. Interroga-
tion can be made as frequently as desired and hence intensities can be obtained,
by simple subtraction, with minimum delay [2] .
In recent years there has been much research into the effects of exposure on
rain gauges and it is now generally accepted that more accurate results will be
obtained from a rain gauge set with its rim at ground level, than one with its rim
some height above ground [3]. It is necessary in a ground-level installation to
make a pit to house the gauge and cover it with an anti-splash grid. Accordingly
the ground-level gauge is more expensive to install and maintain.
A typical installation is illustrated in figure 2.3.
Yearly records for the whole country, statistically analysed and presented
graphically, are published annually by the MeteorolOgical Office in a booklet
entitled British Rainfall followed by the particular year concerned. The use of
rainfall data is discussed in section 2.8.
2.6.2 Rain-gauge networks. A question that frequently arises concerns the

number and type of rain gauges that are necessary to ensure an accurate assess-
Figure 2.3 Automatic recording rain gauge set with rim at ground
level and with anti-splash screen
ment of a catchment's rainfall. Bleasdale [4] quotes tables 2.2 and 2.3 as general
guides and comments as follows
The disparity between the two tables is not so great as might appear at first
sight. The first indicates station densities which are reached in important reser-
voired areas and which may well be exceeded in small experimental areas. The
TABLE 2.2 Minimum numbers of rain gauges required in reservoired moorland
areas a
Area Rain gauges
mile 2 km 2 Daily Monthly Total
0.8 2 1 2 3
l.6 4 2 4 6
7.8 20 3 7 10
15.6 41 4 11 15
3l.3 81 5 15 20
46.9 122 6 19 25
62.5 162 8 22 30
aSource: Joint Committee of the Meteorological Office, Royal Meteorological

Society, and the Institution of Water Engineers Report on 'The determination of
the general rainfall over any area'. Trans. Institution of Water Engineers, 42
(1937)23l.
TABLE 2.3 Minimum numbers of rain gauges for monthly percentage-

of-average rainfall estimates [41
Area Number of
rain gauges
mile 2 km 2
10 26 2
100 260 6
500 1300 12
1000 2600 15
2000 5200 20
3000 7800 24
second indicates densities which are more appropriate for country-wide net-
works. In the application of the general guidance embodied in this Table [2.3 J it
must be appreciated that any large river basin will almost invariably have within
it a number of sub-basins for which the relatively dense networks would be
recommended. Moreover, the minimum densities suggested would often be
substantially increased in mountainous areas, and would be closely followed
only in areas of low or moderate elevation without complex topography.
There is considerable material devoted to this question of hydrological net-

work design and the reader is referred to the further reading at the end of the
chapter.
2.7 Forms of precipitation other than rain
Snow and ice. Snow has the capacity to retain water and so acts as a form of
storage. Its density and, therefore the quantity of water contained, varies from
as little as 0.005 for newly fallen snow to as much as 0.6 in old, highly compres-
sed snow. Since density varies with depth, samples must be taken at various
horizons in a snow pack before the water equivalent can be computed. This is
usually done with a sampling tube.
Snowfall may be measured directly by an ordinary rain gauge fitted with a
heating system, or by a simple snow stake if there is no drifting, and density is
determined simultaneously.
Snow traverses are made as field surveys along lines across catchments, to
determine snow thicknesses and densities at depth so that water equivalents can
be calculated for flood forecasts.
Fog. Estimates of amounts of moisture reaching the ground from fog formation
have been made by installing fog collectors over standard rain gauges. Collectors
consist of wire gauge cylinders on which moisture droplets form and run down
into the rain gauge. Comparisons with standard rain-gauge records at the same
locality show differences that are a measure of fog precipitation. The interpre-
tation of such data requires experience and the use of conversion factors, but
can make substantial differences (of the order of 50 to 100 per cent) to precipi-
tation in forest areas.
Dew. Dew collectors have been used in Sweden and Israel to measure dew fall.
They were made as conical steel funnels, plastic coated and with a projected
plan area of about I square metre. Dew ponds are used as a source of water in
some countries. They are simply shallow depressions in the earth lined with
ceramic tiles.
Condensation. Although fog and dew are condensation effects, condensation

also produces precipitation from humid air flows over ice sheets and in tem-
perate climates by condensation in the upper layers of soil. Such precipitation
does not occur in large amounts but may be sufficient to sustain plant life.
2.8 The extension and interpretation of data
2.8.1 Defmitions. The total annual amount of rain falling at a point is the usual
basic precipitation figure available. For many purposes, however, this is not
adequate and information may be required under any or all of the following
headings.
(i) Intensity. This is a measure of the quantity of rain falling in a given

time; for example, mm per hour.
Cii) Duration. This is the period of time during which rain falls.
(ill) Frequency. This refers to the expectation that a given depth of rainfall
will fall in a given time. Such an amount may be equalled or exceeded in
a given number of days or years.
(iv) Areal extent. This concerns the area over which a point's rainfall can be
held to apply.
2.8.2 Intensity-duration relationship. The greater the intensity of rainfall, in

general the shorter length of time it continues. A formula expressing the connec
tion would be of the type
. a
1= - -
t+b
where i = intensity (mm/h) t = time (h) a and b are locality constants, and for
durations greater than two hours
. C
1= -
tn
where c and n are locality constants.
The world's highest recorded intensities are of the order of 40 mm (or It in.)
in a minute, 200 mm (or 8 in.) in 20 minutes and 26 m (or 1000 in.) in a year.
More detailed information is provided in table 2.4 below.
TABLE 2.4 World's greatest recorded point rainfalls
Duration Depth Location Year

in. mm
1 min 1.5 38 Guadeloupe 1970

8 min 5.0 126 Bavaria 1920
20 min 8.1 206 Romania 1889
42 min 12.0 305 Missouri, USA 1947
2h 45 min 22.0 559 Texas, USA 1935
12 h 52.8 1340 Reunion (Indian Ocean Island) 1964
24 h 73.6 1870 Reunion 1952
2 days 98.4 2500 Reunion 1952
4 days 146.5 3721 Cherrapunji, India 1974
8 days 162.6 4130 Reunion 1952
1 month 366.1 9300 Cherrapunji 1861
6 months 884.0 22454 Cherrapunji 1861
1 year 1041.8 26461 Cherrapunji 1861
Paulhus [5] suggests that if rainfall is plotted against duration, both scales
being logarithmic, the world's greatest recorded rainfalls lie on or just under a
straight line whose equation is
R = 16.6 DO.475
where R is rainfall (in.) and D is duration (h), or
R = 422D.475
where R is in mm.
Apparently British maxima also lie close to a straight line on a similar plot
with values close to one-quarter of the world's values.
British data are presented in table 2.5 and are plotted in figure 2.4. Maximum
recorded rainfall in the British Isles is closely approximated by
R = 106Do.46
where R is rainfall (mm) and D is time period (h).
TABLE 2.5 Extreme rainfall events in the British Isles a
Duration Depth Location yearb

(mm)
1 min 5.1 Croydon, London 1935

4 min 12.7 Ilkley, West Yorkshire 1906 (a)
12 min 50.8 Wisbech, Cambridgeshire 1970 (b)
20 min 63.5 Sidcup, Kent 1958
45 min 97.0 Orra Beg, Northern Ireland 1980 (c)
1h 110.2 Wheatley, Oxfordshire 1910
1 h 45 min 154.7c Hewenden, Yorkshire 1956 (d)
2h 140 Hampstead, London 1975
3h 178 Horncastle, Lincolnshire 1960(e)
8h 200 Bruton, Somerset 1917
24 h 279 Martinstown, Dorset 1955
2 days 300 Sloy, Strathclyde 1974 (f)
4 days 329 Sloy, Strathclyde 1974
12 days 556 Honister Pass, Cumbria 1978
1 month 1436 Llyn Llydaw, Gwynedd 1909 (g)
1 year 6528 Sprinkling Tarn, Cumbria 1954 (h)
aSource: S. D. Burt, Meteorological Office, Bracknell, United Kingdom. Maps

of average annual rainfall for the period 1941-1970 are reproduced (entitled
SAAR) in appendix A, for all of the British Isles except some of the more remote
Scottish islands.
bBracketed letters refer to figure 2.4.
cSome authorities are doubtful about this figure.
2.8.3 Intensity-duration-frequency relationships. In 1935 Bilham published his

well-known article on these relationships in the United Kingdom [6], which
contained a graph that is reproduced here as figure 2.5. This graph used the
subjective phraseology of 'very rare', 'remarkable' and 'noteworthy' rather than
frequency of occurrence. However, the frequencies were calculable from the
formula
n = 125t(r + 0'1)282
where n = number of occurrences in 10 years
r = depth of rain in inches
t = duration of rain in hours.
, t=' h
,.-
r-
-
- "
-,
_._-
~
1--' _.,
I
I' (9).......
10' . ,
of-d
F.i~o
..I ,'.
,I":-t --
~.
f-- .~ f-. i'

-..
d)
'x' [?V" -
.~i u "
1
I
--
V- I I
I i ; f)
I
.t' ._- ~,
,cc}' 1=1=
,(C) ..
Ilj'
(a)
b : I: I ,
I I i
10
f' ! I I
I1
I I I 1
!
I:
I--- ~
r
f
+
I ~
. ----- ----
--r .- I i
i
1 I I i
10 10 10'
Duration (h)
Figure 2.4 Greatest recorded point rainfalls in the British Isles
80
70
60
E
.5
~
50
~
'0 40
C
:J
0
E 30

20
10
0 10 20 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120

Time (m'ln)
Figure 2.5 Bilham's rainfall classification
The SI form of the formula is

n = O.5t(P + 2.54)282 (2.1)
where P = depth of rain in mm, and nand t have unchanged units.
Bilham's work was revised and extended by Holland [8] who showed that
Bilham's equations overestimate the probabilities of high-intensity rainfall; that
is, above about 35 mm/h. This later work is best illustrated graphically and
figure 2.6 shows both Bilham's formulae (chain-dotted lines) and Holland's
revisions (full lines). The figure gives a return period for specific depths of rain
occurring in specific periods of time, as averaged over 14 station-decades in
England.
Another way of presenting such data, this time based on the correlation
between annual average rainfall in Britain and one-day maximum rain-depth
for various return periods is shown in figure 2.7.
For a specific locality it is often possible to produce curves such as those
shown in figure 2.8 for Oxford, England, and Kumasi, Ghana. The difference
between coastal temperate and tropical climates should be noted.
The data may also be presented in the form of maps of a region, with iso-
hyetallines indicating total rainfall depth that may be expected in a time t, at a
frequency of once in N years. A classic publication of this type by Yarnall [9]
shows such maps for the USA. Figure 2.9 is a typical one, reproduced from
Yarnall's paper and showing the five-minute rainfall that may be expected once
in 50 years.
2.8.4 Depth-area-time relationships. Precipitation rarely occurs uniformly over

an area. Variations in intensity and total depth of fall occur from the centres to
the peripheries of storms [10] . The form of variation is illustrated in figure 2.10,
which shows for a particular storm, how the average depth of fall decreases
from the maximum as the considered area increases.
It is useful, however, to quantify this and Holland [11] has shown that the
ratio between point and areal rainfall over areas up to 10 km 2 and for storms
lasting from 2 to 120 minutes is given by
~ =1 - 03Y~ (2.2)
P t*
where P = average rain depth over the ~rea
P = point rain depth measured at the centre of the area
A = the area in km 2
t* = an 'inverse gamma' function of storm time obtained from the corre-
lation in figure 2.11.
Example 2.1. What is the average rainfall intensity in Britain over an area of
5 km 2 during a 60-minute storm with a frequency of once in 10 years?
From figure 2.6, the frequency line of once in 10 years just cuts the 25 mm
depth at about 1 hour; hence P =25 mm. Given t = 60 minutes, then from
figure 2.11, t* = 56 so
P 03Y5
-=1- --=1-012=088
P 56
N
o
..._---..... From a 7-year (1956 to 1962) assessment averaged over 20 stations in England
o 0 From a 35- year (1926 10 1960) assessment averaged over a group of 10 stations
From Silhom's original formula
The rainfall depth on each pair of curves falls in the time marked on the dashed time curlleS at the Micated frequenc
~---,---
400
'" \ \ '..;: \ I
300 I
L,!li' \ r'''~
I':"!t\\\ \ ~ '.
200
~
C
., 150
't
c 100
.Q ~j;~utJ
80
2
'" 60
1 ISi-lE 65 m
:::::I
8. '"0 CS.
:::::I
40 ~ -C----==-LC=- ~ ~T ~ <l> CD
c
~
Ji >- CD
::::!.
:::::I
~ 20 -~ ~-! j5 .Q
"a; cc
~ ::t:
'0
" E ~
10 :J ...
Q; 0
i 8 Il: 0-
c ~~~~~~~~~~~ '~~-~-~,~r--~~~~r-
cc
0 6 -<
""2 4
'"
'0 3 ,., \,~ -=1'''b ,- l
a; ~ I ~ ,
.tl
2
5 ~ - f - - - ---+--1 ", I ' ~..< S", 75
z
'I} 100
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 100 110 120 130 140 150
Rain intensity (mm/h)
Figure 2.6 Rain-intensity-frequency graph [8]. Example, a rainfall of 20 mm falling in a 30-minute

period may be expected, anywhere in Britain, on average once in 11.1 years or 9 times a century
175
1
150 6
EI25 f---------+-----t------+~"'---~""-----~ 5
E
I
~IOO
-;e
4
~
~u
c
2 ~eQ(" :5 -
f/
050
75
25 +------+- ---------
0 ~------~--------~------~------~--------~~o
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Average orrual rainfall (mm)
Figure 2.7 Relationship between one-day maximum rainfall for given

return period and average annual rainfall in the United Kingdom
(after Institute of Hydrology)
Hence
ji = 088P = 088 x 25 = 22 mm in 1 hour

Check from Oxford's figures: from figure 2.8 the lO-year frequency for 60-
minutes duration indicates 21 mm in 1 hour. Therefore
p= 0.88P= 0-88 x 21 = 18'5 mm in 1 hour
This reduction in average intensity with increase in area, or areal reduction
factor was considered in Volume 11 of the Flood Studies Report [13] and
subsequently [14], using more extensive data than were available to Holland.
For consistency, a further note about it is placed in section 2.9, in a general
discussion of the FSR meteorology.
2.8.S Averaging precipitation depth over an area. In the assessment of total

quantities of rainfall over large areas, the incidence of particular storms and their
contribution to particular gauges is unknown, and it is necessary to convert
many point values to give an average rainfall depth over a certain area. The
simplest way of doing this is to take the arithmetical mean of the amounts
known for all points in the area. If the distribution of such points over the area
is uniform and the variation in the individual gauge's amounts are not large, then
this method gives reasonably good results.
2Or----.--.--r,-~"r---_,----------------~808
- - Kumasi, Ghana
----- Odord
254
203
152
102
2 51 .<::
.<:: "E
"c E
,., I
f..
25
-.::---
-;;; 08 20
c
c:'"
06 15
OA --- ~c
0
C -e
03 a:
0
0::
02 --
01 -
0-08 -
-
0-06 - -
004
003
002 L------':--~-:-':-..........J....J....w...'--......J..-..I._-'-..L....J---L...U---....J.....J 05
6 2024
Minutes Hours
Durotion
Figure 2.8 Rainfall frequency-intensity-duration relationships taken

at Kumasi, Ghana (courtesy of Ghanaian Meteorological Service) and
Oxford (courtesy of Institute of Hydrology)
Another method, due to Thiessen [15] , defines the zone of influence of each
station by drawing lines between pairs of gauges, bisecting the lines with perpen-
diculars, and assuming all the area enclosed within the boundary formed by
these intersecting perpendiculars has had rainfall of the same amount as the
enclosed gauge.
A variation of this technique is to draw the perpendiculars to the lines joining
the gauges at points of median altitude, instead of at mid length. This altitude-
co"ected analysis is sometimes held to be a more logical approach but as a rule
produces little difference in result. Either method is more accurate than that of
the simple arithmetic mean but involves much labour. Thiessen polygons are
illustrated in figure 2.12.
A third method is to draw isohyets, or contours of equal rainfall depth. The
areas between successive isohyets are measured and assigned an average value of
Figure 2.9 Five minute rainfall, in inches, to be expected once in

50 years in continental USA [9]
maXimum depth P
t
E
E
:Ec:
'0
.a:
Figure 2.10 Depth-area curves of rainfall
rainfall. The overall average for the area is thus derived from weighted averages.
This method is possibly the best of the three and has the advantage that the
isohyets may be drawn to take account of local effects like prevailing wind and
uneven topography. A typical isohyetal map is shown in figure 2.13, though the
fall recorded is far from typical, this being the heaviest recorded daily fall in the
United Kingdom.
7 .--
V
6
~
V ~I
V I
5 /
t'
y V
V
4 -- '-----
/
V
V
3
2
! 2 4 6 8 10 20 40 60 80 100 200 300
Ti me t (minutes)
Figure 2.11 Correlation between storm t and t* [12]
2.8.6 Supplementing rainfall records_ It frequently happens when assembling

rainfall data that there are areas inadequately recorded, particularly regarding
intensities of rainfall. For example, suppose that at two rainfall stations A and
B, there is a recording gauge at A and a non-recording gauge at B. Suppose the
mass curve of rainfall at A is as shown in the full line on the graph of figure
2.14. The total rainfall at B is known and appears as a point on this graph. If the
physical location of B is near A and its rainfall is likely to be of the same kind
and frequency, then it is permissible to assume that the mass curve of B will be
as shown by the dashed line on the graph. This kind of extension of data should
be used with care but can be very useful.
Another example of this is the fIlling in of a gap in a station's records, when
those for neighbouring stations have provided data for the missing period. Sup-
pose for a certain year there is no record of the precipitation at A. In the same
year the total at B has been 650 mm.
Assuming that the mean annual precipitation at A and B is 700 mm and
600 mm respectively, then by simple proportion, assuming the average relation-
ship holds for the missing year also, precipitation at A for the missing years will
be 700/600 x 650 = 758 mm. This result can be checked by a similar reference
to station C.
2.8.7 Apparent trends in observed data. From several years' records it may
seem that annual rainfall is, say, declining. It is important to know that this
trend is independent of the gauging, and is due to meteorological conditions
----.... boundory of
)-..... / catchment or
/ . . . <,
I
I ,
orea of interest
f
l- "\ \
I \
/ \
I \
/ \
( \
I
I
I
I
I
The area assumed to hove the rainfall of a partlculor

gouging stotion is enclosed by the do shed lines ond
catchment boundory
Figure 2.12 Thiessen polygons
only. This may be checked by plotting a double mass curve as shown in figure
2.15.
A sudden divergence from the straight-line correlation, shown by the dashed
line in the figures, indicates that a change has occurred in gauging and that the
meteorology of the region is probably not the cause of the decline. Such a
change might be due to the erection of a building or fence near the gauge, which
changes the wind pattern round the gauge, the planting of trees, the replacement
of one measuring vessel by another, eVen the changing of an observer to one who
uses different procedures.
2.8.8 Trends from progressive averages. Trends can be more clearly discerned
by the use of the simple statistical technique of examining averages over longer
periods, and moving the group averaged one-year at a time.
Suppose the rainfall records at a station over a number of years are as shown
in figure 2.l6. The first five years on the record are averaged and this average
' \.,

...,
i
I in. '~.,
lin -
2in.

Rain gauges
...".,.' County boundaries
Figure 2.13 Rainfall over part of Dorset, 18 July 1955 (reproduced

from British Rain/all 1955. HMSO, London, 1957)
.c-
t
a.
,::~.o~~,,::::~ 0
c::.. /' -
/
/
-------:1-1
"0 '" I ~
I
/ . d
/' .; deme mass F!J
/' ~ cu've for stotlOn B
/
I
/
/
::;.---- ' /
Time ~
Figure 2.14 Derivation a/rainfall data

t
/
x /
/
c
o
o
/,
C
~
o
:>
c
c
o
abrupt change indicates
o
change of CIrcumstances
2 in gauge or abserver
<V
~
o
:>
E
:>
u
Cumulative mean total annual rainfall at a number of neorby staltons

~
Figure 2.15 Station check by double mass curve
is plotted at the mid point of the group. The next point is obtained by omitting
the first year and averaging years 2 to 6 inclusive, again plotting the average at
the mid point of the group. In this way the wide variations of particular years
are smoothed out and long-term trends may be detected.
The same techniques can be applied to temperature, hours of sunshine, wind
speeds, cloud cover and other data.
2.9 The meteorological section of the Flood Studies Report (1975)

After the general description of rainfall measurement and interpretation in the
preceding sections, there follows a necessarily brief summary of the work under-
taken by the United Kingdom Meteorological Office and published in the Flood
Studies Report (FSR) [13]. The parameters, derived in the ways described
below, are used again in chapters 7 and 9 in sections about flood estimation.
The FSR (Volume II: Meteorology) presents analyses of extensive arrays of
British data in maps, tables and graphs. A method is described whereby estimates
of rainfall depth at any point in the British Isles, of a given duration and fre-
quency of occurrence (or return period), may be made. Means are provided for
changing such point rainfalls into areal ones and for selecting appropriate storm
profiles (or time distribution of the rain).
t
ilrrfhllih{1hJ1J Units of time ~
Figure 2.16 Trends from progressive averages
2.9.1 Frequency. MS is adopted as the standard (or reference) frequency. MS is

the depth of rainfall with a return period of 5 years (that is, on average it will be
equalled or exceeded once in 5 years). MS can have a series of different dura-
tions: for example, there are I-minute MS and 2S-day MS values.
Once the MS value for a particular point and a particular duration is identi-
fied, then the value of MT, where T may have any numerical value of time in
years, from 05 to 10000, can also be estimated.
The ratio MT/MS is called the growth factor. Values of growth factor vary
slightly geographically and are given in the study for two regions: (a) England
and Wales, and (b) Scotland and Northern Ireland. Tables 2.6 and 2.7 provide
these values. Growth factors are apparently independent of rainfall duration.
2.9.2 Duration. Here again standards are selected. The standard durations are
2-days and 60-minutes. 2-day MS rainfall is mapped in the FSR for the British
Isles using values from 6000 stations: 60-minute MS rainfall is mapped for the
British Isles as a ratio r = 60-minute MS/2-day MS. Maps of both 2-day MS and
r for almost all of Britain and Ireland are reproduced in appendix A.
2.9.3 Areal reduction factor (ARF). This is the factor that, when applied to
point rainfall of specified duration and return period, gives the areal rainfall for
the same duration and return period. ARF does not vary appreciably with
return period and appears to vary only with area and duration. It was found
to be the same for a wide range of geographical locations through variations in
duration from 1 minute to 25 days, and in areas from I to 30000 km 2 . ARF is
tabulated in table 2.8.
TABLE 2.6 Growth factors MT/MS for England and Wales (13)
Partial duration
series Annual maximum series
MS
(mm) 2M IM M2 MIO M20 MSO MIOO MIOOO MIOOOO
0.5 0.52 0.67 0.76 1.14 1.30 1.51 1.70 2.52 3.75
2 0.49 0.65 0.74 1.16 1.32 1.53 1.74 2.60 3.94
5 0.45 0.62 0.72 1.18 1.35 1.56 1.79 2.75 4.28
10 0.43 0.61 0.70 1.21 1.41 1.65 1.91 3.09 5.01
15 0.46 0.62 0.70 1.23 1.44 1.70 1.99 3.32 5.54
20 0.50 0.64 0.72 1.23 1.45 1.73 2.03 3.43 5.80
25 0.52 0.66 0.73 1.22 1.43 1.72 2.01 3.37 5.67
30 0.54 0.68 0.75 1.21 1.41 1.70 1.97 3.27 5.41
40 0.56 0.70 0.77 1.18 1.37 1.64 1.89 3.03 4.86
50 0.58 0.72 0.79 1.16 1.33 1.58 1.81 2.81 4.36
75 0.63 0.76 0.81 1.13 1.27 1.47 1.64 2.37 3.43
100 0.64 0.78 0.83 1.12 1.24 1.40 1.54 2.12 2.92
150 0.64 0.78 0.84 1.11 1.21 1.33 1.45 1.90 2.50
200 0.64 0.78 0.84 1.10 1.20 1.30 1.40 1.79 2.30
500 0.65 0.79 0.85 1.09 1.15 1.20 1.27 1.52
1000 0.66 0.80 0.86 1.07 l.12 1.18 1.23 1.42
TABLE 2.7 Growth factors MT/M5 for Scotland and Northern Ireland (13)
Partial duration
series Annual maximum series
MS
(mm) 2M IM M2 MIO M20 M50 MIOO MIOOO MIO 000
0.5 0.55 0.68 0.76 1.14 1.30 1.5 1 1.71 2.54 3.78
2 0.55 0.68 0.76 1.15 1.31 1.54 1.75 2.65 4.01
5 0.54 0.67 0.76 1.16 1.34 1.62 1.86 2.94 4.66
10 0.55 0.68 0.75 1.18 1.38 1.69 1.97 3.25 5.36
15 0.55 0.69 0.75 1.18 1.38 1.70 1.98 3.28 5.44
20 0.56 0.70 0.76 1.18 1.37 1.66 1.93 3.14 5.12
25 0.57 0.71 0.77 1.17 1.36 1.64 1.89 3.03 4.85
30 0.58 0.72 0.78 l.l7 1.35 1.61 1.85 2.92 4.60
40 0.59 0.74 0.79 l.16 1.33 1.56 1.77 2.72 4.16
50 0.60 0.75 0.80 1.15 1.30 1.52 1.72 2.57 3.85
75 0.62 0.77 0.82 1.13 1.26 1.45 1.62 2.31 3.30
100 0.63 0.78 0.83 1.12 1.24 1.40 1.54 2.12 2.92
150 0.64 0.79 0.84 l.l0 1.20 1.33 1.45 1.90 2.50
200 0.65 0.80 0.85 1.09 l.l8 1.30 1.40 1.79 2.30
500 0.66 0.80 0.86 1.08 1.14 1.20 1.27 1.52
1000 0.66 0.80 0.86 1.07 l.l2 1.18 1.23 1.42
TABLE 2.8 Areal reduction factor (ARF) [ 13)
Area A (km 2 )
Duration
D 1 5 10 30 100 300 10003000 10000 30000
1 min 0.76 0.61 0.52 0.40 0.27

2 min 0.84 0.72 0.65 0.53 0.39
5 min 0.90 0.82 0.76 0.65 0.51 0.38
10 min 0.93 0.87 0.83 0.73 0.59 0.47 0.32
15 min 0.94 0.89 0.85 0.77 0.64 0.53 0.39 0.29
30 min 0.95 0.91 0.89 0.82 0.72 0.62 0.51 0.41 0.31
60 min 0.96 0.93 0.91 0.86 0.79 0.71 0.62 0.53 0.44 0.35
2h 0.97 0.95 0.93 0.90 0.84 0.79 0.73 0.65 0.55 0.47
3h 0.97 0.96 0.94 0.91 0.87 0.83 0.78 0.71 0.62 0.54
6h 0.98 0.97 0.96 0.93 0.90 0.87 0.83 0.79 0.73 0.67
24 h 0.99 0.98 0.97 0.96 0.94 0.92 0.89 0.86 0.83 0.80
48 h 0.99 0.98 0.97 0.96 0.94 0.91 0.88 0.86 0.82
96 h 0.99 0.98 0.97 0.96 0.93 0.91 0.88 0.85
192 h 0.99 0.98 0.97 0.95 0.92 0.90 0.87
25 days 0.99 0.98 0.97 0.95 0.93 0.91
2.9.4 The use of the method. To obtain point and areal rainfall for any chosen
location, duration and return period, the procedure is as follows.
(a) Identify the point by its National Grid Reference (NGR). The National Grid
is based on a network of 100 km squares. A diagram showing these and the
letters used to designate them is shown in appendix A. A similar diagram for
the Irish Grid is provided for the Irish section of appendix A. Most maps
used by hydrologists will be 1 :25000 or 1 :50 000 series, which use these
letters. FSR maps use only the 100 km square numbers. To give an NGR,
read the western north-south line number of the square where the point
lies, and estimate or measure tenths and hundredths east of it: followed by
the southern east-west line, and estimate or measure tenths and hundredths
north of it.
(b) Determine the corresponding location on the maps of 2-day M5 and rand
extract values.
(c) Using table 2.9 (which is a model for M5 rainfall for various durations), and
interpolating as necessary for r, the values of M5 at the chosen duration,
expressed as a percentage of 2-day MS, can be found.
(d) With this value of M5 (mm), use the appropriate growth factor (table 2.6 or
2.7) to establish the chosen duration MT factor. The application of this
factor to the M5 value gives the point rainfall of chosen duration and
T-years return period.
(e) Now use the ARF (table 2.8) to establish the areal rainfall for the appro-
priate area around the chosen point.
TABLE 2.9 Model for MS rainfall for durations up to 48 hours [13]
r
MS rainfall (amounts as percentages of 2-day MS)
(per
cent) 1 min 2 min 5 min 10 min 15 min 30 min 60 min 2h 4h 6h 12 h 24 h 48 h
12 0.8 1.4 2.7 4.2 5.4 8.1 12 18 26 33 49 72 106 ~

15 1.2 2.1 3.8 5.8 7.2 10.5 15 21 30 37 53 75 106 !a-
ni
Q
18 1.6 2.8 5.0 7.4 9.2 12.9 18 25 34 41 56 77 106 ...
Q
21 2.1 3.5 6.3 9.2 11.2 15.5 21 28 38 45 60 80 106 0"
CC!
24 2.5 4.3 7.6 11.0 13.3 18.1 24 31 41 48 63 82 106
27 3.0 5.0 9.0 12.9 15.5 20.7 27 35 44 51 65 83 106 [
30 3.3 5.7 10.3 14.8 17.7 23.3 30 38 48 55 68 85 106 c
I
33 3.8 6.5 11.7 16.7 19.9 26.0 33 41 51 57 71 87 106 I
36
39
4.1
4.6
7.2
8.0
13.0
14.5
18.6
20.6
22.2
24.5
28.7
31.5
36
39
44
47
54
57
60
63
73
75
88
89
106
106
-
42 5.0 8.7 16.0 22.7 26.9 34.2 42 50 60 66 77 91 106
45 5.4 9.5 17.4 24.7 29.2 37.0 45 53 63 68 79 92 106
w
....
An example will illustrate the use of the method more clearly.
Example 2.2. Estimate the lOO-year return period rainfall of 6-h duration over
a catchment area of 75 km 2 surrounding the NGR point NM950700.
This is a mountainous region of Argyllshire in Western Scotland. NM is the

100 km square between 700 and 800N and 100 and 200E of origin. This lies in
section 7 of the key map of Britain.
(i) From appendix A, 2DM5.7 and r. 7, establish 2-day MS and r.

2-day MS = 145 mm; r = 14.
(ii)Now use table 2.9 to find MS for 6-h at r = 14.
6-h MS (mm) = 36 per cent of 2DM5 = 52 mm.
(iii) Table 2.7 now provides the growth factor to determine MlOO (that is,
MlOO/M5 for 52 mm). Growth factor = l.7l so 6-h MT (where T= 100
years) = 1.71 (52) =89 mm.
(iv) Now use table 2.8 for 6 hand 75 km 2 . Since ARF = 0.91, the lOO-year 6-h
areal rainfall at the location = 0.91 (89) =81 mm or 13.5 mm/h for 6 h.
It is necessary here to differentiate between 24-h rainfall and I-day rainfall.

Comparing MS values for stations recording hourly data and those recording
only in days, the equivalent MS depths for 1, 2, 4 and 8 rainfall days were
found. To convert rainfall days to rainfall hours it is necessary to multiply the
MS values for days by the factors given in table 2.10.
2.95 Storm profIle. The FSR describes a series of storm proftles of varying
probability for both winter and summer. For specific proposals, several, of
varying peakedness, should be used in the application of 'design rain'. However,
for the purposes of this text, and for use in flood estimation in later chapters,
only the 'winter 75 per cent proftle' will be described. This is the storm proftle
that, on average, is more peaked than 75 per cent of all winter storm proftles;
see figure 2.17 and table 2.1l. Rain is assumed to fall at varying intensity, but
symmetrically about the peak intensity.
TABLE 2.10 Factors to give M5 values for hours from rainfall days [13]
Rainfall days 1 2 4 8
Multiplying factor 1.11 1.06 1.03 1.015
Rainfall hours 24 48 96 192
Table 2.10isusedsubsequently in the calculation of RSMD (see example 7.2).

100 .. :'J:i::'::::
i:: . .
90 ii: gg[!!!:::i
80 ..
.~ ~:: .:: : .
-= 70 ~::; , .
5 60 '." q:,,: ., '
... j!::,:,'I;::: ..
- ~J'"'r. ,,,'
~ 50 1:: ::H::::::::r':':
e : "" I:,,'J', : ::::;
~ 40 : ':::1':' /.1:;"'; ':'! ::"1::'
~ ~::':' 'l:t!,:,::,: I"" ,: ":;1',,
0- 30 ::' ,: ,f; I :!": ';':0 ...
20 r~iW ' ! :" :::''1:' 1,,:: , . . ,:,;
. !,F" T 'T : ;,':1" I>: ,::: ,,':1:':1::::
10 gf : :'[:': ,::: .:':1:/""','::" I""
WO,, ';: :. 1.:.+ :.:::."" . 1."".,: '
o 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 I()O
Percentoge of toto I d urotion
Figure 2.17 The 'winter 75 per cent' storm profile [13]
TABLE 2.11 The 'winter 75 per cent' storm profile

Cumulative Cumulative Incremental Incremental
duration rain %rain in % time intensity/
(% o[total) (% o[total) Mean intensity
5 13.5 13.5 5 2.7

10 26 12.5 5 2.5
20 46 20 10 2.0
30 60 14 10 1.4
40 72 12 10 1.2
50 80 8 10 0.8
60 86 6 10 0.6
70 91 5 10 0.5
80 95 4 10 0.4
90 98 3 10 0.3
100 100 2 10 0.2
The profIle is usually used in the form of a stepped profIle as shown in figure
7.30 (page 187). When used in this way it is convenient, though not essential, to
divide the rain duration into an uneven number of parts, to permit symmetrical
arrangement about a peak intensity. (See example 7.2 [15] on page 186.)
2.10 Probable maximum precipitation (PMP)
The preceding section describes methods for estimating rainfall for particular
locations with prescribed frequencies. If one imagines lower and lower frequen-
cies then the rainfall amounts apparently would continue to increase. That,
however, is a statistical concept rather than a physical one and begs the question
- is there some maximum possible value, limited by the nature of the earth's
atmosphere and the laws of physics? This uppermost limit, assuming it exists, is
known as probable maximum precipitation (PMP) and is defined [16] as the
theoretically greatest depth of precipitation for a given duration that is physically
possible over a given size of storm area for a particular location and time of year.
This concept of an upper limit to possible precipitation was known previously
(before 1950) as maximum possible precipitation but PMP is now preferred
because, being an estimate, it has a degree of uncertainty.
2.10.1 The physical method. The essential requirement for precipitation is a

supply of moist air. The air's water content is measured by its temperature and
dew-point, which are standard meteorological observations and are therefore
often available in catchments where few flow records exist. The amount of water
in the atmosphere above a catchment can be established by the assumption of a
saturated adiabatic lapse rate (see section 2.3) or by actual weather balloon
observations. The amount is usually between 10 mm and 60 mm in depth. This
water is precipitated by cooling, which is accomplished almost always by vertical
movement; the air mass expands adiabatically thus precipitating moisture, which
in turn liberates latent heat and so the vertical movement is accelerated. The
process is self-stimulated and in extreme cases is responsible for the 'cloud-burst'
of the severe thunder-storm. The vertical lifting may also be due to orographic or
frontal effects as discussed in section 2.6.
The inflow of moist air at the base of an ascending storm column can be
measured by wind-speed observations around storm peripheries. These observa-
tions yield data about the amount of water that may be carried into a storm
column and hence precipitated. The data can also be inferred from synoptic
weather charts if these are based on a sufficiently dense network of observer
stations.
There is an established relationship between this convergence of air masses,
their subsequent vertical motion and the condensation of the water vapour with-
in them. So any study of PMP starts from data on observed areal-averaged rain-
fall. Extreme rainfalls in a region give guidance to maximum convergence rates
and vertical air speeds which in turn produce maximum rates of condensation
and precipitation. The procedures for determining PMP involve maximising
observed storm rainfall by factoring up the actual water in an observed event to
the limiting value that the air at its temperature could have carried; by transpos-
ing storms that have occurred in the region to the actual catchment considered,
and by ensuring that envelopment is used. This last term means the use of
enveloping curves to all observed data of depth, area and duration used in the
derivation of study values. Detailed descriptions of the methods are given in
WMO's Operational Hydrology Report No. 1 [17].
Maxima for separate seasons or months can be subsequently derived by taking
maxima of recorded seasonal or monthly values of air moisture and air inflow
and assuming that they occur simultaneously. These can be compared with
historic storms that have occurred in the catchment and meteorologically-
similar neighbouring regions. In this way an array of data about the historic
storms can be built up and compared with the hypothetical maxima.
The PMP can be derived from the hypothetical maxima by taking the peak of
the envelope curve covering them. It is argued sometimes that the elements used
to define the maxima should themselves be subject to frequency analysis before
the adoption of a PMP. This, however, presupposes that the physical processes
of rain-producing storms are random events that can occur in vastly different
magnitudes. This may not be true to the same extent as it is of precipitation
recorded at a rain gauge or the flood in a river. Also, in taking the known maxi-
mum values of the determining factors and combining them in space over the
catchment, the concept of return period is invalidated. The approach is deter-
ministic rather than statistical.
PMP varies with geographical location, season of the year, area and elevation
of the catchment and storm duration.
2.10.2 The statistical method. An alternative statistical method is sometimes

used when sufficient precipitation data are available. It is particularly useful
when other meteorological information about dew points, wind speeds, etc., is
unavailable. It is also much quicker to perform.
The procedure due to Hershfield [18, 19] is based on the general frequency
equation [20]
X t =Xn +K an
where X t is the rainfall of a specified duration for return period t, and X nand
an are, respectively, the mean and standard deviation for a series of annual
maximum values of rainfall of that duration.
Then, if Xm is the maximum observed rainfall
Xm=Xn+Kman
where Km is the number of standard deviations that must be added to the mean
to find the maximum.
A study in the USA [18] used records of 24 h rainfall for over 2700 stations
with minimum periods of record of 10y. X n and an were calculated conven-
tionally but each station's maximum recorded rain was omitted. The largest
value of Km found to satisfy the omitted maxima was 15.
Values of Km for durations other than 24 h were established [19] and are as
illustrated in figure 2.18.
--
30
500 600
Mean annual maximum rainfall (mm)
Figure 2.18 Km as a function of rainfall duration and mean of annual series.

(Reprinted from Journal American Water Works Association, Vol. 57, No. 8
(August 1965) by permission. Copyright 1965 American Water Works
Association)
It will be noted that this figure has a maximum Km value of 20, but other
investigators have found even higher values in other regions [21]. Km apparently
varies inversely with intensity so the greater the annual rainfall in a particular
climate the less likely that Km will be greater than 15. The more arid the area,
the greater the likelihood.
Detailed deSCriptions of the methods are given in WMO's Operational Hydro-
logy Report No. 1 [17].
2.10.3 General application of data. Many large storms have been analysed,
particularly in the USA, and maximum values of rainfall depth for various
durations and areas have been published [16,21] . Such data are usually presented
as sets of curves, each representing a rainfall depth plotted on rectangular co-
ordinates of storm duration in hours and storm area in square miles. These are a
useful guide to limiting values but must be used with judgement for particular
catchments, since topography and elevation as well as climate may modify the
result appreciably for other regions.
In the light of this section it is interesting to look again at the world maxi-
mum point rainfalls quoted in section 2.8.2 where it is suggested that if rainfall
is plotted against duration, both scales being logarithmic, the world's greatest
observed point rainfalls lie on or just under a straight line whose equation is
R = 16.6Do. 475
where R is a rainfall in inches andD is duration in hours. Reference to figure 2.4
indicates that the extreme point rain falls recorded in the British Isles, extracted
from more than half a million station years of data, lie close to a line of equation
R = 106Do. 46
where R is in mm and D in hours. The fit is particularly good in the region from
0.2 to 20 hours, which is probably the critical range for application to unit
hydrographs.
References
1. MAIDENS, A. L. New Meteorological Office rain-gauges. Meteorological
Magazine, 94, No. 1114 (May 1965) 142
2. GOODISON, C. E. and BIRD, L. G. Telephone interrogation of rain-gauges.
Meteorological Magazine, 94, No. 114(May 1965) 144
3. GREEN, M. J. Effects of exposure on the catch of rain gauges. Technical
Publication 67, Water Research Association, July 1969
4. BLEASDALE, A. Rain gauge networks development and design with special
reference to the United Kingdom. International Association of Scientific
Hydrology Symposium on Design of Hydrological Networks, Quebec,
1965
5. PAULHUS, J. L. H. Indian ocean and Taiwan rainfalls set new records.
Monthly Weather Rev., 93 (May 1965) 331
6. BILHAM, E. G. The Classification of Heavy Falls of Rain in Short Periods,
H.M.S.O., London, 1962 (republished)
7. A guide for engineers to the design of storm-sewer systems. Road Research
Laboratory, Road Note 35, H.M.S.O., London, 1963
8. HOLLAND, D. J. Rain intensity-frequency relationships in Britain. British
Rainfall 1961 , H.M.S.O., London, 1967
9. YARNALL, D. L. Rainfall intensity-frequency data. U.S. Department of
Agriculture Miscellaneous Publication, 204, Washington D.C., 1935
10. LINSLEY, R. K. and KOHLER, M. A. Variations in storm rainfall over small
areas. Trans. Am, Geophys. Union, 32 (April 1951) 245
11. HOLLAND, D. J. The Cardington rainfall experiment. Meteorological Maga-
zine, 96, No. I 140 (July 1967) 193-202
12. YOUNG, C. P. Estimated rainfall for drainage calculations. LR 595, Road
Research Laboratory, H.M.S.O., London, 1973
13. Natural Environmental Research Council. Flood Studies Report, Vols. I-V,
NERC, 1975
14. The areal reduction factor in rainfall frequency estimation. FSR Suppl.
Report No. 1, Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdom,
1977
15. THIESSEN, A. H. Precipitation for large areas. Monthly Weather Rev., 39,
(J uly 1911) 1082
16. HANSEN, E. M., SCHREINER, L. C. and MILLER, J. F. Application of
probable maximum precipitation estimates - United States east of the
105th meridian. Hydrometeorological Report No. 52, National Weather
Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Department
of Commerce, Washington D.C., 1982
17. Manual for estimation of probable maximum precipitation. Operational
Hydrology Report No. 1, 2nd edn, World Meteorological Organisation, 1986
18. HERSHFIELD, D. M. Estimating the probable maximum precipitation. Proc.
Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., Journal Hydraulics Division, 87 (1961) 99
19. HERSHFIELD, D. M. Method for estimating probable maximum precipita-
tion. Journal American Waterworks Association, 57 (1965) 965
20. CHOW, V. T. A general formula for hydrologic frequency analysis. Trans.
Am. Geophys. Union, 32 (1961) 231
21. McKAY, G. A. Statistical estimates of precipitation extremes for the Prairie
Provinces, Canada Department of Agriculture, PFRA Engineering Branch,
1965
Further reading
BINNIE, G. M. and MANSELL-MoULLIN, M. The estimated probable maximum

storm and flood on the Jhelum River-a tributary of the Indus. Symposium
on River Flood Hydrology, Inst. Civ. Eng., London, 1966, Paper No. 9
GLASSPOOLE, J. Heavy falls in short periods (two hours or less). Quart. J. Roy.
Meteorological Soc., 58 (1931) 57-70
Guide to hydrometeorological practices. UN. World Meteorological Org. No.
168, Technical Publication 82, United Nations, Geneva, 1965
Handbook of Meteorology (ed. by Berry, Bollay and Beers), McGraw-Hill, New
York, 1949,p. 1024
HERSCHFIELD, D. and WILSON, W. T. Generalising of rainfall intensity-frequency
data. Proc. Int. Assoc. Sci. Hydrol., General Assembly of Toronto, 1 (1957)
499-506
JENNINGS, A. H. World's greatest observed point rainfalls. Monthly Weather
Rev., 78, (January 1950) 4
LANGBEIN, W. B. Hydrologic data networks and methods of extrapolating or
extending available hydrologic data. Flood Control Series No. 15, United
Nations, 1960
PARTHASARATHY, K. and GURBACHAN SINGH. Rainfall intensity-duration-
frequencies for India, for local drainage design. Indian J. Meteorology Geo-
phys., 12 (1961) 231-42
PETERSON, K. R. A precipitable water nomogram. Bull. Am Meterological Soc.,
42 (1961) 199
So LOT , S. Computation of depth of precipitable water in a column of air.
Monthly Weather Rev., 67 (1939) 100
Standards for methods and records of hydrologic measurements. Flood Control
Series No. 6, United Nations, 1954
Problems
2.1 An air mass is at a temperature of 28C with relative humidity of 70 per
cent. Determine: (a) saturation vapour pressure, (b) saturation deficit, (c) actual
vapour pressure in mbar and mm Hg, (d) dew-point, and (e) wet-bulb temperature.
2.2 Discuss the relationships between depth, duration and area of rainfall for
particular storms.
2.3 The following are annual rainfall figures for four stations in Derbyshire.
The average values for Cubley and Biggin School have not been established.
Average 1959 1960
(in.)
Wirksworth 355 268 486

Cubley 195 424
Rodsley 313 216 421
Biggin School 331 542
(a) Assume departures from normal are the same for all stations. Forecast
the Rodsley 'annual average' from that at Wirksworth over the two years of
record. Compare the result with the established value.
(b) Forecast annual averages for Cubley and Biggin School using both Wirks
worth and Rodsley data.
(c) Comment on the assumption in part (a). Is it reasonable?
2.4 One of four monthly-read rain gauges on a catchment area develops a fault
in a month when the other three gauges record 37, 43 and 51 mm respectively.
If the average annual precipitation amounts of these three gauges are 726, 752
and 840 mm respectively and of the broken gauge 694 mm, estimate the missing
monthly precipitation at the latter.
2.5 Compute the average annual rainfall, in inches depth, on the catchment
area shown
(i) by arithmetic means, (ii) by the Theissen method, and (ill) by plotting iso-
hyets. Comment on the applicability of each method.
2.6 Discuss the setting of rain gauges on the ground and comment on the effect
of wind and rain falling non-vertically on the catch.
2.7 Annual precipitation at rain gauge X and the average annual precipitation
at twenty surrounding rain gauges are listed in the following table
Annual precipitation (mm) Annual precipitation (mm)

Year Year
Gauge X 20-station Gauge X 20-station
average average
1972 188 264 1954 223 360

1971 185 228 1953 173 234
1970 310 386 1952 282 333
1969 295 297 1951 218 236
1968 208 284 1950 246 251
1967 287 350 1949 284 284
1966 183 236 1948 493 361
1965 304 371 1947 320 282
1964 228 234 1946 274 252
1963 216 290 1945 322 274
1962 224 282 1944 437 302
1961 203 246 1943 389 350
1960 284 264 1942 305 228
1959 295 332 1941 320 312
1958 206 231 1940 328 284
1957 269 234 1939 308 315
1956 241 231 1938 302 280
1955 284 312 1937 414 343
(a) Examine the consistency of station X data.

(b) When did a change in regime occur? Discuss possible causes.
(c) Adjust the data and determine what difference this makes to the
36-year annual average precipitation at station X.
2.8 Plot the data for the mean of the 20 stations in 2.7 as a time series. Then
plot 5-year moving averages and accumulated annual departures from the 36-year
mean. Is there evidence of cyclicity or particular trends?
2.9 At a given site, a long-term wind-speed record is available for measurements

at heights of 10 m and 15 m above the ground. For certain calculations of
evaporation the speed at 2 m is reqUired, so it is desired to extend the long-term
record to the 2 m level. For one set of data the speeds at 10 m and 15 m were
9.14 and 9.66 m/s respectively.
(a) What is the value of the exponent relating the two speeds and elevations?
(b) What speed would you predict for the 2 m level?
2.1 0 A rainfall gauge registers a fall of 9 mm in 10 minutes.

(a) How frequently would you expect such a fall at a particular place in
Britain?
(b) What total volume of rain would be expected to fall on 3 km 2 sur-
rounding the gauge?
2.11 What is the maximum I-day rainfall expected in Britain for a 50-year
period at location X (average annual rainfall 1000 mm) and a 30-year period at
location Y (average annual rainfall 1750 mm)?
2.12 What is the average rainfall over an area of 8 km 2 during a storm lasting
30 minutes with a frequency of once in 20 years in (a) Oxford, (b) Kumasi.
Does your answer for (b) require qualification?
2.13 The table below lists the annual maximum rainfall over a 6-hour period,
for an observation station, for 20 years. Make a first estimate of the Probable
Maximum Precipitation of 6-hour duration at the station. Is this station in the
UK?
Depths in mm
146 193
203 124
194 176
102 210
173 102
151 131
182 165
115 187
143 121
180 98
3 Evaporation and Transpiration
3.1 Meteorological factors

Evaporation is important in all water resource studies. It affects the yield of
river basins, the necessary capacity of reservoirs, the size of pumping plant, the
consumptive use of water by crops and the yield of underground supplies, to
name but a few of the parameters affected by it.
Water will evaporate from land, either bare soil or soil covered with vegetation,
and also from trees, impervious surfaces like roofs and roads, open water and
flowing streams. The rate of evaporation varies with the colour and reflective
properties of the surface (the albedo) and is different for surfaces directly
exposed to, or shaded from, solar radiation.
In moist temperate climates the loss of water through evaporation is typically
600 mm per year from open water and perhaps 450 mm per year from land
surfaces. In an arid climate, like that of Iraq, the corresponding figures could be
2000 mm and 100 mm, the great disparity in this latter case being caused by
absence of precipitation for much of the year.
Some of the more important meteorological factors affecting evaporation
are discussed below.
Solar radiation. Evaporation is the conversion of water into water vapour. It is

a process that is taking place almost without interruption during the hours of
daylight and often during the night also. Since the change of state of the mole-
cules of water from liquid to gas requires an energy input (known as the latent
heat of vaporisation), the process is most active under the direct radiation of the
sun. It follows that clouds, which prevent the full spectrum of the sun's radiation
reaching the earth's surface, will reduce the energy input and so slow up the
process of evaporation.
Wind. As the water vaporises into the atmosphere, the boundary layer between
earth and air, or sea and air, becomes saturated and this layer must be removed
and continually replaced by drier air if evaporation is to proceed. This move-
42
Evaporation and Transpiration 43
ment of the air in the boundary layer depends on wind and so is a function of
wind speed.
Relative humidity. The third factor affecting evaporation is the relative humi-
dity of the air. As the air's humidity rises, its ability to absorb more water
vapour decreases and the rate of evaporation slows. Replacement of the boundary
layer of saturated air by air of equally high humidity will not maintain the
evaporation rate: this will occur only if the incoming air is drier than the air that
is displaced.
Temperature. As mentioned above, an energy input is necessary for evaporation

to proceed. It follows that if the ambient temperatures of the air and ground are
high, evaporation will proceed more rapidly than if they are low, since heat
energy is more readily available. Since the capacity of air to absorb water vapour
increases as its temperature rises, so air temperature has a double effect on how
much evaporation takes place, while ground and water temperatures have single
direct effects.
3.2 Transpiration
Growing vegetation of all kinds needs water to sustain life, though different
species have very different needs. Only a small fraction of the water needed by a
plant is retained in the plant structure. Most of it passes through the roots to the
stem or trunk and is transpired into the atmosphere through the leafy part of
the plant.
In field conditions it is practically impossible to differentiate between
evaporation and transpiration if the ground is covered with vegetation. The two
processes are commonly linked together and referred to as evapotranspiration.
The amount of moisture that a land area loses by evapotranspiration depends
primarily on the incidence of precipitation, secondly on the climatic factors of
temperature, humidity etc. and thirdly on the type, manner of cultivation and
extent of vegetation. The amount may be increased, for example, by large trees
whose roots penetrate deeply into the soil, bringing up and transpiring water
that would otherwise be far beyond the influence of surface evaporation.
Transpiration proceeds almost entirely by day under the influence of solar
radiation. At night the pores or stomata of plants close up and very little moisture
leaves the plant surfaces. Evaporation, on the other hand, continues so long as a
heat input is available, although it occurs primarily during the day. The other
factor of importance is the availability of a plentiful water supply. If water is
always available in abundance for the plant to use in transpiration, more will be
used than if at times less is available than could be used. Accordingly, a distinc-
tion must be made between potential evapotranspiration and what actually takes
place. Most of the methods of estimation necessarily assume an abundant water
supply and so give the potential figure.
3.3 Methods of estimating evaporation
3.3.1 Water budget or storage equation approach. This method consists of

drawing up a balance sheet of all the water entering and leaving a particular
catchment or drainage basin. If rainfall is measured over the whole area on a
regular and systematic basis then a close approximation to the amount of water
arriving from the atmosphere can be made. Regular stream gauging of the
streams draining the area, and accurately prepared flow-rating curves, will
indicate the water leaving the area by surface routes. The difference between
these two can be accounted for in only three ways:
(i) by a change in the storage within the catchment, either in surface lakes
and depressions or in underground aquifers;
(ii) by a difference in the underground flow into and out of the catchment;
(iii) by evaporation and transpiration.
The storage equation can be written generally as

E=P+IU-OS
where E = evapotranspiration
P = total precipitation
I = surface inflow (if any)
U = underground outflow
o
= surface outflow
S = change in storage (both surface and subsurface).
If the observations are made over a sufficiently long time the significance of S,
which is not cumulative, will decrease and can be ignored if the starting and
finishing points of the study are chosen to coincide as nearly as possible with
the same seasonal conditions. The significance of U cannot be generalised but in
many cases can be assigned second-order importance because of known geological
conditions that preclude large underground flows. In such cases a good esti-
mation of evapotranspiration becomes possible and the method provides a means
of arriving at first approximations.
3.3.2 Energy budget method. This method, like the water budget approach,
involves solving an equation that lists all the sources and sinks of thermal energy
and leaves evaporation as the only unknown. It involves a great deal of instru-
mentation and is still under active development. It cannot be used readily with-
out many data that are not normally available, and so it is a specialist approach.
3.3.3 Empirical formulae. Many attempts have been made to produce satisfac-
tory formulae for the estimation of evaporation. These are usually for evaporation
from an open water surface, as indeed are the more general methods to follow.
The reason for this is simple. Evaporation, if it is to take place, presupposes a
supply of water. Whatever the meteorological conditions may be, if there is
no water present then there can be no evaporation. Accordingly, estimating
methods using meteorological data work on the assumption that abundant water
is available; that is, a free water surface exists. The results obtained therefore are
not necessarily a measure of actual but of potential evaporation. Often these two
are the same, as for example, in reservoirs where a free water surface exists.
When evaporation from land surfaces is concerned, the loss of water in this way
clearly depends on availability: rainfall, water-table level, crop or vegetation,
and soil type all have an influence, which can be expressed by applying an
empirical factor, usually less than unity, to the free water surface evaporation.
There are two cases that should be considered:
(i) when the temperature of the water surface is the same as the air tem-
perature;
(ii) when the air and water surface temperatures are different.
Case (i) rarely occurs and is empirically treated by the equation

Ea = C(e s - e)f(u) (3.1)
where Ea = open water evaporation per unit time (for air and water tempera-
ture the same t C) in mm/day
C = an empirical constant
e s = saturation vapour pressure of the air at t c (mm mercury)
e = actual vapour pressure in the air above (mm mercury)
u = wind speed at some standard height (m).
The following equation has been empirically obtained for this case and is of
general validity
Ea = 0.35(e s - e)(O.5 + O.54u2) (3.2)
U2 denotes wind speed in m/s at a height of 2 m: Ea is in mm/day.
Case (ii) is the one that normally occurs. Again a formula should have the
form
Eo =C(e~ - e)f(u) (3.3)
but now e~ is the saturation vapour pressure of the boundary layer of air between
air and water, whose temperature t~ is not the same as either air or water and is
virtually impossible to measure. Accordingly empirical formulae have been
devetoped in the form of equation 3.1, which work fairly well for specific
locations where the constants have been derived, but have no general validity.
Such a formula, derived for the Ijsselmeer in The Netherlands, and only
applicable to it and similar conditions, is
where Eo = evaporation of the lake in mm per day

ew = saturation vapour pressure at temperature tw of the surface water
of the lake in mm mercury
e = actual vapour pressure in mm mercury
U6 =wind velocity in m/s at a height of 6 m above the surface.
3.3.4 Penman's Theory. The following nomenclature is used:
Eo = evaporation from open water (or its equivalent in heat energy)
ew = saturation vapour pressure of air at water surface temperature tw
e = actual vapour pressure of air at temperature t = saturation vapour
pressure at dew-point td
es = saturation vapour pressure of air at temperature t
e~ = saturation vapour pressure of air at boundary layer temperature t~
n/D = cloudiness ratio = actual/possible hours of sunshine
RA = Angot's value of solar radiation arriving at the atmosphere
Rc = sun and sky radiation actually received at earth's surface on a clear
day
RI = net amount of radiation absorbed at surface after reflection
RB = radiation from the earth's surface.
In 1948 Penman [1] presented a theory and formula for the estimation of
evaporation from weather data. The theory is based on two requirements, which
must be met if continuous evaporation is to occur. These are: (i) there must be a
supply of energy to provide latent heat of vaporisation; (ii) there must be some
mechanism for removing the vapour, once produced.
The energy supply. During the hours of daylight there is a certain measurable
amount of short-wave radiation arriving at the earth's surface. The amount
depends on latitude, season of the year, time of day and degree of cloudiness.
Assuming there were no clouds and a perfectly transparent atmosphere, the total
radiation to be expected at a point has been given in tabular form by Angot, and
is reproduced in table 3.1 as values of RA.
If Rc = short-wave radiation actually received at the earth from sun and sky
and n/D = ratio of actual/possible hours of sunshine, then Penman gives (for
southern England)
Rc =R A (0.18 + 0.55n/D)
and quotes Kimball (for Virginia, USA)
Rc =RA (0.22 + 0.54n/D)
and Prescott (for Canberra, Australia)
Rc =R A (0.25 + 0.54n/D)
Thus even on days of complete cloud cover (n/D = 0), about 20 per cent of solar
radiation reaches the earth's surface, while on cloudless days about 75 per cent
of radiation gets throUgh.
Part of Rc is reflected as short-wave radiation; the exact amount depends on
the reflectivity of the surface, or, the reflection coefficient r.
TABLE 3.1 Angot's values of short-wave radiation flux RA at the outer limit of the atmosphere in g cal/cm 2 /day
as a function of the month of the year and the latitude a
Latitude Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Year
(degrees) m
<I
"Cl
N 90 0 0 55 518 903 1077 944 605 136 0 0 0 3540 0
I
80 0 3 143 518 875 1060 930 600 219 17 0 0 3660 .....
60 86 234 424 687 866 983 892 714 494 258 113 55 4850 er
:::I
358 538 663 847 930 1001 941 843 719 528 397 318 6750 I
40 :::I
599 8070 Q.
20 631 795 821 914 912 947 912 887 856 740 666
Equator 844 963 878 876 803 803 792 820 891 866 873 829 8540 ...-t
I
970 1020 832 737 608 580 588 680 820 892 986 978 8070 :::I
20 III
994 1033 6750 "Cl
40 998 963 686 515 358 308 333 453 648 817 ::;-
I
60 947 802 459 240 95 50 77 187 403 648 920 1013 4850 ..
80 981 649 181 9 0 0 0 0 113 459 917 1094 3660 cS"
:::I
S 90 995 656 92 0 0 0 0 0 30 447 932 1110 3540
aFrom: Physical and Dynamical Meteorology by David Brunt, p. 112 (Cambridge University Press, 1944). The SI unit for
RA is joules/m 2 /day. The table in g cal/cm 2 /day is used so that it is compatible with Rijkoort's nomogram. The conversion is
1 g cal/cm 2 = 41.9 kJ /m 2 .
~
If RI = the net amount of radiation absorbed, then (for southern England)
RI=Rc(1-r)=RA(1-r)(0.18+0.55n/D)
In turn, some of RI is re-radiated by the earth as long-wave radiation, particularly
at night when the air is dry and the sky clear. The net outward flow RB may be
expressed empirically as
RB = aTa4(0.47 - 0.077Ye)(0.20 + 0.80n/D)
where a = Lummer and Pringsheim constant = 117.74 x 10-9 g cal/cm 2 /day
Ta = absolute earth temperature = tOe + 273
e = actual vapour pressure of air in mm mercury.
Hence the net amount of energy finally remaining at a free water surface (r = 0.06)
is given by H, where
H = RI -RB
= Rc -rRc -RB
= Rc(1-r)-RB
= R A (0.18 + 0.55n/D)(1 - 0.06) -RB
Therefore
H=R A (0.18 + 0.55n/D)(1 - 0.06) - (117.4 x 10- 9 )

T!(0.47 - O.077Ye) (0.20 + 0.80n/D) (3.4)
This heat is used up in four ways, that is
H=Eo +K+S+C
where Eo = heat available for evaporation from open water
K = convective heat transfer from the surface
S= increase in heat of the water mass (that is, storage)
C= increase in heat of the environment (negative advected heat).
Over a period of days and frequently over a single day, the storage of heat is
small compared with the other changes, and the same is true of environmental
storage, so that to a small degree of error
H=Eo +K
Vapour removal. It has been shown that evaporation may be represented by
Eo = C(e; - e)f(u)
but that e;
cannot be evaluated if air and water are at different temperatures.
Penman now made the assumption that the transport of vapour and the trans-
port of heat by eddy diffusion are essentially controlled by the same mechanism
(that is, atmospheric turbulence), the one being governed by (e; - e), the other
by (t; - t). To a close approximation therefore
~ =(3 = ')'(~~ - t) where,), = psychrometer constant

Eo es - e = 0.66 if t is in c and e in mbar
Now since
then
H H
E =-- =
o 1 + {3 t~ - t
1 +')'-,--
es - e
Now eliminate t~ - t by substitution, since t~ - t = (e~ - es )/ t:..
where e s = saturation vapour pressure at temperature t
t:.. = slope of vapour pressure curve at t, = tan a (see figure 3.1).
t eo',
.,
~
'"a.
"
0
a.
0
>
Temperature ~
Figure 3.1 Saturation vapour pressure curve
This is reasonable since t~ is never very far from t.

Hence
H
Eo = , (3.5)
1+ r es - es
t:.. e~ - e
Now es must be eliminated.
Since
e~ - es = (e~ - e) - (e s - e) (3.6)
and from equation 3.1
Ea = C(es - e)f(u)
while from equation 3.3
Eo = C(e~ - e)f(u)
then
Ea = es - e (3.7)
Eo e~ - e
where Ea = evaporation (in energy terms) for the hypothetical case of equal
temperatures of air and water.
Then by the values of equations 3.6 and 3.7 into equation 3.5
and
from which
E = Ml + rEa
o t. + r
t. has values obtained from the saturation vapour pressure curve, typically as
shown
t. = 0.36
0.61
1.07
1.80
Referring to equations 3.2 and 3.4 for Ea and H respectively, it can be seen that
Eo is now computed from standard meteorological observations of mean air
temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity at a standard height and hours of
sunshine. The formula has been checked in many parts of the world and gives
very good results. Being based on physical principles it is of general application
and gives values that should serve for most project studies until supplemented by
actual evaporation measurements (see section 3.6).
To overcome the computational labour involved in solving the Penman
equation, a nomogram has been designed by P. J. Rijkoort of the Royal Meteoro-
logical Institute, The Netherlands, which enables rapid evaluations to be made.
It is reproduced as appendix C at the back of this book by permission of the
designer. The nomogram has been drawn for a slightly different value of Rc
from that used by Penman
Rc = RA(0.20 + 0.48n/D)
instead of Penman's RA (0.18 + 0.55n/D), but any difference will be smaller than
the probable margin of error in cloud cover estimation, so it can be ignored.
Values of RA can be derived for any latitude from table 3.1.
Where actual sunshine records are available, then table 3.2 may be used to
determine n/D accurately. When sunshine records are not available, n/D may be
estimated from assessment of cloud cover in tenths; i.e. ten-tenths cloud is com-
pletely overcast and 0 tenths completely clear. Unity minus this fraction may be
used for n/D. For example, on a day when about seven-tenths of the sky is
covered by cloud, on average, then
n/D=(l-7/10)=0.3
Several observations per day should be made.
3.4 Evaporation from land surfaces using Penman's Eo value

Penman subsequently reported on results of experiments conducted on turfed
soil and bare soil to determine how their evaporation rates (ET and E B) com-
pared with open water (Eo) [2]. He concluded that the evaporation rate from a
freshly wetted bare soil was about 90 per cent of that from an open water
surface exposed to the same weather. That is
EB/Eo = 0.90
For grassed surfaces the comparison was more erratic, and provisional figures
for turf with a plentiful water supply were given as follows:
Values of ET/Eo for southern England
November to February 0.6
March. to April } 0.7
September to October
May to August 0.8
Whole year 0.75
These figures are all less than unity because of, the greater reflectivity of vege-
tation compared to open water and also because the transpiration of plants
virtually ceases at night.
3.5 Thomthwaite's formulae for evapotranspiration

Thornthwaite carried out many experiments in the USA using lysimeters and
extensively studied the correlation between temperature and evapotranspiration.
From this work [3] he devised a method enabling estimates to be made of the
~
TABLE 3.2 Mean daily maximum hours of sunshine for different months and latitudes a
Latitude North Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
South July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April May June
50 8.5 10.1 11.8 13.8 15.4 16.3 15.9 14.5 12.7 10.8 9.1 8.1
48 8.8 10.2 11.8 13.6 15.2 16.0 15.6 14.3 12.6 10.9 9.3 8.3
46 9.1 10.4 11.9 13.5 14.9 15.7 15.4 14.2 12.6 10.9 9.5 8.7
44 9.3 10.5 11.9 13.4 14.7 15.4 15.2 14.0 12.6 11.0 9.7 8.9
42 9.4 10.6 11.9 13.4 14.6 15.2 14.9 13.9 12.5 11.1 9.8 9.1
40 9.6 10.7 11.9 13.3 14.4 15.0 14.7 13.7 12.5 11.2 10.0 9.3
35 10.1 11.0 11.9 13.1 14.0 14.5 14.3 13.5 12.4 11.3 10.3 9.8
30 10.4 11.1 12.0 12.9 13.6 14.0 13.9 13.2 12.4 11.5 10.6 10.2
25 10.7 11.3 12.0 12.7 13.3 13.7 13.5 13.0 12.3 11.6 10.9 10.6
20 11.0 11.5 12.0 12.6 13.1 13.3 13.2 12.8 12.3 11.7 11.2 10.9
15 11.3 11.6 12.0 12.5 12.8 13.0 12.9 12.6 12.2 11.8 11.4 11.2
10 11.6 11.8 12.0 12.3 12.6 12.7 12.6 12.4 12.1 11.8 11.6 11.5
5 11.8 11.9 12.0 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.3 12.3 12.1 12.0 11.9 11.8
0 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1
aFrom: Crop Water Requirements. Irrigation and Drainage Paper 24 (United Nations F.A.O., Rome, 1975).
potential evapotranspiration from short, close-set vegetation with an adequate
water supply, in the latitudes of the USA.
If tn = average monthly temperature of the consecutive months of the year in
c (where n = 1,2,3, ... , 12) andj = monthly 'heat index', then
j=(~)1.S14 (3.8)
and the yearly 'heat index',J, is given by

12
J= L:f (for the 12 months)
The potential evapotranspiration for any month with average temperature t rC)
is then given, as PE x' by
PE x = 16 (JlOt) a
mm per month
where
a = (675 x 10- 9 )]3 - (771 x 1O- 7 )J 2 + (179 x 10- 4 )1 + 0.492 (3.9)
However PE x is a theoretical standard monthly value based on 30 days and
12 hours of sunshine per day. The actual PE for the particular month with
t
average temperature t C) is given by
DT
PE=PE --mm (3.10)
x 360
where D = number of days in the month
T =average number of hours between sunrise and sunset in the month.
The method has been tested by Serra, who suggested that equations (3.8) and
(3.9) may be simplified as follows
f = 0.09tn 3/2
a = 0.016J + 0.5
This method of estimating potential evapotranspiration is empirical and com-
plicated and requires the use of a nomogram for its solution. Thornthwaite
published such a nomogram, which is reproduced in figure 3.2.
The first step is to obtain the heat indexJ. From figure 3.2 obtain the unad-
justed value of potential evapotranspiration by drawing a straight line from the
location's J value through the point of convergence at t = 26.5 cC. (If t is greater
than 26.5 cC, use the table alongside figure 3.2.)PE x for the month can then be
read off, corresponding to its given mean temperature. Twelve values are obtained
for each of the 12 months. These unadjusted values can then be adjusted for day
40
i III I PE.
t (OC)
30 265 1350
pomt of convergence-
-
u
~
25
20 ;:;.
270
275
280
139'5
1437
1478
t=
15
V"'" 28'5 1517
~ 290 155'4
e..
::J
: ;\m V 295
300
1589
1621
--
10 / 30'5 1652
V
Cl.
E 90
80 310 1680
~
-
V
31-5 1707
,.. 70
320 173'1
~ 60
325 1753
C
0 5 0
330 1772
E ~ 335 1790
.. 3 /
c
4 340 1805
0
30 345 1818
:::;: 350 1829
355 1837
2 - 20 360
365
184'3
1847
370 1849
375 1850
380 1850
10 _I I
10 20 30 40 60 80 100 150 20 0
50 70
PE. (mm)
Figure 3.2 Nomogram and table for finding potential evapotrans-

piration PEx (after c. W. Thornthwaite. Courtesy of 'Geographical
Review'; copyright American Geographic Society, New York)
and month length by equation 3.10 and totalled to give annual potential evapo-
trl\llspiration.
It has been found that the method gives reasonably good results whatever the
vegetation cover, though different types of vegetation will affect a particular
locality's true value. The formula is based on temperature, which does not
necessarily correspond to incoming solar radiation immediately, because of the
'heat inertia' of land and water. Transpiration, however, responds directly to
solar radiation. Accordingly, care should be exercised when using the method
to ensure that conditions do not change abruptly in a particular month, though if
figures for many consecutive months are being used, the cumulative differences
are probably negligible.
For project studies the method is a useful complement to the Penman
approach, though it will be found generally to give higher values of potential
evaporation than the latter.
3.6 Direct measurement of evaporation by pans

Whenever possible, direct observations of evaporation should be made. The
instrument used for this is the evaporation pan. In Britain the standard pan is
1.83 m (6 ft.) square and 610 mm (2 ft.) deep filled to a depth of 550 mm
(1 ft 9 in.) and set in the ground so that the rim of the pan projects 76 mm
(3 in.) above the surrounding ground. Regular observations of pan evaporation
are made at some 30 points throughout the country [4].
In the USA the standard or Class A pan is circular 1.22 m (4 ft.) in diameter
and 254 mm (10 in.) deep, filled to a depth of 180 mm (7 in.) set on a timber
grillage with the pan bottom 150 mm (6 in.) above ground level. Regular evapora-
tion readings are taken at over 400 places.
A third type of pan is sometimes used in the United Kingdom, the Peirera
pan, which is circular like the Class A pan but deeper and sunk in the ground
with a 3 in. air space surrounding it.
The water levels in evaporation pans are prescribed and have to be set daily
after measurement. Measurements are usually by hook-gauge, with allowance
made for input rainfall. Because monthly and yearly totals are the sums of many
small differences, each with the same chance of error, the observations must be
made with extreme care.
The Class A pan has a greater daily range of temperature than the square one,
but is usually homogeneous whereas the water in the square pan may stratify.
Doubling the wind run may increase evaporation by up to 20 per cent.
The relatively small capacities and shallow depths of pans in comparison to
lake and river volumes and their situation at or near the land surface allows
proportionately greater amounts of advected heat from the atmosphere to be
absorbed by the water in the pan through the sides and bottom, than by natural
open water, and by some pans more than others. Pan evaporation is therefore
usually too high and a pan coefficient has to be applied. These coefficients range
from 0.65 to greater than unity, depending on the dimensions and siting of the
pan. Generally the standard British pan has a coefficient about 0.92 and the U.S.
Weather Bureau Class A pan about 0.75 but there are quite wide variations. Law
[5] carried out comparative tests over 14 years at two sites in Yorkshire and
found the ratio of evaporation from the Class A pan to that from the square
British pan ranged between 1.17 and 1.40 with an average of 1.32. Houk [6]
gives a full account of known American values and Olivier [7] quotes many data
from African and Near-Eastern sources.
There are difficulties in using pans for the direct measurement of evaporation,
arising from the difficulty of measuring very small differences of elevation and
the subsequent application of coefficients to relate the measurements from a
small tank to large bodies of open water. Nevertheless, actual field measurements
should form an important part of any project studies of evaporation.
3.7 Consumptive use

Evapotranspiration is the term used for the evaporation of moisture from the
earth's surface including lakes and streams and the vegetation that may cover the
land. Consumptive use refers to the evaporation and transpiration from vegetation-
covered land areas only, frequently with respect to horticulture and agriculture
and associated irrigation requirements. The terms are often used synonymously.
The consumptive use of water in an area is dependent on many factors,
including climate, the supply of soil moisture, growing vegetation, type of soil
and methods of land management. Climatic factors include precipitation, tem-
perature, humidity, wind and latitude of the locality (which affects the length
of the growing season). Soil moisture supply depends on topography and
underground flow, as well as precipitation. Soil types and land management
vary widely over short distances. There are no formulae of general validity but
several empirical formulae can be used with local coefficients to determine
annual water use in any locality within certain broad limitations.
3.7.1 Arable crops. Consumptive use refers to water that is actually used, while
evapotranspiration formulae give potential water use. Reference to figure 3.3
will show that for a particular locality, unless the rain falls when it is needed, a
large water deficit may develop in the growing season despite quite high rainfall.
In a case like this, consumptive use will be less than potential evapotranspiration
and a need for irrigation in the growing period is indicated.
Modern methods of estimation of consumptive use include a development of
the Penman open-water evaporation calculation and a more empirical method
developed from the Blaney-Criddle procedures of the Division of Irrigation and
8~------------------------,
rate of potential
evopotronspiration in
in./rnonth
6~------------~~~-------;
soil moisture
utilisation
-co
preClpilotlon
4~-------+----~---t------~ (in/month)
Q
o'"
soil moisture
accretion
Figure 3.3 Typical annual soil moisture deficiency diagram [8]

Water Conservation, Soil Conservation Service of the US Dept of Agriculture
[9] .
Both these and other methods are fully set out with worked examples in the
relevant UN Food and Agriculture Organisation publication [10] .
Since both methods require reference to many figures and tables, it is not
feasible to provide comprehensive accounts in this text. Nevertheless, summaries
of the two approaches are given below.
3.7.2 Modified Penman method. This method depends on meteorological

measurements and is most likely to give satisfactory estimates of crop water
requirements.
The original Penman equation yielded evaporation from an open-water
surface, Eo, through consideration of the two terms H and Ea covering energy
(radiation) and aerodynamics (wind and humidity).
The Eo term was modified to yield evapotranspiration from a grassed land
surface by multiplying by a crop coefficient of about 0.8. This has been shown
to be a reasonable approximation where calm conditions apply, not only in
England where it was first derived, but in tropical and semi-arid regions as well.
However, in windier climates the crop coefficient varies widely from 0.8.
A new standard or reference crop evapotranspiration ETo is introduced. This
is defined as
"the rate of evapotranspiration from an extended surface of 8 to 15 cm tall
green grass cover of uniform height, actively growing, completely shading the
ground and not short of water" [10]
The value of ETo for a particular climate and location is calculated from
ET"6 = W x Rn + (1 - W) x feu) X (e s - e)
where En is the unadjusted reference crop evapotranspiration in mm/day
W = a temperature-related weighting factor
R = a net radiation in equivalent evaporation in mm/day
feu) = wind-related function
(e s - e) = the difference between saturated vapour pressure at mean air
temperature and mean actual vapour pressure of the air in mb.
ETo is then found from En through adjustment for day and night-time weather
conditions. The correlation is given graphically for several conditions of varying
wind and humidity.
Having determined a value of ETo , the crop evapotranspiration ET(crop) , i.e.
the crop's water requirement is found from
ET(crop) = kc x ETo
where kc is a crop coefficient, representing the evapotranspiration of a particular
crop grown under optimum conditions (for the climate and location) and pro-
ducing optimum yields.
Values of kc for extensive lists of different crops, grown under different
conditions of wind and humidity, and at various stages of growth, are available
[10]. Table 3.3 is a representative sample of the kc values for different crops.
TABLE 3.3 Typical crop coefficient kc for crops at different growth stages and
prevailing climatic conditions a
Humidity Min. relative Min. relative

humidity humidity
Crop > 70% <20%
Wind (m/s) 0-5 5-8 0-5 5-8
Barley mid-season 3 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2
harvest 4 0.25 0.25 0.2 0.2
Carrots 3 1.0 1.05 1.1 1.15
4 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85
Cotton 3 1.05 1.15 1.2 1.25
4 0.65 0.65 0.65 0.7
Cucumber 3 0.9 0.9 0.95 1.0
4 0.7 0.7 0.75 0.8
Flax 3 1.0 1.05 1.1 1.15
4 0.25 0.25 0.2 0.2
Melons 3 0.95 0.95 1.0 1.05
4 0.65 0.65 0.75 0.75
Groundnuts 3 0.95 1.0 1.05 1.1
4 0.55 0.55 0.6 0.6
Potatoes 3 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2
4 0.7 0.7 0.75 0.75
Soyabeans 3 1.0 1.05 1.1 1.15
4 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45
Tomatoes 3 1.05 1.1 1.2 1.25
4 0.6 0.6 0.65 0.65
Wheat 3 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2
4 0.25 0.25 0.2 0.2
a After: Crop Water Requirements. Irrigation and Drainage Paper 24 (United

Nations F.A.O., Rome, 1975).
3.7.3 Modified Blaney-Criddle method. The original method, developed by the

US Dept of Agriculture [9] involves temperature t and percentage of daylight
hours p, to derive a monthly consumptive use factor [. Relative humidity is not
considered.
fis then multiplied by k, a monthly consumptive use coefficient for a particu-
lar crop to obtain monthly consumptive use in inches.
In the modified method, the monthly consumptive use factor fis expressed in
mm and degrees Celsius (0 C) as
f= p(0.46t + 8.13)
where t is the mean of daily maximum and minimum temperature over the
month considered and p is the mean daily percentage of annual daytime hours.
The factor f is then expressed in mm/day representing the mean value over the
given month.
From these f values, graphical relationships giving equivalent ETo values are
provided for three levels of relative humidity, three levels of wind speed and
three levels of cloudiness (n/D).
Figure 3.4 is a composite representation of three of the nine figures in [10].
11
3
10
~ti~midity < 20%
9 20-50%
------>50%
8
1 light daytime wind 0-2 m/s
2 Moderate daytime wind 2-5 m/s
7 3 Strong daytime wind> 5 m/s
>
'"
"0
6
E
E
t-? 5
lLJ
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Blaney-Criddle factor f ~ P (0.46t (QC) + 8.13) mm/day
Figure 3.4 ETo against f for medium cloudiness (n/D: 0.6-0.8), 3 wind con-
ditions and 3 relative humidities. After Crop Water Requirements: Irr. and
Drainage Paper 24 (United Nations F.A. 0., Rome, 1975)
Table 3.4 gives the mean daily percentage (p) of annual daylight hours for
different latitudes.
The ETo and kc values for both the modified Penman and Blaney-Criddle
methods are compatible, so only one set of kc values is required.
3.7.4 Forest. The first important work on afforestation of reservoired catch-

ments was published by Law [11]. He subsequently observed a lysimeter of
450 ml of Sitka spruce forest for a period of 14 years. Some of his observations
were published in earlier editions of this text. In summary Law pointed out that
forested upland catchments resulted in greater water losses than if the cover was
grass. This was not generally accepted at first but Law's work led to the setting
in train of much more extensive long-term investigations by the Institute of
Hydrology. These have been conducted over 15 years on several catchments in
the United Kingdom, of which the best known and most intenSively investigated
are the Plynlimon catchments of the Rivers Severn and Wye. These studies have
been reported at intervals during the period [12, 13] and have led to valuable
and sometimes surprising conclusions. Briefly, these are as follows.
(1) With annual rainfall around 2300 mm, there was a considerably greater
loss from the forested catchment than from the grassland. The forested
catchment losses were about double those of the grassland - about
850 mm against 405 mm on average.
(2) The reason for the heavier forest loss is the interception of rainfall by the
forest canopy and the subsequent evaporation from it.
(3) In drier parts of the country, where the rainfall was about 600 mm
annually, forested catchments were no more likely to lead to losses than
grassland, and in some observations of pine forest were actually less [14].
(4) The Penman formula for evapotranspiration is in good agreement with
the actual figure for grassland catchments but underestimates the figure
considerably for forested catchments in wetter parts of the country and
during wet periods in areas of low rainfall.
(5) Although erosion protection has always been an aim of afforestation, it
is not always achieved. Where open ditching has been adopted to drain
forest areas, the erosion may be greater than for grassland. This was the
case in the Plynlimon catchments, where sediment was measured over
five years.
(6) From observations of lysimeters, it has been found that about 50 to 55
per cent of rainfall at the forest canopy falls through to the forest floor,
while a further 12 to 23 per cent reaches ground level by stem-flow; so
that between 22 and 38 per cent evaporates from the canopy.
(7) Mature forest cover reduces peak flows by about one-third compared
with grassland, but where drainage ditches have been dug for tree planting
there may well be both an increase compared with grassland and shorter
response times, particularly while the trees are immature.
TABLE 3.4 Mean daily percentage (p) of annual daytime hours for different latitudes [10]
Latitude North Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
South July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June
60 0.15 0.20 0.26 0.32 0.38 0.41 0.40 0.34 0.28 0.22 0.17 0.13
58 0.16 0.21 0.26 0.32 0.37 0.40 0.39 0.34 0.28 0.23 0.18 0.15
56 0.17 0.21 0.26 0.32 0.36 0.39 0.38 0.33 0.28 0.23 0.18 0.16
m
54 0.18 0.22 0.26 0.31 0.36 0.38 0.37 0.33 0.28 0.23 0.19 0.17 <
11)
"Cl
52 0.19 0.22 0.27 0.31 0.35 0.37 0.36 0.33 0.28 0.24 0.20 0.17 0
...
11)
50 0.19 0.23 0.27 0.31 0.34 0.36 0.35 0.32 0.28 0.24 0.20 0.18 er
48 0.36 0.28 0.24 0.21 0.19 11)
0.20 0.23 0.27 0.31 0.34 0.35 0.32
-=
46 0.20 0.23 0.27 0.30 0.34 0.35 0.34 0.32 0.28 0.24 0.21 0.20 c.
=
44 0.21 0.24 0.27 0.30 0.33 0.35 0.34 0.31 0.28 0.25 0.22 0.20 ...-I
11)
42 0.21 0.24 0.27 0.30 0.33 0.34 0.33 0.31 0.28 0.25 0.22 0.21 en
=
"Cl
:::;"
11)
40 0.22 0.24 0.27 0.30 0.32 0.34 0.33 0.31 0.28 0.25 0.22 0.21
35 0.23 0.25 0.27 0.29 0.31 0.32 0.32 0.30 0.28 0.25 0.23 0.22 o
-=
30 0.24 0.25 0.27 0.29 0.31 0.32 0.31 0.30 0.28 0.26 0.24 0.23
25 0.24 0.26 0.27 0.29 0.30 0.31 0.31 0.29 0.28 0.26 0.25 0.24
20 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.28 0.29 0.30 0.30 0.29 0.28 0.26 0.25 0.25
15 0.26 0.26 0.27 0.28 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.25
10 0.26 0.27 0.27 0.28 0.28 0.29 0.29 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.26 0.26
5 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.27 0.27 0.27
0 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27
0)
....
Water engineers concerned with land use in reservoir catchments should be aware
that if annual rainfall is higher than average then afforestation will increase
water loss, whatever its other benefits.
References
1. PENMAN, H. L. Natural evaporation from open water, bare soil and grass.
Froc. Roy. Soc., A 193 (April 1948) 120
2. PENMAN, H. L. Evaporation over the British Isles. Quart. J. Roy. Met. Soc.,
76 (1950) 372
3. THORNTHWAITE, C. W. An approach towards a rational classification of
climate. Geographical Rev., 38 (1948) 55
4. British Rainfall 1939 (and subsequent years), H.M.S.O., London
5. LAW, F. The aims of the catchment studies at Stocks Reservoir, Slaidburn,
Yorkshire. Unpublished communication to Pennines Hydrological Group,
Institution of Civil Engineers, September 1970
6. HOUK, I. E. Irrigation Engineering, Vol. 1, Wiley, New York, 1951
7. OLlVIER, H. Irrigation and Climate, Arnold, London, 1961
8. THORNTHWAITE, C. W. The moisture factor in climate. Trans. Am. Soc. Civ.
Eng., 27, No. 1 (February 1946) 41
9. BLANEY, H. F. and CRIDDLE, W. D. Determining water requirements in
irrigated areas from climatological and irrigation data. Div. Irr. Water
Conserv., S.C.S. U.S. Dept. Agr., SCS-TP-96, Washington D.C., 1950
10. DOORENBOS, J. and PRUITT, W. O. Crop water requirements. Irrigation and
Drainage Paper 24. F.A.a., United Nations, Rome, 1975
11. LAW, F. The effect of afforestation upon the yield of water catchment
areas. J. Brit. Waterworks Assoc., 38 (1956) 484
12. Water balance of the headwater catchments of the Wye and Severn 1970-75.
Report No. 33. Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdom,
December 1976
13. NEWSON, M. D. The results of ten years' experimental study on Plynlimon,
Mid-Wales, and their importance for the water industry. J. Inst. Water
Eng. Sci., 33 (1979) 321-33
14. GASH, J. H. C. and STEWART, J. B. The evaporation from Thetford Forest
during 1975. J. Hydrol., 35 (1977) 385-96
Further reading
BLANEY, H. F. Definitions, methods and research data. A symposium on the

consumptive use of water. Tram. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 117 (1952) 949
BLANEY, H. F. and CRIDDLE, W. D. Determining consumptive use and irrigation
water requirements. USDA (ARS) Tech. Bull. 1275, 1962
CRIDDLE, W. D. Consumptive use of water and irrigation requirements. J. Soil
Water Conserv., 1953
CRIDDLE, W. D. Methods of computing consumptive use of water. Paper 1507.
Froc. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 84 (January 1958)
FAO/UNESCO. International Sourcebook on Irrigation and Drainage of Arid
Lands, UNESCO, Paris, Hutchinson, London, 1973
FORTIER, S. and YOUNG, A. A. Bull. U.S. Dept. Agr. 1340 (1925), 185 (1930),
200 (1930),379 (1933)
HARRIS, F. S. The duty of water in Cache Valley, Utah. Utah Agr. Exp. Sta.
Bull., 173, 1920
HICKOX, G. H. Evaporation from a free water surface. Paper 2266. Trans. Am.
Soc. Civ. Eng., III (1946), and discussion by C. Rohwer.
HILL, R. A. Operation and maintenance of irrigation systems. Paper 2980. Tram.
Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 117 (1952) 77
HORSFALL, R. A. Planning irrigation projects. J. Inst. Eng. Australia, 22, No. 6
(June 1950)
LOWRY, R. and JOHNSON, A. R. Consumptive use of water for agriculture.
Paper 2158. Trans. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 107 (1942), and discussion by R. E.
Rule, E. E. Foster, H. F. B1aney and R. W. Davenport
Measurement and Estimation of Evaporation and Evapotranspiration. Technical
Note 83, World Meteorological Organisation, 1966
PENMAN, H. L. Estimating evaporation. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 31 (Feb-
ruary 1956) 43
ROHWER, C. Evaporation from different types of pans. Trans. Am. Soc. Civ.
Eng., 99 (1934) 673
STEWART, J. I. and HAGAN, R. M. Functions to predict effects of crop water
deficits. ASCE J. Irrigation and Drainage Div., 99 (1973) 421
STEWART, J. J., HAGAN, R. M. and PRUITT, W. O. Function to predict optimal
irrigation programs. ASCE, J. Irrigation and Drainage Div., 100 (1974) 179
WHITE, W. N. A method of estimating ground water supplies based on discharge
by plants and evaporation from soil. Results of investigations in Esca1ante
Valley, Utah. U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 659-A, Washington
D.C.,1932
Problems
3.1 Determine the evaporation from a free water surface using the Penman
equation nomogram for the following cases
Locality Month Temp. h n/D U2

Amsterdam (52N) July 18C 0.5 0.5 1.2 mts
Seattle (47N) Jan. 4C 0.8 0.3 1.5 mts
Khartoum (l6N) June 30C 0.2 1.0 0.9 mts
3.2 Use the nomogram for the solution of Penman's equation to predict the
daily potential evapotranspiration from a field crop at latitude 400 N in April,
under the following conditions: mean air temperature = 20C; mean h = 70
per cent; sky cover =60 per cent cloud; mean U2 = 2.5 mts; ratio of potential
evapotranspiration to potential evaporation =0.7.
3.3 Compute the potential evapotranspiration according to Thornthwaite for

two locations A and B where the local climate yields the following data
A B Daylight A B Daylight
hours of hours of
year at A year at A
(per cent) (per cent)
Jan. -5 -2 6 July 19 16 11
Feb. 0 2 7 Aug 17 14 10
Mar. 5 3 71 Sept. 13 10 S-!-
Apr. 9 7 S;; Oct. 9 S 7;;
May 13 10 10 Nov. 5 3 7
June 17 15 11 Dec. 0 0 6
(a) at A for April (mean temperature 10C) and November (mean tem-
perature 3C),
(b) at B for June (mean temperature 20C) and October (mean temperature
SoC).
At A the average number of hours between sunrise and sunset is 13 for April
and 9 for November. At B the figures are 14 for June and 10 for October. Use
the Serra simplification for A and the nomogram for B.
3.4 Water has maximum density at 4C; above and below this temperature its
density is less. Consider a deep lake in a region where the air temperature falls
below 4 c in winter.
(a) Describe what will happen in the lake in spring and autumn.
(b) What will be the effect of what happens on (i) the time lag between air
and water temperatures? (ii) the evaporation rate in the various seasons?
(c) Will there be a difference if the winter temperature does not drop below
4 C and if so explain why.
3.5 Using the modified Blaney-Criddle method, determine the crop water
requirement for growing cotton in mid-season in very dry conditions at a location
at latitude 30 0 N in February where the mean daily temperature is 28C, and the
mean wind speed is 4 m/so
3.6 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of evaporation pans placed above
the ground surface (for example, the U.S. Class A pan) compared to those sunk
in the earth.
3.7 Draw up a water-budget for 100 units of rainfall falling on to a coniferous

forest in a temperate coastal climate. Describe the processes involved and indi-
cate the proportions of the rain that becomes involved in each.
3.8 Describe fully Penman's evaporation theory for open water surfaces. Show
how each parameter used affects the evaporation and discuss how the theory
differs from other evaporation formulae.
3.9 A large reservoir is located in latitude 400 30N. Compute monthly and
annual lake evaporation for the reservoir from the given data using the nomo-
gram of Penman's theory. If the Class A pan evaporation at the reservoir for the
year is 1143 mm, compute the pan coefficient. Assuming that the precipitation
on the lake is as given and that the runoff represents unavoidable spillage of this
precipitation during floods, what is the net annual anticipated loss from the
reservoir per square kilometre of surface in cubic metres per day?
What would the change in evaporation be for the month of July if the reser-
voir was at 40 0 S?
Mean air Dew- Average Cloud coverage Precipitation Runoff

temp. point wind in tenths (mm) (mm)
tc) tC) speed
(m/s)
Oct. 14.4 7.8 0.8 5.9 51

Nov. 8.3 1.7 1.3 7.2 99 23
Dec. 3.9 2.2 1.7 9.5 102 43
Jan. 2.2 1.9 2.1 8.7 117 58
Feb. 2.2 1.4 2.2 6.3 91 20
Mar. 4.4 1.1 1.3 5.1 69 12
Apr. 8.9 3.3 1.1 3.4 51
May 15 10 0.9 2.6 28
June 20 15.6 0.8 0.2 3
July 23.9 16.7 0.75 0.1 0
Aug. 22.8 17.8 0.7 0.0 0
Sept. 17.8 12.8 0.75 1.5 20 8
3.10 It is proposed to develop a lake in a mountainous region for water supply.

It is at latitude 20 0 N. June appears to be the critical month and mean June values
of various parameters are as follows:
air temperature 24C; relative humidity 0.6;
wind speed 2 m above surface, 2.5 m/s; cloud cover 10%
The lake has a surface area of 300 km 2 . A river flows into the lake and its long-
average inflow for June is 28 m3 /s.
Calculate the net inflow to the reservoir for an average June.
4 Infiltration and Percolation
4.1 InfIltration capacity of soil

When rain falls upon the ground it first of all wets the vegetation or the bare soil.
When the surface cover is completely wet, subsequent rain must either penetrate
the surface layers if the surface is permeable, or run off the surface towards a
stream channel if the surface is impermeable.
If the surface layers are porous and have minute passages available for the
passage of water droplets, the water infiltrates into the subsurface soil. Soil with
vegetation growing on it is always permeable to some degree. Once infiltrating
water has passed through the surface layers, it percolates downwards under the
influence of gravity until it reaches the zone of saturation at the phreatic surface.
Different types of soil allow water to infiltrate at different rates. Each soil
type has a different infiltration capacity, f, measured in mm/h or in./h. For
example, it can be imagined that rain falling on a gravelly or sandy soil will
rapidly infiltrate and, provided the phreatic surface is below the ground surface,
even heavy rain will not produce surface runoff. Similarly a clayey soil will resist
infiltration and the surface will become covered with water even in light rains.
The rainfall rate, i, also obviously affects how much rain will infiltrate and how
much will run off.
4.2 Factors influencing!c

Nassif and Wilson [1] carried out extensive studies on infiltration using a weigh-
able laboratory catchment 25 m 2 in area. They concluded that for any soil
under constant rainfall, infiltration rate decreases in accordance with an equation
of the form first used by Horton [2] .
f= fe +jJ.e- Kt
where f= infiltration rate at any time t (mm/h)
!e = inflltration capacity at large value of t (mm/h)
66
Infiltration and Percolation 67
JJ. =fo -fc
fo =initial inftltration capacity at t =0 (mm/h)
t = time from beginning of rainfall (min)
K = constant for a particular soil and surface (min-l).
K is a function of surface texture: if vegetation is present K is small, while a
smoother surface texture, such as bare soil, will yield larger values.
fo andfc are functions of both soil type and cover. For example, a bare sandy
or gravelly soil will have high values of fo and fc and a bare clayey soil will have
low values of fo and fc' but both values will increase for both soils if they are
turfed.
fe is a function of: (i) slope up to a limiting value (varying between 16 and
24 per cent), after which there is little variation, (ii) initial moisture content-the
drier the soil initially, the larger will be fe, but the variation may be compara
tively small, and (iii) rainfall intensity-if the intensity i increases,fe increases,
and this parameter has a greater effect on fe than any other variable.
These correlations are illustrated in figure 4.1 for a typical agricultural soil.
Table 4.1 lists some representative values of K,fo and fe for different soil types.
The parameters K and fo are relatively stable for particular soils and do not vary
noticeably with slope of catchment or rain intensity,fe on the other hand, varies
widely with both and so is shown as a range of values .
.s:: .s::
"- "-
E E
E E
'----
Low rain intensity
Time ~ Time!~ 8 16 24 32
Slope (per cent)
Figure 4.1 The variation of infiltration capacity
TABLE 4.1 Representative values of K, fo and fe for

different soil types
Soil type fo fe K
(mm/h) (mm/h) (min- l )
Standard { bare 280 6-220 1.6

agricultural turfed 900 20-290 0.8
Peat 325 2-20 1.8
Fine sandy { bare 210 2-25 2.0
clay turfed 670 10-30 1.4
Until recently it had been generally thought that fc was a constant for a
particular soil, but this does not now seem to be so. The infiltration rate appears
to be largely controlled by the surface pores. Even quite a small increase in the
hydrostatic head over these pores results in an increase in the flow through the
soil surface. If the surface layer is imagined as shown in figure 4.2 where the
Figure 4.2 Hydraulic head on soil-grain pores
surface soil grains are shown, then the governing factor is the head h over the
smallest cross-section of a pore. This continues to increase with rainfall intensity
until a limiting value is reached where runoff prevents any further increase. It
seems unlikely that this limiting condition is often reached in natural conditions.
Previous researchers [3] have found similar results but attributed the increase
in fc at higher rainfall intensities to lack of homogeneity in their experimental
catchment watershed. Others have also emphasised the overriding importance of
the superficia//ayer of a soil [4] .
The infiltration rate of a soil is the sum of percolation and water entering
storage above the groundwater table. Generally the soil is far from saturated and
so storage goes on increasing for very long periods. Accordingly, fc goes on
decreasing under a steady rain intensity for equally long periods.
However the soil will eventually become saturated under persistent rain. All
the reservoirs of interstitial space become filled. When precipitation ceases the
soil gradually loses the 'free' water, to a point where it can sustain the water
content against gravity, i.e. water will no longer drain from it. At this point the
soil is said to be at field capacity.
Exposed soils can be rendered almost impermeable by the compacting impact
of large drops coupled with the tendency to wash very fine particles into the
voids. The surface tends to become 'puddled' and the fc value drops sharply.
Similarly, compaction due to man or animals treading the surface, or to vehicular
traffic, can severely reduce infiltration capacity.
Dense vegetal cover such as grass or forest tends to promote high values of
f c . The dense root systems, all providing ingress to the subsoil, the layer of
organic debris forming a sponge-like surface, burrowing animals and insects
opening up ways into the soil, the cover preventing compaction and the vege-
tation's transpiration removing soil moisture, all tend to help the infiltration
process.
Other effects that marginally affect the issue are frost heave, leaching out of
soluble salts and drying cracks which increase to, and the entrapping of inter-
stitital air, which decreases to. Temperature has some effect since flow in inter-
stices is laminar and hence viscosity has a direct effect on resistance to flow.
Other things being equal, {o and {e will have higher values during the warmer
seasons of the year.
4.3 Methods of detennining inftltration capacity

4.3.1 Inftltrometers. An infiltrometer is a wide-diameter, short tube, or other
impervious boundary surrounding an area of soil. Usually two such rings are
used concentrically as shown in figure 4.3. The rings are flooded to a depth of
infi I trating water
Figure 4.3 Infiltrometer
5 mm over the surface and continually refilled to maintain this depth, the inflow
to the central tube being measured. The purpose of the outer tube is to eliminate
to some extent the edge effect of the surrounding drier soil. Such tests give
useful comparative results but they do not simulate real conditions and have
been largely replaced by sprinkler tests on larger areas. Here the sprinkler simu-
lates rainfall, and runoff from the plot is collected and measured as well as
inflow, the difference being assumed to have infiltrated.
While rain-simulating sprinklers are a good deal more realistic than flooded
rings, there are limitations to the reliability of results thus obtained, which
usually give higher values of {than natural conditions do. For qualitative effects
(for example, comparisons between different conditions of vegetation, soil
types etc) the methods are simple and effective.
Consistent and repeatable results can be obtained by using laboratory catch-
ments with rainfall simulators, where the quantity and thickness of soil is
adequately representative of nature. Nassif and Wilson [1] used 7 tonnes of soil
in a layer 200 mm thick, and measured all inputs, outputs and changes of
storage. Such equipment as theirs gives very good comparative and perhaps
absolute figures for infiltration, but it still does not simulate natural conditions
completely as there is atmospheric pressure at the bottom of the laboratory soil
layer, while this is not so in nature.
4.3.2 Drainage basin rainfall-runoff analysis. Several investigators have attempted
to improve on sprinkled infiltrometers by choosing small 'homogeneous' drain
age basins and carefully measuring precipitation, evaporation and outflow as
surface runoff. By eliminating everything except inflitration, average f values
can be obtained for such basins by techniques presented by Horton [5] and
Sherman [6] .
The difficulty remains of ensuring that there has been neither unrecorded
underground outflow nor variation in underground aquifer storage, so that
although quantitative results are obtained the analysis is intricate and the margin
for error is wide.
4.3.3 -index method. In practice, it is possible to obtain infiltration indices,

which enable reasonable approximations to be made of inflitration losses. One
of these is the -index, which is defined as the average rainfall intensity above
which the volume of rainfall equals the volume of runoff. In figure 4.4 a rain
nel rain =
quantity of
runoff
storm loss
Time (h) -+
Figure 4.4 Infiltration loss by -index
storm is shown plotted on a time base in terms of its average hourly intensity.
The shaded area above the dashed line represents measured runoff, as mm, over
the catchment area. Since the un shaded area below the line is measured rainfall
but did not appear as runoff, it represents all the losses, induding surface deten-
tion and evaporation as well as inflitration. However, inflitration is much the
largest loss in many catchments and although it is a rough and ready method
(since it takes no account of the variation in f with time) it is widely used as a
means of quickly assessing probable runoff from large catchments for particular
rainstorms.
Example 4.1. Given a total rainfall of 75 mm as shown in figure 4.5(a) and a

surface runoff equivalent to 33 mm, establish the -index for the catchment.
The I>-index line is drawn so that the shaded area above it contributes 33 mm of
runoff. In this case the index is 8 mm/h.
Suppose, however, the same total rainfall had been distributed as shown in
figure 4.5(b). To obtain a runoff of 33 mm above the I>-index line requires the
Total rain. 75mm Total rain 15 mm
~ .<:
..... 25 .....
E E
.5 E
z:. ~
.~
c 'i!
J! J!
.5 .5
Tim e (h) -+ Time (h) -+

(0) (b)
Figure 4.5 Examples of I>-index computations
line to be raised to give an index value of 9 mm/h. It is seen therefore that one
determination of the I>-index is of limited value and that many such deter-
minations should be made, and averaged, before the index is used.
4.3.4 The fay method. This method is a developed version of the I>-index in
that it attempts to allow for depression storage and short rainless periods during
a storm, as well as eliminating all rain periods where the rainfall intensity is less
than the infiltration capacity assumed.
Referring to figure 4.6, the approximate position of the fay line is fixed by
reference to runoff data and the raingraph. The line is then moved vertically
until the various losses are balanced and the runoff values satisfied. The loss
t ossumed per iod
deduct ions for

deduct ion for
rosiduol
~
..
.;;; deducled for infillrotion
c depression
.5
Time (h) -+
Figure 4.6 Example of fav distribution

estimates are based on whatever data are available and on the judgment of the
analyst and hence are obviously subjective but, from the analysis of many
storms, values of fay can be deduced for various conditions.
In applying a derived value of fay to a rainstorm to predict expected runoff,
the rain periods lying outside the fay period are assumed lost and the net rain is
found directly after inserting the estimated losses as shown. Butler [7] gives a
detailed account of the method.
4.4 Soil moisture
4.4.1 Initial soil-moisture conditions. The foregoing methods of estimating

losses are essentially based on records of rainfall and runoff for particular
catchments and their behaviour under rains of varying intensity. They show
average limiting values of infiltration capacity, obtaining this information in
terms of the whole catchment rather than by sampling very small areas as the
infiltrometer does. They do not, however, enable predictions to be made with
any accuracy of the amount of rainfall that will be absorbed by the soil and so
lost to runoff in a particular case, since this depends, among other factors, on
the state of wetness of the soil at the start of rainfall. As well as affecting runoff
through storage capacity, the initial soil moisture affects the infiltration capacity
and hence the runoff in the initial stages of a storm. Some other measurement of
this parameter is therefore necessary if forecasts of runoff are to be made from
stipulated rainfalls. -index or f av methods provide only average values, which
may, in a particular case, be far removed from actuality, and these methods are
best used after a separate assessment of initial losses.
There are two approaches to this problem discussed here. The first is the
antecedent precipitation index, used in the USA, and the second, the estimated
soil-moisture deficit, used in Britain.
4.4.2 Antecedent precipitation index. The antecedent precipitation index is

based on the premise that soil moisture is depeleted at a rate proportional to the
amount in storage in the soil. There is therefore a logarithmic relationship
(4.1)
where 10 =initial value of index (mm)
It = index value t days later
k = a recession constant with a value about 0.92 but varying between
0.85 and 0.98.
If t is unity, then any day's value is k times that of the previous day. If precipi-
tation occurs it will increase the value of the index by an amount that is inde-
terminate, since some rain may have left the catchment as surface runoff. The
amount added to the index should therefore strictly be the basin recharge only,
but the difference in the index by using all the precipitation is usually small.
The progressive daily reduction of the index is due to evapotranspiration,
which alters seasonally, so equation 4.1 is used with a k value that also varies
seasonally. When the index is used to assess the runoff that takes place from a
particular rainstorm, this variation can be incorporated into a graphical coaxial
relationship derived from the analysis of a larger number of observed rainfall and
runoff data on a particular catchment. Unsley et af. [8] give a detailed descrip-
tion of how such relationships can be derived, and figure 4.7 is reproduced to
illustrate the technique.
The diagram is entered at the antecedent precipitation index and a horizontal
line is followed until the particular week-number curve corresponding to the
calendar date is met. From the intersection a line is dropped vertically down to
intersect with the line of appropriate storm duration in hours, and then followed
Figure 4.7 Storm-runoff relationship for Monacacy River at Jug

Bridge, Maryland, USA. (After U.S. Weather Bureau. From 'Hydrology
for Engineers' by R. K. Linsley, M. A. Kohler and J. L. H. Paulhus.
McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1958)
horizontally across to intersect with the line of total storm precipitation. A
vertical line from the last intersection indicates the appropriate runoff.
The antecedent precipitation index is a valuable tool in obtaining probable
runoff forecasts for well-documented catchments but much work is necessary to
derive relationships like figure 4.7.
4.4.3 Estimated soil-moisture deficit. Since evapotranspiration is continually

removing the soil moisture and precipitation is replacing it, continuous regular
measurements of the parameters influencing these two processes provide a means
of estimating the soil-moisture deficit (or s.m.d.) for any location at any time.
This avoids the use of a single recession constant, such as k in equation 4.1.
When evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation, vegetation draws on accumu-
lated soil-moisture to continue transpiration. As s.m.d. increases, the vegetation
begins to exhibit signs of stress and eventually begins to wilt. The determination
of s.m.d. is therefore particularly important for assessing irrigation needs and for
hydrological studies of water supply.
In Britain the UK Meteorological Office has developed a sophisticated method
for the estimation of weekly and monthly evaporation and soil-moisture deficits
over the whole country - the Meteorological Office Rainfall and Evaporation
Calculation System: MORECS [9]. It has five main components:
(i) Data collection, interpolation and averaging.
(ii) Data analysis to obtain evaporative demand (i.e. potential evaporation)
over each of 190 grid squares, each 40 km x 40 km covering the whole
of Britain.
(iii) Calculation of actual evaporation using a soil-moisture extraction model
which takes into account the soil type, the vegetation and its state of
growth, the surface albedo and the aerodynamic and surface resistances
to heat and water vapour transfer.
(iv) Calculation of water balance and excess rainfall.
(v) Data output, which is available from the Meteorological Office in weekly
maps and tabular form, of potential and actual evaporation, soil-moisture
deficit and hydrologically effective rainfall (HER), for 3 soils and 13
crops/surface types, together with the meteorological variable. HER is
the excess rain available after the soil is at field capacity, i.e. the water
contributing to stream flow and groundwater.
The system is run on the Meteorological Office computers and regular users
of the information can access it by mail and in a limited form, by telex, fax and
Prestel.
Figure 4.8 shows the average effective s.m.d. (mm) over the British Isles.
Reference to figure 4.8 will show that the likelihood of a flood condition (for
example) arising varies greatly from region to region. The average values shown
IZ- - - i - - - + - - - t - - - - ,TflJE-+ - - - - t- --IZ

Effective Mean Soil
Moistlre Deficit
II- - - i - - - + - - - t - - ' - - + - -- - t- - - I I
~---t---+----t~~-+----+---t----~
{1 .
Figure 4.8 Effective mean soi/-moisture deficit in mm for Britain and

Ireland (Meteorological Office: Crown copyright)
are used in chapter 7 for the conversion of gross rainfall to rainfall excess in the
estimation of floods on ungauged catchments.
The use of estimated s.m.d. to predict the proportion of runoff arising from
particular storms is similar to that for antecedent precipitation index in that the
deficit (or index) is deducted from actual precipitation, to give net rain.
4.4.4 Catchment wetness index (CWI). The property of catchment wetness has
an important influence on the quantity of net or excess rainfall that provides
runoff and in subsequent chapters is used in the estimation of particular flood
events by the FSR methods. It is convenient, therefore, to define the index here.
A period of 5 days preceding a storm event is held to provide a recent history
of rainfall and a decay index of 0.5 is proposed in the formula for API:
API5 = 0.5 -.!.[
2 Pd-l + 0.5 P d - 2 + (0.5) 2 Pd-3 + (0.5)3 Pd-4 + (0.5)4 Pd-SJJ
Here P denotes daily rainfall and the suffix indicates the relevant day. From this
CWI = 125 + API5 - SMD
For the purposes of this text, it is sufficient to know how to derive average
values of CWI for use in flood-prediction calculations where the 5 days preceding
rainfall is unknown. Such average values have been calculated in the FSR and are
strongly dependent on annual average rainfall. The relationship for the British
Isles is shown in figure 4.9.
Annual overage rainfall (mm)
Figure 4.9 Recommended design values for catchment wetness index

(source: Flood Studies Report)
4.4.5 Soil classification. A further and perhaps most important property of the
catchment in respect of runoff is the soil cover, its depth, permeability and
slope.
The Soil Surveys of England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the Northern
Ireland Ministry of Agriculture have prepared soil maps of the British Isles,
which have been used as a basis for calculating a soil index as a term in many
of the equations recommended in the Flood Studies Report.
The basis for comparison is 'the winter rain acceptance potential', which is
the reverse of the runoff potential. It is influenced by permeability, position of
the groundwater level and the slope of the terrain. Five classes of winter rain
acceptance are indicated on the soil maps:
Class Winter rain Runoff
acceptance
Very high Very low
2 High Low
3 Moderate Moderate
4 Low High
5 Very low Very high
A soil index is calculated from the proportions of a catchment's area that are.
covered by each class. The precise definition of this index, SOIL, is given in
section 9.4.1.
The guidelines for each classification are as set out in table 4.2, which can be
used for preliminary estimates of ungauged catchments when soil maps are not
available.
Soil classification maps (entitled RP, denoting runoff potential) for the
British Isles are given in appendix A.
4.4.6 Measurement of soil moisture. An instrument for in situ measurement of

soil moisture, the Wallingford soil-moisture probe, has been developed by the
United Kingdom Institute of Hydrology in conjunction with the Atomic Energy
Authority. The instrument is designed for use in the field in all kinds of terrain
and in any weather.
The instrument consists of a radioactive source in a 740 mm long probe that
can be lowered into an aluminium access tube permanently installed in the
ground, a shield and housing for the probe, a suspension cable and meter. Fast
neutrons emitted from the radioactive source are scattered and slowed by
collisions with the atomic nuclei of soil constituents, mainly by the hydrogen
of water in the soil, thus producing 'slow' neutrons. These are sensed by a slow-
neutron detector in the probe and converted into electrical pulses, which pass
through the suspension cable to a meter where a visual display indicates the rate
of detection. The wetter the soil the larger the number of collisions and hence
of slow neutrons detected. The displayed detection rate is therefore a function
of the soil moisture at the probe depth. The moisture value indicated represents
the mean value for a somewhat indefinite 'sphere of influence' within the soil
surrounding the source, with a radius that may be regarded as being about
150-300 mm. A series of readings is taken down the profile at intervals usually
of 100 mm or 150 mm. The weighted mean of these readings gives the total
moisture storage in a given section of the profile.
...,
00
TABLE 4.2 Classification of soils by runoff potential (source: Flood Studies Reportt
Drainage class Depth to Permeability of overlying soil

impermeable
layer rapid, medium, slow, rapid, medium, slow, rapid, medium, slow,
(cm) slope 0_20 slope 0_2 slope 0_2 slope 2_8 slope 2_8 slope 2_8 slope more slope more slope more
than 8 than 8 than 8
Rarely water- >80 I 2 1 2 2 1 2 3 m

logged within 40-80 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 :::I
cc
60 cm (well and <40 NOT APPLICABLE S
CD
moderately well CD
drained)
...s
cc
Commonly water- > 80 2 2 3 3 3 4 N/A 4 5 ::J:
-<
Cl.
logged within 40-80 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 ...
0
60 cm during <40 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 0'
winter (imperfect cc
-<
and poor drainage)
Commonly water- > 80 4 4 5 5 5 5 N/A 5 5
logged within 40-80 4 5 5 5 5 5 N/A 5 5
60 cm winter and <40 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
summer (very
poorly drained)
a Upland and peaty soils are Class 5; urban areas unclassified. Class l, very low runoff; Class 5, very high runoff.
If a catchment is provided with a number of permanently installed aluminium
tubes at suitable locations, then a single battery-powered instrument can be
carried from site to site to measure the in situ soil moisture at each one, thus
removing much of the guess-work from the evaluation of this parameter.
The neutron probe is normally used for making repeated measurements of
moisture change at the same site and depth and for such a purpose can give a
very high precision. The accuracy of absolute moisture values on the other hand
is heavily dependent on accurate calibration at each site and depth and this is
generally impracticable.
A diagram of the instrument and a photograph of one in use are shown in
figures 4.10 and 4.11 respectively.
Depth Indicator
Cable Clamp- __~*~
LOCk----J... r
.,
0 Q
.,
0
0
..--Access Tube
0
S 0
Probe BF3 Slow

Neutron Detector
YN'"t"n So",,,
Figure 4.10 Wallingford soil-moisture probe (courtesy of the Institute
of Hydrology)
Figure 4.11 Wallingford soil-moisture probe
References
1. NASSIF, S. H. and WILSON, E. M. The influence of slope and rain intensity
on runoff and infiltration. Bull. Int. Assoc. Sci. Hydrol., 20, No. 4 (1976).
2. HORTON, R. E. The role of infiltration in the hydrologic cycle. Trans. Am.
Geophys. Union, 14, ((1933) 443-60
3. BOUCHARDEAU, A. and RODIER, J. Nouvelle Methode de determination de
la capacite d'absorption en terrains permeables. La Houille Blanche, No.
A (July/August 1960) 531-6
4. SOR, K. and BERTRAND, A. R. Effects of rainfall energy onthe permeability
of soils. Proc. Am. Soc. Soil Sci., 26, No. 3 (1962)
5. HO,RTON, R. E. Determination of infiltration capacity for large drainage
basins. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 18, (1937) 371
6. SHERMAN, L. K. Comparison of F-curves derived by the methods of Sharp
and Holtan and of Sherman and Mayer. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 24,
No. 2 (1943) 465
7. BUTLER, S. S. Engineering Hydrology, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey, 1957
8. LINSLEY, R. K., KOHLER, M. A. and PAULHUS, J. L. H. Hydrology for
Engineers, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1958, p. 162
9. Estimated soil moisture deficit over Gt. Britain. Explanatory Notes Meteoro-
logical Office, Bracknell (issued twice monthly)
Further reading
BELL, J. P. Neutron probe practice. Report No. 19, Institute of Hydrology,
Wallingford, United Kingdom
GRINDLEY, J. Estimation of soil moisture deficits. Meteorological Magazine,
96, (1967) 97
GRINDLEY, J. Estimation and mapping of evaporation. Int. Assoc. Sci. Hydrol.
Symposium on World Water Balance, Reading. lASH Publication 92, 1970,
pp. 200-213
HORTON, R. E. Analyses of runoff-plot experiments with varying infiltration
capacity. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, Part IV, (1939) 693
PENMAN, H. L. The dependence of transpiration on weather and soil condi-
tions,l. Soil Sci., 1, (1949) 74
WILM, H. G. Methods for the measurements of infiltration. Trans. Am. Geophys.
Union, Part Ill, (1941) 678
Problems
4.1 Discuss the influence of slope of catchment and rainfall intensity on
infiltration rates under constant rainfall.
4.2 Discuss the influence of forestation and agriculture on groundwater.

Present arguments for and against
(a) livestock rearing

(b) crop growing
(c) forestation
on the catchment of a public water-supply reservoir.
4.3 The table below gives the hourly rainfall of three storms that gave rise to
runoff equivalent of 14, 23 and 18.5 mm respectively
Hour Storm 1 Storm 2 Storm 3

(mm) (mm) (mm)
2 4 3
2 6 9 8
3 7 15 11
4 10 12 4
5 5 5 12
6 4 3
7 4
8 2
Determine the <P-index for the catchment.
4.4 Why is the method of subtracting infIltration rates from rainfall intensities
to compute hydrographs of runoff not applicable to large natural river basins?
4.5 The antecedent precipitation index for a station was 53 mm on 1 October;

55 mm rain fell on 5 October, 30 mm on 7 October and 25 mm on 8 October.
Compute the antecedent precipitation index It
(a) for 12 October, if k =0.85

(b) for same date assuming no rain fell.
4.6 Use the co-axial relationship of figure 4.7 to determine how the runoff in
this river changes seasonally. Assume that during week number 1 a storm of
5 in. of rain lasting 72 h occurs. Compare what happens with the effects of the
same storm in week number 25, if the antecedent precipitation index in each
case is 1.5 in. Suggest which seasons of the year the weeks are in and explain
why there should be a difference in runoff.
4.7 (a) Describe 'antecedent precipitation index' and 'soil moisture deficit',
indicating how they are derived and used.
(b) List the parameters necessary for the solution of Penman's equation
for open-water evaporation. Describe how you would obtain suitable
values for each of them.
4.8 Calculate the Catchment Wetness Index (CWI) for a point 400 km north and
400 km east of the UK National Grid origin, if the preceding 5 days' rainfall
were (in mm)
12.0,0.5,4.2,0.0,3.5
Compare this with the FSR design values.
5 Groundwater
5.1 The occurrence of groundwater

Rainfall that infiltrates the soil and penetrates to the underlying strata is called
groundwater. The quantity of water that can be accommodated under the
surface depends on the porosity of the sub-surface strata. The water-bearing
strata, called aquifers, can consist of unconsolidated materials like sands, gravels
and glacial drift or consolidated material like sandstones and limestones. lime-
stone is relatively impervious but is soluble in water and so frequently has wide
joints and solution passages that make the rock, en masse similar to a porous
rock in its capacity to hold water and act as an aquifer.
The water in the pores of an aquifer is subject to gravitational forces and so
tends to flow downwards through the pores of the material. The resistance to
this underground flow varies widely and the permeability of the material is a
measure of this resistance. Aquifers with large pores such as coarse gravels are
said to have a high permeability, and those with very small pores such as clay,
where the pores are microscopic, have a low permeability.
As the groundwater percolates down, the aquifer becomes saturated. The
surface of saturation is referred to as the groundwater table or the phreatic
surface. This surface may slope steeply and its stability is dependent on supply
from above. It falls during dry spells and rises in rainy weather. The water in the
aquifers is usually moving slowly towards the nearest free water surface such as
a lake or river, or the sea. However, if there is an impermeable layer underlying
an aquifer and this layer outcrops on the surface, then the groundwater will
appear on the surface in a seepage zone or as a spring. It is equally possible for a
ground water aquifer to become overlain by impermeable material and so be
under pressure. Such an aquifer, fed from a distance, is called a confined aquifer
and the surface to which the water would rise if it could is called the piezometric
surface. Another name, used for wells drilled into such confined aquifers, is
artesian wells, and the word artesian is sometimes applied also to the aquifers. If
the piezometric surface is above ground level at an artesian well, it is called a
83
flowing well, and a fracture or flaw in the impermeable overlay will, in such
conditions, result in an artesian spring. Sometimes a small area of impermeable
material exists in a large aquifer. This happens through geological faulting or, for
example, through a lens of clay occurring in otherwise sandy glacial drift. A
small local water-table, called a perched water-table may result and this can
often be a long way above the true phreatic surface.
Some of the modes of occurrence of groundwater described above are illu-
strated in figure 5.1.
/ /
/ / / /
/
/
i rr,
Pe
rrr,
e () b
/ e
Figure 5.1 Modes of occu"ence of groundwater
5.2 Factors of influence

The flow of groundwater takes place in porous media. The pores through which
movement takes place can be very small indeed and generally are between the
limits of 2 and 0.02 mm. The movement is slow by the standard of surface
runoff and the flow is usually /aminar. The Reynolds number in flow of this
kind is very low.
The factors of importance in the flow are
(1) the liquid-its density and viscosity,
(2) the media through which the liquid moves,
(3) the boundary conditions.
The liquid normally is water, usually fresh but occasionally saline. Its tem-
perature may vary within the range 0-30C.
Density. The density of fresh water varies only very slightly with temperature
and its effect can be ignored in groundwater flow:
Temperature rC) o 4 10 15 20
Density p (g/l) 999.868 1000 999.727 999.126 998.230
Of greater importance is salinity, the effect of which is shown in figure 5.2.
Groundwater 85
on
~ 10000
.;:
o
.c
U
1030
Oensity p (kg 1m 3 )
Figure 5.2 Density of saline water
Viscosity is a measure of the shear strength of a liquid; the lower the viscosity,
the more mobile or penetrating the liquid.
Absolute viscosity, denoted by Il, has units of N s/m2 ; the CGS unit, the poise =
10- 1 N s/m 2 Water at 20C has a viscosity of 1 centipoise (0.01 poise = 10-3
Ns/m 2 ).
Kinematic viscosity, denoted by v, is the ratio of absolute viscosity to density,

or v = Illp, and has units of m2 /s; the CGS unit, the stoke = 10- 4 m2 /s. Kine-
matic viscosity occurs in many applications; for example, Reynolds number,
R = (vD)lv.
The kinematic viscosity of liquids is almost independent of pressure and is

substantially a function of temperature. For water
Temperature CC) 0 5 10 15 20
v(m2jday) 0.152 0.133 0.113 0.098 0.087
The media in which groundwater moves are characterised by the properties
of porosity, permeability and, to a minor extent, compressibility. Only the first
two are considered here.
Porosity is defined as n =total VOids/total volume and ranges from a few percent
to about 90 per cent. In a granular mass composed of perfect uniform spheres:
in the loosest possible packing, n = 47.6 per cent
in the densest possible packing, n = 26 per cent
Natural soils are, of course, composed of irregular particles of many different
sizes. The more regular the soil, the more porous it tends to be, since in irregular
soils the smaller particles tend to fill the voids in the larger particle packing. It
is therefore, standard procedure in any groundwater survey to analyse the soils
mechanically and plot the particle sizing in a standard way, using a logarithmic
size scale. A typical analysis is shown in figure 5.3. Two soils are plotted: the
more regular soil has the steeper slope and is likely to be more porous.
100
,/"
/'
80
/'
<;
c
.,
.;:
60 /V
0'
0
I I Ilv
.,
C
40
I
.,~
Q.
/,/1 I
/
.--
,// Ij
20
.---I-'
001 0-1 1-0 10
Groin size (mm)
B_ s_----r----::'"'iI':-------,----:-:so=-=n-:;-d----r-----
cloy I---T:-::---r=m:-:-e"i
d ,-um:::-r-=-co:-:a-,s:-:e-t-.f'"n:-:e--'-=m::::ed7-,u"-:m""c-=-oo-,-se-l g r a vel
0-002 0-006 002 0-06 0-2 0-6 2-0mm-
plastiC
,iI' fine
sond
medium coarse
rOve I
0-0 0-02 0-074 0-25 0-59 2-0 mm
Figure 5.3 Plotting of particle size analysis. and nomenclature
When water fills the pores of a soil there is a thin layer, only a few molecules
thick, that coats the particles. This water is not free to move and adheres to the
particles even when the voids have been drained, occupying part of the available
space. This means that the effective porosity, ne, may be less than the true
porosity n. In coarse materials such as gravels there will be no difference between
ne and n but in fine sands the difference may be 5 per cent, or even more in very
fine materials. In most considerations of porosity in the flow of groundwater it
is ne, the effective porosity, that is of importance.
Permeability is a function of porosity, structure, and the geological history of

the material. By structure is meant the grain size, distribution, orientation,
arrangement and shape of the particles. For example, in a sediment of pre-
dominantly flat grains deposited in water, the grains will tend to lie with their
longest axes horizontal. In such a soil the permeability may well be higher in a
horizontal direction than in a vertical one. Such a soil is called anisotropic.
The permeability of a particular material is defined by its permeability
coefficient, denoted by k; k depends on the factors listed above, which may
be described as the geometry of the pore system, and is expressed in metres per
day, or feet per day.
Groundwater 87
Many attempts have been made to find a formula for k in terms of measur-
able values of the properties of the material. Generally this is very difficult and
such formulae can be used with confidence only in strictly limited applications.
For example, a formula used in connection with sand filters for water supply,
and applying to only homogeneous rounded grain media, of not too fine a size,
is
k = Cd l0 2
where k = permeability coefficient in m/day

d 10 = the grain size in mm where 10 per cent of material is finer and 90
per cent coarser
C = a constant of value 400-1200 (an average value is 1000)
It must be emphasised that formulae such as this are of little value in materials
of a heterogeneous character or outside their precisely defined limits; k is not
necessarily a constant for a particular soil, as chemical erosion or deposition can
sometimes occur with percolating groundwater.
Some values of k as they occur naturally are indicated on the logarithmic
scale of permeability in figure 5.4.
10~
grovels
10
~ fme
103
gravel
~ ~ond
102
t-
>- coarse
0
"0
..... 10'
.5 fine sond
c:
-'C 0
100
C
~ very
r
0-
.'!' fine sond u
u
;;: .,'"
~""
0; 10"
0
u
"
~ 10" g
:0
0
Cl>
~ ,"od, clay
Cl>
a
10-5
pure clay,
10 6
Figure 5.4 Range of permeability in natural soils

5.3 Groundwater flow
5.3.1 Darcy's Law. Before any mathematical treatment of the flow of ground-
water can be attempted, it is necessary to make certain simplifying assumptions
(1) the material is homogeneous and isotropic,

(2) there is no capillary zone,
(3) there is a steady state of flow.
The fundamental law is Darcy's Law of 1856. This states that the rate of flow
per unit area of an aquifer is proportional to the gradient of the potential head
measured in the direction of flow. Or
By introducing a constant of proportionality, which is k, the permeability

coefficient
v =ki
and for a particular aquifer or part of an aquifer of area A (area at right angles to
flow)
Q =vA =kAi
where v = velocity of the water (measured as the time taken to pass between
two reference points) in m/day (or m/s or ft/s etc.) and called the
specific velocity
= the hydraulic gradient~this equals the potential gradient since
velocities are so small that there is virtually no velocity head; i is
written also as dc{>/dl, I being distance along a flow line, and c{> the
potential head.
The specific velocity is not the true velocity, but is merely Q/A. The actual
velocity of water in the pores is greater than the specific velocity since the path
the water follows through porous media is always longer than a straight line
beween any two points.
If the average real, or pore, velocity is denoted by v then
v = ___d_is_ch_a_r-=.ge___ = ~ = Av =~
area of water passage Ane Ane ne
Hence
pore velocity (average) = specific velocity -;- effective porosity
Since the velocity distribution across a pore is probably parabolic, being
highest in the centre and zero at the edges, the maximum pore velocity vrnax =
2 x v (approximately).
Groundwater 89
So in a typical case where (say) ne =1, then
v=3v and vmax=6v
While these are typical figures only, it is important to remember the order of the
v
velocities, since it is on max that the Reynolds number and the continuance
of laminar flow depends.
5.3.2 Flow in a confined aquifer. Consider now the case of unidirectional flow
in a confined aquifer of permeability k, illustrated in figure 5.5. Groundwater is
--- --
L ~..L.LJ'~~'LL..~
potentia I
piezometers head 4>
4> ImpervIous
I low .. . conllnl ng
H 1.loye?
f 7 /1 ; J } ; , , 1/ ) J ;; i ;; ,,),} J) I ) J J j
Figure 5.5 Flow in a confined aquifer
flowing from left to right, the energy required to move the water through the
pores is continually using up the available head and so the line of potential head
as indicated by piezometers introduced into the aquifer, is declining. From
Darcy's Law
v = -k drp
x dx
and if q = flow in the aquifer per unit width then

drp
q = -kH- (5.1)
dx
Since it is assumed that the flow is in a steady state
dq =0
dx
and differentiating the equation for q, above
dq d2 rp
-=-kH-
dx dx 2
So
(5.2)
since both k and H have finite values.

Equations 5.1 and 5.2 are the fundamental differential equations for this
case of a confined aquifer. By introducing suitable boundary conditions, many
problems in this case can be solved by using these equations.
Note that the Vx in the Darcy equation is the specific velocity.
5.3.3 Flow in an aquifer with phreatic surface. Consider now the case of an
aquifer with a phreatic surface, resting on an impermeable base. This case is
illustrated in figure 5.6. Here the first equation from Darcy's Law would be
v = - kd</l
-
S dl
where I = distance measured in the direction of flow.
--_qdX
equ"'polenlia:'-
dl
;h=dCP
__
/ - -.......
linps (Ph real ic
sur fnce
assumed impervious
. I ; ~~r!>z~njt~l/b~:e,; , ; ~) ) 77 I
, ; f , 1 ) ; if' 1 f i I I I J J7
Figure 5.6 Flow in an aquifer with phreatic surface
If two assumptions (due to Du pui t) are made
1. that d</l/dl can be represented by d</lldx (permissible if d</l is small), and

2. that all flow lines in the aquifer are horizontal and equipotentiallines
vertical (nearly true except near abstraction points) so that d</lldx =
dh/dx then the Darcy equation becomes
dh
q == -kH- (5.3)
dx
Groundwater 91
and
dq _ d 2 (h 2 )*
dx - -tk dx2
and since by continuity dq/dx = 0, then

d2 (h 2 )
=0 (5.4)
dx2
Equations 5.3 and 5.4 are the fundamental equations for solving problems in
the case of phreatic aquifers (except where Dupuit's assumptions are no longer
reasonable).
If the aquifer is being recharged by rain falling on the ground surface, let the
net inmtration rate be N in suitable units (as figure 5.7).
-- - ---
net infiltration N
q q+dq
dx
Figure 5.7 Flow in a phreatic aquifer with rainfall
* The power rule of differentiation may be written d(vn)/dx = nv n - 1. dv/dx. Hence

d(h')/dx = 2h. dh/dx
and therefore
td(h2)/dx =h. dh/dx
So since
q = -kh. dh/dx
therefore
q = -tk. d(h')/dx
and hence
In this case dq = N.dx, so therefore
dq = -tk d2 (h 2 ) =N
dx dx 2
and hence
(5.5)
Now equations 5.3 and 5.5 are relevant.
Example 5.1. Suppose there are two canals, at different levels, separated by a
strip of land 1000 m wide, of permeability k =12 m/day as shown in figure 5.8.
If one canal is 2 m higher than the other and the depth of the aquifer is 20 m
below the lower canal to an impermeable base, find the inflow into, or abstrac-
tion from, each canal per metre length. Take annual rainfall as 1.20 m per
annum and assume 60 per cent infiltration.
Assume a reference origin as indicated on figure 5.8. Then the boundary condi-
tions are simply: when x = 0, h = 20; and when x = 1000, h = 22.
N = 60 per cent of 1.2 = 0.72 m/year
= 0.72/365 m/day
------... --t-T-:_::-_-=_~_=-::-
2m
k = 12 m/day
h 20m
IOOOm
h
Figure 5.8 Flow between two canals
From equation 5.5

d2 (h 2 ) =_ 2N
dx 2 k
Groundwater 93
Integrating twice
N 2
h 2 = - -x + CIX + C2 (5.6)
k
When x = 0, h = 20, therefore
400 =0 + 0 + C2
and
C2 =400
When x = 1000, h = 22, therefore
484 = _ 0.72 X 106 + 1000C + 400

365 x 12 I
and
Cl = 0.084 + 0.164 = 0.248
Now from equation 5.3
q =-kh-
dh
dx
h= j (- ~X2 + 0.248x + 400)

1
Let the expression under the square root sign = u, then h = u', and therefore
dh =
- 1
-I (N-.2x + 0.248 )
-
dx 2112 k
Atx=O
1
q = -ku'i. - I (0.248) = -6(0.248) = -1.49 m3 JdayJm
I
2112
Atx = 1000
=_ ~ (_ 2000 x 0.72 + 0.248\
q 2 365 x 12 ')
= -6(-0.328 + 0.248) = 6(0.08) = 0.48 m 3 JdayJm

So there is discharge into both canals from the aquifer of 1.49 m3 Jday to the
lower, and 0.48 m3 Jday to the upper, for each metre length of aquifer.
The foregoing simple cases will serve to show the way in which the move-
ment of groundwater can be analysed. As conditions become more complex, the
solutions become more difficult, but standard solutions have been computed for
very many groundwater situations and most conditions met with in nature can
be analysed, at least approximately.
5.4 The abstraction of groundwater

The simplest and oldest way of collecting groundwater is by digging a hole in the
ground that penetrates the water-table. If the quantity of water that can be
taken from the hole is not adequate, then the hole must be extended either
horizontally or vertically. Which method is chosen will depend on the local
geohydrology.
If the hole is extended horizontally it becomes an open collecting ditch.
Alternatively, it could be underground as a collecting tunnel. These horizontal
collectors must be used if the aquifer thickness is small and if the draw down
due to abstraction has to be limited; for example, when a layer of fresh water
overlies a layer of salt water.
The vertical extension of the hole makes it a dug or drilled well, or a bore-
hole. This method can be used when the aquifer is of sufficient thickness, and
in any case when the aquifer is more than about 6 m below ground level. Dug
wells are usually 1 m or more in diameter and so the shaft acts as a reservoir for
a short-term, high-rate abstraction. The large diameter is also useful when the
entrance velocity of water into the shaft has to be kept low; for example, in
fine-grained sands.
The majority of wells sunk nowadays for water supply are drilled wells and
these are commonly from 30 m to 500 m deep. They are constructed by using
drill bits that break the material at the bottom of the hole into small pieces,
so that these can be removed with other tools. Two principal methods are
employed: percussion drilling and rotary drilling. The percussion method involves
alternately raising and dropping the tools in the borehole; in the rotary method, a
rotating bit cuts or abrades the hole bottom. Drilled wells can penetrate any
materials from soft clay to hard rock up to depths of a kilometre or more.
As the well is drilled it is 'cased' with steel piping to prevent wall collapse.
At the bottom of the casing a well screen is constructed. This is the point where
groundwater enters and the screen is necessary to prevent the washing in of fine
particles and consequent clogging of the well bottom and pump. The screen
should cause as small a loss of head as possible and be structurally strong,
corrosion resistant and reasonably cheap. These requirements are to some
extent contradictory, since the smaller the screen openings and thus the more
effective they are in keeping out fine particles, the greater the head loss that
will be caused.
Modern well screens are usually slotted with fine slots in a plastic material,
though steel, copper, bronze, wood, vitrified clay and glass are used. Gravel
packs are customarily placed around the screen to act as preliminary ftlters; in
Groundwater 95
some cases gravel packs that consist of particles of decreasing diameter, placed
in concentric rings, can be used with a simply perforated bottom pipe on the
casing. Figure 5.9 shows a modern PVC slotted-tube well-screen, available in
diameters between 56 mm and 200 mm in standard lengths of 3 m.
Figure 5.9 A modern PVC well-screen (courtesy of Boode B. v., Zevenhuizen,

The Netherlands)
The construction of drilled wells, well screens and gravel packs and the tech-
niques of well development and maintenance are beyond the scope of this book.
Readers requiring information on these topics should consult references [1] and
[2] .
Once the water has entered the well it has to be pumped to the surface. Well
pumps are classified as reciprocating, rotating vertical shaft, jet and air lift
pumps. Rotating vertical shaft are either surface driven or submersible, and can
be centrifugal or rotary positive displacement.
By far the most common application is now the electric submersible centri-
fugal borehole pump, with the electric drive motor directly coupled to the pump
stages in one long pump body that is placed near the bottom of the well. Such
pumps are manufactured in sizes down to 100 mm diameter to supply heads up
to 100 m or more if necessary. Such a 100 m (4 in.) diameter pump would
supply about 4 m 3 /h while a 250 mm (10 in.) diameter pump might supply
30 times as much. A sketch of a typical installation is shown in figure 5.10.
--- - -- --:. - --
=
..
~~ment grout _
.... . ~ ".", \:I ~v " ....
-
- ~ ... . . - :: . "
. !.: ... ' -.:
Aqu i fer
grove l pock
~motor
Figure 5.10 Sketch of bottom of a typical water-supply borehole
5.5 The yield of weDs

Formulae for the draw down curves of a single well can be derived from the
conditions of flow previously discussed in section 5.3. Only the two simplest
cases will be considered here: (1) steady flow to a well tapping confined ground-
water, and (2) steady flow to a water-table well.
Many other factors should be considered (for example, the influence of
partial penetration of the well in the aquifer, unsteady flow etc.) but for a full
treatment of these the reader should consult references 1 and 2 at the end of
this chapter.
Groundwater 97
5.5.1 Steady confmed flow. Drawdown is denoted by s and is measured from
the undisturbed piezometric surface before pumping (see figure 5.11). The
horizontal coordinate is measured radially from the well and is denoted by r,
since the flow is radial to the well. The steady-state discharge from the well
is called Qo.
The equations governing flow are written as follows: from Darcy's Law
ds
Q = vA = -k --. 2rrrH
dr
and from continuity
Q = Qo = constant
Combining these
ds=_~.dr
2rrkH r
Integrating between the limits r = ri, S =SI, and r =r2, S = S2
SI - S2 - . In-
= -Qo r2 (Th" .)
elm s equatIOn (5.7)
2rrkH rl
This is a very important equation and holds true (at least approximately) for all
kinds of underground flow, steady and unsteady, confined and unconfined. The
value of kH is known as the coefficient of transmissibility.
Equation 5.7, indefinitely integrated, yields
S=- ~.lnr+C
2rrkH
and if s = 0 when r =R then
s= ~ln!i (5.8)
2rrkH r
Either of the two equations 5.7 and 5.8 enables the drawndown curve to be
established, provided that the integration constants Qo and R can be determined
from the boundary conditions. Qo is the constant discharge of the pumped well
and so can be measured. R, however, varies from one observation point to
another. In most cases, however, it is the drawdown close to the well that is
important, where R has the value Ro. Some values of Ro for idealised boundaries
are given in figure 5.12, where the shaded areas are land and the blank adjacent
spaces are open water.
This figure illustrates how Ro depends on the distance to open water. As the
distance increases, so does Ro and the drawdown. Indeed finite drawdowns are
possible only when the constant-level open water is a fmite distance away. Also,
I ground surface
. . . . . . . . . . -.... l
... r ~. ~;e'z~~elf:~ -:face
. before pumping
... ' , after pumping
-
H
flow
r r
Figure 5.11 Well pumping from a confined aquifer
there is no great change in Ro even for widely different boundary conditions,

and since it is the natural logarithm of the ratio Ro/r that affects drawdown,
an informed estimate of Ro will often give adequately accurate results.
fJ+L1 l-.LJ l-.LJ ~ f-Ll

127L I AIL 2L 2 55L 2 83L
Figure 5.12 Value of the integration constant R 0 in Dupuit's formula,

for drawdown close to the well [3]
Example 5.2. A fully-penetrating well, with an outside diameter of 0.5 m,

discharges a constant 0.08 m 3 /s from an aquifer whose coefficient of trans-
missibility is 25 x 10- 3 m 2 /s. The aquifer is in contact with a lake 2 km away
and has no other source of supply. Estimate the drawdown at the wellface.
Qo Ro
s= -.ln~
2rrkH r
Groundwater 99
Since Ro may be taken as 2L (= 4000 m) from figure 5.12, then
So =( 0.08 \ In 4000 = 0.08 x 9.68 x 103

21T.25 X 10-3) 0.25 157.08
Hence the drawdown at the wellface is 4.9 m.
5.5.2 Steady unconfined flow. When the drawdown is slight compared with the
thickness of the aquifer, the factor kH remains nearly constant and the formula
for steady confined flow may be used. As drawdown increases, the falling water
level reduces the area of transmitting aquifer and the equations now become, in
the notation of figure 5.13: from Darcy's Law
dh
Q = 21Tr . h . k -
dr
and from continuity
Q = Qo = constant
Combining these
h. dh = Qo . dr
21Tk r
/ ground surface
- . .. - - - - . - - -
.....,...,....,.-
" ..
/ / / 'I
r ~----:----. r
-11~
Figure 5.13 Well pumping from an un confined aquifer
Integrating
h 2 = Qo In r + C
1Tk
and if
h =Hat r=R
then
H2 _h 2 = QOln~ (5.9)
1Tk r
The value of R must satisfy the boundary conditions. Then the draw down at the
wellface (H - ho) is deduced by introducing the radius of the well ro since
Example 5.3. A well is drilled to the impermeable base in the centre of a circular
island of 1 mile diameter in a large lake. The well completely penetrates a sand-
stone aquifer 50 ft. thick overlain by impermeable clay. The sandstone has a
permeability of 50 ft./day. What will be the steady discharge if the drawdown of
the piezometric surface is not to exceed 10ft. at the well, which has a diameter
of 1 ft?
For a well in the centre of the circular island, the boundary condition is
s = 0 when r = 2640 ft.
/00 /
piezometric surface
before pumping
-==-==--I---~~~--- - - - ..I---:-:-."",.,..,.,~.-.-- --==--==-

impermeab'I~"" ~;~afler
. ' ...... pumping
--'
K= 50 fUday -
5280'
Figure 5.14 Pumping from a central well in a circular island and

confined aquifer
Groundwater 101
Then from equation 5.8
10 = Qo In 2640
21r x 50 x 50 0.5
Therefore
Q = 50000n = 157080 = 18340 ft3/da

o In 5280 8.572 Y
= 0.212 ft. 3 /s
5.5.3 Steady unconfmed flow with rainfall. When rainfall is present the equa-
tions become: from Darcy's Law
dh
Q = 2nrh . k -
dr
and from continuity
dQ = -2nr . dr. N (where N =net inflltration)
Integrating
Q = -nr 2N + Cl
and Cl may be determined from the condition that when r = ro :.::: 0, Q = Qo.
Therefore
Q = -nr2N + Qo
Substituting this value in the Darcy equation
h dh = Qo . dr _ N . r dr
. 2nk r 2k
and integrating
(5.10)
C2 is an integration constant that must satisfy the particular boundary condi-

tions. In the case of a central well in a circular island of radius R, when r = R,
h =H,so
Rainfall
-----
..... --::-:-:.~.-:- ~
... ' k
. : .2
':":
'
. . . . h
H
r
. .
1
Figure 5.15 Central well in a circular island and unconfined aquifer

with rainfall
Substituting this value in equation 5.10
H2 _ h 2 = Qo In.l5.. _ N (R2 _ r2)

rrk r 2k
If Qo = 0 (that is, there is no pumping) then the shape of the phreatic surface
is given by
(5.11)
Example 5.4. A circular island 500 m radius has an effective infiltration N of

4 mm/day. A central well is pumped to deliver a constant Qo of 25 m3 /h from
an aquifer with dimensions and properties as shown in figure 5.16. What is the
drawdown at the well and at the water divide?
(1) Assume no pumping. Then from equation 5.11
H2 _ h~ = _ N (R2 _ ,2)
2k
100 - h~ = - 0.004 (250000 _ ,2)

40
100 _ h~ = _ 25 + (_'_) 2 (5.12)

100
Groundwater 103
Rainfall
l 1
Area within which
1 phreatic surface with
rainfall but no pumping
rainfall supplies \
well output )
x l- . - " - - - phreatic surface with
r--f--H'-+---.... both pumping
and rainfall
-----
H= IOm
k = 20 m/day
Well diameter 06 m
-I--ro m
=
/
03
500 m - - - "
I
Figure 5 .16 Circular island with central well, rainfall and an unconfined
aquifer. Solution by superposition
(2) Assume no rainfall. Then from equation 5.9
H2 _ h~ = Qo In ~
1Tk r
2 500
10O - h2 = 21.9 log - (5.13)
r
Inserting r = 0.3 m (at the wellface) in equations 5.12 and 5.13 yields h 1 =
11.18 m and h2 = 5.43 m. Since h =h 1 + h2 - H (by superposition of draw-
downs), it follows that
h = 11.18 + 5.43 - 10
=6.61 m
Therefore
Sw = hl - h
=4.57 m
If a water-divide exists, then all the output of the well is being contributed by
rainfall, since if the sea around the island were contributing, the hydraulic
gradient would be sloping downwards and inwards at every point. So the area
contributing is obtained from
Qo = 1Trx 2 N
where rx is radius of the divide, so that
25 =1Tr 2 0.004
x--
x 24
Therefore
rx = 218 m (well within the 500 m radius of the land)
Using this value of r, equation 5.12 yields hI = 10.97 and equation 5.13 yields
h2 = 9.60. Then
h=hI+h2-H
= 10.97 + 9.60 - 10.0
= 10.57
So, calling drawdown at the divide Sx
Sx = 10.97 - 10.57
=0.40m
Suppose the simple formula of equation 5.8 had been used, thus assuming
constant aquifer thickness. In this case, without rainfall
-
Sw---
Qo 1n-
R -- 600 x 2 .3 1og--
500
21TkH r 21T x 20 x 10 0.3
= 0.477 x 2.3 x 3.223
= 3.54m (compare the value of 4.57 m above)
and
500
Sx = 0.477 x 2.3 x log -
218
= 1.01 x 0.36
= 0.364 (compare the value of 0.40 m above)
It will be realised that the simple formula for the confined case is adequate in
this case except in the immediate neighbourhood of the well. It would, of course,
still be necessary to compute the 'no-pumping' phreatic surface, for the case
with rainfall.
Groundwater 105
5.6 Test pumping analysis
5.6.1 General. Using equation 5.8, the drawdown resulting from groundwater
abstraction from wells can be determined if the boundary conditions and geo-
hydrological constants are known. In particular, the presence of water-bearing
strata that form aquifers, their extent, thickness and permeability are usually
unknown until a number of test borings have been made. Each test boring, as
well as providing information on the underlying geology of an area, may be left
open with a simple porous screen in the bottom of the hole to allow subsequent
observation of water levels.
Although much information can be gleaned from the drilling of these test
bore holes/observation wells, the extent of the yield of an aquifer can finally be
determined only by test pumping from a well. Such a well should be positioned
so that observation wells are placed on either side of it, on a line through the
well, and preferably on two lines at right angles with the pumping well at the
intersection.
Pumping tests can be performed either by pumping from the well at a steady
rate until steady-state conditions are obtained, (that is, there is no appreciable
movement with time in any of the observation wells) and then plotting the data
recorded, or by observation of the rate of change of level in all the wells up to
and including steady-state conditions. Variants include stepped pumping tests
where the discharge is progressively increased at regular intervals [4]. Only the
first of these methods is discussed here. For full treatment of groundwater
recovery, including test pumping refer to Huisman [3], Verruijt [5], and other
specialised texts.
Observation wells should ideally be spaced at increasing intervals from the
pumping well-say at 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 m-depending on the depth and
expected productivity of the aquifer. Always use the largest capacity pump
available to do the actual pumping. Constant-rate extraction may have to con-
tinue for days, or even weeks and months in some cases before steady-state
conditions are reached. Careful observation of all the wells should, therefore,
be made before starting pumping, at regular intervals throughout the test and
during recovery of the levels after pumping has ceased, until the initial equili-
brium levels are regained.
5.6.2 Test pumping a well in a confined aquifer. It is assumed there is no

supply to the aquifer from above (rainfall) or below. Then, from equation 5.8
s=~ln~
2rrkH r
where R depends on both boundary conditions and the point of observation. If
the aquifer is of large extent and r (the radial distance to an observation well) is
not excessive then for r < O.lR
s=~lnRo (5.14)
2rrkH r
where Ro is the integration constant for the well-face, and for all points of
observation has the same value.
If the observed values of drawdown s are now plotted against distances r on
logarithmic paper, then a straight-line relationship is obtained:
S=~2.3logRJ _r~ 2.~logr

~1TkH J L21TkH J
or
s =A - B logr
The geohydrological constants for the aquifer may now be calculated from
kH= ~ 1.15Qo
B 1T
and
A
logRo =-
B
Example 5.5. A fully penetrating well in a confined aquifer without recharge is

pumped with a constant discharge of 0.03 m 3 /s until steady conditions obtain.
Drawdowns are then obtained from observation wells as indicated below:
s(m) 1.20 1.10 0.81 0.60 0.47 0.31
rem) 10 20 40 80 120 200
Determine the aquifer formation constants.
From figure 5.16, which is a plot of s versus r
14
12
10 ~
~~
E 08
I"-
I
0-6
04
~
'I '-..
02
~
"t'----
o
10 20 304050 100 200300 500 1000
rIm)
Figure 5.17 Plot of observed drawdown against distance from pumping

well (example 5.5)
Groundwater 107
when s=O : r=610 and 10gr=2.79
s = 1.2: r = 10 and log r = 1 .00
giving the relationship
s = 1.87 - 0.67 log r
From which
kH = _1__ (1.15)(0.03) = 1.64 x 10- 2 m 2 /s

0.67 rr
and
1ogRo = --=2.
1.87 79
0.67
or
Ro = 610 m
Since r <t O.IR for the last 2 holes, too much reliance should not be placed on
these values in drawing the sir relationship. Remember that if Q is measured
in m 3 /s then kH is in m 2 /s.
5.6.3 Test pumping a well in an unconfined aquifer. It is assumed there is no

supply to the aquifer from above (rainfall) or below. From equation 5.9
H2 _h 2 = Qo In~
rrk r
The left-hand side of this equation can be written as (H - h) (H + h). But since
(H -- h) = s and hence h = (H - s), then the left-hand side can also be written
as s(2H - s). Therefore
s Qo In R
rrk(2H - s) r
or
s Qo In Ro
(5.15)
2rrk(H - f) r
for points in the vicinity of the well in a large aquifer.

When the drawdown is small in comparison to the depth of the aquifer,
s/2 is negligible and the draw down formula is the same as for a confined aquifer
(equation 5.14).
Assuming that H is known approximately from the drilling of observation
wells and s/2 is not negligible, then rewriting equation 5.15 gives
s' =s (1 __2Hs_) = ~
2rrkH
In Ro
r
and s' can be plotted against r in the manner of figure 5.17.
Example 5.6 Figure 5.18 is a plot of observed drawdown against r for a well
in an unconfined aquifer discharging a constant 0.03 m 3 /s. The depth of the
aquifer below the phreatic surface has been established during drilling as about
20 m. Determine the formation constants.
Obse"ed
drawdown
60
50
~
40
~~
E I " "::::: ::::~
v; 30 Corrected
drowdown
s' ~
20
~
10 ~
t-..r--,....
o
10 20 304050 100 200300 500 1000
rim)
Figure 5.18 Observed and corrected drawdown s' for an unconfined

aquifer
s', the corrected drawdown, is computed for each observed drawdown and from
the straightline relationship with r
s' =A +B logr
As s' = 4.8 when r = 10, hence log r = 1.00
and as s' = 0 when r = 830, hence log r = 2.92
Therefore
A - 2.92B = 0
A - l.OOB = 4.8
Hence
A =7.30 andB =2.50
Also
kH = _1_ . (0.03)1.15 = 4.39(10- 3 ) m2/s

2.50 1f
so
Ro = 830m
Groundwater 109
References
1. CRUSE, K. A review of water-well drilling methods. J. Eng. Geol., 12 (1979)
63
2. STONER, R. F. et al. Economic design of wells. J. Eng. Geol., 12 (1979) 63
3. HUISMAN, L. Groundwater Recovery, Macmillan, London, 1972
4. BRERETON, N. R. Step-drawdown pumping tests for the determination of
aquifer and bore-hole characteristics. Water Resources Council Tech.
Report 103, Washington D.C., January 1979
5. VERRUIT, A. Theory of Groundwater Flow, 2nd edition, Macmillan, London,
1981
Further reading
ARONOVICI, V. S. The mechanical analysis as an index of subsoil permeability.
Proc. A m. Soc. Soil Sci., 11 (1947) 137
CEDERGREEN, H. R. Seepage, Drainage and Flow Nets, John Wiley, New York,
1967
CHILDS, E. C. and COLLIS.GEORGE, N. The permeability of porous materials.
Proc. Roy. Soc., A201 (1950) 392
KIRKHAM, D. Measurement of the hydraulic conductivity of soil in place.
Symposium on Permeability of Soils. American Society for Testing and
Materials, Special Tech. Publication 163, 1955, p. 80
RUSHTON, K. R. and REDSHAW, S. C. Seepage and Groundwater Flow, Wiley,
1979
TODD, D. K. Ground Water Hydrology, John Wiley, New York, 2nd edition,
1980
WENZEL, L. K. Methods for determining permeability of water bearing materials.
U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 887, Washington D.C., 1942
Problems
5.1 Rainfall of 2.50 m per annum falls on a strip of land 1 km wide lying
between two parallel canals, one of which (canal A) is 3 m higher than the other
(canal B). The infIltration rate is 80 per cent of the rainfall and there is no run-
off. The aquifer that contains the canals is 10 m deep below the level of canal B
and both canals penetrate it fully. It is underlain by a horizontal impermeable
stratum. Compute the discharge per metre length into both canals, assuming
their boundaries are vertical and the aquifer coefficient of permeability
K = 10 m/day.
5.2 A fully -penetrating well of 0.5 m diameter in a confined aquifer has been
test-pumped at a rate of 0.025 m 3 /s until steady-state conditions have been
reached.
Observation wells at various distances from the well s,~ow the following
results:
Distance r from well (m) 20 50 200 500

Drawdown s (m) 0.79 0.63 0.39 0.235
Using these results, determine the formation constants for the aquifer and,
from them, the maximum constant yield of the well if the drawdown in the well
is not to exceed 3 m. (Allow 0.5 m for screen and pack losses.)
6 Surface Runoff
6.1 The engineering problem

Rainfall, if it is not intercepted by vegetation or by artificial surfaces such as
roofs or pavements, falls on the earth and either evaporates, infiltrates or lies in
depression storage. When the losses arising in these ways are all provided for,
there may remain a surplus that, obeying the gravitation laws, flows over the
surface to the nearest stream channel. The streams coalesce into rivers and the
rivers find their way down to the sea. When the rain is particularly intense or
prolonged, or both, the surplus runoff becomes large and the stream and river
channels cannot accept all the water suddenly arriving. They become filled
and overflow and in so doing they do great harm to the activities of men. The
most serious effect of flooding may be the washing away of the fertile top soil
in which crops are grown, and of which there is already a scarcity on the earth.
In urban areas there is great damage to property, pollution of water supplies,
danger to life and often total disruption of communications. In agrarian societies
floods are feared like pestilence because they can destroy crops, cattle and habi-
tations, and bring famine in their wake.
The hydraulic engineer, in dealing with runoff, has to try to provide answers
to many questions, of which some of the more obvious are
(i) how often will floods occur?
(ii) how large will they be and to what level will they rise?
(iii) how often will there be droughts?
(iv) how long may these droughts continue?
Questions of this kind are all variations of one, which is concerned with the
magnitude and duration of runoff from a particular catchment with respect to
time. They can be resolved best by the determination of the frequency and
duration of particular discharges from observations over a long period of time,
though if such observations are not available, estimations can still be made at
various probabilities.
111
A second group of questions arises in using the curves of runoff frequency
and duration once found; for example
(i) how can the volume of discharge be reduced?
(ii) how can the cost of flood prevention be compared with the damage that
will arise if no measures are taken?
(iii) how valuable is stored flood water in times of drought?
These questions are not directly related and each involves a quite different
and distinct approach, though the same techniques can be used in answering
more than one. In this and the following sections ways in which some of these
questions can be answered will be sought.
6.2 Catchment characteristics and their effects on runoff

It is appropriate to consider how various properties of the catchment area
affect the rate and quantity of discharge from it. By 'catchment area' is meant
the whole of the land and water surface area contributing to the discharge at a
particular stream or river cross-section, from which it is clear that every point on
a stream channel has a unique catchment of its own, the size of catchment
increasing as the control point moves downstream, reaching its maximum size
when the control is at the sea coast.
There are many catchment properties that influence runoff and each can be
present to a large or small degree. The intention in analysing them separately
is to try to determine the effect of each characteristic on precipitation and its
subsequent drainage from the catchment through the river channels.
(a) Catchment area. The area as defined at the beginning of this section is
usually, but not necessarily, bounded by the topographic water-divide. Figure
6.1 shows a hypothetical cross-section through the topographic water-divide
of a catchment. Because of the underlying geology it is perfectly possible for
areas beyond the divide to contribute to the catchment. The true boundary is
indeterminate, however, because although some of the groundwater on the left
of the divide in the figure may arrive in catchment B, the surface runoff will stay
in catchment A. Here the infiltration capacity of the soil and the intensity of the
rainfall will influence the portion of the rainfall that each catchment will collect.
If runoff is expressed not as a total quantity for a catchment but as a quantity
per unit area (usually m 3 /s per square kilometre or ft. 3 /s per square mile), it is
observed, other things being equal, that peak runoff decreases as the catchment
area increases. This is due to the finite time taken by the water to flow through
the stream channels to the control section (the time of concentration) and also
to the lower average intensity of rainfall as storm size increases (see section
2.8.4.). Similarly, minimum runoff per unit area is increased because of the
greater areal extent of the groundwater aquifers and minor local rainfall.
Surface Runoff 113
topographical
/ rain
/
water divide
catchment catchment
A B
Figure 6.1 Watershed defined by geology as well as topography
(b) Main stream length (MSL). This is measured in km from the gauging station
or catchment outfall. When measuring from maps it is usual to use a standard
routine to remove subjectivity (for example, set dividers at 0.1 km on a 1:25000
scale map).
(c) Slope of catchment. The more steeply the ground surface is sloping the
more rapidly will surface runoff travel, so that concentration times will be
shorter and flood peaks higher. Infiltration capacities tend to be lower as slopes
get steeper, since vegetation is less dense and soil more easily eroded, thus
accentuating runoff.
Slope can be enumerated by covering a catchment contour map with a
rectilinear grid and evaluating the slope, perpendicular to the contour lines at
each grid point as shown in figure 6.2a. A frequency distribution of these
numbers can then be plotted as in figure 6.2b. Different catchments can be
compared on the same plot, the relatively steep frequency curves indicating
catchments of fast runoff and flat curves the converse.
A simpler method is to describe the slope in m/km between two points on the
main stream. The standard points used in Britain are 10 per cent and 85 per cent
of the main stream length above the point of interest. Slope defined in this way
is written as S1085.
(d) Catchment orientation. Orientation is important with respect to the meteor-

ology of the area in which the catchment lies. If the prevailing winds and lines of
storm movement have a particular seasonal pattern, as they usually have, the
runoff hydrograph will depend to some degree on the catchment's orientation
within the pattern. The grid of figure 6.2a can be used for this feature also,
by the evaluation of the angle between slope direction and the north-south
....,.....
very steep sided

m
..:? ca tchment ::::I
'"a.o cc
S
iii CD
CD
...S
cc
::J:
~
a
0"
cc
-<
o 50 tOO
Percentage greater than
(a) ( b)
Figure 6.2 (aJ Rectilinear grid to evaluate catchment slope and orientation. (b) Frequency curves
for comparison of catchment steepness
Surface Runoff 115
meridian (say) at each grid point and the subsequent plotting of a circular
frequency diagram like that of figure 6.3, similar to a wind rose.
N
percen10ge of grid point

slope lines within sector
lQ
Figure 6.3 Orientation diagram
(e) Shape of catchment. The effect of shape can best be demonstrated by

considering the hydrographs of discharge from three differently shaped catch-
ments of the same area, shown in figure 6.4, subjected to rainfall of the same
intensity. If each catchment is divided into concentric segments, which may be
assumed to have all points within an equal distance along the stream channels
from the control point, it can be seen that the shape A will require 10 time units
(say hours) to pass before every point on the catchment is contributing to the
discharge. Similarly B will require 5 h and C 8-t h. The resulting hydrographs of
runoff will be similar to those shown in figure 6.4, each marked with the
corresponding lower-case italic letter. B gives a faster stream rise than C and A,
and similarly a faster fall, because of the shorter travel times.
This factor of shape also affects the runoff when a rainstorm does not cover
the whole catchment at once but moves over it from one end to the other. For
example, consider catchment A to be slowly covered by a storm moving upstream
that just covers the catchment after 5 h. The last segment's flood contribution
will not arrive at the control for 15 h from commencement, so that the hydro-
graph a of figure 6.4 will now have the form of curve al on that figure. Alter-
natively if the storm were moving at the same rate downstream, the flood
contribution of time-segment 10 would arrive at the control point only 5 h after
that of segment 1, so that a rapid flood rise (az in figure 6.4) would occur. The
effect of changing the direction of storm movement on the semicircular and
fan-shaped catchments will be less marked than this but still appreciable.
Each of the catchments
has the same area
Rain is assumed to cover
the whole catchment
and last at least 10 h
A B le
:;/ ) I ~ VI
I
at
.... 1---
...-
./ ---
t ....-
f..-/ Il
/
~ /J II
."
/
a2 /
VV I
~~V 1-'"
/
o 5 10 15
Time (h)
Figure 6.4 The effect of shape on catchment runoff
(f)Annual average rainfall. The standard annual average rainfall (SAAR) for the
period 1941-1970 for the British Isles is given in the ten section maps for Britain
and four for Ireland in appendix A.
(g) Stream frequency. The pattern of stream development in a catchment can

have a marked effect on the runoff rate. A well-drained catchment will have
comparatively short concentration times and hence steeper flood-rise hydro-
graphs than a catchment with many surface depressions, marshy ground and
minor lakes for example. One way is to measure the stream density of the catch-
ment, by measuring the length of stream channel per unit area: another way
(STMFRO) used in the Flood Studies Report is to express it by the number of
stream junctions per unit area, using standard scale maps.
(h) Baseflow index (BFl). This is an index calculated as the ratio of the flow
under the separated hydrograph (see section 7.3) to the flow under the total
hydrograph. It is a good indicator of the catchment's underground storage,
which is dependent on the solid geology. Methods of estimation are given in
section 6.6.4 and figure 6.5 illustrates how BFI is calculated from flow data.
Surface Runoff 117
HYDROGRAPH
BFI = BASE FLOW AREA

HYDRO GRAPH AREA
?;
o
..J
IL
..
>-
..J
o ". .....
.
:z
w
::E /
/
/
/ ' ' .....
//BASEFLOW
/
-~
TIME
BASEFLOW INDEX
Figure 6.5 Calculation of EFl from flow data
(i) Lake and reservoir area. These act as surface water stores and have the
effect of smoothing out the hydrographs of catchments that contain them.
G) Soil-moisture deficit. This is a climatic parameter that is dependent on

rainfall and evapotranspiration and has been discussed in chapter 4.
There are other factors in addition to these, including altitude (with its
effect on temperature and the presence of snow in winter), land use (whether
forested or arable grassland), the proportion of urban development and the
condition of stream channels.
6.3 Climatic factors

In section 6.2(e) reference has already been made to the effect of storm move-
ment on surface runoff. If the areal extent of a storm is such that it does not
cover the whole of a catchment, the runoff will be less than from complete
coverage.
The form of precipitation also has an influence, since snowfall and freezing
temperatures can effectively put the expected runoff into storage and reduce
eva po transpiration.
The main effect of climate however is in rainfall intensity and duration. Rain-
fall intensity has a direct bearing on runoff since once the infiltration capacity
is exceeded all the excess rain is available and flows to the surface water-courses.
Intensities vary greatly, the maximum usually occurring in severe local thunder-
storms. It will be realised that severe local maxima are recorded only fortuit-
ously, so that the highest recorded intensities will certainly have been exceeded
many times.
Since intensity represents, depth/time, it cannot be considered separately
from duration. The same depth of rainfall delivered over two different durations
will produce different runoff rates. Also, different climates will produce different
meteorological conditions leading to different types of rain, which may inherently
have quite dissimilar durations. For example, in England a thunderstorm may
conceivably produce rainfall intensities as great as 10 mm/min (see figure 2.4)
but it cannot be imagined that such storms can last for more than a period of
minutes, whereas the monsoon rain in India can fall continuously for weeks at
average intensities greater than 10 mm/h, a condition never approached in most
other parts of the world.
The influence of duration on the hydrograph of runoff can be seen from
figure 6.6, where a uniform-intensity storm causes the hydrograph of stream-
rise a. Such storms may be defined as covering the whole catchment area, over
which the depth of rainfall is reasonably constant and delivered at a constant
rate. Although rare in nature, they are used in hydrology to determine charac-
teristics of catchments. After a certain time, t e , the period of concentration, the
rate of runoff becomes constant. A hydrograph of this form is typical of only
very small catchments; for example, paved urban areas, where such constant
runoff is quickly achieved. Natural catchments of any size have periods of
'0
c
er"
Time ~
Figure 6.6 Hydrograph of short-period storm runoff derived from two

long-duration uniform-intensity storms
Surface Runoff 119
concentration longer, as a general rule, than periods of uniform-intensity rain.
The effect of short periods of rain can be found by subtracting the hydro graphs
of two long periods, exceeding le, and separated in time by the short period, one
from the other. In figure 6.6, a and b are the result of rainfalls a' and b' respec-
tively. Their subtraction leaves the short-period rain c' and its resulting hydro-
graph c, which is the typical shape of most natural hydrographs.
6.4 Rainfall/runoff correlation

While there is a general cause-and-effect relationship between rainfall and the
resulting runoff, it will be clear by now that it is not a direct one. By the time
that evaporation, interception, depression storage, inflltration and soil-moisture
deficiency are taken into account and the resulting residual rainfall at various
intensities applied to catchments that vary in size, slope, shape, altitude, sub-
surface geology and climate, the relationship must include extreme values that
defy rational correlation, at least in the short term.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, it may be possible to establish an empirical
relationship for a particular catchment based on annual precipitation and runoff.
To do this it is best to use a water-year rather than a calendar year. This is a
12-month period starting and finishing at the time of seasonal minimum flow.
If precipitation and runoff are plotted against each other as catchment depths,
a correlation like that shown in figure 6.7, may be obtainable. In temperate
slope: 1 vertical
in y horizontal

E

E
et

P(mm)----
Figure 6.7 Rainfall/runoff correlation

and tropic, humid climates such a straight-line relationship generally is found,
where if P is annual precipitation, annual runoff R is expressed as
R = P--x (6.1)
y
so that the annual rainfall can be used to obtain a first approximation to the
annual runoff. Young has analysed the correlation on a world-wide basis [1].
Variations from the straight line may be due to conditions in the preceding
year that gave markedly higher or lower groundwater levels, or to variations in
the seasonal distribution ofrainfall. The method can be used also for wet months
in humid climates when the ground is saturated, but beyond such narrow limits
it is not valid.
Although the application of a relationship like equation 6.1 is restricted, it
can nevertheless be a useful method for estimating total annual runoff or com-
pletely ungauged catchments, if they are in similar climates and of similar size
and character. The relationship has been developed for use with synthetic hydro-
graphs, using catchment wetness index and soil characteristics as parameters
[2] .
Further refinements are possible taking into account the particular period of
the year, the antecedent precipitation index (see section 4.4.2) and the storm
duration as well as depth, so that relationships may be derived for particular
storms on a particular catchment. Coaxial graphs may be produced which take
the various variables into account. A relationship of this form is shown in
figure 4.7.
6.5 Flow rating curves: their determination, adjustment and extension
6.5.1 Definition. A rating curve is a graph that shows the connection between
the water level elevation, or stage of a river channel at a certain cross-section,
and the corresponding discharge at that section. A typical rating curve is shown
in figure 6.8. It can be seen that the curve is drawn through a cluster of points,
each of which represents the results of a river discharge measurement. Such
measurements can be made in a number of ways, of which the most important
are
(l) velOcity-area methods,
(2) flow-measuring structures,
(3) dilution gauging.
6.5.2 Velocity-area methods. These are conventional for medium to large rivers
and involve the use of a cu"ent meter, which is a fluid velocity-measuring
instrument. A small propeller rotates about a horizontal shaft, which is kept
Surface Runoff 121
Discharge 0 --+
Figure 6.8 Flow rating curve
parallel to the streamlines by tail fins. The instrument is ballasted to keep it as

nearly as possible directly below the observer. Another version of the instrument
has a circlet of small conical cups disposed horizontally about the suspension
axis.
Each revolution of the propeller is recorded electrically through a cable to the
observer and the number of revolutions is counted by the observer or automatic-
ally over a short period (say I or 2 minutes). These observations are converted
into water velocities from a calibration curve for the instrument. By moving
the meter vertically and horizontally to a series of positions whose co-ordinates
in the cross-section are known, a complete velocity map of the section can be
drawn and the discharge through the cross-section calculated. Figure 6.9 shows a
modern current meter assembled for use on its supporting cable; this meter can
also be used as a depth measure.
Observations are made by lowering the meter from a bridge, though if the
bridge is not a single-span one there will be divergence and convergence of the
streamlines caused by the piers, which can cause considerable errors. In many
instances, however, the gauging site, which should be in as straight and uniform
a reach of the river as is possible, will have no bridge, and if it is deep and in
flood a cable to hold some stable boat must be provided, together with a lighter
measuring cable to determine horizontal position in the cross-section.
Since the drag on a boat with at least two occupants and suspended current
meter is considerable, a securely fastened steel cable should be used. The presence
of suitable large trees at a particular site often necessitates its choice for this
reason. Alternatively, cable ways are sometimes used to suspend the meter, either
Figure 6.9 A modern helix current meter by HUger and Watts Ltd
Surface Runoff 123
from a manned cable-car or directly from the cable, the instrument in this latter
case being positioned by auxiliary cables from the river banks.
Depths should always be measured at the time of velocity observation since a
profile can change appreciably during flood discharges. Observers should also
remember such elementary rules as to observe the stage before and after the
discharge measurement, and to observe the water slope by accurate levelling to
pegs at the river level as far upstream and downstream of the gauging site as is
practicable, up to say 500 m in each direction.
As water velocities increase in high floods the ballasted current meter will be
increasingly swept downstream on an inclined cable. The position of a meter in
these circumstances can be found reasonably accurately if the cable angle is
measured. Ballast can be increased but only within limits. Rods can be used to
suspend the meter but a rigid structure in the boat will then be required to
handle the rods, calling for a stable platform of the catamaran type. Rod vibra-
tion and bending are common in deep rivers unless diameters exceed 50 mm, by
which time the whole apparatus is getting very heavy and unmanageable.
It will be appreciated that since each river is unique, each will require a
careful assessment of its width, depth, likely flood velocities, cable support
facilities, availability of bridges, boats, etc. before a discharge measurement
programme is started.
From many observations on many rivers it has been established that the
variation of velocity integrated over the full depth of a river can be closely
approximated by the mean of two observations made at 0.2 and 0.8 of the depth.
If time and circumstances preclude even two observations at each horizontal
intercept then one reading at 0.6 depth measured from the surface will approxi-
mate the average over the whole depth.
The discharge at the cross-section is best obtained by plotting each velocity
observation on a cross-section of the gauging site with an exaggerated vertical
scale. Isovels or contours of equal velocity are then drawn and the included
areas measured by planimeter. A typical cross-section, so treated, is shown in
figure 6.lOa. Alternatively the river may be subdivided vertically into sections
and the mean velocity of each s~ction applied to its area (figure 6.10b). In this
method, the cross-sectional area of anyone section should not exceed 10 per
cent of the total cross-sectional area.
A check should always be made using the slope-area method of section
6.5.7 (Hi) and a value obtained for Manning's n. In this way a knowledge of the n
values of the river at various stages will be built up, which may prove most
valuable in extending the discharge rating curve subsequently.
To ensure uniformity in the techniques of current-meter gauging the Inter-
national Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has published various recom-
mendations and, in the United Kingdom, BS 3680 'Measurement of liquid flow
in open channels' refers [3]. In the USA, the U.S. Geological Survey and the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have established practice [4-7].
(c)
(b)
Figure 6.10 Two computational methods for discharge measurement:

(a) isovel plotting of cross-sectional discharge; (b) sectional averaging
of observations at 0.2 depth and 0.8 depth
6.5.3 Flow-measuring structures. These are designed so that stream discharge is

made to behave according to certain well-known hydraulic laws. For example,
the discharge per unit length over a weir is a function of the head over the weir.
Many specialised weirs, 'such as V-notch, compound and Crump weirs, have been
designed to provide accurate discharge data by observations of water surface
level upstream of the weir. Flumes can similarly be used, where a stream is
channelled through a particular geometrically shaped regular channel section for
some distance before entering a length of different cross-section, usually made so
by side contractions or steps in the bed. Trapezoidal shapes are often used, and
narrow vertical sections have been employed for catchment discharge measure-
ment in Wales. Figure 6.11 shows a flume of the latter type on the Plynlimon
experimental catchments of the Institute of Hydrology. Generally, however,
flow-measuring structures are confined to streams and fairly small rivers, since
forlarge flows and wide rivers they become extremely expensive to build [8-15].
BS 3680, Part 4 Weirs and Flumes, provides detailed dimensions for standard,
calibrated weirs and flumes of most types.
6.5.4 Dilution gauging. Dilution gauging is particularly suited to small turbulent

streams where depths and flows are inappropriate for current-metering and flow-
structures would be unnecessarily expensive and/or permanent.
Surface Runoff 125
Figure 6.11 Narrow [low-measurement [lume-Plynlimon catchments
The method involves the injection of a chemical into the stream and the
sampling of the water some distance downstream after complete mixing of the
chemical in the water has occurred. The chemical can either be added by
constant-rate injection until the sampling downstream reveals a constant concen-
tration level, or administered in a single dose as quickly as possible, known as
gulp injection. In this case samples over a period of time disclose the concen-
tration-time correlation. In both cases the concentration of chemical in the
samples is used to compute the dilution, and hence the discharge of the stream
can be obtained. Figure 6.12 shows constant-rate injection of sodium dichromate
from a Mariotte bottle (a constant-head device) in a mountain stream.
Analysis of the samples is by an automated colorimetric procedure that
estimates the concentration of very small amounts of the chromium compound
by comparison with a sample of the injection solution. The equipment is expen-
sive and specialised. References [16, 17] give comprehensive guidance.
Another method, developed by Littlewood [18], deserves mention at greater
length as the required equipment is simple and relatively cheap. The method
depends on the electrical conductivity of solutions of common salt (NaCl) in the
stream water and is a version of the relative-dilution-gauging method of Aastad
and S~gnen [19].
Figure 6.12 Dilution gauging: dispensing sodium dichromate solution

from a Mariotte bottle
Surface Runoff 127
lime --...
1
Conceltt aljoll
o 1ill18 from stal1 or injection
Figure 6.13 Extended constant-rate injection method [18]
Referring to figure 6.13, it can be shown that if

Q = streamflow (l/s)
V =volume of injection solution of concentration Cl (1)
Tl = duration of injection (s)
q = injection rate (1/s)
T z = duration of solute wave
Cl = concentration of injection solution (mgfl)
Cz =variable concentration of the streamwater
Co = the background concentration (mg/l)
then
qc1T 1 =Q(cz -co)Tz (wherecz isthemeanofallcz values)
which may be written
Hence
(6.2)
and
V -
Q= - x N (6.3)
Tz
where N is the mean dilution ratio.
It is not necessary to measure the shaded area under the curve of figure 6.13
since, provided the curve is defined by closely spaced ordinates, the average of
these (in the shaded area) is all that is needed. This holds good for any length of
injection time, including a 'gulp', and not just for the constant-rate injection
of figure 6.13 which is simply a special case of a general method.
It is necessary now to move from solution concentration to conductivity but
two problems must be overcome:
(a) the relationship between concentration of salt and conductivity of the
solution is non-linear
(b) natural streams have varying background conductivities.
The first of these is overcome by constructing a graph of conductivity against
concentration which for very weak solutions is virtually linear. This is so for
solvents of initially different conductivities, where the gradients of the lines in
figure 6.14 are practically parallel.
It follows that, for changes of concentration, .:lc, and conductivity, .:lc', in
the linear range of weak solutions
.:lc = K I.:lC'
Kl for NaCl in water is approximately O.5ll1s cm- 1/mg 1-1.
Equation 6.2 may now be written
Q= ~ x Cl
Tz Kl.:lc'
where .:lc' is the average of (Cl - Co). Now from equation 6.3
N= __C-=-l__ = _C_l_
(cz - co) Kl.:lc'
which can be written
,
- Cl
N=Kz= (6.4)
.:lc'
where Kz is a combination of K 1 and a multiplier for converting a particular
injection solution conductivity, c; , to concentration, Cl .
If a small volume, v, of the particular strong solution is added to a larger
volume V* of the streamwater, giving rise to a dilution ratio N*, and the change
in conductivity is recorded as .:lc' *, then we can write
,
N*=K ~ (6.5)
z .:lc' *
whereN* = -V*
v
Now dividing equation 6.4 by equation 6.5 gives
N .:lc' *
N*
Surface Runoff 129
250
200
'E0
(/)
::i.
~
s 100
+'
0
:l
"U
C
.0
u
M
o 20 40 60 BO 100
-1
Concentration of added salt (mg I I
Figure 6.14 Conductivity against concentration of added salt (weak solution) [18]
from which it follows that
Q=-
v X -
V*
X
!:le' *
Tz V !:le'
This means that the discharge may be measured by pouring a known volume
(V) of a strong salt-solution into the stream, measuring the change in conduc-
tivity of the water at the downstream end of the mixing length (to find !:le') over
time T z and measuring the change in conductivity of the weak solution obtained
by controlled dilution of the strong solution in a separate operation.
The method is independent of the make and calibration of the conductivity
meter. It is not necessary to know the concentration of the strong solution and
very simple equipment is needed.
Full details of the method, comparative test results and typical quantities and
dimensions are given in reference [18] .
6.5.5 Ultrasonic gauging. Among recent developments in river gauging is the
method of ultrasonics. It can provide continuous unattended discharge measure-
ment or, more conventionally, at some specified regular interval. The method
depends on the transmission of ultrasonic pulses between two sets of trans-
mitter/receivers situated on either bank of the river, and so arranged so that the
line of transmission is at 45, or thereabouts, to the flow direction. Since the
speed of transmission in one direction is greater than in the other, owing to the
component of the water flow velocity along the line of transmission, the pulse
travel times are different. This difference is a function of the mean water velocity
at the pulse level.
The usual arrangement consists of a section of a river with a rectangular lined
cross-section at least as long as its width, with pairs of transmitters at various
levels and a water level recorder. Automatic samples and recording can then
provide a comprehensive discharge record at the station to an accuracy at least as
good as any other method.
For detailed descriptions of installations, methods and analyses of results,
interested readers should consult references [20,21].
The methods of sections 6.5.2, 6.5.3, 6.5.4 and 6.5.5, used singly or in con-
junction, will establish the correlation for any stream or river discharge with
stage.
A rating curve when established in this way, enables a single observation of
stage, made each day at a set time, by an unskilled observer, to be converted irtto
a discharge rate and hence into a finite quantity of water, flowing at the observa-
tion point. The difficulty about rating curves is to obtain enough points at times
of high discharge to enable an accurate correlation to be obtained.
6.5.6 Rating-curve adjustment. So far rating curves have been discussed in

terms that imply they are simply median lines drawn through a scatter of obser-
vation points. This is not the case. If each discharge point has been noted as
being measured on a 'falling' or 'rising' stage, the curve would strictly speaking
become a loop as shown by the dashed line in figure 6.8.
This variation, or looping effect is due to several causes. The first of these is
channel storage. As the surface elevation of a river rises, water is temporarily
stored in the river channel.
Example 6.1. Suppose that the gauge shows a rise at the rate of 0.2 m/h during
a discharge measurement of 100 m 3 /s and the channel is such that this rate of
rise may be assumed to apply to a 1000 m reach of river between the measure-
ment site and the reach control (the control of a river reach is the section at
which the profile of the river changes).
Let the average width of channel in the reach be 100 m. Then the rate of change
of storage in the reach, dS is given by
Surface Runoff 131
dS = 1000 x 100 x 0.2
= 20000 m 3 /h
= 5.6 m 3 /s.
The discharge measurement should be plotted on the rating curve as 94.4 m 3 /s
(not as 100), since this is the discharge past the control corresponding to the
mean gauge height.
The second reason for the looping of rating curves is the variation in surface
slope that occurs as a flood wave moves along the channel. Figure 6.15 represents
Figure 6.15 Flood wave slope variation
a longitudinal section of a flood wave passing along a river channel. As point a

passes the gauging site, the gauge reads h, the river cross-section is A and the
slope of the water surface SI' When the flood wave has moved on so that point
b is at the gauge site, the gauge reading h and the cross-section A are the same
but the slope is now S2. From the Manning formula
1
AR'S'i
Q=Av= - - -
n
and so two different discharges will occur in the two cases since S changes while
A, Rand n remain constant.
Since the rising stage is associated with the greater slope discharge, measure-
ments taken on a rising stage will plot to the right on the rating curve of figure
6.8 and those on a falling stage, to the left. Depending on the 'peakiness' of the
flood wave, it often happens that maximum discharge occurs before the maxi-
mum stage is reached, since the influence of the steeper slope on velocity may
outweigh the slight increase in cross-section area.
It is generally necessary to correct the discharge measurements taken on
either side of flood waves to the theoretical steady-state condition, because the
great majority of gauge readings are taken by unskilled observers once a day
without any indication of whether the stage is rising or falling. By using a
corrected, or steady-state, curve, the rising and falling stage observations will
balance in the long run, and no value judgement or second daily visit to the
gauge will be required from the observer. The correction can be made as follows.
From the Manning equation, the steady-state discharge Q in a channel of a
given roughness and cross-section, is given as
Qo:...JS (6.6)
where S = steady-state slope.
When the slope is not equal to S, as is the case in conditions of rising or

falling stage, the actual discharge Qa is given by
Qa 0:. ..J(S AS) (6.7)
Referring now to figure 6.16, t::.S can be expressed in terms of the rate of change
in stage and flood wave celerity, U.
1/-
-----
htdh
Figure 6.16 Change in slope of a flood wave with time
The figure represents an advancing flood wave and rising state. The gauge
reading at the commencement of the discharge measurement is h and at its
conclusion, dt, later, h + dh. In this time the wave has advanced Udt, and
AS = dh =dh/dt (6.8)
Udt U
dh/dt being positive for a rising stage, negative for a falling stage. Combining
equations 6.6, 6.7 and 6.8
or
Qa = / ( 1 + dh/dt) (6.9)
Q", US
Surface Runoff 133
If the discharge measurement is taken at a site with two gauges, one upstream
and one downstream, in the same reach, then all the terms in equation 6.9 are
measured except Q and U, Q being the steady-state discharge required and U the
flood wave celerity. There are now several ways to proceed. The first is to take
an empirical value for U. Corbett et al. [4] suggest that in a fairly uniform
channel, in flood conditions, the celerity U is approximately equal to 1 .3 times
the mean water velocity, or
U= 1.3 Qa_
A
where A = cross-sectional area.
From which
J(
Q= Qa (6.10)
l + A . dh/dt)
1.3 QaS
Example 6.2 A river discharge measurement made during a flood indicated
Qa = 3160 m 3 /s. During the measurement, which took 2 h, the gauge height
increased from 50.40 to 50.52 m. Level readings taken at water surface 400 m
upstream and 300 m downstream of the observation site differed by 100 mm.
The river was 500 m wide with an average depth of 4 m at the time of measure-
ment. At what co-ordinate should the measurement be plotted on the rating
curve?
The cross-sectional area of the river, A = 500 m x 4 m

= 2000 m2
Therefore
average water velocity = Qa = 3160 = 1.5 8 m/s
A 2000
Assume the flood wave celerity U= 1.3 x 1.58 =2.045m/s: dh/dt=0.12m/
7200 s = 1.67 x 10- 5, and S = 0.1 /700 = 1.43 x 10- 4 . Then for a rising river,
from equation 6.5
J(l +
3160 3160 = 3074 m3 /s
Qcorr = 1.67 x 10- 5 ) vi(1057)
2.054 x 1.43 x 10-4
and taking the mean gauge height, the corrected co-ordinates are 50.46 m and
3074 m3 Is.
An alternative procedure, due to Boyer [22] is available, where values for
neither U nor S need be obtained. If a sufficient number of observations are
available, including measurements taken during rising and falling stages and in
steady states, then a rating curve can be drawn as a median line through the
uncorrected values. The steady-state discharge Q can now be estimated from the
median curve. Since Qa and dh/dt are measured quantities and therefore known,
equation 6.9 yields the term l/US for each measurement of discharge.
The term l/US is now plotted against stage and an 'average' curve fitted to
the plotted points, as shown in figure 6.17. From the l/US against stage relation-
ship, new values of l/US are obtained and inserted into equation 6.9 to yield the
steady state Q. The new values of Q are then plotted against stage as the corrected,
steady-state curve.
Another method, which uses the observed slope but avoids evaluating U, is
due to Mitchell [23] .
~~
estimated 'norma]' .~.
curve h~ corrected 'normal'
t .r-
.p' curve
~ ..
..f
~ ..
00 -+ 11US
o
Figure 6.17 Method of correcting discharge readings without computing

UorS
6.5.7 Extension of rating curves. As previously mentioned, the most difficult

measurements of discharge to take are those at high flood, because of both the
physical difficulties of high water velocity and floating debris, and the rare
occurrence of the condition. It frequently happens, for example, that the condi-
tion for which river structures such as dams and bridges must be designed are
defined as being 'such that occur no more often than once in 100 years'. This
means that the structural designers want to know the probable discharge that
will occur, on average, once every 100 years. This is sometimes referred to as
'the lOO-year flood'.
If discharge measurements have been taken throughout the previous 100 years
this design flood may not be too difficult to find. However, in the vast majority
of cases, only stage readings will be available and then for limited periods only.
If the hydraulic engineer has 30 years of continuous daily stage readings and
discharge measurements that include even low flood conditions, then he is
fortunate. Almost always he will have to extend the rating curve well beyond
the last measured point, to estimate the discharge at particular stage levels
Surface Runoff 135
recorded. Occasionally the stage levels reached in high flood are recorded only
by lines of debris on the banks, or grasses caught in the branches of riparian
trees and scrub. Such physical evidence is valuable.
There are a number of ways of attempting rating curve extension.
(i) By fitting an equation to the curve.

Usually an equation of the form Q = k(h - ar is used, where
h = stage
k and x are constants derived from the observed portion of the curve, and
a = height in m (or ft.) between zero on the gauge and the elevation of zero
flow.
Such a curve plots as a straight line on logarithmic paper and so can be easily
extended. At best it is a questionable procedure since there is little theoretical
justification for exponential laws operating and at high flows there may be quite
abrupt changes in cross-section with rising stage.
(ii) Stevens' method [24].
This method is based on Chezy's formula
Q =ACv'(RS)
where A = cross-sectional area
C = Chezy roughness coefficient
R = hydraulic radius
S = slope of the energy line.
If Cv'S is assumed constant and D, the mean depth substituted for R then
Q =kAv'D
Known values of Av'D and Q are plotted and often come close to a straight
line which can be extended. Field values of Av'D above the measured rating
can then be used from the extended line to plot Q against stage points on the
rating curve.
The objection to this method is simply that Cv'S is not a constant. However,
as it takes account of the varying stream geometry it is a more rational proce-
dure than (i).
Typical values of Chezy's C are given in appendix B.
(iii) Slope-area method. This method depends on hydraulic principles and
presupposes that it is practical to drive in pegs or make other temporary elevation
marks at the time of the flow measurement upstream and downstream of the dis-
charge measuring site. These marks can subsequently be used to establish the
water slope. Cross-sectional measurements will yield the area and hydraulic
radius of the section. Then from Manning
2 I
AKi82
Q=--
n
This method is sometimes criticised because of its dependence on the value of
n. Since n for natural streams is about 0.035 an error in n of 0.001 gives an error
in discharge of 3 per cent. This objection may be partially met by plotting n
against stage for all measured discharges, so that the choice of n for high stages
is not arbitrary but is taken from such a plot. If the high flood slope can be
measured then this method is probably the best one.
Typical values of Manning's n are given in appendix B.
It should be emphasised that all methods of rating curve extension are suspect
to some degree and should be resorted to only if flood measurements cannot be
obtained. The latter two methods above are both subject to errors that arise
from alteration of cross-section as a result of flood scour and subsequent low
water deposition; so cross-sections and mean depth measurements should be
taken as near to the time of discharge measurement as possible.
6.6 Volume and duration of runoff
6.6.1 Hydrographs. With an adjusted and well-measured rating curve, the daily
gauge readings can be converted directly to runoff volumes. A typical set of such
daily runoff figures is presented graphically in figure 6.18. Such a presentation is
called a hydrograph. Although figure 6.18 shows a hydrograph with a time base
of many months, hydrographs for smaller catchments can have time bases of
days or even hours.
While floods and droughts are important from many points of view, they
tend, as extremes, to be of comparatively short duration. For many water-
resource investigations it is equally important to know the total volumes of
5400
5200
4800
4400
4000
$- 3600
.
E 3200 J
2'
o
2800
1\ I V\1
1\
A
~ 2400
/\ )U
,
i5 2000 t--
A rt
1600
1200 t--
~\
IV IV-,'
.., -- f3roundwater "~.\
... /
--
800 contribution ..... h
J ..-
400 ~ I ~
o
Feb. March April May June July August September
Figure 6.18 Hydrograph of the river Euphrates at Hit, February to

September 1957 (after Directorate of Irrigation, Iraq)
Surface Runoff 137
water that have to be dealt with over long periods of time; for example, in
hydroelectric power generation the plant capacity must be chosen for some
discharge well below the peak flood since otherwise much capacity would be
almost permanently idle. For such purposes the most convenient means of
presenting data are the mass curve, the runoff accumulation-time curve and the
flow duration curve.
6.6.2 Mass curves. If the volumes denoted by the product of ordinate and
time interval of a hydrograph are plotted against time by adding each new
volume to the previous total, a cumulative mass curve of runoff is obtained.
Such a curve is shown in figure 6.19.
24
22
V-- -
V
20
18 ~
_ 16
~ 14
/
V
~ 12
::J
~ 10
~.:: B
::J
Cl: 6
l/
V'
4
2 I-
o
Feb. March April May June July August. September
Figure 6.19 Cumulative mass curve of runoff for the river Euphrates at
Hit, February to September 1957
Mass curves are extremely useful in reservoir design studies since they provide
a ready means of determining storage capacity necessary for particular average
rates of runoff and draw off. Suppose for example that the mass curve OA of
figure 6.20 represents the runoff from a catchment that is to be used for base
load hydroelectric development. If the required constant drawoff is plotted on
the same diagram, as line OB, then the required storage capacity to ensure this
rate can be found by drawing the line CD parallel to OB from a point C at the
beginning of the driest period recorded. The storage capacity necessary is
denoted by the maximum ordinate cd. Normally much longer periods, as long
as the record allows, are used for reservoir design and in many instances the
drawoff is not constant nor continuous. In such cases, different techniques based
on the same principles are used [25].
D A
reservOir spilling water -V-/ B

reservOir full
again /'
,/
/'
/'
/'
c,/
,/
t /' max.lmum required
,/
'0c: ,/ reservorr capacity
,/ to ensure drowoff
2 ,/ d
<V
.~
Reservoir assumed ,/
o full ot start of
driest period ,/
,/
::J
E of record ;:;. /'
::J
U C
Time (months,yeors,etc.) ~
Figure 6.20 The use of mass curves in reservoir design
6.6.3 Runoff accumulation-time curves. Another way of using flow data in the
design of reservoirs is to calculate reservoir filling times from daily flow readings,
Since river flow varies seasonally, the time taken to accumulate particular
volumes of runoff (equivalent to reservoir filling times) will vary with the time
of year that filling commences, as well as with the stored volume required.
Engineers also need to know the probabilities of certain events taking place
and the risks of not meeting particular objectives. These various criteria are met
by runoff accumulation-time frequency diagrams. A typical example is shown in
figure 6.2l.
The derivation of such curves is straightforward but is too long to include
here. A full description, with worked examples of the techniques required, is
given in reference [26].
6.6.4 Flow duration curves. A flow duration curve (FDC) for a particular point
on a river shows the proportion of time during which the discharge there equals
or exceeds certain values. Such a curve is shown in figure 6.22. Flow duration
curves for long periods of runoff are useful for deciding what proportion of flow
should be used for particular purposes, since the area under a curve represents
volume. Storage upstream of the gauging point in the forms of lakes or reservoirs
will modify the FDC of a river that has been previously without such storage.
Surface Runoff 139
Probability that 50% of annual runoff volume
will be accumulated within lime shown
A <-...,.....--,90%
M 70
ru
F 50
ru -30
a. J
E .. 10.
o
.~ 0
c
.~ N
~ 0
~ S
g A
""
.c
i'
"
>-
n
F M A M J A SON D
Date on which runolf accumulation commences
Figure 6.21 Typical R. O. accumulation-time curve for a river [26]
For many rivers the ratio of peak to minimum discharges may be two or more
orders of magnitude and FDCs for points on them are often more conveniently
drawn with the ordinate (Q) to a logarithmic scale and a normal probability scale
used for the frequency axis. On such a graph, if the logarithms of the discharges
are normally distributed, then the FDC plots as a straight line. This is often
approximately the case.
Flow duration curves for different points on a river can be compared when
presented in this more compact way by standardising them. The discharges are
divided firstly by the area of contributing catchment and secondly by weighted
annual rainfall over the catchment. The resulting discharges, in m 3 /s or 1/s, per
unit area per unit annual rainfall, can then be compared directly. Figure 6.23
shows six FDCs for tributaries of the River Severn in England compared in this
way. A composite regional standardised FDC for the upper reaches of the Severn
and its tributaries was subsequently derived from figure 6.23 [27].
Such standardised curves provide a convenient means of synthesising an FDC
for an ungauged point on a river, and for points on other rivers of similar geo-
morphological nature in a similar climate. Obviously, care should be taken that
these two conditions apply.
-;;; For example, discharge is equal to

"-
'".><E or greater than 2000 m 3/s
.
~
for 17 per cent of the time
0
.t:
U
2
'"
i5
Curve tends to be
,, modified in this way
" " If s:~~~,: Introduc7

----
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (per cent)
Figure 6.22 Flow duration curve for the river Euphrates at Hit,
February to September, 1955 (derived from the data of figure 6.18)
200
t:-.....
<; 100
-E
<11
>-
"- ~~~
N-
E= 50 ~~
"" ~ ~
-=2
c.~
30 ~
<110
~ ~
0
_0 20
'c E
" c
1;;0
a:-=
c 10
~~
"
1;; ~
~
0.
5
~
~ \~
0 3 \'" ~
\
'\ ~ I::---
K
2
101 2 5 10 20 40 60 80 "" ~
90
I'--.
95
10..
9899
Percentage of time equalled or exceeded
Figure 6.23 Standardised FDCs for the Upper Severn

Surface Runoff 141
Another way of standardising FOCs is to express Q in terms of Q/Qm where
Qm is the mean flow. The use of a non-dimensional ordinate allows FDCs of all
rivers, large and small, to be compared on the same graph. This provides a
method proposed by the Institute of Hydrology for the synthesis of FDCs for
ungauged catchments, involving the use of a Base Flow Index (BFl) [25]. The
BFI is defined as the baseflow area/hydrograph area, i.e. the proportion of run-
off that base flow comprises. BFI is effectively a function of the catchment's
infiltration capacity and aquifer storage and so influences the shape of the FDC
markedly. It may be determined for a gauged catchment as illustrated in figure
6.5, but for an ungauged one it is necessary to examine the catchment soils and
geology in some detail. In the UK the FSR Winter Rain Acceptance Potential
(WRAP) maps may be used since they are, in effect, soil-type maps. They are
printed in appendix A using the notation RP. RP maps have five different SOIL
types varying from
1. very high permeability - very low runoff to
5. very low permeability - very high runoff.
If the catchment is delineated on an RP map and the various proportions of it
under each soil type are identified, then a general equation for BFI may be
written
BFl= [0.6 + 0.23S 1 - 0.03S2 - 0.12S 3 - 0.17S 4 - O.20Ss] (6.11)
where SI to Ss are the five SOIL categories.
A modification to equation 6.11 will be required for certain catchments
which exhibit very high or very low baseflows. The modification depends on the
use of 1/625,000 solid geology map of the British Isles to identify the under-
lying geology associated with extreme BFls which may be as high as 0.9 in chalk
areas and as low as 0.2 in carboniferous limestone and clay areas.
Having established the BFI, a standardised FOC can be selected from figure
6.24. This selected FOC now has its ordinates multiplied by the catchment Qm
to provide the particular FOC with numerical discharge values for the catchment.
The slope of the FDC gives an indication of the character of a river. A gentle
slope indicates a river with few floods that is extensively supplied from ground-
water, while a steeply sloping curve indicates a river with frequent floods and
low flow periods, having little groundwater flow and being supplied mainly from
runoff. Flow duration curves are usually produced from daily flow data but
other time intervals can be chosen. For example, aD-day FDC is one that shows
the proportion of D-day periods when the average discharge exceeds a certain
value.
6.7 Estimation of mean flow, Qm
The value of Qm (also referred to asADF or average daily flow) may be derived
for a gauged catchment from the daily flow records by summation and averaging.
2.0
, ...~
~
~ ~
1~
"'- " I:>- ......

,;:,.. .;:-...;:-
0.5 """- i"--,"" 1'.." ,--...;;:: ~ ........ ~-............

~ ..... .~ ~--.......::: t---....--.. r--..
1"-
, ........................
0.3 "- , ,,"" " ........... .
~ ~b:-
"-
~ --- O~
02 (",. ~I'--- ~ m
I'" "'- O~
E ~ ~
~
"" ~~ ~ OB m
=
S
~
0 ~ ~
0.7 ~.
0.1
~ ~ ~ 0.6 ~
r----- I'---~ =
i"'- X
0.5 <
~
"- ~ ~
0
O~ 0
"- ....... ~
'" 0.4 <
Qro
'" I" ~
!
"-......... 0.3
om
0.01
"" '" ~.2
0.1 2 5 10 20 40 60 80 90 95 98 99 99.9
% probability
Figure 6.24 Typical flow duration curves for values of BFI (by Dr A.
Custard, after Low Flow Studies [26]
Surface Runoff 143
If the catchment is ungauged then Qm must be derived by the use of rainfall
records and estimates of evaporation. In the long term, catchment runoff may be
assumed to be the difference between annual average rainfall (SAAR) and actual
evaporation (AE), since infiltration and percolation will appear eventually as
baseflow.
In the UK, SAAR is estimated from the 1 :625,000 annual average rainfall
map for 1941-70 and potential evaporation (PE) from the 1:2 million map of
annual average PE based on the Penman equation, both available from the
Meteorological Office. Elsewhere PE may be calculated from weather station
data as described in chapter 3.
Actual evaporation (AE) then has to be estimated from potential evaporation
by using an adjustment factor I/J (table 6.1). This factor is based on actual data
of rainfall and runoff for stations in the UK with more than 10 years of data,
and refers to the UK. In other parts of the world it may need modification, using
similar methods.
TABLE 6.1 Adjustment factor for estimating actual evaporation [2]
AE=I/Jx PE
SAAR 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
I/J(mm) 0.88 0.90 0.92 0.94 0.96 0.98 1.0
When SAAR exceeds 1100 mm, AE is assumed to equal PE, which is related
to a freely transpiring grass surface. Periods when AE is limited by soil moisture
deficit are assumed to be compensated for by AE exceeding PE at other times by
evapotranspiration from other types of vegetation exceeding that of grass.
If local data are available from a similar neighbouring gauged catchment the
runoff rate may be used directly, but if SAAR for the gauged catchment is
different from the one under study, its loss rate in mm should be deducted from
the SAAR for the latter.
References
1. YOUNG, L. H. Mean annual rainfall/run-off relationship. J. Inst. Wat. Eng.,

24, No. 7 (1970) 423
2. Natural Environment Research Council. Flood Studies Report. Vol. 1,
NERC, 1975, Chapter 6
3. B.S. 3680 Methods of measurement of liquid flow in open channels. Part 3:
1964 Velocity area methods. Part 4: 1965 Weirs and flumes
4. CORBETT, D. M. et al., Stream-gaging procedure. Water Supply Paper 888,
Washington D.C., 1945
5. BUCHANAN, T. J. and SOMERS, W. P. Discharge measurements of gaging
stations. u.s. Geological Survey Tech. Water Resources Inv., Bk. 3, 1969
6. CARTER, R. W. and DAVIDIAN, J. Discharge ratings at gauging stations. U.S.
Geological Survey Surface Water Tech., Bk. 1, 1965
7. V.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Water Measurement Manual, 1953
8. ACKERS, P. and HARRISON, A. J. M. Critical depth flumes for flow measure-
ment in open channels. Hydrological Research Paper No. 5, H.M.S.O.,
London, 1963
9. PARSHALL, R. L. Measuring water in irrigation channels with Parshall
flumes and small weirs. U.S. Dept. Agr. Circular 843,1950
10. ACKERS, P. Flow measurement by weirs and flumes. Int. Conf on Modern
Developments in Flow Measurement, Harwell 1971, Paper No. 3
11. WHITE, W. R. Flat-vee weirs in alluvial channels. Proc. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng.,
97, HY3 (March 1971) 395-408
12. WHITE, W. R. The performance of two dimensional and flat-V triangular
profile weirs. Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., Suppl. (ii), (1971) 21-48
13. BURGESS, J. S. and WHITE, W. R. Triangular profile (Crump) weir: two
dimensional study of discharge characteristics. Report No. INT 52,
Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdome, 1952
14. HARRISON, A. J. M. and OWEN, M. W. A new type of structure for flow
measurement in steep streams, Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., (1967) 273-96
15. SMITH, C. D. Open channel water measurement with the broad-crested
weir. Int. Commun. Irr. Drainage Bull., (1958) 46-51
16. HOSEGOOD, P. H. and BRIDLE, M. K. A feasibility study and develop-
ment programme for continuous dilution gauging. Report No. 6, Institute
of Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdom
17. ISO/R 55, 1966 Liquid flow measurement in open channels; dilution
methods for measurement of steady flow. Part 1, Constant rate injection
18. LITTLEWOOD, I. G. Research and development of a streamflow dilution
gauging technique for the Llyn Brianne Acid Waters Study, Wales, Depart-
ment of Geography, University College, Swansea, 1986
19. AASTAD, J. and S<1>GNEN, R. Discharge measurements by means of a salt
solution; the relative dilution method. Proc. lASH General Assembly,
Rome 1954, Vol. 3, pp. 289-292
20. HERSCHY, R. W. and LOOSEMORE, W. R. The ultrasonic method of river
flow measurement. Symp. on River Gauging by Ultrasonic and Electro-
magnetic Methods, University of Reading, Dec. 1974
21. FOSTER, W. E. Experience with the construction and engineering operation
of ultrasonic gauging stations. Symp. on River Gauging by Ultrasonic
and Electromagnetic Methods, University of Reading, Dec. 1974
22. BOYER, M. C. Determining discharge of gauging stations affected by variable
slope. Civ. Eng., 9, (1939) 556
23. MITCHELL, W. D. Stage-faIl-discharge relations for steady flow in prismatic
channels. U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1164, Washington
D.C., 1954
24. STEVENS, J. C. A method of estimating stream discharge from a limited
number of gaugings. Eng. News, 18 July 1907
25. KOELZER, V. A. Reservoir Hydraulics. Handbook of Applied Hydraulics
(ed. by C. V. Davis and K. E. Sorenson), 3rd editon, McGraw-Hill, New
York, 1969, Section 4
26. Low Flow Studies, Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdom,
January 1980
27. University of Salford, Department of Civil Engineering. Small-scale hydro-
electric potential of Wales, Department of Energy, London, 1980
Further reading
HERSCHY, R. W. New methods of river gauging. Facets of Hydrology (ed. J. C.
Rodda), John Wiley, New York, 1976, Chapter 5
Surface Runoff 145
HORTON, R. E. Erosional development of streams and their drainage basins.
Bull Geol. Soc. Am., 56 (March 1954) 275
Logarithmic plotting of stage-discharge observations. Tech. Note 3. Water
Resources Board, Reading, 1966.
NASH, J. E. and SHAW, B. L. Flood frequency as a function of catchment
characteristics. Inst. Civ. Eng. Symposium on River Flood Hydrology, 1966,
pp. 115-6
RODDA, J. C. The significance of characteristics of basin rainfall and morpho-
metry in a study of floods in the United Kingdom. Int. Assoc. Sci. Hydrol.
Symposium on Floods and their Computation, Leningrad. International
Association of Scientific Hydrology, 85 (1967) 834
SMOOT, G. F. and NOYAK, C. E. Measurement of discharge by the moving
boat method. U.S. Geological Survey Tech. Water Resources Inv., Bk. 3
(1969)All
STRAHLER, A. N. Statistical analysis of geomorphic research. J. Geol., 62, No. 1
(1954)
Problems
6.1 A river gauging gives Q = 4010 m 3 /s. The gauging took 3 h during which the
gauge fell 0.15 m. The slope of the river surface at the gauging site at the time
was 80 mm in 500 m, and the cross-section approximated a shallow rectangle
200 m wide by 11 m deep. What adjusted value of discharge would you use?
What value of n in Manning's formula results?
6.2 The following discharge observations have been made on a river

Gauge height Measured discharge Rise + or fall -
(ft.) (ft. 3/S xl 000) (ft./h)
lOA 50
12.2 65
13.9 77
14.3 80
22.3 150
27.3 180 -0.32
28.1 228 +0.80
30.8 256 +0.525
32.6 225 -0.36
35.2 251 -0.355
38.9 338 + 0.345
40.3 316 -0.22
40.8 352 +0.18
41.5 333 -0.235
42.2 362
Using Boyer's method adjust the figure for slope variation to produce a steady
flow discharge rating curve for the river.
6.3 Explain how observations of river discharge at particular gauge heights can
be corrected so that they fall on a smooth curve, and explain why this is desirable.
A river discharge was measured at Q = 2640 m 3 /s. During the 100 minutes of
the measurement the gauge height rose from 50.40 to 50.52 m. Level readings
upstream and downstream differed by 100 mm in 700 m. The flood wave
celerity was 2.2 m/so Give the corrected rating curve co-ordinates.
6.4 An unregulated stream provides the following volumes over an 80-day

period at a possible reservoir site
Day Runoff volume Day Runoff volume Day Runoff volume

(m 3 x 10 6 ) (m 3 x10 6 ) (m 3 x 106 )
0 0 28 0.7 56 0.6
2 2.0 30 0.8 58 1.2
4 3.2 32 0.8 60 1.4
6 2.3 34 0.7 62 1.8
8 2.1 36 0.7 64 2.0
10 1.8 38 0.5 66 2.3
12 2.2 40 0.4 68 3.2
14 0.9 42 0.7 70 3.4
16 0.5 44 0.8 72 3.5
18 0.3 46 0.4 74 3.7
20 0.7 48 0.3 76 2.8
22 0.7 50 0.2 78 2.4
24 0.6 52 0.2 80 2.0
26 1.2 54 0.4
(a) Plot the data in the form of a mass diagram.

(b) Determine average, maximum and minimum flow rates.
(c) What reservoir capacity would be needed to ensure maintenance of
average flow for these 80 days if the reservoir is full to start with?
(d) How much water would be wasted in spillage in this case?
6.5 The average domestic per capita demand for water in an expanding com-
munity is 0.20 m 3 /day. Industrial demand is 30 per cent of total domestic
requirements. The town has 100000 inhabitants now and is expected to double
its population in future.
Water is supplied from a river system with existing storage capacity of 10 7 m 3
and whose mean daily discharges for each month of the year are as follows
(thousands of m 3 )
Surface Runoff 147
Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
290 250 388 150 64.5 50 64.5 117 283 388 317 385
Compensation water of 1.5 m 3 /s is to be provided constantly.

Find, to a first approximation and for an average year, the additional storage
capacity that will have to be provided if the population doubles in size. Also
determine the quantity of water spilled to waste in such a year and compare it
with the wastage now. Assume the existing storage is half full on 1 January.
6.6 A community of 60000 people is increasing in size at a rate of 10 per cent

per annum. Average demand per head (for all purposes) is currently 0.20 m 3 /day
and rising at a rate of 5 per cent per annum. The existing water supply has a safe
yield of 0.5 m 3 /s. A river is to be used as an additional source of supply. Its
mean daily discharges for each month of the water-year are listed below in
thousands of m 3
April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March
220 250 370 670 865 1630 670 530 270 300 280 280
Allowing for compensation water of 3 m 3 /s from October-March inclusive

and 5 m 3 /s from April-September inclusive, determine to a first approximation
the storage capacity required on the river to ensure the community's water
supply 20 years from now, assuming present trends continue, and that the
reservoir would be full at the end of November.
6.7 list eight characteristics of drainage basins affecting their discharge hydro-
graphs and comment on each.
6.8 A river gauging gives Q = 2060 m 3 /s. The gauging took 2 h during which the
gauge fell 0.12 m. The river surface slope at the time was 5 cm in 400 m and the
cross-section of the river at the site was 300 m wide by 4 m deep.
What adjusted discharge would you use? What is Manning's n for this river at
this time, and what does the value indicate about the river's condition?
6.9 The two-year monthly discharges of a river into a reservoir are listed below
Month Monthly discharge (m 3 x 103)

Year 1 Year 2
January 576 102

February 658 308
March 287 432
April 329 533
May 370 390
June 247 287
July 102 164
August 21 123
September 21 123
October 21 141
November 41 183
December 83 221
Draw a mass diagram of inflow and determine the following.
(a) If the reservoir is full at the end of February, year 1, what is the permis-
sible draw-off in lis so that the reservoir may be full at the end of June,
year 2?
(b) If the reservoir is full at the beginning of January, year 1, and the draw
off is 60 lis for the first year and 80 lis for the second year, what will be
the state of storage in the reservoir at the end of December, year 2?
(c) What storage capacity will be required in the reservoir in the second case
to ensure the required discharges may be supplied?
6.10 An unregulated river has monthly mean flows (in m 3 /s) as follows:
Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
5.4 8.3 9.1 8.8 6.3 6.9 10.2 13.7 19.4 16.7 11.0 21.9
Allowing compensation water of 4.0 m 3 /s and reservoir losses of 0.5 m 3 /s, what
storage capacity of reservoir is required to ensure that, on average, no water is
spilled? What would the average net yield of the reservoir then be? Assume
30-day months.
6.11 (a) Draw a flow duration curve from the tabulated data below -the mean
monthly discharge (flows in m 3 /s) of a source of water.
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
January 110 180 193

February 102 118 109
March 97 88 99
April 84 79 91
May 70 56 82
June 62 52 74
July 45 47 68
August 67 35 43
Surface Runoff 149
September 82 60 30
October 134 75 48
November 205 98 49
December 142 127 63
If a hydro-power plant is to be developed at the site to which the data refers and
where the head available is 15 m, what would be a reasonable first estimate of
plant capacity and annual energy production on the basis of the data? Justify
your choice.
(b) What is the mean monthly flow with a return period of once in 10 years?
6.12 The monthly inflow (in millions of m 3 ) to a reservoir with 100 km 2

surface area is listed below for a 24 month period.
Month Year 1 Year 2 Month Year 1 Year 2

1 35 38 7 14 6
2 28 30 8 17 15
3 25 24 9 23 20
4 16 12 10 27 28
5 10 8 11 36 40
6 9 7 12 40 42
Losses from evaporation are assumed to be 0.10 m/month. Compensation water

of 0.3 m3 /s is constantly released.
If the reservoir was full at the end of month 3, year 1, and full again at the
end of month 12, year 2, calculate
(a) the constant net yield over the period of2 years
(b) the total water spilled
(c) the storage capacity necessary.
6.13 It is proposed to develop a waterfall for hydro-electric power. The flow

duration curve is given in tabular form below. The available head is 70 m.
Make a first estimate of installed capacity and annual energy production.
% time equalled 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

or exceeded
Q (m 3 Is) 4.5 3.5 2.9 2.5 2.2 1.9 1.6 1.4 1.1 0.5
7 Hydrograph Analysis
7.1 Components of a natural hydrograph

The various contributing components of a natural hydrograph are shown in
figure 7.1. To begin with there is baseflow only; that is, the groundwater con-
tribution from the aquifers bordering the river, which go on discharging more
and more slowly with time. The hydrograph of baseflow is near to an exponen-
tial curve and the quantity at any time is represented very nearly by
Qt = Qoe- at
where Qo = discharge at start of period
Qt = discharge at end of time t
Q = coefficient of aquifer
e = base of natural logarithms.
As soon as rainfall begins there is an initial period of interception and infil-
tration before any measurable runoff reaches the stream channels, and during
the period of rain these losses continue in a reduced form as discussed previously;
so the raingraph has to be adjusted to show net, or effective rain. When the
initial losses are met, surface runoff begins and continues to a peak value, which
occurs at a time t p ' measured from the centre of gravity of the raingraph of net
rain. Thereafter it declines along the recession limb until it completely dis-
appears. Meantime the infiltration and percolation that has been continuing
during the gross rain period results in an elevated groundwater table, which
therefore contributes more at the end of the storm flow than at the beginning
but thereafter is again declining along its depletion curve.
Surface runoff is, for convenience, assumed to contain two other components:
channel precipitation and interflow. Channel precipitation is that portion of the
total catchment precipitation that falls directly on the stream, river and lake
surfaces. It is usually ~mall but if large lakes are present in the catchment it can
be quite important and then requires separate treatment. Interflow refers to
water travelling horizontally through the upper horizons of the soil, perhaps in
150
Hydrograph Analysis 151
.-
~
.;;:; net or effective rain
c
centre of gravity
~~
_E
:25 ;;;::; loss curve
c .If'-"
~-4---+--~---------------------------
"-
.groundwater "
deplelion curve "-
exlrapolated .....--...:
-----
Groundwater contri bution
to stream flow
Time (hours or days) ~
Figure 7.1 Component parts of a natural hydrograph

artificial tile drain systems or above hard-pans or impermeable layers immediately
below the surface. Such flow can vary from nothing to appreciable fractions of
total runoff.
Since the groundwater contribution to flood flow is quite different in
character from surface runoff it should be analysed separately, and one of the
first requirements in hydrograph analysis therefore is to separate these two.
7.2 The contribution of baseflow to stream discharge

Since baseflow represents the discharge of aquifers, changes occur slowly and
there is a lag between cause and effect that can easily extend to periods of days
or weeks. This will depend on the transmissibility of the aquifers bordering the
stream and the climate. Some of the infinite number of natural conditions are
considered below.
A broad distinction should be made between influent and effluent streams.
An influent stream is one where the baseflow is negative; that is the stream feeds
the groundwater instead of receiving from it (for example, irrigation channels
operate as influent streams and many natural rivers that cross desert areas also
do so). The negative contribution is taking place at the expense of contributing
aquifers on other parts of the stream, since there can be no baseflow from a
wholly influent stream. Such a stream (for example, a Middle Eastern wadi) will
dry up completely in rainless periods and is called ephemeral; it has a hydro-
graph of the form of figure 7.2.
Time-
Figure 7.2 Hydrograph of an ephemeral stream
An effluent stream on the other hand is fed by the ground water and acts as
a drain for bordering aquifers. The great majority of streams in Britain and
Europe are in this category.
Intermittent streams are those that act as both influent and effluent streams
according to season, tending to dry up in the dry season.
Perennial streams are greatly in the majority, with a low dry-season flow fed
by baseflow, and are mainly effluent streams, though. many perennial rivers
crossing different geological formations of varying permeability and subject
to different climates are both influent and effluent at different parts of their
courses. A good example of this is the river Euphrates in Iraq. Figure 6.18 shows a
part-annual hydrograph of the river Euphrates and the slow seasonal variation of
the baseflow can be observed. This baseflow is derived principally from the
headwaters of the catchment in northern Iraq, Turkey and Syria. At Hit, where
the hydrograph was observed, the river for much of the year is influent.
Bank storage describes the portion of runoff in a rising flood that is absorbed
by the permeable boundaries of a water course above the normal phreatic
surface, it is illustrated in figures 7.3 and 7.4. In the latter figure the direction of
the arrows showing influx of groundwater to the stream will be reversed during
the flood period while the surface level of the stream is above the phreatic
Figure 7.3 Influent stream

Bank s lorage
v
1
Flood level
normal oulflow
of groundw-ot-er---
Figure 7.4 Effluent stream
surface. As a result the hydrograph of a particular flood might well have a base-
flow contribution as indicated in figure 7.5. Such a separation as is shown there
is virtually impossible to make quantitatively but it is qualitatively correct.
In many natural rivers, depending naturally on bank permeability and the
slope of the phreatic surface, the variation in base flow will be much less than
indicated in figure 7.S and will cause only a slight dip from the extrapolation of
the depletion curve, followed by a gradual rise to a higher-than-initial value as
indicated in figure 7.6.
7.3 Separation of baseflow and runoff

It has been shown in the preceding paragraphs that the dividing line between
runoff and baseflow is indeterminate and can vary widely. Since, to analyse its
'"'"o
.<:
<.>
o'" increase in baseflow
after flood
_--
.......... //..-,
"",,
.....
If baseflow
/
\
"'':'</..'"',"- negative baseflow
lime- or bank storage
Figure 7.5 Negative baseflow

.,
~
o
.cc
u prob.oble separation
'"
(5 extropolated line
de.pletion curve
-.~.~~.~~.~.~.~.~ ........ .
baseflow
Time~
Figure 7.6 Basej70w separation
precise position would require a detailed knowledge of the geohydrology of the

catchment, including the areal extent and transmissibility of the aquifers, it is
generally more practical to use a consistent separation technique. Which of the
following is used depends on the data available.
If a continuous discharge record of the stream, over a period of a few years,
is available, the hydrograph should be plotted in the manner of figure 7.7(a).
This is examined for portions that include recession curves running into baseflow
contribution only, after runoff has ceased, at as many different stages as possible.
These sections are abstracted from the continuous hydrograph and plotted again
to a log Q vertical scale and linear time scale, as shown in figure 7 .7(b). Starting
with the lowest recession flow in the record, a curve is now constructed that is
tangential to the lower portions (that is, the true depletion curves) of the log Q
abstracted plots. This is most easily done by moving tracing paper over the plots,
with the abscissae coincident, until each log Q plot in successive increasing
magnitude fits into the growing curve and extends it fractionally upward. The
tangential curve thus established to the highest stage possible is then converted
back to the linear vertical scale and is called the master depletion curve for the
particular gauging station. It can now be applied to the hydrograph of a particular
storm period in the manner indicated in figure 7.8 whereby the depletion curves
are fitted together at their lower ends and the point of divergence marked as N.
N represents the point at which surface runoff has effectively ceased and a
straight line is drawn to it from the point of sudden rise. This line, shown
dashed in figure 7.8, represents the base line of the hydrograph of surface run-
off, which can then be analysed.
While the procedure outlined above is probably the best available, it does
depend on previously observed data that are not always available. An alternative
<:)
.,
~
o
.:
u
is'"
Time-
(a) ::::t:
~
a
cc
iil
'0
Recession curves ore plaited so that their :::r
lower ends (where the flow is only boseflow) l>
::I
I
___ ~ to":"'.' to. ~...... liM Master depletion curve ~
iij"
replolled linearly
Cl <:)
go .,
...J 2:1~ ~
o
ReSUllill9l~~t!
plot of the ~ D ~II' .:
u
master depletion curve I i
is'"
---
Time units Time units
(b) (c)
Figure 7.7 Derivation of a master depletion curve. (a) Normal hydrograph with recession curves selected. -0&
U'I
(b) Log plot of recession curves. (c) Linear plot of master depletion curve U'I
Time-
Figure 7.8 Procedure to separate baseflow
procedure is to establish the point of greatest curvature on the recession limb of

the hydrograph. This is perhaps most easily done by computing the ratio between
Q at any time and say 2 h (or any convenient interval) later. An example will
illustrate the method. Figure 7.9 is the observed hydro graph of a river over a
period of several days. It is desired to separate surface runoff and baseflow.
I ID I I I I
120 I--+--+-I--+--+-~""'De(ak - 1;)+1'3~ hange Df slope-
.. 1;)......, /
110 1--+-+--+--+-1-t7"I~......
I
-+-
"' ~
"2 ~'....
100 I--+--+--I-+--+-++-rl---+>t/i. 1'1 "',
90 r-+--r-+-~~-+-H~+-'\
I I \. I
I'O~~~~~~~
I I ....; .... '1
6-11 intervals
80
I i\
~ r-+--+----1I-+-+I+--r...,'I+--+-----1I-\-\-+-~ThiS vertical
E 70
I I N' \ I the 6 h time interval
bisects
eo 60 I---l--+-I--hl-+-L'*==*==I=~~ between Oand 0. 6 for
0
.,
.J:.
50
I
surface runoff / \ I the point at change of slope
\1:
u
'0 I
40
)
30 . __ f.--
20
1/ -I-
baseflow
10
2 3 4 5 6 7
Time (days)
Figure 7.9 Alternative method of separating baseflow

Starting at point A and using a 6-h separation for successive ratios, the compu-
tations are as shown in table 7.1.
It can be seen from the inset graph of the ratio Q/Q+6 against time interval
on figure 7.9 that two separate slopes are apparent, the upper being associated
with runoff and the other with groundwater depletion. At their intersection, the
TABLE 7.1 Computation to assist in finding N
Day Hour Q+6 Ratio

(mq/s) (m 3 /s) Q/Q+6
5 1200 60.1 47.5 1.27

1800 47.5 39.0 1.22
2400 39.0 33.2 l.l8
6 0600 33.2 28.6 l.l6

1200 28.6 25.2 l.l3
1800 25.2 22.7 l.l1
2400 22.7 20.9 1.09
7 0600 20.9 19.7 1.06

1200 19.7 18.9 1.04
1800 18.9 18.2 1.04
2400 18.2
critical ratio can be determined and the first point beyond the region of inter-
section on the groundwater side gives a conservative position for N. The subse-
quent hydrograph analysis is not very sensitive to the precise position of Nand
either 0300 h or 0600 h on day 6 would be satisfactory. A straight line is now
drawn to N from the point where the hydrograph started to rise, as before, The
total amount of runoff can now be obtained by measuring the area under the
curve and above the straight line.
The position of N is important also in synthesising hydrographs, as will be
seen in section 7.11, since it partly defines the baselength of the hydrograph.
The baselength is made up of the part before the peak, which depends on the
length of the period of rain and te the period of concentration, and the recession
limb after the peak, which depends primarily on the character of the catchment.
From observations on many natural catchments the position of N can be estab-
lished empirically from table 7.2 in days after the peak of the flood.
7.4 Evaluation of baseflow. A method of evaluating baseflow for an ungauged

catchment is given in reference 1. Through regression analysis of CWI (see
section 4.4.4) and catchment characteristics of a large number of British catch-
ments, the following equation is proposed for the 'average non-separated flow'
or AN SF
ANSF = (3.26 x 10- 4 ) (CWI - 125) + (7.4 x 10-4 ) RSMD + (3 x 10- 3 )
(7.1)
TABLE 7.2 Catchment area as a guide to N
Catchment Time from

area peak to N
(km 2 ) (days)
250 2
1250 3
5000 4
12500 5
25000 6
where ANSF is baseflow in m 3 /s/km 2 and RSMD is an index of flood potential

dependent on climate, and is defined in section 9.4.
7.5 The unit hydrograph

Having derived the hydrograph of surface runoff by the methods discussed in
preceding sections, the problem now arises of how it can be correlated with the
rainfall that caused it. Clearly the quantity and intensity of the rain both have a
direct effect on the hydrograph but it has not yet been made clear how, and to
what extent, each of these affects it. The method of doing this is a part-empirical
technique that uses the concept of the unit hydrograph (also called the unit-
graph), first described by Sherman [2] .
It should be emphasised that the correlation sought is between the net or
effective rain (that is, the rain remaining as runoff after all losses by evaporation,
interception and infiltration have been allowed for) and the surface runoff (that
is, the hydrograph of runoff minus baseflow).
The method involves three principles, which are as follows.
1. With uniform-intensity net rainfall on a particular catchment, different

intensities of rain of the same duration produce runoff for the same period
of time, although of different quantities. This is an empirical rule that is
approximately true and is illustrated in figure 7.10.
2. With uniform-intensity net rain on a particular catchment, different
intensities of rain of the same duration produce hydrographs of runoff,
the ordinates of which, at any given time, are in the same proportion to
each other as the rainfall intensities. That is to say, that n times as much
rain in a given time will give a hydrograph with ordinates n times as large.
In figure 7.1 0 the ordinates at time t 1 are np and p respectively for rain-
fall intensities of ni and i.
3. The principle of superposition applies to hydro graphs resulting from con-
tiguous and/or isolated periods of uniform-intensity net rain. This is illu-
strated in figure 7.11 where it can be seen that the total hydrograph of
runoff due to the three separate storms is the sum of three separate
hydrographs.
net rain only shown
hydrograph of ni mm/h for I h

hydrograph of i mm/h for I h
~
E
-; np
T= base length, the same
2'"u p in both cases
6'"
"I
Figure 7.10 Proportional principle of the unitgraph
?:-
" ..,
c
.s net rain only
c
~ ~~~~~--~~-----------------------
resulting runoff hydrograph

obtained by summing the
Cl>
ordinates of the three
'"[;
.<::
cam parent hydrographs
u
6'"
Time
Figure 7.11 Principle of superposition applied to unitgraphs
Having established these principles the concept of unit rain is now introduced.
A unit of rain can be any specified amount, measured as depth on the catch-
ment, usually 1 cm or 1 in. but not exclusively so. The unit rain then must all
appear as runoff in the unit hydrograph. The area under the curve of the hydro-
graph has the dimensions of instantaneous discharge multiplied by time, or
L3
- - x T:: L 3 :: volume of runoff
T
so that although unit rain is spoken of as 1 cm over the whole of the catchment
area the resulting runoff is given in cubic metres, and the quantities involved are
identical. If the unitgraph for a particular catchment, and a particular duration
of rain is known, then from principle 2, the runoff from any other rain of the
same duration can be predicted.
This is a first step towards the complete correlation sought, but if the rainfall
should be of different duration from that of the unitgraph then the unitgraph
must be altered before it can be used.
7.6 Unit hydrographs of various durations
7.6.1 Changing a short duration unitgraph to a longer duration unitgraph. The

simplest way to produce a unitgraph for a longer duration of rain is illustrated
in figure 7.12.
10
.....
Time (h)
4-h unit hydrogroph
Time(h)-
Figure 7.12 Changing a short period unitgraph to a long period one

(if the long is an even multiple of the short)
Suppose a 2h unitgraph is given and a 4-h unitgraph is wanted. This can be

obtained by assuming a further 2-h period of net rain immediately following
the first, which will give rise to an identical unitgraph but shifted to the right in
time by 2 h. If the two 2-h unitgraphs are now added graphically, the total
hydrograph obtained represents the runoff from 4 h of rain at an intensity of
t cm/h. (This must be so because the 2-h unitgraph contains 1 cm rain.) This
total hydrograph is therefore the result of rain at twice the intensity required
and so the 4-h unitgraph is derived by dividing its ordinates by 2. This is shown
as the dashed line on figure 7.12. It will be observed that it has a longer time
base by 2 h than the 2-h unitgraph; this is reasonable since the rain has fallen at
a lower intensity for a longer time.
7.6.2 Changing a long duration unitgraph to a shorter duration unitgraph. To

derive a short-rain period unitgraph from that for a longer period it is necessary
to use an S-curve technique. An S-curve is simply the total hydrograph resulting
from a series of continuous uniform-intensity storms deliverying 1 cm in t 1 h on
the catchment; that is, it is the hydrograph of runoff of continuous rainfall at
an intensity of 1/t l ' Such a hydrograph has the form of figure 7.13, the discharge
of the catchment becoming constant after t e , the time of concentration, when
every part of the catchment is contributing and conditions are in a steady state.
Thus each S-curve is unique for a particular unitgraph duration, in a particular
drainage basin.
If a second S-curve is drawn one unit period to the right of the first, then
clearly the difference between the two S-curves expressed graphically equals the
runoff of one t1 h unitgraph.
If the unitgraph for a short period storm of t2 h is required, it can be obtained
by drawing the S-curve again, but shifted only t2 h along the time axis. The
graphical difference between ordinates of the two S-curves now represents the
runoff of t2 h rain at an intensity of 1/t1 cm/h. The ordinates of this S-curve
difference graph must therefore be multiplied by t tit 2 so that the rain intensity
represented is 1/t2 cm/h, which is the intensity required for the t2 unitgraph.
The procedure is illustrated in figure 7.13 .
'.xcE 1/ t , m'77?777.'r77;'V77777."7n'77771'7:"7n777.'r77;'?V7777-"7n'777777-'7777:0
E
278A (km')
o Q.= t,(h)-
o Time-
Figure 7.13 Transposing unitgraphs by S-curves
If the time base of the unitgraph is T h, then steady-state runoff must occur
at T h and so only Tit 1 unitgraphs are necessary to develop constant outflow
and so produce an S-curve. The equilibrium flow, Qe, can easily be obtained
since 1 cm on the catchment is being supplied and removed every t 1 h:
or Qe = 645A
t1
where A is catchment area (km 2 ) where A is catchment area (mile 2 )

t 1 is duration (h) t1 is duration (h)
and Qe is in m 3 Is. and Qe is in ft.3 Is.
It will be apparent that the method can be used for altering the unit period
either way, longer or shorter, and that if changing from shorter to longer dura-
tion then t 2 need not be a direct multiple of t l' Although the method has been
described graphically, in practice its application is usually made in tabular form
and example 7.1 illustrates it.
Example 7.1. Given the 4-h unit hydrograph listed in column (2) of table 7.3
derive the 3-h unit hydrograph. The catchment area is 300 km 2
TABLE 7.3 S-curve method (all values except those in columns

(1) are in units ofm 3 /s)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Time 4-h S-curve S-curve lagged Column (4) Column 6 x

(h) unitgraph additions columns S-curve minus column (5) (4/3) = 3-h
(2)+(3) unitgraph
0 0 0 0 0
1 6 6 6 8
2 36 36 36 48
3 66 66 0 66 88
4 91 0 91 6 85 113
5 106 6 112 36 76 101
6 93 36 129 66 63 84
7 79 66 145 91 54 72
8 68 91 159 112 47 63
9 58 112 170 129 41 55
10 49 129 178 145 33 44
11 41 145 186 159 27 36
12 34 159 193 170 23 31
13 27 170 197 178 19 25
14 23 178 201 186 15 20
15 17 186 203 193 10 13.5 a
16 13 193 206 197 9 12a
17 9 197 206 201 5 6.5 a
18 6 201 207 203 4 5.5 a
19 3 203 206 206 0 Oa
20 1.5 206 207 206 1 1.5 a
21 0 206 206 207 - 1
aSlight adjustment is required to the tail of the 3-h unitgraph. This is most easily done
by eye (see figure 7.14).
120
110 I-
1\
100
/ it,
fi I "
\~:-h unilgraph derived from S-curve
I
90 r-
4-h unilgraph given
80
I/
\~\
-;;; 70 r-
;;,.
'.
'~\
.eo
. 60
<> 50
.c;
u
on
0 40
./
I
'\\
'\~
..
t \\
30 \~,
ff ,t~
20
".~t
10 -#
:j
.~
;~ ...
1 1 ::1"".....L......
00 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
Time (h)
Figure 7.14 Unitgraph derived by S-curve method
The S-curve equilibrium flow Qe = (2.78 x 300)/4 = 208 m3 /s.
It will be noted that Qe = 208 m3 /s, as calculated, agrees very well with the
tabulated S-curve terminal value 207. This is an indication that the 4-h period of
the unitgraph is correctly assessed. Very often with an uneven rainfall distribu-
tion, an attempt has to be made to reduce the net rain to a uniform-intensity
rain of a particular duration. The S-curve can in this way serve as a check on the
chosen value. If the S-curve terminal value had fluctuated wildly and not steadied
to a minor variation it would have indicated an incorrect rainfall-time for the
unitgraph.
Note also that it was not necessary in table 7.3 to set out Tit 1 columns of the
4-h unitgraphs, and add them laterally. The S-curve additions are the S-curve
ordinates shifted in time by 4 h. Since the first 4 h of unitgraph and S-curve are
the same, the S-curve additions and S-curve columns are filled in, in alternate
steps. The effect is the same as setting out rows of unitgraph ordinates succes-
sively staggered by 4 h, since the S-curve additions represent the sum of all
previous unitgraph ordinates.
7.7 The unit hydrograph as a percentage distribution

The distribution graph, first used by Bernard [3], represents the unitgraph in
the form of percentages of total flow occurring in particular unit periods. Since
the discharge represented by a unitgraph is directly proportional to net rain, the
percentages in unit times will remain constant whatever the net rain. This is a
useful means of applying the unitgraph method in some cases.
In figure 7.15 a unit hydrograph is shown, together with the derived distri-
bution graph that represents it. The areas under the curve and under the step
Time (h) -+-

(0)
40
32
C
Cl> 30
u
~
3-
cv
~ 20
0 20
<:
u
17
'"
U
0
; 10
4
05
0
Unit periods
(b)
Figure 7.15 (a) Unit hydrograph. (b) Derived distribution graph
line are the same and so, in deriving unitgraphs from distribution percentages, a
smooth line must be drawn through the steps to give equal areas.
The distribution graph is therefore less precise than the hydrograph but is
much better suited for iterative processes of derivation, as will be seen in section
7.8.
7.8 Derivation of the unit hydrograph
The unitgraph for a particular catchment can be derived from the natural hydro-
graph resulting from any storm that covers the catchment and is of reasonably
uniform intensity. If the catchment is very large that is, greater than (say) 5000
km2), it may never be covered by a uniform-intensity storm, since these are
limited in size by meteorolOgical conditions. In such a case the catchment should
be divided up into tributary catchments and the unitgraphs for each of these
determined separately.
The first step is to separate the baseflow from surface runoff (section 7.3)
and plot the runoff and the rain graph on the same time base. The quantity
of net storm rain must then be estimated and its intensity and duration estab-
lished. A check is now made on the quantity of net rain on the catchment and
the amount of runoff under the hydrograph. These should be the same and one
or the other may require adjustment.
The unitgraph can now be obtained by dividing the runoff hydrograph
ordinates by the net rain in cm. The adjusted ordinates represent the unitgraph
for the particular duration established.
It is always advisable to determine several unitgraphs, using separate and
distinct isolated uniform-intensity storms, if available. Natural events like rain-
storms and runoff are affected by a multiplicity of factors and no two are
precisely the same. Frequently the best natural data will be for different rain
durations and the resulting unitgraphs will require to be altered to the same
duration (section 7.6). Once a number of such hydrographs has been obtained
for the same duration, an 'average' or typical unitgraph can be determined as
shown in figure 7.16. The ordinates are not averaged since this would produce
an untypical peak. The peak values of the sel'arate unitgraphs are averaged as are
the values of the time from the beginning of runoff to the peak. These values are
assigned to the average unitgraph which is then sketched in to a median form on
both rising and falling limbs, so that the total area under the curve is equal to
1 cm runoff.
7.9 Unit hydrographs from complex or multi-period storms

While the approach outlined in section 7.8 is simple and direct, it presupposes
that the records contain a number of isolated, uniform-intensity storms and the
corresponding natural hydrographs. Frequently this is not the case and methods
are required for deriving unitgraphs from more complex storms, involving vary-
ing intensities of rain with runoff hydrographs consisting of several superimposed
separate storm hydrographs.
To derive unitgraphs from such records is more laborious than for simple
storms but a variety of methods is available, two of which are discussed below.
The first, described by Unsley et al. [4] requires the writing and successive
solving of a series of equations for each ordinate of the complex hydrograph,
coordinotions of position of average peak
(
~t '2ft3 PI+P2+P3 )
3 3
overage unitgraph
sketched to fit and
to canto in unit runoff
, Time
Figure 7.16 Average unit hydrograph from a number of derivations

for one catchment
base flow being assumed previously separated. The process may be illustrated
by reference to figure 7.17.
The first rain period, of duration and intensity t and i I respectively, gives rise
to runoff illustrated by the hypothetical hydrograph bounded by the lower
dashed line. Each ordinate of this hydrograph is ti I times the unitgraph ordinate
U I , U 2 . . . Un. Similarly, the second and third rains of intensity i2 and i3
respectively produce additional runoff whose ordinates in each case are ti 2 and
ti 3 , multiples of the t h unitgraph shifted appropriately in time. If the complex
hydrograph is now defined by ordinates at suitable equal intervals (conveniently
but not essentially fixed as a whole multiple of t h) then the first ordinate of the
unitgraph, UI, is obtained from Ql = tilU1 where Ql is the observed runoff,
hence U I can be found. For the second ordinate, Q2 =ti 1U2 + ti2U1 in which
equation U2 is the only unknown.
The third ordinate is similarly obtained from Q3 = ti 1 U 3 + ti 2U2 + ti 3U1
where U3 is now the only unknown. Proceeding in this way, the t h unitgraph
ordinates can be successively determined.
In the above illustration all the rain periods, although of different intensities,
were assumed to be of the same duration t h. This is a condition for the use of
the method since otherwise other variables U~. U; etc. (the ordinates of the t' h
unitgraph) would be introduced.
Although the method appears simple, since each U ordinate depends on the
preceding ones, and on the assumptions about intensity and duration of rainfall
net roin only
..e-
.o
s::.
u
Ci
Figure 7.17 Derivation of unit hydrograph from a multi-period storm

hydrograph
and deduction of an assumed base flow , errors accumulate and several trials and
restarts may be necessary to find a reasonable unitgraph.
The second method is Que to Collins [5] and is amongst the simplest of
various iterative methods proposed. To illustrate its use a unit hydrograph will
be derived from the data of rainfall and natural discharge for the catchment of
the River Rother at Woodhouse Mill in Yorkshire.
Collins' method for the determination of a unit hydrograph from a multi-period

storm. This method requires the initial selection of a set of coefficients, or
percentage distributions (see section 7.7) of the unitgraph. This distribution
graph is then applied to the various rain periods, excepting the largest one, and
the resulting discharge subtracted from the actual discharge to obtain a set of
'residuals'. These residuals should represent the discharge of the unit graph
applied to the largest rain. If the correspondence is poor, the initial coefficients
are altered and another trial is made. By a series of converging approximations,
the residual graph is made to correspond with the assumed distribution graph.
The procedure is set out below step by step and referred to the particular
case of the River Rother at Woodhouse Mill, for which a unit hydrograph is
derived from the storm of 14/15 May 1967. Phase A is standard procedure,
Phase B is the Collins' approach.
Phase A: assembling and preparing the data
(1) Assemble all rainfall data available for the catchment under considera-
tion and the storm period, including daily observations, recording rain-
gauge records and the synoptic weather maps of the region, if available.
(2) Derive a mean mass curve of rainfall for the catchment, for the period of
rain producing the hydrograph under study. Make provisional separation
of the rain into separate uniform periods.
The catchment of the River Rother at Woodhouse Mill, Yorkshire is
shown in figure 7.18. The continuous rainfall record (mass curve) at
Catchment area =
136 miles 2
012345 SUTTON-IN -ASHfIELD

o
Stalute miles
Figure 7.18 Catchment of the River Rother at Woodhouse Mill
Sutton-in-Ashfield for the period of the storm is shown in figure 7.19.

The dashed line superimposed on the mass curve represents the idealised
intensities used and plotted in the appropriate time period of figure 7.20.
The total rainfall depth is measured daily at Chesterfield in the centre of
the catchment. The total recorded at Chesterfield on 15 May at 9.00 a.m.
was 1.42 in., as against 1.43 in. at Sutton. The precipitation was frontal,
widespread and comparatively uniform and so the recorded rainfall at
Sutton has been assumed catchment-wide.
(3) Plot the hydrograph of total flow and separate base flow (section 7.3.).
In the hydrograph for the Rother at Woodhouse Mill (figure 7.20) the
position of the baseflow separation line was very indeterminate and so
14 1 1 J
~
c:'
12
Sulton rain recorder
trace
---/1 ~
/ /
V/
'0
..
.t:.
Ci.
"0
0'8
/1
c
1 rainfall rates assumed
...
.~
W in the analysis
0'6
V
~
1!
"E 0'4
"
u ,,/
0'2
,./
~
~
~
t200 1400 1600 '800 2000 2200 2400 0200 0400 0600 0800
- - - - - 14th May - - - - - -....~tt__--- 15th May--
Figure 7.19 Rainstorm of 14/15 May 1967, at Sutton-in-Ashfield
0'40
0'2
0'05 Vnet rain =065in.
0'1 ~ I index 00()5 in./h
0
t
2200
2000
Lf~
800
I ~/ Observed hydragraph
.f.
EiOO
~
VDerived distribution graph
- I 400
~
SI 200
'"~ 1000
o
s;;
u
800 r
VOlume=206'5l(lcf~- ~
-}
Runoff
i:5'"
r---..
"O65in. on '36 m',z
60 0
400
20C kiC -- - -- - Baseflow
L----f - -
I .1 I I I I I I
o 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80
Time (h)
Figure 7.20 Hydrograph of storm runoff and raingraph for River

Rother at Woodhouse Mill, Yorkshire, 14-1 7 May 1967
the end of surface runoff (the point N) was made about 2 days after
the peak.
(4) Decide upon a unit period. As a general rule this should be not greater
than onequarter of the time from start of runoff to peak. Consider the
provisional rain graph (from (2), page 168).
The choice of 4 h in this analysis was suitable for both rain and runoff
(5) Consider the soilmoisture deficit of the catchment and use the pindex
or fay method for estimating storm loss for each rain period. If ante
cedent precipitation indices have been kept for the catchment, use these.
Make an estimate of initial and subsequent loss rates. Compare the net
rain derived in this way with the surface runoff expressed as depth on the
catchment. If the two do not agree, one or the other must be adjusted.
The Rather catchment was wet, but not saturated, from light rains the
day previous to the storm. It seemed reasonable to assume the first
period's rain was lost entirely in making good the remaining soilmoisture
deficit. The index was subsequently chosen to balance the net rain with
surface runoff
Phase B: using the data to derive the unitgraph
(6) Tabulate the relevant data in columns (1)-(9) of a table similar to table
7.4 and provide columns for the number of unit periods in the unit
hydrograph under 'Distribution coefficients'.
The number of columns in table 7.4 under 'Distribution coefficients' is
16. This is the number of unit periods from the beginning of the last rain
period to the end of surface runoff
(7) Assume distribution coefficients of the unitgraph (representing percentage
of total runoff per unit period) and arrange in appropriate columns.
(8) Determine the discharge, which, flowing constantly for one unit period
would just equal 1 in. of net rain on the catchment.
This figure is found in this case to be
13~_x 27.9!,106 = 21960 ft. 3 /s

12 x 4 x 3600
(9) The first net rain is multiplied by this discharge and the product is
distributed in percentages across the distribution coefficient columns by
being multiplied in turn by each percentage coefficient. The various
numbers are entered in the columns diagonally.
In this case 0.05 x 21960 = 1098, so in the first column 0.05 x 1098 =
55 and so on. Note that 55 was entered opposite the corresponding rain
and not on the top row, which is ignored.
(l0) The procedure of (9), above, is repeated for all net rains except the largest
for which a dash is entered throughout.
It is purely fortuitous that the largest rain is at the end in this case.
TABLE 7.4 Derivation of unit hydrograph from a multi-period storm
(I) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11 ) (12) (13)
Day Time Period Rain Losses Net Aver- Basf!- Net Distribution CoeJflcients (per <:ent) Resi-
" /J"r
no. (in.) rain (in.) age flow Q 5.0 10.0 14.0 15.0 /3.5 //.0 8.5 6.2 4.0 3.3 2.6 2.1 1.7 1.4 1.0 0.7 duals CCllt
0.16 0.20 0 180 145 35

14 1200
May 0.25 0.20 0.05 290 160 130 55 55 75 (0.8)
0.40 0.20 0.20 580 175 405 220 110 330 75 (0.8)
2400
3 0.60 0.20. 0.40 1380 185 1195 440 154 594 bOI 6.9 %
-<
Q,
4 1950 200 1750 615 165 780 970 11.1
15 5 2030 215 1815 660 148 808 1007 11.5 a
May 6 2030 225 1805 594 121 715 1090 I ~.5 ca
...
7 1995 240 1755 484 93 577 1178 13.4 I
442 '1:1
8 1820 255 1565 374 68 1123 11.8 :::r
2400 l>
9 1450 270 1180 273 44 317 863 9.8 :I
10 1095 280 815 176 36 ~1.2 603 6.9 I
16 11 840 300 540 145 29 174 3bb 4.1 <!e.
May 12 720 315 405 114 24 138 :!b7 3.1 VI
13 640 325 315 97 19 lib 199 ~.3
14 570 340 230 75 15 90 140 1.6
2400
15 520 350 170 62 11 73 97 1.1
17 16 480 365 115 44 8 52 63 0.7
May 17 440 380 60 31 31 :!l) 0.3
18 420 395 25 0 25 0 ..1
2nd trial coefficients 6.4 10.9 12.6 13.5 13.4 12.5 9.4 6.7 4.1 3. 2.4 1.8 1.3 1.0 0.6 0.4 100.4
3nl trial coefficients 7.2 11.5 12.3 12.8 12.9 12.3 9.5 6.7 4.2 3. 2.5 1.8 1.3 1.0 0.5 0.3
Accepted coefficients 7.0 11.6 12.5 12.9 12.7 12.0 9.6 6.8 4.3 3. 2.5 1.8 1.3 1.0 0.5 0.3
...........
(1 I) The various discharges are now summed horizontally and entered in the
~ column.
(12) The ~ column discharge totals are now subtracted from column (9) and
the remainders entered in the 'Residuals' column. These residuals are
then converted into percentages of the unit distribution graph by dividing
by the discharge of (8) (see page 170) multiplied by the largest rain, and
subsequently multiplying by 100. The sum of the percentage column
should be 100. The percentages that cannot have been influenced by the
largest rainfall are bracketed and redistributed over the other coefficients
so that the total, 100 per cent, remains constant. These percentages
represent the distribution that would be necessary for the largest rain to
make good the net Q of column (9). If they are the same as the assumed
distribution coefficients then the unit distribution graph has been deter-
mined.
The residual 1090 of period 6 for example is converted thus
1090
x 100 == 12.5 per cent
0.40 x 21960
The percentages total comes to 100.4 because of rounding oft The

bracketed figures have not been redistributed since the next trial requires
fairly substantial changes in any case.
(13) If the differences between the trial coefficients and the adjusted (after
redistribution) coefficients are large, then a new trial set must be adopted
and steps (9)-(12) repeated until the differences are sufficiently small to
be ignored (say < I per cent). A weighted average of the previous trial and
resulting adjusted coefficients should be used, as follows.
If P == the sum of residuals
Q = the sum of discharges of all the periods during which the largest
rainfall would have been contributing
Cl = the trial coefficient
C2 = the calculated and adjusted coefficient
C 3 =the proposed new trial coefficient
then
C3 -- -
QC l +PC2
----
Q+P
Alternatively, the weighting is often simply done in proportion to the

total rain depth, the trial coefficients having the weighting of rain depths
actually used, and the computed coefficients that of the largest rainfall.
(14) It is always wise to plot the distribution graph before deciding on accept-
able coefficients. It may be found that small adjustments can help to give
a smooth curve for the adopted unitgraph.
In the illustrated case three trials were made with calculations and a
final adjustment (without recalculation) made after plotting the distribu-
tion graph and hence deriving the unitgraph shown in figure 7.21.
28 --.
~f-
2 600
2400 ~
~~,
Distribution graph from the
2200 vaccePted coefficients of table 7A
2 I
I
~~,
BOO IV Derived unit hydrograph

I
r
r~
,
.
I
400 t
..
I
\
~ I"""
..
I
~
u I
000 t
i5 I
I
800
I
I
600 I
400
'1.::::......
200
;: ~ I'-c::..-
o 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 6064GB
Time (h)
Figure 7.21 4-h unit hydrograph for River Rother at Woodhouse

Mill derived from the multi-period storm of figure 7.19
The method is particularly useful when the largest rainfall is very great com-
pared with the others since rapid convergence of the coefficients then takes
place. This was not the case in the example illustrated. Too much relianc~ should
not be placed on unitgraphs derived in this way until they have been used in
practice and/or derived from a series of different storms, since the loss rates
chosen have a critical influence on the resulting unitgraphs.
7.10 The instantaneous unit hydrograph

An extension of unitgraph theory is the concept of the instantaneous unit
hydrograph or IUH. The IUH is the hydrograph of runoff from the instantaneous
application of unit effective rain on a catchment.
Referring to figure 7.13 of section 7.6, the S-curve was seen to be simple
method of deriving a unitgraph of period T h from the unitgraph of any other
period t, by drawing two t h S-curves, T Ch) apart. This is expressed in the
equation
t
U(T, t) = -- (St - St-T) (7.2)
T
where U(T,t) represents the ordinates of the T-h unitgraph derived from those
of the t-h unitgraph. Now as T, progressively diminishing to zero, approaches
dt, the right-hand side of equation 7.2 approaches the S-curve derivation, as can
be seen graphically in figure 7.22. In equation form this is
In the limit (5,-5/-T) --d5,

and T --- dl
1-
Figure 7.22 The instantaneous unit hydrograph as the S-curve derivative
U(O, t) = d~~t)
that is, the ordinate of the IUH at any time t is given by dSt/dt at time t.
The IUH is a unique demonstration of a particular catchment's response to
rain, independent of duration, just as the unitgraph is its response to rain of a
particular duration. Since it is not time-dependent, the IUH is thus a graphical
expression of the integration of all the catchment parameters of length, shape,
slope condition etc. that control such a response.
The conversion of an IUH to a unitgraph of finite period is simple. The
ordinate of an n-h unitgraph at time t is the average ordinate of the IUH for
n h before t. From figure 7.23, it can be seen that the IUH is divided into n-h
time intervals, and the averages of the ordinates at the beginning and end of each
interval are plotted at the end of the intervals to provide the n-h unitgraph.
The IUH can be used to derive unitgraphs by flood routing as explained in
section 8.6.
7.11 Synthetic unit hydrographs

In preceding sections it has always been assumed that some records have been
available for the derivation of the unitgraph, but there are many catchments for
n (h)
Instantaneous unitgroph
Figure 7.23 The n (h) unitgraph derived from the [UH
which there are no runoff records at all and for which unitgraphs may be
required. In these circumstances hydrographs can be synthesised on the basis of
past experience in other areas and applied as first approximations to the unre-
corded catchment. Such devices are called synthetic unitgraphs.
The original approach is due to Snyder [6] who selected the three parameters
of hydrograph base width, peak discharge and basin lag as being sufficient to
define the unit hydrograph. These are shown in figure 7.24.
Snyder considered the catchment characteristics likely to affect unit hydro-
graph shape as being catchment area, shape of basin, topography, channel slopes,
stream density and channel storage. He eliminated all these parameters except
the first two by including them in a coefficient Ct. He dealt with the size and
shape of catchment by measuring the length of the main stream channel and he
proposed that
tp = Ct (L ca L)o.3
where tp =basin lag in h (that is, the time between mass centre of unit rain of
tr h duration and runoff peak flow.
Lea = distance from gauging station to centroid of catchment area, meas-
ured along the main stream channel to the nearest point, in miles.
L = distance from station to catchment boundary measured along the
main stream channel, in miles.
Ct = a coefficient depending on units and drainage basin characteristics
and varying between 1.8 and 2.2 for the Appalachian Highlands
catchments studied.
-- ..
"0
c: c:
-- G>
0_
~
.~
Ir .S
t,
net storm rain
I tp = basin lag (hI
.. "\
synthetic unitgraph
t
I. T = runoff duration (days I

1
Time 4
Figure 7.24 Synthetic unitgraph parameters
The equation for peak flow (per square mile of area) of the tr unit graph was
given by
640
qp =Cp.~ (7.3)
tp
where qp is in cubic feet per second, and Cp is a coefficient depending on units
and basin characteristics that varies between 0.56 and 0.69 for the Appalachian
catchments and generally approaches its largest value as Ct approaches its lowest
and vice versa.
Therefore the peak flow for the unit graph is
Q =C 640A
p p'
tp
where A = catchment area in square miles.
The duration of surface runoff, or unit hydrograph baselength, T was given
by Snyder by the empirical expression
T=3 +3 (~)
where T is in days and tp in hours. This expression gives a minimum baselength
of 3 days for even small areas, a period much in excess of delay attributable to
channel storage.
Snyder comments on this as being due to the 'subsurface storm flow', which
has been defined by Hursh [7] as 'that portion of the storm flow which inftl-
trates into the surface soil but moves away from the area through the upper
soil-horizons at a rate much in excess of normal groundwater seepage'. This is
what is referred to in recent literature as interflow and for most practical pur-
poses it is regarded as surface runoff.
t r , the unit rain period, was assumed to equal tp/5.5 in the study, since it was
necessary to choose a single standard in all the catchment for the derivation of
the formulae. This particular value was selected to make the unit of time equal
to a minimum value below which further decrease would have little or no effect
on basin lag or unitgraph peak discharge. If the actual length of the storm is not
equal to tro but is tR, equation 7.3 becomes
where qpR =peak discharge (per square mile) of the tR unitgraph, which allows
for the generally observed reduction in unitgraph peak flows with longer periods
of rain. Snyder proposed subsequently [8] an expression to allow for some
variation in basin lag with variation in effective rainfall duration
tpR = tp + (tR ~ t r)/4
where t pR = basin lag for a storm of duration tR'
linsley subsequently presented data [9] based on a study of Californian
catchments and suggested modifications of Snyder's formulae and gave values of
the various coefficients, as follows.
Basin lag: a new factor tpo was introduced-the basin lag of an instantaneous
storm~and used to derive tpR, which has the same meaning as before.
t po = Ct (L ea L)o.3 with Ct (average) = 0.5

tpR = tpo + (Cs - O.5)tR
where Cs (average) = 0.85.
Unitgraph peak flow (per square mile): qpR = Cp . 640ltpR, where Cp varies
between 0.35 and 0.50, and QpR = qpRA
Time base of unitgraph : T = 3 + (3 tpR/24) days
The degree of divergence of the coefficients is an indication of how important
it is to attempt to obtain some actual data on the lag in an ungauged catchment,
and thus enable the value of Ct to be used with reasonable assurance.
A further advance in the subject was made by Taylor and Schwarz [10] in
a study based on 20 drainage basins from 20 to 1600 square miles in area, in the
north and central Atlantic states of the USA. They used the parameters L, Lea
as before and also introduced the slope of the main watercourse by defining
Sst as the slope of a uniform channel having the same length as the longest
watercourse and an equal time of travel. The equations derived are as follows.
Basin lag: tpR =C'em'tR

where t pR = lag in h from centroid of net rain to hydrograph peak
tR = time in h from beginning to end of net rain
e = 2.7183
m' = rate of change of lag with storm duration
C' = lag of instantaneous unit hydrograph
m' and C' are derived from the following equations
m' = 0.212/(LL ca)o.36
C' = 0.6/v'(Sst)
where L and Lea have the same definitions as previously and
Sst = [ 1 I
n 1
J2
(lIS{ + l/Si + ... + l/Sit)
where n =Manning's coefficient of roughness for the natural watercourse

SI, S2 etc. = the slopes of individual sections, of equal length, into which the
main watercourse can be conveniently divided.
Peak discharge (per square mile) of unitgraph : qpR = C"e m tR

where
C" = 382(LL ca )-O.36

m" = O.l21SstO.142 - 0.05
Base width of unitgraph: T = 5(tpR + tR/2) h

The authors give a nomogram in their paper for the solution of equations and
make a number of observations about the use of their method. These include the
suggestions that major tributaries should be treated separately, and that the
equations should be limited' to the results of moderate and major storms of
uniform distribution over geographical areas similar to those from which they
were derived. The equations are given here as they form a useful addition to the
literature on synthesis of unitgraphs.
Unit hydrographs can also be synthesised by the methods of stream-flow
routing and section 8.6 describes such a technique. It has been placed in chapter
8 because a knowledge of routing procedure is essential to its understanding.
7.12 Synthetic unit hydrograph from catchment characteristics by the FSR
method
The FSR provides a method for synthesising a I-h unit hydrograph for an
un gauged catchment and for choosing an appropriate design rain to apply to
it [1].
The unit hydrograph is based on three parameters similar to those used by
previous investigators: time to peak, peak discharge and hydrograph base width.
However, the definitions are not quite the same.
The time to peak Tp (h) is the time to peak of a I-h unit hydrograph measured
from the start of response runoff, and is given by
Tp =46.6 (MSL)0.14 (SI085)-0.38 (1 + URBANr1.99 (RSMDro.4 (7.4)
where MSL is the main stream length (km), measured from the 1 :25 000 map
(a detailed procedure for obtaining MSL is given in reference 1
(1.4.2.2.) ).
S1085 is the slope obtained by identifying two points at distance of
10 per cent and 85 per cent respectively of the main stream
length from the catchment outfall as shown on 1 :25 000 maps
and determining the difference in their elevations and the
stream length between them. This slope is defined in m/km.
URBAN is the fraction of catchment in urban development.
RSMD is the I-day M5 rainfall, less effective mean soil moisture deficit.
The value of RSMD for any point in Britain and Ireland can be
read from figures 7.25, 7.26 and 7.27 reproduced from reference
11. Alternatively it can be calculated as described in example
7.2.
If any records of rainfall and response runoff exist, a more reliable estimate
can be made from
Tp = 0.9 LAG
where LAG is time (h) from the centroid of the rain profile to the peak runoff,
or to a 'centroid of peaks' if there is more than one.
The peak of the unit hydrograph Qp in m 3 /s per 100 km 2 is estimated from
Qp =220/Tp and its time base TB =2.52Tp
These three parameters Tp , Qp and TB enable a triangular unit hydro graph to be
drawn. This is the I-h unit hydrograph. It is illustrated in figure 7.30.
The duration D (h) of a design storm depends on Tp and the mean annual
rainfall (SAAR), and is given by
D = (1 + SAAR/lOOO) Tp (7.5)
SAAR can be obtained for any point in the British Isles from appendix A.
The rainfall intensity to be chosen depends on the return period of the
design flood. The return period is the time that, on average, elapses between two
- - - 10 mm intervals
- - - - Intermediate intervals
30 < Minimum
> Maximum
Scale of kilometres
6---------+--------~------ .------+ 0 100 -------I
6 6~
Scale of stnute miles
,
"
, ,- -15.
.
:..... /
'I '
'\
/
-,,
UTM Grid
Zone 30U 4 6
Figure 7.25 RSMD (mm) for England and Wales
events that equal or exceed a particular level (see also section 9.3.2); the return
periods of floods and their causative rainfall are not necessarily the same, since
there are other factors involved. However, the FSR provides a relationship for a
recommended storm return period to yield a flood peak of required return
period by the design method described, from which figure 7.28 has been derived.
10 mm intervals
Intermedliue Interval"
12- M.ximum - - -+_--iJ,
>
Scole 01 k,lometre!
oI 100
!
o ~O
Sule or '5t.atutc mires.
11- - - - + -- - -- + - - - - - + - - - - - - - 1
IO----T-----r-----r-~~~-+_---~
olS ______ ~ _______ 2_ _ _ _ _

~I ~ ________ ~ ________ ~
Figure 7.26 RSMD (mm) for Scotland
Having established the required return period of rainfall of duration D, the

total storm rainfall over the particular catchment can be obtained as described in
section 2.9.4 and this total distributed in time by the appropriate proftle (section
2.9.5). An example will illustrate the details of the whole process.
Example 7.2. By means of a synthetic unit hydrograph, estimate the flood peak
with a 200-year return period for the River Brathay at Skelwith Force at NGR
NY34 103 2 (figure 7.29).
S<>I. 01 kilome.,etoo
~- r
o
Stale 01
-T
60
Figure 7.27 RSMD (mm) for Ireland
"0
o 30h-,-,.;.;.,.;.;rt;;;tt;;;a,m
o
LL
20~~~~~~~HTIrrm
20 304050 100
Rain storm return period (yeors)
Figure 7.28 Recommended storm return period to yield a flood peak

of required return period by the design method
t
Kilometres
oL 1
I
Figure 7.29 The catchment area of the River Brathay at Skelwith Force
(1) Outline the catchment area on the 1 :25 000 map and measure the area
(AREA) and length of the main stream MSL:
AREA = 50.4 km 2
MSL = 12.2 km
(2) Channel slope (S1085) is the average slope in m/km between two points
at 10 per cent and 85 per cent of the main stream length measured from
the outlet. Since
elevation at 85 per cent point = 137 m
and
elevation at 10 per cent point = 58 m
therefore
S1085 = 8.6 m/km
(3) The average annual rainfall (SAAR) is obtained by taking a weighted
average over the catchment:
SAAR = 2500 mm
(4) An estimate of RSMD can be made by reference to figure 7.25. Alter-

natively it can be calculated by finding
2-day MS rainfall (average for catchment) = 135 mm
r (average for catchment) = 15 per cent
and so determining (table 2.9)
24-h MS = 0.75 x 135 = 101 mm
Converting this to I-day MS (table 2.1 0)

101/1.11 = 91.2 mm
and knowing
ARF (table 2.8) = 0.95
gives I-day MS catchment rainfall = 86.6 mm
Finally deducting s.m.d. (figure 4.8) (= 4 mm) gives 82.6 mm
RSMD = 82.6 mm
or rounding up
RSMD=83 mm
(5) There is no urban development, so

URBAN=O
(6) Tp Qp and TB can now be calculated from equation 7.4.

Tp = 46.6 (12.2)14 (8.6ro. 38 (83)-0.4 = 4.99
So that
Tp = 5.0.
Qp = 220/Tp/100 km 2
= 44 m 3 /s/lOO km 2
= 22.2 m 3 /s for 50.4 km 2
TB = 2.52 Tp = 12.6
So take
TB =13h.
(7) The basic data interval T~ Tp/S. Hence T= 1 h.
(8) The design storm duration can now beI calculated from equation 7.5:
D =(I + SAAR/1000)Tp
= (1 + 2500/1000)5
= 17.5
It is convenient to make D an odd integer multiple of T.
Hence
D = 17 h.
(9) It is now necessary to decide the return period of storm that will produce
the appropriate return period peak flow. For a 200-year peak flow the
recommended return period is obtained from figure 7.28: the storm
return period is 240 years.
(10) A rainstorm of duration 17 h, having a return period of 240 years, can be

found by first consulting table 2.9, using the value of r found in step (4)
above and a duration of 17 h
r = IS so that 17 h MS/2-day MS = 62 per cent
and
62 per cent of 2-day MS = 0.62 x 13S = 83.7
Hence take
17 h MS as 84 mm.
(11) It is now necessary to convert 17-h MS to 17-h M240. From table 2.6,
for MS = 84 mm, by interpolation M240 requires a growth factor of 1.71,
therefore
17 -h M240 = 84 x 1.71 = 144 mm
(12) This is a point rainfall value and must now be reduced to a catchment
average using ARF (table 2.8). Interpolating
ARF (for 17 h and SO km 2 ) = 0.9S
Therefore
rainfallP= 137 mm
(13) A value of catchment wetness index is now obtained using

SAAR= 2S00mm in figure 4.9:
CWI = 127
(14) A percentage runoff figure is now needed. This is dependent on the

fractions of the catchment covered by various classes of soil. (A defi-
nition of SOIL will be found in section 9.4.) Maps giving soil classi-
fications for the British Isles are provided in appendix A, identified by
the letters RP (runoff potential), in sections, together with rainfall maps.
When such maps are not available, judgement based on table 4.2, should
be used. In this case the whole of the catchment is mountainous upland
and is soil class 5. Then from section 9.4
SOIL = 0.5
Standard percentage runoff is calculated from
SPR = 95.5 SOIL + 0.12 URBAN
So
SPR = 47.7 per cent
and the appropriate runoff percentage (PR) for the design event is
obtained from
PR SPR + 0.22 (CWI - 125) + 0.1 (P - 10)
47.7 + 0.22 (127 - 125) + 0.1 (127)
60.8 per cent
Therefore net rain for application to the synthetic unit hydrograph =

137 x 0.608 =84 mm
(15) This net rain must now be applied to the unit hydrograph in accordance
with a 75 per cent winter storm profile. This distribution should take
place over the 17-h storm period and so a stepped distribution graph over
17 one-hour periods is required. Each interval will be approximately
6 per cent of duration. The percentage rain is obtained from figure 2.l7.
Duration (per cent) 6 18 30 42 54 66 78 90 100

Rain (per cent) 16 43 61 73 83 89 94 98 100
Increment rain
(per cent) 16 27 18 12 10 6 5 4 2
Increment rain (mm) 13.4 22.7 15.1 10 8.4 5.0 4.2 3.4 1.6
Each of the increments, except the first (the peak), represents the total of two
equal 1 h periods of rain. This rain is now arranged symmetrically about the
centre line and applied to the synthetic unit hydrograph.
The stepped distribution graph of rain is shown in figure 7.30 and its applica-
tion to the synthetic unitgraph is made in table 7.5.
7.13 The application of rain to unit hydrographs
7.13.1. General. In using unit hydrographs for hydrological forecasting, it is

necessary to adjust the unit graph to the time-span of the uniform rain. Hence
t I hours of continuous uniform rain should be applied to a t I-hour unitgraph
15
r:
.....
E 10
.5
5
5 10
T.
40
30 Qp
20
TB
10
0 5 10
Time (h)
Figure 7.30 Synthetic 1-h unitgraph and hyetograph for example 7.2
and t2 hours to a t 2 -hour graph. Methods of converting a t 1 to a t2 unit graph

were described earlier in this chapter. The only mention made so far, however,
of how to choose a particular duration and intensity of rain to apply was in
section 7.12 and example 7.2, where the FSR recommendations were used.
The operation of applying rain to unitgraphs is carried out for many different
reasons. The design and construction of different projects may involve the esti-
mation of many different floods. For example, the dam designer wants to make
his spillways sufficiently large so that the safety of the dam is not threatened in
its lifetime. The dam builder wants to know what risk he runs of various floods
occurring in the 3 or 4 years he may be building in a river channel, so that his
cofferdams and tunnels are economically sized. The flood protection engineer
wishes to be sure his levees will not be overtopped more often than at some
design frequency that he regards as economic; or perhaps they must not be over-
topped at all if the safety of human life is concerned. The estuarial or river port
manager wants to know the depth of water he can rely on in navigable channels
related to a probability of availability, and so on.
In any or all of these cases it may be desirable to choose a design rain of
particular frequency and magnitude and apply it to a catchment unit graph as a
means of flow prediction. This is particularly so because in many parts of the
world there are reasonably long-term rainfall records though very sparse or
short-term runoff records.
TABLE 7.5 Convolution of the J-h unit hydrograph with net raina ....
gg
Hour Net Huur jrom urigin and Ih unit hyrJrograph ordinates x (area/lOO) (m'/si
rain
(cm) 0 I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 JJ 12 13 14 15 16 (h)
o 4.44 8.87 13.3117.7422.18 19.4016.6313.86 1l.09 8.32 5.54 2.77 0 0 0 0 (m'/s)
1 0.08 0 0.4 0.7 1.1 1.4 1.8 1.6 1.3 1.1 0.9 0.7 0.4 0.2 0 0 0 0
2 0.17 0 0.8 1.5 2.3 3.0 3.8 3.3 2.8 2.4 1.9 1.4 0.9 0.5 0 0 0
3 0.21 0 0.9 1.9 2.8 3.7 4.7 4.1 3.5 2.9 2.3 1.8 1.2 0.6 0 0
4 0.25 0 1.1 2.2 3.3 4.4 5.6 4.8 4.2 3.5 2.8 2.1 1.4 0.7 0
5 0.42 0 1.9 3.7 5.6 7.5 9.3 8.2 7.0 5.8 4.7 3.5 2.3 1.2
6 0.50 0 2.2 4.4 6.7 8.9 11.1 9.7 8.3 6.9 5.6 4.2 2.8
7 0.75 0 3.3 6.7 10.0 13.3 16.6 14.6 12.5 10.4 8.3 6.2
8 1.14 0 5.1 10.1 15.2 20.2 25.3 22.1 19.0 15.8 12.6
9 1.34 0 6.0 11.9 17.8 23.8 29.7 26.0 22.3 18.6
10 1.14 0 5.1 10.1 15.2 20.2 25.3 22.1 19.0 m
::::J
II 0.75 0 3.3 6.7 10.0 13.3 16.6 14.6 cc
12 0.50 0 2.2 4.4 6.7 8.9 11.1 :i"
13 0.42 0 1.9 3.7 5.6 7.5 CD
CD
14 0.25 0 1.1 2.2 3.3 ...S
15 0.21 0 0.9 1.9 cc
16 0.17 0 0.7
:::J:
17 0.08 0
8.38 0 0.4 1.5 3.5 6.7 11.7 18.3 27.0 39.6 55.9 74.5 92.3 107.6 116.2 116.6 109.9 99.5
-a.a
Base flow
0"
3.3 cc
-<
119.9
Peak flow of the flood of 200-year return period is 120 rn'/s

Q Each increment is I-h rain is Illultiplied in turn by each ho..arly ordinate of the unit hydrograph, successive products being moved successively 1 h
to the right.
The table may be continued to the right to provide further ordinates of the total hydrograph.
Baseflow is calculated from equation 7.1
ANSF = (3.26 X 1O- 4 )(CW1 - 125) + (7.4 x 10-4) RSMD + (3 X 10- 3)
Since CWI = 127 and RSMD = 83, therefore
ANSF = (621 X 10- 4 ) + 0.003
= 0.0651 m' /sIkm'
Hence
basetlow = 50.4 X 0.0651
= 3.3 m'ls
The rainfall records must therefore be examined and frequency analyses made
of the incidence of particular 24-h rainfall depths. Rainfall observations are com-
paratively rarely made more often than this, although clearly very intense storms
of rain frequently last for shorter periods. Much depends on catchment size. If it
is very large, then 24-h frequencies may be adequate for choosing design rain.
Most often, however, shorter periods of rain at greater intensity will represent
the greatest flood danger and efforts must be made to find shorter interval data,
or to start measuring it by autographic recorder as soon as project investigation
commences. Extrapolations can be made by recording the frequencies with
which certain rainfall depths occur in 96-h, 72-h, 48-h and 24-h periods. Many
data are already available from sources in the USA [12-16], which though
directed obviously to catchments in the USA, are applicable with care elsewhere.
In Britain, reference should be made to the Flood Studies Report [17]. The
Meteorological Office contribution to this Report allows estimates of expected
rainfall amounts to be made for any place in the United Kingdom with a given
return period for durations from 15 s to 30 days, as discussed in chapter 2.
Reference may also be made to Bleasdale [18] , to British Rainfall 1939 (et seq.J
and to Wiesner [19] .
The process of using the unit hydrograph therefore involves the following
steps.
(a) An examination of all relevant data (including frequency analyses):
in particular, any autographic rain recordings, and a subsequent selection
of a total precipitation that could, in the judgement of the individual
concerned, occur in a reasonably short time period, over the catchment
concerned. (Note that where the catchment is large and it seems unlikely
that uniform precipitation could or would occur, it should be split into a
series of sub-catchments and each of these should be assigned a precipi-
tation.
(b) From the total precipitation, thus chosen, all losses must be subtracted.
These will include interception, inflitration (having regard to the soil-
moisture deficiency) and evapotranspiration.
(c) The resultant net (or effective) rainfall is then applied to a unitgraph
adjusted to the correct time base, and the resulting storm hydrograph
ordinates obtained. If more than one hydrograph is concerned the
temporal spacing of the rain must be decided, usually, but not neces-
sarily, to obtain the maximum possible combination of ordinates.
(d) Baseflow, assessed separately, is now added to give the total storm
runoff.
The choice of the s.m.d. on which a design storm may fall is significant. It
is not always reasonable to presuppose a saturated catchment, and a hypothetical
inflitration capacity curve, a -index or coaxial correlation graph (for example
figure 4.7) can be used with this in mind. For catchments in the British Isles,
when no other information is available, the mean value of s.m.d. from figure
4.8 should be used.
7.13.2 The l-h unit hydrograph
In recent years the concept of design rainfall has changed to simulate natural
events more precisely. Rain does not fall naturally at uniform intensity for long
periods. With computers now in common use, the simplications that were
previously desirable are no longer necessary since the tedious calculations involved
need no longer be performed manually.
Rainfall events are now specified as total depths (mm) falling with particular
durations and to particular storm profiles, the profile being compared in terms
of their peakedness and seasonality. Thus, the United Kingdom 75 per cent
winter profile is a storm profile that is typical of storm rainfall from October
to March, or the winter season, in Britain, and is described in section 2.9.5.
For design purposes, generally large events are postulated. Rainfall durations
thus tend to be of many hours length. Accordingly, it is frequently convenient
to use a I-h rain increment applied to a I-h unit graph, and to convolute the net
rain profile with the hourly ordinates of the unitgraph, as was done in example
7.2.
References
1. Natural Environment Research Council. Flood Studies Report, Vol. I,
NERC, 1975, Chapter 6
2. SHERMAN, L. K. Stream flow from rainfall by the unitgraph method. Eng.
News Record, 108, (1932) 501
3. BERNARD, M. An approach to determinate stream flow. Trans. Am. Soc.
Civ. Eng., 100,(1935) 347
4. LINSLEY, R. K., KOHLER, M. A. and PAULHUS, J. L. H. Applied Hydrology,
McGraw-Hill, New York, 1949, pp. 448-9
5. COLLINS, W. T. Runoff distribution graphs from precipitation occurring in
more than one time unit. Civ. Eng., 9, No. 9 (September 1939) 559
6. SNYDER, F. F. Synthetic unitgraphs. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 19th
Annual Meeting 1938, Part 2, p. 447
7. HURSH, C. R. Discussion on Report of the committee on absorption and
transpiration. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 17th Annual Meeting 1936,
p. 296
8. SNYDER, F. F. Discussion in ref. 6
9. LINSLEY, R. K. Application of the synthetic unitgraph in the western moun-
tain States. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 24th Annual Meeting 1943,
Part 2, p. 580
10. TAYLOR, A. B.and SCHWARZ, H. E. Unit hydrograph lag and peak flow
related to basin characteristics. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 33, (1952)
235
I!. Institution of Civil Engineers. Floods and Reservoir Safety: an engineering
guide, LC.E., London, 1978
12. PAULHUS, J. L. H. and GILMAN, C. S. Evaluation of probable maximum
precipitation. Trans. Am. Geophys. Union, 34, (1953) 701
13. Generalised estimates of probable maximum precipitation over the U.S.
east of the 105th meridian. Hydrometeorological Report No. 23, U.S.
Weather Bureau, Washington D.C., 1947
14. Generalised estimates of probable maximum precipitation of the United
States west of the 105th meridian for areas to 400 square miles and
durations to 24 hours. Tech. Paper 38, U.S. Weather Bureau, Washington
D.C., 1960
15. Manual for depth duration area analysis of storm precipitation. U.S. Weather
Bureau Co-operative Studies Tech. Paper No. 1, Washington D.C., 1946
16. HERSHFIELD, D. M. Estimating the probable maximum precipitation. Proc.
Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 87, (September 1961) 99
17. National Environment Research Council. Flood Studies Report, Vol. 11,
NERC, 1975
18. BLEASDALE, A. The distribution of exceptionally heavy daily falls of rain
in the United Kingdom. J. Inst. Water Eng., 17, (February 1963) 45
19. WIESNER, C. J. Analysis of Australian storms for depth, duration, area data.
Rain Seminar, Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, 1960
Further reading
BARNES, B. S. Consistency in unitgraphs. Proc. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 85, HY8
(August 1959) 39
BUlL, J. A. Unitgraphs for non uniform rainfall distribution. Proc. Am. Soc.
Civ. Eng., 94, HYl (January 1965) 235
MORGAN, P. E. and JOHNSON, S. M. Analysis of synthetic unitgraph methods.
Proc. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 88, HY5 (September 1962) 199
MORRIS, W. V. Conversion of storm rainfall to runoff. Proc. Symposium No. 1,
Spillway Design Floods, N.R.C., Ottawa, 1961, p. 172
Problems
7.1 A catchment area is undergoing a prolonged rainless period. The discharge
of the stream draining it is 100m3 /s after 10 days without rain, and 50 m 3 /s
after 40 days without rain. Derive the equation of the depletion curve and
estimate the discharge after 120 days without rain.
7.2 A catchment is suffering from a drought. The discharge of the stream

draining it is 75 m 3 /s after 12 days without rain and 25 m 3 /s after 40 days
without rain. Derive the equation of the stream's depletion curve and estimate
the discharge 60 days into the drought.
7.3 The recession limb of a hydrograph, listed below, is to be divided into run-
off and baseflow. Carry out this separation
(a) by finding the point of discontinuity on the recession limb,
(b) by finding the depletion curve equation and extrapolating back in time.
Comment on your results.
Time Flow Time Flow
(h) (m 3 /s) (h) (m 3 /s)
15 41.1 33 10.0
18 35.8 36 8.3
21 25.0 39 7.0
24 19.2 42 5.8
27 15.1 45 4.9
30 12.2 48 4.1
7.4 Describe how to derive a master depletion curve for a river. What would
you use it for and why?
7.5 A drought is ended over a catchment area of 100 km 2 by uniform rain of

36 mm falling for 6 h. The relevant hydrograph of the river draining the area is
given below, the rain period having been between hours 3 and 9. Use these data
to predict the maximum discharge that might be expected following a 50 mm
fall in 3 h on the catchment. Oualify the forecast appropriately.
Hours Discharge Hours Discharge
(m 3 /s) (m 3 /s)
0 3 24 25
3 3 27 21
6 10 30 17
9 25 33 13.5
12 39 36 10.5
15 43 39 8
18 37 42 5.5
21 30.5 45 4
48 3.9
7.6 Describe how you would proceed to separate baseflow from the hydro-
graph of a stream's discharge.
7.7 Write down the three major principles of unit hydrograph theory illustrating
their application with sketches.
Given below are three unit hydrographs (all values in ft. 3 /s) derived from
separate storms on a small catchment, all of which are believed to have resulted
from 3-h rains. Derive the average unit hydro graph and confirm its validity if
the drainage area is 5.25 square miles.
Hours Storm 1 Storm 2 Storm 3
o o o o
165 37 25
2 547 187 87
3 750 537 260
4 585 697 505
5 465 608 660
6 352 457 600
7 262 330 427
8 195 255 322
9 143 195 248
10 97 135 183
11 60 90 135
12 33 52 90
13 15 30 53
14 7 12 24
15 0 0 0
7.8 Listed below are three hydrographs derived from three separate uniform-
intensity storms each lasting 3 h. The gross rainfall for storm A was 14 mm, for
storm B was 24 mm, and for storm C was 19 mm. The cI>-index for the catch-
ment is estimated to be It mm/h. Derive the average unit hydrograph for the
catchment and confirm its validity if the drainage area is 13.60 km 2 All values
are in m 3 /s.
Hours Storm A Storm B Storm C
0 0 0 0
1 1.84 0.82 0.42
2 6.10 4.16 1.46
3 8.36 11.98 4.35
4 6.52 15.54 8.45
5 5.18 13.56 11.04
6 3.92 10.20 10.04
7 2.92 7.36 7.14
8 2.17 5.68 5.39
9 1.59 4.34 4.16
10 1.08 3.02 3.06
11 0.67 2.00 2.27
12 0.37 1.16 LSO
13 0.17 0.66 0.89
14 0.08 0.26 0.41
15 0 0 0
7.9 The 3-h unit hydrograph derived from a catchment of 14.5 km 2 is given
below
Hours Unit hydrograph Hours Unit hydrograph

(m 3 /s) (m 3 /s)
0 0 8 3.6
1 0.3 9 2.8
2 1.0 10 2.0
3 2.9 11 1.5
4 5.6 12 1.0
5 7.3 13 0.6
6 6.7 14 0.3
7 4.8 15 0
What peak discharge would be expected from a 4-h rainfall at a uniform intensity
of 15 mm/h, followed immediately by a 3-h storm at a uniform intensity of
10 mm/h? Assume a constant storm loss of 3 mm/h and a base flow starting at
1.2 m3 /s at hour 0 and rising at 0.1 m3 /s per hour until after the peak.
7.10 The hydrograph tabulated below was observed for a river draining a 40
square miles catchment, following a storm lasting 3 h
Hour ft. 3 /s Hour ft. 3 /s Hour ft. 3 /s
0 450 24 3500 48 1070

3 5500 27 3000 51 950
6 9000 30 2600 54 840
9 7500 33 2210 57 750
12 6500 36 1890 60 660
15 5600 39 1620 63 590
18 4800 42 1400 66 540
21 4100 4S 1220
Separate baseflow from runoff and calculate total runoff volume. What was
the net rainfall in inches per hour? Comment on the severity and likely frequency
of such a storm in the United Kingdom.
7.11 The 4-h unit hydrograph for a river-gauging station draining a catchment
area of 5 S4 km 2 , is given below.
Time Unit hydrograph Time Unit hydrograph

(h) (m 3 /s) (h) (m 3 /s)
0 0 11 76
1 11 12 62
2 60 13 51
3 120 14 39
4 170 15 31
5 198 16 23
6 184 17 16
7 153 18 11
8 127 19 6
9 107 20 3
10 91 21 0
Make any checks possible on the validity of the unitgraph. Find the probable
peak discharge in the river, at the station from a storm covering the catchment
and consisting of two consecutive 3-h periods of net rain of intensities 12 and
6 mm/h respectively. Assume baseflow rises linearly during the period of runoff
from 30 to 70 m3 /s.
7.12 The 3-h unit hydrograph for a river-gauging station draining an 835 km 2
catchment is listed below.
Time 3-h unit hydrograph Time 3-h unit hydrograph

(h) (m 3 /s) (h) (m 3 /s)
0 0 12 85
I 22 13 68
2 120 14 55
3 240 IS 42
4 318 16 30
5 298 17 20
6 250 18 12
7 206 19 7
8 174 20 3
9 144 21 0
10 123
11 102
An intermittent storm lasting 7 h covers the catchment, the gross rainfall being:
17 mm/h for 4 h, followed by 12 mm/h for a further 3 h. The I>-index for the
catchment is 7 mm/h. Assuming baseflow is constant at 40 m 3 /s, provide an
estimate of the maximum discharge and its time of occurrence from the start of
the storm.
7.13 Using the data and catchment of 7.11 find the probable peak discharge
in the river, at the station, from a storm covering the catchment and consisting
of three consecutive 2-h periods of rain producing 7, 14 and 12 mm runoff
respectively. Assume baseflow rises from 10m3 /s to 20 m 3 /s during the total
period of runoff.
7.14 The 4-h unit hydrograph for a 550 km 2 catchment is given below
Hours Q Hours Q
(m 3 /s) (m 3 /s)
0 0 11 76
1 11 12 62
2 71 l3 51
3 124 14 40
4 170 15 31
5 198 16 27
6 172 17 17
7 147 18 11
8 127 19 5
9 107 20 3
10 90 21 0
A uniform-intensity storm of duration 4 h with an intensity of 6 mm/h is

followed after a 2-h break by a further uniform-intensity storm of duration
2 h and an intensity of 11 mm/h. The rain loss is estimated at 1 mm/h on both
storms. Baseflow was estimated to be 10m3 /s at the beginning of the first storm
and 40 m3 /s at the end of the runoff period of the second storm.
Compute the likely peak discharge and its time of occurrence.
7.15 Using a FSR (1975) synthetic unit hydro graph with Tp = 8 h for a catch-
ment of 350 km 2 , deduce the surface runoff contribution to the discharge of the
river draining the catchment at the end of the fourth hour of continuous rain of
10 mm/h, if the runoff coefficient is 70 per cent. Assume runoff starts at start of
rain.
Define the parameters on which Snyder's original synthetic unit hydrograph
was based and comment on the differences from the FSR synthetic unitgraph
values.
7.16 A catchment of 76 km 2 area drains to an outfall at National Grid Refer-

ence SS 742 480.
The main stream length is 15 km. Assume SAAR = 1750 mm and S1085 =
15.0 with no urban development.
Estimate the flood flow at the outfall with a 65 year return period, assuming
that 50% of rainfall appears as runoff and ignoring baseflow.
7.17 (a) The 2 h unit hydrograph for a 370 km 2 catchment is listed below.
Transform it to a 6 h unit graph and estimate the peak discharge from a 6 h
storm of uniform intensity of 4 mm/h. Assume the rain loss amounts to Imm/h
and that baseflow is a constant 3 m3 /s. Is there any way you can check if the
unit graph is valid?
Hours Qm 3 (s) Hours Qm 3 (s) Hours Qm 3 (s)

0 0 12 65 24 18
2 8 14 54 26 13
4 22 16 45 28 9
6 44 18 37 30 5
8 67 20 29 32 2
10 72 22 23 34 0
(b) Comment on the assumption of constant baseflow, and describe a way in

which baseflow at the end of a period of surface runoff might be estimated.
8 Flood Routing
8.1 Introduction
Civilisation has always developed along rivers, whose presence guaranteed access
to and from the sea coast, irrigation for crops, water supplies for urban com-
munities and latterly power development and industrial water supply. The many
advantages have always been counterbalanced by the dangers of floods and, in
the past, levees or flood banks were built along many major rivers to prevent
inundation in the flood season. In more recent times storage reservoirs have
been built as the principles of dam construction became better understood and
other measures like relief channels, storage basins and channel improvements are
continually under construction in many parts of the world. It is important for
such works that estimates can be made of how the measures proposed will
affect the behaviour of flood waves in rivers so that economic solutions can be
found in particular cases. Flood routing is the description applied to this process.
It is a procedure through which the variation of discharge with time at a point
on a stream channel can be determined by consideration of similar data for a
point upstream. In other words it is a process that shows how a flood wave can
be reduced in magnitude and lengthened in time (attenuated) by the use of stor-
age in the reach between the two points.
8.2 The storage equation

Since the methods of flood routing depend on a knowledge of storage in the
reach, a way of evaluating this must be found. There are two ways of doing
this. One is to make a detailed topographical and hydrographical survey of the
river reach and the riparian land and so determine the storage capacity of the
channel at different levels. The other is to use the records of past levels of
flood waves at the two points and hence deduce the reach's storage capacity.
It is assumed that such storage capacity will not change substantially in time
and so may be used to route the passage of large and more critical, predicted
198
Flood Routing 199
floods. As many data as possible are required for the second method, which is
the one generally used, including flow records at the beginning and end of the
reach and on any tributary streams joining it, and rainfall records over any areas
contributing direct runoff to it.
Storage in the reach of a river is divided into two parts, prism and wedge
storage, which are illustrated in figure 8.1. This is simply because the slope of
the surface is not uniform during floods (see section 6.2).
wedge storage
A 8
inflow prism storage

outflow
slream bell
reach
Figure 8.1 Storage in a river reach
If the continuity of flow through the reach shown in figure 8.1 is now
considered, it is clear that what enters the reach at point A must emerge at
point H, or temporarily move into storage.
dS
I=D+-
dt
where I = inflow to the reach
D = discharge from the reach
dS/dt = rate of change in reach storage with respect to time.
This equation is approximated, for a time interval t, by
11-+12
- - t - -Dl
--+D2
-t--82 - 8 1 (8.1)
2 2
where subscripts 1 and 2 denote values at the beginning and end respectively
of the time t. The time t is called the routing period and it must be chosen
sufficiently short so that the assumption impliCit in equation 8.1 (that is, the
inflow and outflow hydrographs consist of a series of straight lines), does not
depart too far from actuality. In particular. if t is too long it is possible to miss
the peak of the inflow curve, so the period should be kept shorter than the
travel time of the flood wave crest through the reach. On the other hand, the
shorter the routing period the greater the amount of computation to be done.
8.3 Reservoir routing
If equation 8.1 is now arranged so that all known terms are on one side, the
expression becomes
(8.2)
The routing process consists of inserting the known values to obtain S2 + 1- D2 t
and then deducing the corresponding value of D2 from the relationship connec-
ting storage and discharge. This method was first developed by L. G. PuIs of the
U.S.Army Corps of Engineers.
The simplest case is that of a reservoir receiving inflow at one end and dis-
charging through a spillway at the other. In such a reservoir it is assumed there
is no wedge storage and that the discharge is a function of the surface elevation,
provided that the spillway arrangements are either free-overflow or gated with
fixed gate openings. Reservoirs with sluices can be treated also as simple reser-
voirs if the sluices are opened to defined openings at specified surface-water
levels, so that an elevation-discharge curve can be drawn. The other required
data are the elevation-storage curve of the reservoir and the inflow hydrograph.
Example 8.1. An impounding reservoir enclosed by a dam has a surface area

that varies with elevation as shown by the relationship of figure 8.2(a). The
dam is equipped with two circular gated discharge ports, each of 2.7 m diameter,
72
70 ~ 1/
V V
E68 V
::66 V V
'"
~64
~62
V V
.60
1/
cAse 1/
V /
56
7
544.0 42 4-4 46 48 50 52 o 20 40 60 80 100
Reservoir surfoce orea (km 2) live slorage (m 3 x 10 6 )
(0) (b)
Figure 8.2 Reservoir characteristics: (a) water level against area;

(b) water level against storage
whose centres are at elevation 54.0 and a free overflow spillway 72.5 m long
with crest level at elevation 66.0. The discharge gates are open and the surface
water level is at elevation 63.5 at time t = o. The flood hydrograph of table 8.2,
column (3), is forecast. What will the maximum reservoir level be and when will
it occur?
Flood Routing 201
(1) Assume the ports have a coefficient of discharge, Cd = 0.8, then Q =
2 (CdA v'(2gH)) and at time 0, Q = D (table 8.2, column (5)) = 2(0.8 x
5.7 xv'186.5) = 125 m 3 /s. (Note g = 9.81 m/s2.) Insert this value on first
line of column (5).
(2) Compute the elevation-storage curve of figure 8.2 (b). Remember that
live storage starts at 52.65, the invert level of the discharge ports, and
amounts to 5.5 x lO6 m3 by 54.0. The storage between 54.0 and 56.0 =
mean area of reservoir between these levels x 2 m = 8.33 x 10 6 m 3 .
Successive increments, computed in this way, are plotted cumulatively
with 52.65 as datum.
(3) Compute the elevation-D tabulation of table 8.1 below.
TABLE 8.1 Elevation-discharge table a

Head Head
Elevation of over Discharge from over 3
Spillway Total
water surface 54.0 gated ports 66.0 = H H2 discharge discharge
(m) (m) (m 3 /s) (m) (m 3 /s) (m 3 /s)
58.0 4.0 81.0 81

60.0 6.0 99.5 100
62.0 8.0 114.8 115
64.0 10.0 128.0 128
66.0 12.0 140.7 0 0 0 141
66.1 12.1 141.2 0.1 0.032 5.1 146
66.2 12.2 141.8 0.2 0.089 14.2 156
66.3 12.3 142.6 0.3 0.164 26 169
66.4 12.4 143.0 0.4 0.252 40 183
66.5 12.5 143.7 0.5 0.353 56 200
66.7 12.7 144.8 0.7 0.58 93 238
66.9 12.9 146.0 0.9 0.85 136 282
67.0 13.0 146.4 1.0 1.0 160 306
67.5 13.5 149.3 1.5 1.84 294 443
68.0 14.0 152.0 2.0 2.83 453 605
3 1
a Assume Q (spillway) = CLH' and use C = 2.2 m ,/ s.
(4) From figure 8.2(b) and table 8.1, the D-storage curve of figure 8.3 can
now be drawn; that is, the central curve. The abscissa of figure 8.3 is
graduated in 'storage units'. Each storage unit = routing period x 1m 3 Is.
Since the forecast hydrograph of table 8.2, column (3) is given at 6-h
intervals, it is convenient to make this the routing period. Then each
storage unit = 6 x 3600 x I = 21.6 x 10 3 m 3 = "* m 3 /s day. The use of
these units is necessary to keep the dimensions of table 8.2, columns
(4), (6) and (7) compatible.
50 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000

Storage units (I unit 216 x 10 3m3 t m3/s day)
Figure 8.3 Reservoir routing storage curves
The S t Dt curves are now added on either side of the storage

curve. Since the abscissa is in storage units, then t = 1 and the curves
can be plotted without calculation; for example, at D = 200, tDt = 100
and so two points can be set off 100 storage units on either side of the
S -curve, and similarly for other points.
(5) The routing calculation can now be started in table 8.2. The figures in
heavy type are known.
To begin with, compute column (4) by averaging successive pairs of
inflow values. Now find the value of this parameter corresponding to
D = 125 m 3 /s from the S - tDt curve of figure 8.3. The value is 2095
and this figure is inserted in the first space of column (6).
(6) The figure in column (4) is added to column (6) and the total put in
column (7) (for example, 2095 + 62 = 2157). The left-hand side of
equation 8.2 has now been evaluated. Find the column (7) value on
the S + t Dt curve and read off the corresponding value of D, entering it
in column (5) (for example, from the S + tDt curve find D = 122 corre-
sponding to 2157).
(7) Use this new value of D to find S - t Dt again as in step (5). Note that
this is directly obtainable without using the curve by subtracting the
value of D from the column (7) value in the line above (for example,
2157 - 122 = 2035). The column (4) figure is then added to the new
column (6) to get a new column (7) figure (for example, 127 + 2035 =
2162).
Flood Routing 203
TABLE 8.2 Reservoir routing computation
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
S -.l.Dt S +-tDt Surface
Time Routing Inflow (11 +12 )t D (-!- m2j /s (-!- m 3 /s level
(h) period (m 3 /s) 2 (m 3 /s) day) day) (m)
0 1 50 62 125 2095 2157 63.4

6 2 75 127 122 2035 2162 63.0
12 3 180 265 122 2040 2305 63 J)
18 4 350 400 127 2178 2578 63.8
24 5 450 485 136 2442 2927 65.l
30 6 520 512 200 2727 3239 66.5
36 7 505 475 425 2814 3289 67.4
42 8 445 402 460 2829 3231 67.5
48 9 360 325 416 2815 3140 67.35
54 10 290 270 347 2793 3063 67.l5
60 11 250 230 288 2775 3005 66.95
66 12 210 192 242 2763 2955 66.7
72 13 175 157 208 2747 2904 66.55
78 14 140 125 190 2714 2839 66.45
84 15 110 97 165 2674 2771 66.25
90 16 85 75 144 2627 2702 66.05
96 17 65 60 140 2562 2622 66.0
102 18 55 52 138 2484 2536 65.3
108 19 50 47 134 2402 2449 64.7
114 20 45 42 132 2317 2359 64.3
120 21 40 39 129 2230 2269 64.0
126 38 127 63.7
Complete the table and plot the outflow hydrograph (figure 8.4). The
peak outflow should fall on the recession limb of the inflow graph.
The time difference between the peaks of the inflow and discharge
hydrographs is termed reservoir fag and the reduction in peak flows
together with the spreading out of the recession curve is referred to as
attenuation.
(8) The column (8) values of surface water level are derived from the values
of discharge and levels in table 8.1 ..They are most conveniently found by
plotting a graph and reading off the levels corresponding to the values of
column (5).
The maximum water level in the case of this example is 67.5 m occur-
ring about hour 40.
8.4 Routing in a river channel
The solution of the storage equation in this case is more complicated than for
the simple reservoir, since wedge storage is involved. Storage is no longer a func-
-.;
;;,-
E
~ 400
2u
~ 300
"-
~ 200
:E
100
0 12 24 ~ ~ w n ~ % ~ 120 ~
Time (h)
12345678910111213141516171819202122
6-h rouling periods
Figure 8.4 Inflow and discharge hydrographs for the reservoir of

example 8.1
tion of discharge only, as was the case in example 8.1. McCarthy [1], in what
has become known as the Muskingum method, proposed that storage should be
expressed as a function of both inflow and discharge in the form
S=K[xI+(I-x)D] (8.3)
where x =dimensionless constant for a certain river reach
K = storage constant with dimensions of time that must be found from
observed hydrographs of I and D at both stations.
The two constants can be found as follows. Let figure 8.5 represent the simul-
taneous inflow I and outflow D of a river reach. While I> D, water is entering
'-"---L~waler enlering slorage I

I. ..I
Time-
Figure 8.5 Simultaneous inflow and outflow of a river reach

Flood Routing 205
storage in the reach and when D > I, water is leaving it. A difference diagram
can now be drawn showing this (figure 8.6) and subsequently, a mass curve of
storage (figure 8.7).
woter entering storage
Time -+
Figure 8.6 Difference diagram for the river reach of figure 8.5
Time -+
Figure 8.7 Mass curve of storage for the river reach of figure 8.5
Now assume a value of X, say x = 0.1 , and compute the value of the expres-
sion (0.11 + 0.9D) for various times and plot these against corresponding S values
taken from figure 8.7. The resulting plot, known as a storage loop is shown in
figure 8.8(a); clearly there is no linear relationship. Take further values of x
(say 0.2, 03 etc.) until a linear relationship is established, as in figure 8.8(c)
when the particular value of x may be adopted. K is now obtained by measuring
the slope of the line.
Care about units is required. It is often helpful to work in somewhat unusual
units, both to save computation and to keep numbers small. For example,
storage S is conveniently expressed in m3 /s day: such a unit is that quantity
obtained from 1 m3 /s flowing for 1 day = 86.4 x 103 m 3 If S is expressed in
m3 /s day and the ordinate of figure 8.8 is in m3 /s then K is in days.
/)
//j
/ /
/ /
/ /
/ / n
/ /
.,
0> 1/
//
o
o ,/
Vi //
// m
/
/ j
/
(b) K= fir days
----------1(0)
- - - - - - - - - 1 ( b)
---------~(c)
xl + (1- x)D (m 3/s)
Figure 8.8 River routing storage loops
The following excerpt from Carter and Godfrey [2] concisely sums up the
choice of values for x and K :
The factor x is chosen so that the indicated storage volume is the same
whether the stage is rising or falling. For spill way discharges from a reservoir,
x may be shown to be zero, because the reservoir stage, and hence the storage,
are uniquely defined by the outflow; hence, the rate of inflow has a negligible
influence on the storage in the reservoir at any time. For uniformly progressive
flow, x equals 0.50, and both the inflow and the outflow are equal in weight. In
this wave no change in shape occurs and the peak discharge remains unaffected.
Thus, the value of x will range from 0 to 0.50 with a value of 0.25 as average for
river reaches.
The factor K has the dimension of time and is the slope of the storage-weighted
discharge relation, which in most flood problems approaches a straight line.
Analysis of many flood waves indicates that the time required for the centre of
mass of the flood wave to pass from the upstream end of the reach to the down-
stream end is equal to the factor K. The time between peaks only approximates
the factor K. Ordinarily, the value of K can be determined with much greater
ease and certainty than that of x.
Having obtained values of K and x, the outflow D from the reach can be
obtained, since by combining and simplifying the two equations
11 -+-
- 12t - Dl + D2 t-- S 2 -
S1 (8.1 )
2 2
and
(the latter being equation 8.3 for a discrete time interval) the equation (8.4)
(8.4)
Flood Routing 207
is obtained, where
Co = _ Kx -O.5t ,Cl = Kx +0.5t ,CZ =K -Kx -O.St (8.5)

K -Kx + O.5t K -Kx + O.St K -Kx + O.5t
where t = routing period, which should be taken as between 1- and t of the

flood wave travel time through the reach (obtained from the inflow
hydrograph).
A worked example illustrating the application of the method is set out below.
Example 8.2. Routing in a stream channel by the Muskingum method.

Part I
Given the inflow and outflow hydrographs of figure 8.9, derive the constants
x and K for the reach.
150 "' __ ' ( Hypothetical hydrogroph of flood of example 8.2, par! 2

140 I \
I \
130 I \
I \
120 I Inflow \
Vi 110
"-
'"$ 100 I
"
I
\ .. ---........
... / \
\
.... <Hypothetical routed outflow
....,
., 90 I \ Discharg~,
01
~
I ....
.c 80 I ....
~
'0 70 II '" ,
"0
c 60 I
'"~ I
I
50
.2 I
i: 40
/
30 ,,-:.- __ ",'
20
10
o 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84 90 96 102108 114 120 126

Time (h)
Figure 8.9 Inflow and discharge hydrographs for a river reach
The data are set out in tabular form in table 83. In columns 1 and 2, the
given hydrographs are listed at a routing period interval, taken as 6 h. The
storage units are taken here as (t m 3 /s day) since the routing period is t day.
Colums (4), (S) and (6) are simply tabular statements of the processes illustrated
in figures 8.6 and 8.7.
A value of x is then chosen, in the first instance 0.2, and the value inside the
square brackets of equation 83 is then evaluated in columns (7), (8) and (9).
Columns (6) and (9) are now plotted in figure 8.10 and produce the loop in the
N
40
00
TABLE 8.3 Storage loops calculations
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15)
Hour Inflow Outflow Mean Cumulotive x =0.2 x = 0.25 x =0.3
I D I-D storage storage
(m 3 /s) (m 3 /s) (m 3 /s) (-! m 3 /s day) (t m 3 /s day) 0.21 O.BD total 0.251 0.75D total 0.31 0.7D total
0 22 22 0 0 0 4 17 21 5 16 21 7 15 22
6 23 21 2 1 1 5 17 22 6 16 22 7 15 22
12 35 21 14 8 9 7 17 24 9 16 25 10 15 25
18 71 26 45 29 38 14 21 35 18 19 37 21 18 39 m
~
24 103 34 69 57 95 20 27 47 26 25 51 31 24 55 IQ
30 111 44 67 68 163 22 35 57 28 33 61 33 31 64 :r
CD
CD
36 109 55 54 60 223 22 44 66 27 41 68 33 38 71 ...
42 100 66 34 44 267 20 53 73 25 49 74 30 46 76 :r
IQ
48 86 75 11 22 289 17 60 77 21 56 77 26 52 78 ::J:
-<
Q.
54 71 82 -11 0 289 14 66 80 18 61 79 21 57 78 ...
60 59 85 -26 -18 271 12 68 80 15 64 79 18 59 77 0
0"
66 47 84 -37 -31 240 9 67 76 12 63 75 14 59 73 IQ
-<
72 39 80 -41 -39 201 8 64 72 10 60 70 11 56 67
78 32 73 -41 -41 160 6 58 64 8 55 63 10 51 61
84 28 64 -36 -38 122 6 51 57 7 48 55 8 45 53
90 24 54 -30 -33 89 5 43 48 6 40 46 7 38 45
96 22 44 -22 -26 63 4 35 39 5 33 38 7 31 38
102 21 36 -15 -18 45 4 29 33 5 27 32 6 25 31
108 20 30 -10 -12 33 4 24 28 5 22 27 6 21 27
114 19 25 - 6 - 8 25 4 20 24 5 19 24 6 17 23
120 19 22 - 3 - 4 21 4 18 22 5 16 21 6 15 21
126 18 19 - 1 - 2 19 4 15 19 4 14 18 5 13 18
Flood Routing 209
:300
280
/ J " J
I1 lA 1
2
240
I1 !
2 20
r-
>-
.g 2 00
1/11240-* I
1(1 = mmtsts day
3
II1
~ I 80
60 3 day
"'E I60
-I" 40
20 X=0.2/) X:0.21 X=O.~
If
00
80
~ I 1//
60
40
20
LJ L,1----1
40 m3 ts Ihll
V [/ :. K = ~ = 15 days 7
O~~~~~Wro80 O~~~~~Wro80
o 10 20 ~ 40 50 60 70 80
xl+(I-x)O (m 3/s)
Figure 8.1 0 Storage loops for the reach of example 8.2
left-hand side of the figure.

A second value of x = 0.25 is now tried (columns (10), (11) and (12) refer)
and the resulting plot is the central one of figure 8.10. A third value,x = 0.3, is
also tabulated and plotted on the right of the figure. By inspection, the central
value of x =0.25 approximates a straight line most nearly, so this is chosen as
the x value.
K is determined by measuring the slope of the median line as shown on the
figure, and is found to be 1.5 days. This confirms the approximate peak-to-peak
time of 33 h from figure 8.9. For this reach, therefore, use
x = 0.25 and K = 1.5 days
Part 2
Using the x and K values derived from the hydrographs, route the flood of table
8.4, column (2), through the reach and derive the outflow hydrograph.
First, compute Co, Cl and C2 from equation 8.5. Use a routing period t = 6,
h =t day as before.
Co = _ (1.5 X 0.25) - (0.5 X 0.25) = _ 0.25 = -0.2
1.5 - (1.5 X 0.25) + (0.5 x 0.25) 1.25
TABLE 8.4 Derivation of discharge
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
Hours I -0.212 0.4 11 0.8 DI D
(rn 3 /s) (rn 3 /s) (rn 3 /s) (m 3 Is) (rn'i'fs)
0 31 31.rf1
6 50 -10.0 12.4 24.8 27.2
12 86 -17.2 20.0 21.8 24.6
18 123 -24.6 34.4 19.7 29.5
24 145 -29.0 49.2 23.6 43.8
30 150 -30.0 58.0 35.0 63.0
36 144 -28.8 60.0 50.4 81.6
42 128 -25.6 57.6 65.3 97.3
48 113 -22.6 51.2 77.8 106.4
54 95 -19.0 45.2 85.2 111.4
60 79 ~15.8 38.0 89.1 111.3
66 65 -13.0 31.6 89.0 107.6
72 55 -11.0 26.0 86.1 101.1
78 46 -9.2 22.0 80.9 93.7
84 40 -8.0 18.4 74.9 85.3
90 35 -7.0 16.0 68.3 77.3
96 31 -6.2 14.0 61.8 69.6
102 27 -5.4 12.4 55.7 62.7
108 25 -5.0 10.8 50.2 56.0
114 24 -4.8 10.0 44.8 50.0
120 23 -4.6 9.6 40.0 45.0
126 22 -4.4 9.2 36.0 40.8
aAssumed value.
The similarly calculated values of Cl = 0.4 and C2 = 0.8 check that -0.2 + 0.4 +
0.8 = 1.0. From equation 8.4
D2 = -0.212 +0.41 1 +0.8D 1
11 ,12 etc. are known from the hypothetical flood hydrograph, but DI is unknown.
Assume a value for DI =/ 1 = 31 m3 /s. This will be very nearly correct since the
river is at a low level and will be near to a steady state. Then the first equation to
be solved is
D2 = -0.2(50) + 0.4(31) + 0.8(31)
= -10.0 + 12.4 + 24.8 =27.2
This value of D2 becomes the DI for the next calculation and the values are
tabulated as in table 8.4.
The outflow hydrograph is plotted as a dashed line to a little way beyond the
peak in figure 8.9.
A disadvantage of the Muskingum method is that it does not include effects
such as friction and diffusion, which can vary widely as a river reaches and then
Flood Routing 211
exceeds bank-full conditions. A method that does include these effects, known
as the diffusion method, was devised by Hayami [3]. Cunge [4], however,
showed that the solution to the Muskingum equations can be made to approxi-
mate to the solutions of the diffusion method provided the values of K and x
are chosen appropriately. Essentially Cunge converted the method from one
derived hydrologically to one based on hydraulic principles. He did this by
writing the original Muskingum equations in finite difference form, identifying
the magnitude of the error introduced and allowing this term to simulate the
diffusion of the flood wave into storage areas along the reach.
In this modified method, now termed the Muskingum-Cunge method, the
reach is divided into a series of sub-reaches, typically L/IO long, x is now derived
for each sub-reach from the physical properties of the reach, i.e. average bed
slope, mean channel width including the flood plain into which the flow diffuses,
the average speed of the flood wave w, and the average peak discharge. K is
assumed to be M/w. The inflow hydrograph is then routed as before, through
the sub-reaches in succession, with the values of K and x varying appropriately in
each sub-reach.
For a more detailed description and further information about this method,
the reader should consult references [5,6].
8.5 Graphical routing methods
If equation 83 is written with x = 0, then

S=KD
and since, differentiating
dS =Kd~
dt dt
and
I -D = dS (from section 8.2)

dt
then
I -D dD
K dt
This equation has been used [7] to provide a simple graphical method of
routing, since dD/dt represents the slope of the outflow hydrograph and (I - D)
and K are measurable quantities in m 3 /s and days. In figure 8.11, which is a
plotted inflow hydrograph I, with discrete values 11 , /2 ,13 etc. marked at inter-
vals of time, the storage constant K is plotted horizontally from the position of
each I value and a line drawn from the end of the K line to the previous dis-
charge value D. Since this line represents dD/dt, the lower part can be used to
denote the actual outflow hydrograph. Naturally, the smaller the time interval
the more accurate the method will be, but there is no need to have the intervals
equal.
K can be varied, if its variation is known, and reference to figure 8.10 will
suggest K may well vary and could be obtained in a relationship with outflow
from such a storage loop, giving a K against D curve as illustrated in figure 8.13 (b).
The method can also be used in reverse, so that K at any time can be obtained
from simultaneous hydrographs of I and D.
The foregoing description is all qualified by the initial statement that x =0,
so it applies to simple reservoir action only. It can be extended, however, to
include positive x values since the effect of increasing x, with K constant, is to
move the outflow graph bodily to the right so that the peak value no longer falls
on the recession limb of the inflow graph, and also to increase the magnitude of
the outflow peak.
If a succession of historic floods is analysed, the lag that is caused by x having
a positive value can be determined. The lag due to this cause, Tx, is measured
from the peak of the outflow graph to the same discharge on the recession limb
of the inflow graph, as illustrated in figure 8.12 and a plot can be made connect-
ing Tx with corresponding I (figure 8.13 (b.
Now the inflow graph of the reach with x > 0 is lagged as illustrated in figure
8.13, the amount of lag at each horizon being determined from the Tx against I
curve, to give the dashed inflow graph, which is then routed by the graphical
1-
Figure 8.11 Graphical routing method

Flood Routing 213
1-
Figure 8.12 Lag due to the constant x >0

method as though it were a simple reservoir inflow. It is often convenient to
plot the curve of variation of K against D alongside the Tx against I curve so that
both variations may be taken account of in the same plot. Fuller descriptions of
this and similar routing techniques are available [8,9].
8.6 Synthetic unitgraphs from flood routing
The principles of flood routing can now be used to derive unit hydrographs for a
catchment where almost no rainfall or runoff records exist. The method is not
entirely synthetic since at least one observation of a runoff hydrograph must be
made.
," ,-- I nflow logged in accordance

/ \ with r.
against I curve
\
\
\
\ . ...,...-Outflow derived from
."\ ""<': logged Inflow using
,
, "-. variable K
'"'"
"'-
" ,
" " "-.
" .............. , ......."-
-~
(a) (b)
1- r. and K
Figure 8.13 Graphical routing with variable lag and K
Consider a catchment as a series of sub-areas, each of which, under a sudden
burst of rain, contributes inflow into the system of drainage channels, which
have storage. The instantaneous unit hydro graph is therefore in two parts, the
first representing the inflow of the rain, and the second the gradual withdrawal
of the catchment storage. The dividing line between these two parts can be con-
veniently taken at the point of inflexion on the recession limb as shown in figure
8.14.
The assumption is now made that the catchment discharge Q and the storage
S are directly proportional, so that
S=KQ (8.6)
(that is, equation 83 with x = 0, and Q used instead of D) and
I _Q= dS
dt
where I represents the inflow resulting from the instantaneous rain. Since
dS/dt =K dQ/dt, by differentiating equation 8.6, then
KdQ =I-Q
dt
and using the condition Q = when t = 0, the equation may be solved to
short rainburst
storage
water
leaving
r---------- .--1------
storage
boseftow
Time_
Figure 8.14 Hydrograph from short rain approximate [UH

Flood Routing 215
Q=I(I _e- t / K )
Since the inflow ceases at the inflexion point at time T (say), then the outflow
at time t in terms of discharge QT at T is given as
Qt = QTe-(t-T)/K (8.7)
The determination of the storage coefficient K must be made from an observed

hydrograph on the catchment, as illustrated in figure 8.15, by taking two values
unit time apart at the point of inflexion. The hydrograph should be of an isolated
period of rain. It is not necessary that the magnitude of the rain be measured but
it is necessary that it should be reasonably short, say 1 h only. Then
Ql = QT and from equation 8.7 Q2 = QTe-(t-T)/K
the shaded area A = ft=
t= T
T+l
QTe-(t-T)/K
Hence
A = [-KQTe-(t-T)/KJ~
= K(QT - QTe- 1/K )
so
The second observation that must be made from the observed hydrograph is
the catchment lag (Td; that is, the maximum travel time through the catchment.
inflexion point
boseflow
/------------1 -
Figure 8.15 Determination of K

This may be taken as the time from the mass centre of the causative rain (hence
the requirement that it should be short-so that no large error is introduced
here) to the inflexion point on the recession limb.
The storage of the catchment is now thought of as a hypothetical reservoir,
situated at the point of outflow; the inflow is expressed as the time-area graph
of the catchment, where each sub-area is delineated so that all rain falling on it
instantaneously has the same time of travel to the outflow point, as illustrated in
figure 8.16. The time-area graph (l) now has instantaneous unit rain applied to
it and is routed through the reservoir, in the manner of section 8.3, and the out-
flow (Q) derived. This outflow represents the IUH for the catchment and can
be converted if required to the n-h unitgraph.
The method is basically due to Clark [10], thoughK is as derived by O'Kelly
[11]. It is open to criticism in several respects and more advanced techniques
[12-15] are now available, but it has the advantage of comparative simplicity.
Its derivation is not dependent on an observed hydro graph of unit intensity.
Another advantage is that instead of deriving the IUH (and hence the n-h
unitgraph) design rain can be applied directly to the time-area graph, with areal
variation and in any desired quantity. This produces an instantaneous design-
storm hydrograph, which can then be directly converted to a design-storm
hydrograph of required intensity by averaging ordinates as discussed before.
A worked example of the method is given below.
Example 8.3. Given the catchment area of figure 8.l6, of area 250 km 2 , and
the information derived from a short rain hydrograph that TL = 8 hand K = 7.5 h,
derive the 2 -h unit hydrograph
=8h
K =7-5h
catchment area = 250km 2
Figure 8.16 Catchment with isochrones

Flood Routing 217
(I) Divide the catchment area into eight hourly divisions by isochrones, or
lines of equal travel time. It will be assumed that all surface runoff falling
in one of these divisions will arrive during a I-h period at the gauging
point.
(2) Measure by planimeter the area of each of the hourly areas. The areas of
the figure are
Hour 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
10 23 39 43 42 40 35 18
(3) Draw the distribution graph of the runoff using the sub-areas as ordinates
and 1-h intervals as abscissa. The result is figure 8.17- the time-area
graph drawn in full lines.
(4) This time-area graph is now treated as the inflow I due to unit net rain
of 1 cm on the catchment of a hypothetical reservoir, situated at the out-
let, with storage equal to that of the catchment. Then
I +1 t _
Q 1 +Q2 . t =S2 -SI
__
1 __
2 (from equation 8.1)
2 2
and
SI = KQl and S2 = KQ2 (from equation 8.6)
.......
50r
DOlled lInes show Ihe

40f- d islorllon of graph 10
-'
occounl for non-uniform
oreal dlslribulion of rain
o
Cl>
4 r--
20- .
1--'
10-
Time (h)
Figure 8.17 Sub-area distribution or time-area graph

From these equations
where
O.St O.5t K - O.St
mo=--- ml=--- m2=----
K + O.5t K+ O.5t K + O.5t
and since a distribution graph is being used and I I = 12 , then
Q2 =m/I + m2QI
where
/ t
m = ----
K + O.St
and in this case
/ 1
m = =-=0.125
7.5+0.5 8
and
m2 -_ 7.5 - 0.5 -_ -7 -- 0 .875

7.5 +0.5 8
Hence
Q2 =0.125I+0.875QI
(5) Tabulate the data and compute Q2 as in table 8.5. Q2 is the required
synthetic instantaneous unit hydrograph. Compute the conversion con-
stant for column (3).
10 6 X 10- 2
1 cm rain on 1 km 2 in 1 h = = 2.78 m 3 /s
3600
(6) Plot the IUH and 2-h unitgraphs of table 8.5, columns (5) and (6) as
figure 8.18.
To illustrate the ease of the method in accommodating areal variation in rain-

fall, suppose that a hypothetical rainfall is specified of 20 mm on sub-areas 1 and
2, 7.5 mm on 3,4,5 and 6, and 15 mm on areas 7 and 8, all falling in 1 h. The
technique used then simply converts the time-area graph by these proportions,
as shown by the dotted graph lines of figure 8.17 before the routing operation
derives the IUH as before and then converts it to an n -h unitgraph by averaging
each pair of ordinates at n-h spacing. In this latter case a degree of licence is
being employed using the terms IUH and unitgraph since the rainfall is not uni-
form and catchment-wide as required by their definition.
Flood Routing 219
TABLE 8.5 [UH by routing
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

Time area 0.125[=2.78 Q, = col. (3) +
Time diagram X 0.125 X col. (2) 0.875 X col. (5) col. (4) = IUH unitgraph
(h) (km' ) (m3/s) (m 3/s) (m 3/s) (m3/s)
0 0 0 0 0 0
1 10 3.5 0 3.5
2 23 8.0 3.1 11.1 5.5
3 39 13.5 9.7 23.2 13.4
4 43 14.9 20.3 35.2 23.1
5 42 14.6 30.8 45.4 34.3
6 40 13.9 39.6 53.5 44.3
7 35 12.1 46.8 58.9 52.2
8 18 6.2 51.4 57.6 55.5
9 0 0 50.5 50.5 54.7
10 0 0 44.1 44.1 50.8
11 0 0 39.6 39.6 45.1
12 0 0 34.6 34.6 39.3
13 0 0 30.2 30.2 34.9
14 0 0 26.4 26.4 30.5
15 0 0 etc. etc. etc.
V IUH
60
/e-...
/ /
,/
\" / " 2-h unitgroph
"'-. r"",
50
I [/ \.,
.",", "
/ I
~ 40
'"S V/
2'"'" 30 / /
u
<J>
Cl
i
I /
/ "-
r~
//
20
10 I
e~
/1
.,?/
o 10 12 14 16
2 4 6 8
Time (h)
Figure 8.18 Derived [UH and 2-h unitgraph

References
1. MCCARTHY, G. T. The unit hydrograph and flood routing. Unpublished

paper presented at the Conference of the North Atlantic Division, Corps
of Engineers, U.S. Army, New London, Connecticut, 24, June 1938.
Printed by U.S. Engr. Office, Providence, Rhode Island
2. CARTER, R. W. and GODFREY, R. G. Storage and Flood Routing. U.S.
Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1543-B, 1960, p. 93
3. HAY AMI, S. On the propagation of flood waves. Bulletin 1. Disaster Preven-
tion Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan, 1951
4. CUNGE, J. A. On the subject of a flood propagation method. J. Hydro I. Res.,
7,No.2(1969) 205-30
5. PRICE, R. K. Flood routing methods for British rivers. Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng.,
55 (1973) 913-30
6. Natural Environment Research Council. Flood Studies Report, Vol. Ill,
NERC, 1975,Appendix 5.2
7. WILSON, W. T. A graphical flood routing method. Trans. Am. Geophys.
Union, 21, Part 3 (1941) 893
8. KOHLER, M. A. Mechanical analogs aid graphical flood routing. J. Hydraulics
Div., 84 (April 1958)
9. LAWLER, E. A. Flood routing. Handbook of Applied Hydrology (ed. Ven
Te Chow), McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964, Section 25-11
10. CLARK, C. O. Storage and the unit hydrograph. Trans Am. Soc. Civ. Eng.,
110 (1945) 1419
11. O'KELL Y, J. J. The employment of unit hydrographs to determine the flows
of Irish arterial drainage channels. Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., Part Ill, (1955)
365
12. NASH, J. E. Determining runoff from rainfall. Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., 10
(1958) 163
13. NASH, J. E. Systematic determination of unit hydrograph parameters. J.
Geophys. Res., 64 (1959) I11
14. NASH, 1. E. A unit hydrograph study, with particular reference to British
catchments. Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., 17 (1960) 249
15. VEN TE CHOW. Handbook of Applied Hydrology, McGraw-HilI, New York,
I 964, Section 14
Further reading
O'DONNELL, T. A. Direct three-parameter Muskingum procedure incorporating

lateral inflow. Hydrol. Sci. J., 30, No. 4 (1985) 479
O'DONNELL, T., PEARSON, C. P. and WOODS, R. A. An improved three-para-
meter Muskingum routing procedure. J. Hydraulic Engineering ASCE, 114
(1987) 5
PRICE, R. K. A comparison of four numerical methods for flood routing. J.
Hydraulics Div. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 100, HY7 (1974) 879-99
THOMAS, I. E. and WORMLEATON, P. R. Finite difference solution of the flood
diffusion equation. J. Hydrol., 12 (1971) 211- 21
Problems
8.1 A catchment can be divided into ten sub-areas by isochrones in the manner
shown in the table below, the catchment lag TL being 10 h:
Flood Routing 221
2 345 6 7 8 9 10
14 30 84 107 121 95 70 55 35 20
A single flood recording is available from which the storage coefficient K is
found as 8 h. Derive the 2-h unit hydrograph for the catchment.
8.2 Tabulated below is the inflow I to a river reach where the storage constants
are K = 10 h and x =0:
Time I Time I
(h) (m3js) (h) (m 3js)
0 28.3 40 90.6
5 26.9 45 70.8
10 24.1 50 53.8
15 62.3 55 42.5
20 133.1 60 34.0
25 172.7 65 28.3
30 152.9 70 24.1
35 121.8
Find graphically the outflow peak in time and magnitude. What would be the
effect of making x > 07 Assume outflow at hour 11 is 28.3 m 3 /s and starting to
rise.
8.3 A storm over the catchment shown in the figure generates simultaneously
at A and B the hydrograph listed below:
~
Hours Q (m 3 js) Hours
B
C
Q(m 3js}
-
0 10 24 91
3 35 27 69
6 96 30 54
9 163 33 41
12 204 36 33
15 210 39 27
18 190 42 24
21 129
Use the Muskingum stream flow routing technique to determine the combined
maximum discharge at C. The travel time for the mass centre of the flood
between A and C is 9 h and the factor x = 0.33. Any local inflow is neglected.
8.4 Define the instantaneous unit hydrograph of a catchment area, and describe
how it can be used to derive the n-h unitgraph.
A catchment area is 400 km 2 in total and is made up of the sub-areas bounded
by the isochrones tabulated below:
Sub-area Area
bounded by (km 2 )
isochrone
(h)
15
2 30
3 50
4 75
5 80
6 60
7 45
8 25
9 20
From a short-storm hydrograph it is known that h = 9 h and the storage coef-

ficient K = 5.5 h. Derive the 3-h unitgraph.
8.5 Listed below is the storm inflow hydrograph for a full reservoir that has an
uncontrolled spillway for releasing flood waters:
3-h 3-h
intervals m 3 /s intervals m 3/s
0 l.5 12 54
1 156 13 45
2 255 14 40
3 212 15 34
4 184 16 28
5 158 17 23
6 136 18 17
7 116 19 11
8 99 20 8.5
9 85 21 5.5
10 74 22 3.0
11 62
Flood Routing 223
Determine the outflow hydrograph for the 48-h period after the start of
the storm. Assume outflow is 1 m3 /s at time O. The storage and outflow
characteristics of the reservoir and spillway are tabulated below:
Height above Height above

spillway crest Storage Outflow spillway crest Storage Outflow
(m) (m 3 x10 6 ) (m 3js) (m) (m 3 x 10 6 ) (m 3js)
0.2 0.30 1.21 3.0 6.80 70.15
0.4 0.62 3.42 3.2 7.38 77.28
0.6 0.96 6.27 3.4 7.98 84.64
0.8 1.35 9.66 3.6 8.60 92.21
1.0 1.70 13.50 3.8 9.25 100.00
1.2 2.10 17.75 4.0 9.90 108.00
1.4 2.57 22.36 4.2 10.50 116.20
1.6 3.00 27.32 4.4 11.21 124.60
1.8 3.52 32.60 4.6 11.90 133.19
2.0 4.05 38.18 4.8 12.62 141.97
2.2 4.57 44.05 5.0 13.35 150.93
2.4 5.10 50.19 5.2 14.10 160.08
2.6 5.68 56.60 5.4 14.88 169.40
2.8 6.22 63.25
8.6 Show by sketches how the Muskingum routing technique is based on at

least one observation of a flood passing through a river reach. Compare the
technique with reservoir routing to explain how and why the two techniques
differ.
Determine the probable maximum discharge from a reach of a river where the
inflow hydrograph is as listed below and the constants x and K of the routing
equation are x = 0.20 and K = 9 h.
Hour Q (m3js) Hour Q (m3js)
0 40 18 220
2 52 20 180
4 132 22 150
6 218 24 120
8 294 26 96
10 322 28 80
12 324 30 68
14 308 32 60
16 264 34 54
8.7 The following hydrograph was observed on a river as a result of an hour
of uniform-intensity rain, baseflow having been estimated and subtracted:
Hour Q (m 3 /s) Hour Q (m 3/s)

0 0 8 603
1 40 9 582
2 120 10 540
3 265 11 467
4 405 12 385
5 515 13 306
6 580 14 232
7 607 15 167
The catchment contributing this flow was divided into sub-areas by isochrones,
from which the following time-area correlation was derived:
Hour 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Area (km 2 ) 25 40 80 200 340 300 220 170 110 50 20
Given that Q2 =m'I + m2Ql where m'= tl(K +-!t)and ml = (K --!t)/(K +-tt)
derive the I-h unit hydrograph for the catchment and determine Qp and tp_
Estimate the net rainfall that caused the original hydrograph.
8.8 The Muskingum routing equation S = K(xI + (1 -x)D) applies to a reach

of a river. Show how the constants x and K may be derived.
If the values for a particular reach are K = 9 h and x = 0.30, forecast the
outflow hydrograph from the reach if this inflow hydrograph is as follows.
Hours 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48
Inflow 6 5174881 102 105 1039564 4534 27 20 16 1312
9 Hydrological Forecasting
9.1 Introduction
In the previous chapters the various physical processes involved in the hydrologic
cycle have been enumerated and examined in detail. Methods of evaluating each
process have been suggested and often explained, and techniques discussed that
can be used to provide quantitative answers to many questions.
The remaining problem that must now be tackled is how to use this know-
ledge to predict from existing data, however meagre it may be, what will happen
in future. This is a fundamental problem of all engineering design, since the
engineer designs and constructs work to provide for future needs, whether he
be a structural engineer designing an office block, an electrical engineer designing
power systems to meet future electrical demand, or a hydraulic engineer designing
reservoirs to meet future demand for water.
There is one major difference in these three cases. The structural designer is
working with homogeneous materials whose behaviour is known within narrow
limits. His buildings will be used by people whose spacing, dimensions, weight
and behaviour, en masse, can be predicted quite accurately. He has to cope with
natural events only in the form of wind loads, which usually form a small pro
portion of the total load, and earthquakes. For both these eventualities there are
codes of practice and recommendations available to him.
The electrical system designer has to extrapolate the rising demand curve of
recent years, and to examine the trends of industry and personal habits, to
decide how much capacity should be available in future years. While this is a
complex and continuous task, it is almost completely immune from natural
events other than disasters for which he cannot be expected to provide.
The hydraulic engineer on the other hand is dealing, in reservoir design,
almost exclusively with natural events: in the incidence of precipitation, evapora
tion and so on. These events are usually random in nature and may have any or
all the nonnegative values. It is true that if the rainfall at a place is measured
daily for a period of time, a knowledge about what is a probable daily rainfall
225
will be built up, but it will not, however long it goes on, lead to any limiting
possible value of daily rainfall, other than intuitively.
The hydrologist is frequently asked what the maximum possible discharge
of a particular river will be. There is simply no such value. The only answer that
can be given is that from the data available, and making various assumptions, it
would appear that a certain value will not be exceeded on average more than
once in a specific number of years. On such estimates all hydrologic design must
be performed, and this chapter deals with methods whereby some of the uncer-
tainties can be removed or narrowed in range.
9.2 Flood fonnulae
9.2.1 Catchment area fonnulae. The particular random variable of river flood
discharge has been of interest to engineers and hydrologists from the earliest
days of hydrology and many formulae have been proposed to define the 'maxi-
mum flood' that could occur for a particular catchment. The formulae are
empirical by nature, derived from observed floods on particular catchments and
usually of the form
Q=CA n
where Q = flood discharge in m 3 /s (or ft. 3 /s)
A = catchment area in km 2 (or mile 2 )
n = an index usually between 0.5 and 1.25
C = a coefficient depending on climate, catchment and units.
An early example of such a formula, due to Dickens, was developed in India
Q = 825ao.75
with Q in ft. 3 /s and a in square miles; but since the formula takes no account of
soil moisture, rainfall, slope, altitude etc., it is clearly of very little value in
general application. This is true of all such formulae although they are frequently
used to obtain a quick first estimate of the order of 'maximum flood' that can
be expected. For such purposes Morgan [1] proposed the formula for a cata-
strophic flood in Scotland and Wales of
Q = 30001l1l.5
where Q is in ft. 3 /s and M is catchment area in square miles, and added the
sophistication of a recurrence period T (in years) by quoting
1
design flood = catastrophic flood x (T/500)3
for cases where the adoption of the catastrophic flood was not justified by
danger to human life or the safety of a dam. A similar formula of the same
type, due to Fuller, has been widely used in the USA:
Qav = CAO.8
Hydrological Forecasting 227
where A is catchment area in square miles
C is a coefficient often taken as 75
Qav is average value of annual flood discharge in ft. 3 /s.
The value of Qav is then substituted in the formula
Qm = Qav(1 + 0.8 log T)
where T is a return period in years and Qm is the 'most probable' annual maxi-
mum flood.
9.2.2 The Rational Method. The introduction of rainfall into a formula might
be expected to improve it, bearing in mind the type of relationship which exists
between rainfall and runoff (figure 6.7 refers).
This kind of direct relationship of runoff to rainfall depths has been used in
the past to determine flood discharges. Mulvaney [2] was the fust to propose
the idea in his work on Irish arterial drainage. It was also the basis of the Uoyd-
Davis method of sewer designs [3] and the Bransby-Williams estimating method
for floods in India [4]. Its use has persisted to the present because of its sim-
plicity.
The formulae are all of the form
Qp = CiA
where = rainfall intensity in a time t
A = catchment area
le = time of concentration, i.e. the time taken for rain falling on the
catchment farthest from the gauging station to arrive there
C = a dimensionless runoff coefficient, whose value depends on the
catchment characteristics
Qp = peak discharge due to the particular rainstorm, and assumed to
occur after time te when the whole catchment area is contributing
(it follows that the rain is assumed to be uniform over the catch-
ment and to last at least for t c).
Bransby-Williams gave a formula for the design rainfall duration D (in hours)
L 5
D=t =--{/-
e d h
2
) (a
where L = greatest distance from the edge of catchment to the outfall
d =is the diameter of a circle of area equal to catchment area
(Lld is, therefore, a dimensionless coefficient of circularity)
a = catchment area in square miles
h = the channel slope (as a percentage) along its greatest length
te =time of concentration in hours.
If i is in in./h, and A is in acres, then Qp is in ft3/S. Similarly if i is in mm/h
and A in km 2 with Qp in m 3 /s, a correcting factor of 0.278 must be introduced
to permit the same C values to be used, Le.
Qp (fe /s) = C i (in./h) A (acres)
i.e. Qp (m 3 /s) = 0.278 C i(mm/h) A (km 2 )
Many values are quoted for C, from 0.1 to 0.9 depending on the nature of the
catchment, but as the runoff depends also on the intensity and duration of the
storm, the catchment wetness etc., the method is of limited value unless data
about a particular catchment are available. Then it may be used to interpolate or
marginally extrapolate the data.
There is, however, one specialised use of the Rational Method where the value
of C is sometimes taken as 1.0 Le. completely impermeable ground. This is in
the design of urban sewerage which is discussed in chapter 10.
A comparison of the Rational Method with those of the Flood Studies Report
[5] indicated that the Rational Method typically yields results about twice the
flood peak of the FSR for lowland catchments and much more as catchments
become smaller and flatter.
9.2.3 A catchment parameter formula. A more sophisticated formula has been

described by Farquharson et al. [6], based on estimates of maximum flow for
80 United Kingdom catchments made by the unit hydro graph method and
subsequently related to catchment characteristics.
The estimated maximum flood (EMF) is given by
EMF=0.835 AREAo. 878 RSMDo. 724 SOILo. s33 (1+URBAN)1.308 S108So. 162
(these variables are defined in section 9.4).
This formula takes account of catchment area, rainfall climate, slope of the
drainage channel and the permeability of the surface soil, including any area
which may be built up.
The great advantage of formulae is their simplicity and ease of use, but they
are all of limited value since they apply to their derivative regions only, in most
cases are derived from a limited series of recorded occurrences, and are 'envelope'
estimates of indeterminate safety margins. They lack the precision obtainable
from more refined methods and should be used only for preliminary estimates.
9.3 Frequency analysis
9.3.1 Series of events. The next approach is to use the methods of statistics to
extend the available data and hence predict the likely frequency of occurrence
of natural events. Given adequate records, statistical methods will show that
floods of certain magnitudes may, on average, be expected annually, every 10
years, every 100 years and so on. It is important to realise that these extensions
are only as valid as the data used. It may be queried whether any method of
extrapolation to 100 years is worth a great deal when it is based on (say) 30
years of record. Still more does this apply to the '1000 year flood' and similar
estimates.
Another point for emphasis is the non-cyclical nature of random events (see
also section 9.6). The lOO-year flood (that is, the flood that will occur on
average, once in 100 years) may occur next year, or not for 200 years or may be
exceeded several times in the next 100 years. The accuracy of estimation of the
value of the (say) lOO-year flood depends on how long the record is and, for
flood flows, one is fortunate to have records longer than 30 years. Notwith-
standing these warnings, frequency analysis can be of great value in the inter-
pretation and assessment of events such as flood flows and the risks of their
occurrence in specific time periods.
It is particularly important to define what is meant by an event. For example,
if a river has been gauged every day for 10 years, there will be about 3650
observations. These are not independent random events since the flow on any
one day is dependent to some extent on that of the day before, and so the
observations do not comprise an independent series. The array of these obser-
vations is termed a full series.
Suppose the maximum event was extracted from the 10-year record in each
year. These woulJ constitute an independent series since it is highly unlikely
that the maximum flow of one year is affected by that of a previous year. Even
so, care is necessary, as can be seen from figure 9.1, where water years, measured
between seasons of minimum flow, are marked, as well as calendar years. One
t annual water- year peaks

* secondary peaks greater than on ann~a I peak
water years
-;- .. : -
Q
*
I 1
calendar y e 0 r s
Figure 9.1 A nnual and partial duration series events
calendar year might contain two water-year peaks, so it is necessary to specify

that water years should be used in defining events. A selection like this is called
an annual series. Such a ser!~s is open to the objection that some of the peaks are
smaller events than secondary peaks (marked with an asterisk in figure 9.1) of
other years. The objection can be overcome by listing a partial duration series,
in which strict time segregation is no longer a condition and all peaks above
some arbitrary value (say the lowest annual peak) are included provided that, in
the judgement of the compiler, they are independent events, uninfluenced by
preceding peak flows. Partial duration series events therefore allow the objection
of subjective judgement and are not, strictly speaking, independent and random.
The Flood Studies Report [3] gives a detailed account of a study of the partial
duration, or peaks over a threshold (POT), series. It was concluded that the
recommended POT model was a useful one for the estimation of the mean
annual flood (Q), particularly when the record was comparatively short, say
from 3 to lO years. A summary of the method is given later in section 9.3.6.
Which series is used depends on the purpose of the analysis. For information
about fairly frequent events (for example, the size of a flood that might be
expected during the construction period of a large dam-4 years say), then a
partial series may be best, while for the design flood for the dam's spillway
that should not be exceeded in the dam's lifetime (say 100 years) the true
distribution series, or annual series, will be preferable. Actually, with very large
floods there is a very small difference in recurrence interval between the two.
Full series events, although not independent, are most valuable in design where
quantity rather than peak values are required.
9.3.2 Probability of the N-year event. The term recurrence interval (also called
the return period), denoted by Tn is the time that, on average, elapses between
two events that equal or exceed a particular level. Putting it another way, the
N-year event, the event that is expected to be equalled or exceeded, on average,
every N years, has a recurrence interval, TT of N years.
As mentioned previously there is no implication that the N-year event occurs
cyclically. It does, however, have a probability of occurrence in any particular
period under consideration.
Let the probability P(X';;;; x) represent the probability that x will not be
equalled or exceeded in a certain period of time.
Then P(X';;;; x)n will represent the probability that x will not be equalled
or exceeded in n such periods.
For an independent series and from the multiple probability rule
P(X';;;;x)n [P(X';;;;x)]n
= [l -P(X~x)]n
Therefore
1 - [1 -P(X~x)]n
Now
T. = 1
r P(X~x)
therefore
So, for example, the probability of X ~ x, where x is the value of a flood with a
return period of 20 years, occurring in a particular 3-year period is
P(X ~ 20 yr floodh = 1 - [1 - toP
=1 - [0.9SP
= 1 - 0.857
= 0.143 or 14.3 per cent
Table 9.1 shows the probability of the N-year flood occurring in a particular
period.
For example, it can be seen from the table there is a 1 per cent chance of the
200-year flood occurring in the next 2 years and an 8 per cent chance that it
will not occur for the next 500 years.
If the probability P(X :s;;; x)n is defined by a policy ruling, the value of n, the
design period, can be found from
P(X~x)n = 1-(1 - ;J n
TABLE 9.1 Percentage probability of the N-year flood occurring in a

particular period a
Number of N = Average return period Tr (years)

years in
period 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000
1 20 10 5 2 1 0.5 0.2 0.1
2 36 19 10 4 2 1 0.4 0.2
3 49 27 14 6 3 1.5 0.6 0.3
5 67 41 23 10 5 2.5 1 0.5
10 89 65 40 18 10 5 2 1
20 99 88 64 33 18 10 4 2
30 99.9 96 78 45 26 14 6 3
60 99.8 95 70 43 26 11 6
100 99.4 87 63 39 18 10
200 98.2 87 63 33 18
500 99.3 92 63 39
1000 99.3 86 63
aWhere no figure is inserted the percentage probability> 99.9.
1 - P(X ~ x)n = 1-
_1) n
( Tr1)n (T. i;- = - r
log (l - P(X ~ x)n) = n log ~ (T. - 1)

Therefore
n=
Example 9.1. How long may a cofferdam remain in a river, with an even chance
of not being overtopped, if it is designed to be secure against a lO-year flood?
Here, the policy ruling is that there should be an even chance, so P(X ~x)n = 0.50
and Tr = 10 then
n = log (l - 0.5) = log 0.5 =1.699 = ()301 =6.5 years

log -to log 0.9 1.954 0.046
9.3.3 Detennining the magnitude of the N -year event by plotting. Having listed
a series of events (for example, maximum floods) they are then each accorded a
ranking m, starting with m = 1 for the highest value, m = 2 for the next highest
and so on in descending order. The recurrence interval Tr can now be computed
from one of a number of formulae, which have been reviewed by Cunnane [7].
That most frequently used in the past is the Weibull formula [8]
T.=n+l (9.1 )
r
m
where m = event ranking and n = number of events, but there are objections to
its use because of the bias it introduces to the largest events in a short series.
Other formulae used are the Californian [9]
n
Tr = -
m
and Hazen's [10]
2n
Tr= - - -
2m -1
about both of which there are reservations. One of the more satisfactory, due to
Gringorten [11] is
_ (n+O.l2)
Tr - - ------- (9.2)
(m - 0.44)
For a single, simple compromise, Cunnane recommends
n +0.2
Tr = ------
m -0.4
The probability P of an N-year event of return period Tr is
100
P= - per cent (9.3)
Tr
so that once the series has been ranked, its various events can be plotted on
graphs connecting the variable Q and either Tr or P.
It is often assumed that such series are normally distributed, in which case the
plotted points on normal probability paper would lie on a straight line. This
seldom happens for flood series and shallow curves more often result, making
extrapolations more difficult. To overcome this difficulty the variate Q is some-
times plotted logarithmically, which requires logarithmic-normal probability,
or log-normal paper.
Table 9.2 is a listing of the annual maximum mean daily flows of the River
Thames at Teddington Weir for the years 1883-1988. This is a true annual series
with return periods and probabilities calculated from equations 9.2 and 9.3.
Table 9.2 data can be plotted in a variety of ways and figures 9.2 to 9.5 illustrate
the most common.
TABLE 9.2 Maximum mean daily flows (Qmax) for water-years

(ending 30 Sept.) 1883-1988, for the River Thames at Teddington a
Return Percentage
Water Q'r ax Rank period probability
year (m Is) m Tr (year) P Log Qmax
1883 511 11 10.1 10.0 2.708

1884 231 82 1.3 76.8 2.364
1885 230 85 1.3 79.7 2.362
1886 244 78 1.4 73.1 2.387
1887 284 65 1.6 60.8 2.453
1888 208 93 1.2 87.2 2.318
1889 237 80 1.3 75.0 2.375
1890 205 94 1.1 88.1 2.312
1891 171 100 1.1 93.8 2.233
1892 339 42 2.6 39.2 2.530
1893 300 58 1.8 54.2 2.477
1894 173 99 1.1 92.9 2.238
1895 1065 1 189.5 0.53 3.027
1896 202 96 1.1 90.0 2.305
1897 351 38 2.9 35.4 2.545
1898 171 101 1.1 94.8 2.233
1899 262 70 1.5 65.5 2.418
Retum Percentage
Water Q/~IQX Rank period probability
ycar (Ill Is) III Tr (year) P Log Qmax
1900 533 7 16.2 6.2 2.727

1901 200 97 1.1 91.0 2.301
1902 162 102 1.0 95.7 2.210
1903 386 24 4.5 22.2 2.587
1904 517 10 11.1 9.0 2.713
1905 229 86 1.2 80.6 2.360
1906 249 76 1.4 71.2 2.396
1907 220 92 1.2 86.3 2.342
1908 376 28 3.9 26.0 2.575
1909 204 95 1.1 89.1 2.310
1910 231 83 1.3 77.8 2.364
1911 428 18 6.0 16.5 2.631
1912 367 36 3.0 33.5 2.565
1913 255 74 1.4 69.3 2.407
1914 256 73 1.5 68.4 2.408
1915 585 4 29.8 3.4 2.767
1916 373 31 3.5 28.8 2.572
1917 327 46 2.3 42.9 2.515
1918 351 39 2.8 36.3 2.545
1919 334 43 2.5 40.1 2.524
1920 251 75 1.4 70.3 2.400
1921 240 79 1.4 74.1 2.380
1922 198 98 1.1 91.9 2.297
1923 231 84 1.3 78.7 2.364
1924 298 60 1.8 56.1 2.474
1925 522 9 12.4 8.1 2.718
1926 370 32 3.4 29.7 2.568
1927 375 29 3.7 26.9 2.574
1928 526 8 14.0 7.1 2.721
1929 235 81 1.3 75.9 2.371
1930 552 6 19.1 5.2 2.742
1931 228 87 1.2 81.6 2.358
1932 274 66 1.6 61.8 2.438
1933 479 12 9.2 10.9 2.680
1934 95 106 1.0 99.5 1.978
1935 227 88 1.2 82.5 2.356
1936 478 13 8.5 11.8 2.679
1937 438 17 6.4 15.6 2.641
1938 247 77 1.4 72.1 2.393
1939 369 33 3.3 30.7 2.567
1940 410 19 5.7 17.5 2.613
1941 384 26 4.2 24.1 2.584
1942 298 61 1.8 57.1 2.474
1943 457 14 7.8 12.8 2.660
1944 115 105 1.0 98.5 2.061
1945 261 71 1.5 66.5 2.417
1946 257 72 1.5 67.4 2.410
1947 714 2 68.0 1.5 2.854
Return Percentage
Water Qmax Rank period probability
year (m3/s) m Tr (year) P Log Qmax
1948 227 89 1.2 83.5 2.356

1949 299 59 1.8 55.2 2.476
1950 324 49 2.2 45.8 2.511
1951 385 25 4.3 23.1 2.585
1952 377 27 4.0 25.0 2.576
1953 263 69 1.6 64.6 2.420
1954 222 91 1.2 85.3 2.346
1955 453 16 6.8 14.7 2.656
1956 316 52 2.1 48.6 2.500
1957 314 53 2.0 49.5 2.497
1958 317 51 2.1 47.6 2.501
1959 375 30 3.6 27.9 2.574
1960 308 56 1.9 52.4 2.489
1961 456 15 7.3 13.7 2.659
1962 344 41 2.6 38.2 2.537
1963 286 63 1.7 59.0 2.456
1964 369 34 3.2 31.6 2.567
1965 122 104 1.0 97.6 2.086
1966 324 48 2.2 44.8 2.511
1967 313 55 1.9 51.4 2.496
1968 600 3 41.5 2.4 2.778
1969 369 35 3.1 32.6 2.567
1970 224 90 1.2 84.4 2.350
1971 362 37 2.9 34.5 2.559
1972 330 45 2.4 42.0 2.519
1973 266 68 1.6 63.7 2.425
1974 396 22 4.9 20.3 2.598
1975 559 5 23.3 4.3 2.747
1976 152 103 1.0 96.6 2.182
1977 334 44 2.4 4l.0 2.524
1978 326 47 2.3 43.9 2.513
1979 324 50 2.1 46.7 2.511
1980 393 23 4.7 21.3 2.594
1981 289 62 1.7 58.0 2.461
1982 314 54 2.0 50.5 2.497
1983 345 40 2.7 37.3 2.538
1984 286 64 1.7 59.9 2.456
1985 270 67 1.6 62.7 2.431
1986 408 20 5.4 18.4 2.611
1987 304 57 1.9 53.3 2.483
1988 402 21 5.2 19.4 2.604
aQav = 329.7 m 3 /s, n = 106. ~X = ~ log Qmax = 263.621

a = 133.8. ~X2 = ~ (log Qmax)2 = 658.478
Tr is calculated from Xav = 2.487
equation 9.2. a x = 0.165
(a) Q against Tr using linear co-ordinates (figure 9.2). Extrapolation of the
curve to high values of Tr depends critically on the few highest points.
Circled points are corresponding positions of equation 9.1 for two highest
values.
,200
-
--
1000
~
~
800 I ~
r------ l---
J..
<5
600
/~ .-<
- l.------
7I
400
200
!
I
,
o
o 20 40 60 80 '00 ,20 '40 ,60 180 200
Return period, Tt (year)
Figure 9.2 Annual maximum mean daily flow of the River Thames at
Teddington, 1883-1988
(b) Q (linear) against Tr (logarithmic) (figure 9.3). This yields a straight line
fitted to all but the lowest values. Although extrapolation is simpler, unless
Tr follows a logarithmic law, extrapolation is not necessarily more accurate
than for figure 9.2.
1200
T
T
1100
1000 1 1
1 1
900 __ f-
800 1 1
700 I l.---"
t.-- I--'
--:.-:r
~ 600 1
oS
c5 500 ..
i-.-.'
V'"......
400
300
200
.?Y
"
lOO 1 11
0
3 4 5
I
6 7 8 910 15 20 30 40 50 60708090100 150 200 300
Return period, T, (years)
Teddington, 1883-1988 (semi-log)
(c) Q (linear) against probability (per cent) (figure 9.4). As often happens,
flood series points lie on a shallow curve on probability paper (where a
normal distribution of probability is assumed).
1200
1100
1000
900
800 I V
I I /
~ 700
'1 I I /'
0- 600
500 I
i
I /.
400
/-
.' I I
'.,,,f"- I
300
~I
200 " ."..- ~ , I

100 -:-- l;--'-
f-""
I I
o
99.95 99.8 99.5 99 96 95 90 60 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 2 1 0.5 0.2 0.05
% probability of occurrence in anyone year
Teddington, 1883-1988 (normal probability)
(d) Q (logarithmic) against probability (per cent) (figure 9.5). The curve of
figure 9.4 is now transformed to a straight line.
A variation of the approach in figure 9.4 is to assume that the logarithm
of the variate Q is normally distributed, leading to the use of logarithmic
normal distribution (or log-normal paper)-first used by Whlpple [12].
(e) Other investigators have proposed methods assuming other theoretical
frequency distributions. Gurnbel [13, 14, 15] used extreme-value theory
(EVl) to show that in a series of extreme values Xl, X 2 Xn where the
samples are of equal size and X is an exponentially distributed variable (for
example, the maximum discharge observed in a year's gauge readings), then
the cumulative probability pi that any of the n values will be less than a
particular value X (of return period T) approaches the value
pi == e-e-Y
where e is the natural logarithm base

and
y==-ln [-In (1- i)]

1500
1000
900 I I
800 I/'
700 V
600 I I I 1.--:
500 I I 1.:/1
1 400 V" I I I
C .l7 I? ~'''I I
300
vi-'"
200 I :;P V I I I
VV
.....-- .......-
lOO
./"
99.9 99.5 99 98 95 90 80 70 60 SO 40 30 20 10 2 1 0.5 0.1 0.05
% probability of occurrence in a~y year
Teddington, 1883-1988 (log-normal)
That is, p' is the probability of non-occurrence of an event X in T years, or
T= __1_
1 _.p '
(Note that this argument refers to Gumbel's method. The reader should not
confuse this with the normal usage of Tr = liP where P = probability of
occurrence.)
The event X, of return period Tyears, is now defined as QT, and
QT = Qav + 0(0.78y -- 0.45) (9.4)
where Qav = average of all values of 'annual flood' Qmax
o = standard deviation of the series.
Thus
(9.5)
where n = number of years of record = number of Qmax values

LQ~ax = sum of the squares of n values of Qmax.
Table 9.3 gives values of y as a function of T.
Powell [16] suggested that if plotting paper is prepared in which the hori-
zontallines are spaced linearly and the vertical lines' spacing is made proportional
to y, then from equation 9.4 QT and T will plot as straight lines. This is the basis
Hvdrological Forecasting 239
TABLE 9.3 y as function of T
T Y T Y
1.01 -1.53 100 4.60
1.58 0.00 200 5.30
2.0 0.37 300 5.70
5.0 1.50 400 5.99
10.0 2.25 500 6.21
20 2.97 1000 6.91
50 3.90 10,000 9.21
of Gumbel-Powell probability paper, used to plot the River Thames data in

figure 9.6. The return period T has been computed, as before, from equation
9.2. The straight line on this figure has been drawn between the two points Qav
and Q200' Qav, from equation 9.4 occurs when 0.78y =0.45 or y =0.577, which
corresponds to T = 2.33 years. Equation 9.4 holds for large values of n, say
1100
I
I
I
lOO 0
I
1
I
90 0
1
I Q~oo _
1 1/
:1
800
V
.' I
VV
70 0
I I
I
1
V
lA:.
I 1
0
I
I
I
500
1
400 1 1
1
I
., .'
/'
v y..
1 1 III 1
w V-
I
c
300 1 11
V I
I
I
200
:' ;,.: I I 11
V- I
/ I
I
:
lOO 11
I
o 11
1.01 1.05 1.1 1.21.31.41.5 4 5 6 7 8 910 15 20 30 40 5060708090 lOO 150 200
Return period, T, (years)
Teddington. 1883-1988 (Gumbel distribution)
n> 50, when Qav at 2.33 years is included on the line through the points. The
other point Q200, represents the '200-year flood' and is found by inserting the
appropriate values in equation 9.4.
Qzoo = Qav + 133.8(0.78 x 5.30 - 0.45) = 329.7 + 492.9 = 823 m3 /s

and similarly
QIOO = Qav + 133.8(0.78 x 5.30 - 0.45) =329.7 + 419.9 = 750 m 3 /s
The correspondence between the plotted data and Gumbel's theoretical line is
demonstrated. Gumbel paper should not be used for partial series, which usually
plot better on semi-log paper as used in figure 9.3.
From the plots presented in figures 9.2 to 9.6, it may seem there is little to
choose between the particular plotting papers available. This is very often the
case and investigators should use whichever distribution makes their particular
job of fitting and extrapolation simplest and the line apparently of best fit.
The foregoing is a necessarily brief resume of the methods of plotting flood
events, in current use. For the underlying theories the reader should refer to
original papers and more comprehensive treatments available [5,7,17,18].
9.3.4 Determining the magnitude of the N-year event by calculation. Although

the use of a normal probability distribution has been used above to plot events,
and hence to extrapolate for rare values that may be used in design, values of
particular probabilities can be calculated since a normal distribution curve is
defined by only two parameters, the mean and standard deviation.
Accordingly, to determine the specific discharge associated with a particular
probability of occurrence r in an annual series that is normally distributed, it
is necessary to compute only
Qr = Qav + Ka
where a =standard deviation from equation 9.5 and K is listed in table 9.4.
Example 9.1. Determine by calculation the mean daily discharge of the River
Thames at Teddington with a lOO-year return period, assuming the annual
series is normally distributed.
From table 9.2: QBV = 329.7 m 3 /s and a = 133.8 m 3 /s. For Tr = 100 years,
Pis 1.0 per cent; and from table 9.4, K = 2.33. Therefore
QIOO = 329.7 + (2.33 x 133.8)

=64lm3 /s
TABLE 9.4 Values of a normal distribution
Probability K Probability K
of exceedance of exceedance
(per cent) (per cent)
0.1 3.09 50 0.00

0.5 2.58 55 -0.13
1.0 2.33 60 -0.25
2.5 1.96 65 -0.385
5 1.645 70 -0.52
10 1.28 75 -0.67
15 1.04 80 -0.84
20 0.84 85 -1.04
25 0.67 90 -1.28
30 0.52 95 -1.645
35 0.385 97.5 -1.96
40 0.25 99.0 -2.33
45 0.13 99.5 -2.58
50 0.00 99.9 -3.09
9.3.5 Log Pearson Type III distribution. It has already been mentioned that
annual flood series are rarely normally distributed. A histogram of such series
is usually skewed; that is, the mean value does not coincide with the mode (the
value of the variate with largest frequency). Pearson [19] devised a measure of
skewness based on (mean mode)/o and developed a family of curves to des-
cribe degrees of skewness. One of these, the Pearson Type III distribution, when
used together with the logarithm of the variate Q is found to allow many annual
flood series to plot as straight lines. This log Pearson Type III distribution has
been adopted as a standard by several Federal agencies in the USA [20].
N-year events can be calculated in a similar manner to the normal distribution
method, with this time the additional complication of using logarithms of the
variate and a skew coefficient (G), given by
G = fn 2 (~X3l=- 3n(~X)(~~2~2(~X)3J (9.6)
[ n(n - 1)(n - 2)oi
where X = log Q and Ox = standard deviation on n values of X.
Accordingly, to compute a particular return period flood Q from an annual
series the following steps are required.
(a) Transform all (n) values of Q in the series to their logarithms (base 10):
X = log Q
(b) Find the mean of all values of X:
X
av
= ~X
n
(c) Compute the standard deviation of nvalues of X
Ox = J[n : 1 (L~2 -X;v ) J
(d) Compute the skew of the X values, G, from equation 9.6.

(e) Calculate the discharge Qr from'
logQr =Xav +K'ox (9.7)

where K' is selected from table 9.5 for the particular probability rand
skew G.
TABLE 9.5 Values of K' in the Pearson Type III distribution (21J
Skew Probability of exceedance (per cent)

coejficien t
G 99 90 50 10 5 2 1
3.0 - 0.667 -0.660 0.396 1.180 2.003 3.15.2 4.051

2.5 --0.799 -0.771 0.360 1.250 2.012 3.048 3.845
2.0 -0.990 -0.895 0.307 1.303 1.996 2.912 3.605
1.5 - 1.256 - 1.018 --0.240 1.333 1.951 2.743 3.330
1.2 - 1.449 -1.086 -0.195 1.340 1.910 2.626 3.149
1.0 -1.588 -1.128 -0.164 1.340 1.877 2.542 3.023
0.9 -1.660 -1.147 -0.148 1.339 1.859 2.498 2.957
0.8 - 1.733 1.166 -0.132 1.336 1.839 2.453 2.891
0.7 -1.806 - 1.183 -0.116 1.333 1.819 2.407 2.824
0.6 -1.880 1.200 -0.099 1.328 1.797 2.359 2.755
0.5 -1955 --1.216 - 0.083 1.323 1.774 2.311 2.686
0.4 - 2.029 - 1. 231 -0.067 1.317 1.750 2.261 2.615
0.3 - 2.104 1.245 -0.050 1.309 1.726 2.211 2.544
0.2 --2.178 - 1.258 -0.033 1.301 1.700 2.159 2.472
0.1 - 2.253 1.270 0.017 1.292 1.673 2.107 2.400
0.0 -2.326 - 1.282 0.000 1.282 1.645 2.054 2.326
0.1 - 2.400 -1.292 0.017 1,270 1.616 2.000 2.253
- 0.2 2.472 -1.301 0.033 1.258 1.586 1.945 2.178
-0.3 2.544 -1.309 0.050 1.245 1.555 1.890 2.104
-0.4 - 2.615 -1.317 0.067 1.231 1.524 1.834 2.029
--0.5 -2.686 -1.323 0.083 1.216 1.491 1.777 1.955
-0.6 --2.755 -1.3 28 0.099 1.200 1.458 1.720 1.880
--0.7 - 2.824 -1.333 0.116 1.183 1.423 1.663 1.806
-0.8 -- 2.891 1.336 0.132 1.166 1.389 1.606 1.733
-0.9 -2.957 -1.339 0.148 1.147 1.353 1.549 1.660
1.0 3.023 -1.340 0.164 1.128 1.317 1.492 1.588
-1.2 -3.149 -1.340 0.195 1.086 1.243 1.379 1.449
-1.5 -3.330 -1.333 0.240 1.018 1.131 1.217 1.256
-2.0 -3.605 -1.303 0.307 0.895 0.949 0.980 0.990
-2.5 -3.845 -1.250 0.360 0.771 0.790 0.798 0.799
-3.0 -4.051 -1.180 0.396 0.660 0.665 0.666 0.667
Example 9.3. Determine by calculation, using a log Pearson Type III distri-
bution, the annual maximum mean daily discharge of the River Thames at
Teddington with a 100 year return period.
From table 9.2
LX = 263.621
LX2 = 658.478
LX 3 = 1651.799
(LX)3 = 18,320,613.4
Xav = 2.487
ax =0.1648
Hence from equation 9.6
G = -0.066
From table 9.5 by interpolation at 1% probability (Tr = 100)
K' = 2.278 and hence K'a x =0.375
log Ql00 =2.487 + 0.375 =2.862
hence
9.3.6 Estimation of the mean annual flood Q from a partial duration or peaks
over threshold (POT) series [22]. When only a limited amount of data is
available (say 3 to 10 years) a series of peaks over some arbitrary value may be
used instead of an annual maxima series to estimate the value of Q, the mean
annual flood.
The procedure is as follows.
(1) Choose a level of threshold, q 0, such that on average between 3 and 5

peaks a year exceed it.
(2) Identify all peak flows above the threshold that are judged to be inde-
pendent, using the rule that peaks should have a time separation of at
least three times Tp for the catchment, and that the flow after one peak
should have decreased to one-third of its value or less before rising to a
second one. Ust the magnitude qi of all M identified peaks in N years
or record.
(3) Assume now that the number of exceedances per year can be treated as
a Poisson variate whose parameter A is given by
A=M/N
and whose magnitude may be considered an exponential distribution
whose parameter {3 is given by
M
S= q .. qo = 1: (qi _. qo)/M
i= 1
(4) QT (the discharge with a return period of Tyears) can now be estimated
from
and
Q = qo + SIn X + 0.5772~
The theoretical background and justification for this is given in reference
[5] .
9.4 The FSR method of predicting Q and QT for an ungauged catchment
9.4.1 The general equation for Q. This is a method for obtaining estimates of
flood discharge for ungauged catchments through the use of catchment charac
teristics. The characteristic discharge adopted is the mean annual flood, Q. After
consideration of more than 500 catchments in Britain and Ireland and a detailed
examination of the influence of catchment and meteorological characteristics on
Q, the recommended general equation for various hydrometric areas is
Q = C [AREA0.94 STMFRQo.27 SOIU .23 RSMD I 03 SI 085.16 (1 + LAKE)-0.8S]
The notations are as follows. (9.8)
AREA: area in square kilometres.

STMFRQ: stream frequency Qunctions/km 2) measured from OS 1 :25 000
SOIL: soil index, which is a composite index determined from soil survey
maps and is derived from the formula
SOIL = (0.1~~L~S>:3~1. ~ 0.40.5'J~g~~.s.4.+0..:5S5)

SI +S2 +S3 +S4 +S5
where SI ... Ss denote the proportions of the catchment covered
by each of the soil classes 1-5. Soil class 1 has the highest infiltration
capacity and hence lowest runoff potential, while soil class 5 has the
lowest infiltration capacity and hence the highest runoff potential.
SOIL has, therefore, a range of possible values between 0.15 and 0.5.
(A full discussion of the soils classification may be found in FSR I
4.2.3, and maps in FSR V, figure 4.18.) A reduced sectionalised
version of the maps for the British Isles is provided in appendix A,
marked RP.
RSMD: the net I-day rainfall of 5 years return period less s.m.d. This is
found by obtaining I-day MS from 2-day MS and ratio r (appendix
A), tables 2.9 and 2.l0, then table 2.8 and then subtracting mean
s.m.d. (figure 4.8). Alternatively, an estimate may be obtained
directly from figure 7.25, 7.26 or 7.27.
LAKE: the fraction of catchment draining through a lake or reservoir. Any
lake or reservoir whose area is less than 1 per cent of the area con-
tributing to the lake is ignored.
S1085: the stream slope (m/km) measured between two points situated at
distances that are 10 per cent and 85 per cent of the stream len!,;th as
measured from the catchment' outlet along the longest stream length
as marked on OS 1 :25 000 maps.
C: a regional coefficient with values as indicated in figure 9.7.
For the Essex, Lee and Thames area only, a different equation is used
12 =0.373 AREAo. 7o STMFROo.s2 (1 + URBAN)2.s (9.9)
where URBAN is the urban fraction of the catchment.
By using equation 9.8 (or 9.9) and the data provided in maps and figures, it is
possible to predict Q for any catchment in the British Isles. Having obtained a
value of Q for an ungauged catchment, an estimate of a flood QT, where T is the
return period of a magnitude chosen for the design problem posed, is then
required.
Figure 9.8 gives dimensionless region curves of Q/Q plotted against the
reduced variate y from the Gumbel EVl distribution. Return period T is also
scaled. By identifying the particular region in which the catchment lies and using
the appropriate region curve, the factor Q/Q is obtained for any particular
return period and hence QT can be obtained. The regions are delineated and the
values of coefficient C of equation 9.8 are given in figure 9.7.
Example 9.4. Estimate the flood frequency curve for the River Wyre at St.
Michaels. This catchment is in Region 10.
AREA = 275 km 2 STMFRO = 1.00 Sl085 =3.69

SOIL = 0.458 RSMD = 44.5 LAKE =0
The regional coefficient is 0.0213 so equation 9.8 becomes

Q = 0.0213 [(275)94 (1.00)27 (0.458)1.23 (44.5)1.03 (3.69)0.16]
= 98.3 m 3/s
Region Hydrometric Area Nos.

1 1-16,88-97,104-108
2 17-21, 77-87
3 22-27
4 28,54
5 29-35
6 36-39
7 40-44,101
8 45-53
9 55-67, 102
10 68-76
Figure 9.7 Regions of the British Isles and corresponding values of C

in equation 9.8 (derived from Flood Studies Report, Figure 1.4.15)
/
5-0
1/6/7
4-0
17/
/17/
2
1/4
1//1/;1
1
1.-8
hVA ~ V.
3-0
9
It-IO ./
Q/Q
2-0 ~~ ~ Irish
~~
~
1-0
~
, ......
~~
2 5 10 25 100 500 1000

o
-1 o 2 3 4 5 6 7
Figure 9.8 Region curves showing average distribution of Q/Q for each
region (derived from Flood Studies Report, Figure 1.2.14)
From figure 9.8 the Q/Q factors for Region 10 are listed and the flood frequency
curve tabulated:
Tr Q/Q QT
(years) (m 3 /s)
2 0.9 88
5 1.17 115
10 1.36 134
25 1.63 160
100 2.10 206
500 2.62 258
9.4.2 Small catchment e4.uations for (j. Since the publication of the Flood
Studies Report, various authors have considered the possibility of predicting
Q for small catchments of less than 20 km 2 area with an equation of fewer
terms than the six-term general equation (equation 9.8).
Many small catchments are not gauged and engineers designing for small
bridges and culverts often have to resort to empirical equations. However, when
catchments are small, the STMFRQ and S1085 terms are often difficult to
quantify from standard maps.
Poots and Cochrane [23] studied 42 small catchments throughout the British
Isles and concluded that the equation
Q = 0.0136 AREAo.866 RSMD 1A13 SOILl.S21
gave better results statistically than equation 9.8. Poots later concluded [24]
that a slightly different version was a little better:
Q = 0.015 AREAo.S82 RSMD 1A62 SOIL1.904
A similar exercise was carried out by the Institute of Hydrology o~ 47 catch-
ments of similar size [25]. The equations resulting from regressing Q on catch-
ment characteristics were for three terms and four terms respectively:
Q = 0.00066 AREAo.92 SAAR1.22 SOIL2.o (9.10)
and
Q = 0.0288 AREAo.90 RSMD1.23 SOILl. 77 STMFRQo.23 (9.11 )
In this case it was concluded that there was little difference between the predic-
tion accuracy of equations 9.1 0 and 9.11 and the standard six-term equation
9.8, and that the former two should be used only if time was critical.
9.5 Synthetic data generation

One of the perennial problems of the hydrologist is insufficient data, whether it
be rainfall or, more usually, discharge observations. If he wishes to predict flood
flows of relatively large magnitude and hence large return periods, he may find
that he has perhaps a decade or two of daily observations that represent dis-
charges. Using an annual series such a record might yield 20 or 30 points from
which it is clearly dubious to predict rare events of the order of the lOO-year
flood. By using only one or two of these measurements from each year's record,
an enormous amount of information about the discharge characteristics of catch-
ment is being left untouched. Is there not contained within this mass of routine
observation a guide, not only to the catchment's response to rain, but to the
incidence of the rain itself? By studying the fundamental nature of the variations
in discharge, even at low flows, might it be possible to reproduce them, acting
in their random and apparently uncoordinated ways and so automatically
reproduce series exhibiting the variations that the natural data show?
The advent of powerful computers has provided answers to these questions
by analysing and reproducing synthetic data in large quantities. While the quality
of the synthetically generated data is mainly dependent on the original natural
data, the method makes use of all the information available rather than the very
small proportion of it in the form of extreme values.
In essence, the method of artificially generating time-series relies on using
historical records as a sample of a total population, while conventional methods
consider the records to be the total population. It follows that designs will be
based on estimates of what might have happened instead of on what has happened.
Any time-series of observed values may contain a trend component, a periodic
component and a stochastic component. The first two components are deter-
ministic in nature (that is, they are not independent of the time at which a series
starts nor of the length of the series) while the stochastic component is stationary
(that is, the statistics of the sample do not differ from the statistics of the popu-
lation, except as a result of sampling variability, and are time-independent).
If the trend and periodic components are removed from the series, a stationary
stochastic component is left. This component will contain a random element and
mayor may not contain a correlation element. Series correlation describes how
each term in a series is affected by what has gone before; for example, a wet
summer may lead to higher autumn flows than average. Accordingly, the random
element and correlation structure of the stochastic component must be isolated
and quantified.
By now the time-series has been taken apart and its various parts examined.
Each of the parts is now reproduced by mathematical simulation using randomly
occurring numbers, Markov series, serial correlation coefficients etc., including
the re-introduction of the periodicity and trend components. The 'model' thus
created can now be used to generate synthetic data in whatever quantities are
desired, and the series produced used to estimate particular N-year events as
though the data had been observed.
9.6 The cyclical nature of hydrological phenomena

In all the foregoing sections of this book it has been tacitly assumed that the
processes described and studied are based on non-changing physical conditions.
For example, in the analysis of frequencies it is assumed that events that occurred
in the last 50-100 years can be used to predict the probability of similar events
occurring in future. From time to time this assumption is challenged but has
rarely been disproved.
This is at least partly due to misconceptions about what periodicity implies,
when associated with hydrological events. The implication of a periodicity in
hydrological phenomena is that the likelihood of certain values of random events
appears greater at certain times than at others. In other words there is a cyclical
change in probabilities, rather than events. This does not rule out the possibility
of maximum events (for example) occurring at times when their probabilities
are least.
Brooks and Carruthers [26] describe the periodicity of annual rainfall in
England, which seems to have a period of 51.7 years. They go on to show that
the probability of a wet year was almost twice that of a dry year near the
maximum of the 51.7 year cycle, whilst near the minimum it was less than
half. This was true despite both very wet and dry years occurring at corres-
ponding times of minimum probability.
It seems futile to employ statistical methods to derive probabilities of occur-
rence of certain events without recognising that certain processes, which are
part-causative agents for these events, may be subject to cyclic probability them-
selves, thereby altering the derived probability to some degree. Although the
opportunity for using such information may be rare, its presence should be
investigated for any short-term probability analysis where the time-space is of
the same order as the derivative data.
Cochrane, in an analysis of the hydrology of Lake Nyasa and its catchment
[27] has demonstrated a correlation between the rate of change of sunspots and
the 'free water' on Lake Nyasa. (The term 'free water' refers to the residual
runoff from the catchment and storage on the lake, after losses have been
deducted from rainfall.) In another paper [28] he quotes many references to
support the case for cyclic behaviour in hydrologic phenomena, concerning
work in many parts of the world. A dispassionate examination of the evidence
leads the present writer to the conclusion that periodicity in hydrological
phenomena exists, however imperfectly as yet we understand it.
References
1. MORGAN, H. D. Estimation of design floods in Scotland and Wales. Sym-

posium on River Flood Hydrology. Inst. Civ. Eng., London, 1966,
Paper 3
2. MULVANEY, T. J. On the use of self-registering rain and flood gauges. Trans.
Inst. Civ. Eng. Ireland, 4 (No. 2) (1850) 1
3. LLOYD-DAVIES, D. E. The elimination of storm-water from sewerage
systems. Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., 164 (1906) 41
4. BRANSBY-WILLIAMS, G. Flood discharge and dimensions of spillways in
India. Engineer, 134 (1922) 32.1
5. Natural Environment Research Council. Flood Studies Report, Vol. I,
NERC, 1975, pp. 185-213
6. FARQUHARSON, F. A. K., LOWING, M. J. and SUTCLlFFE, J. V. Some
aspects of design flood estimation. BNCOLD Symposium on Inspection,
Operation and Improvement of Existing Dams, Newcastle University,
1975 Paper 4.7
7. CUNNANE, C. Unbiased plotting positions-a review. J. Hydrol., 37 (1978)
205-22
8. WEIBULL, W. A statistical theory of strength of materials. Ing. Vet. Ak.
Handl., 151, Stockholm, 1939
9. California Department of Public Works. Flow in California streams. Bulletin
5, CaUf. Dept. Pub. Wks., 1923
10. HAZEN, A. Flood Flow, John WHey, New York, 1930
11. GRINGORTEN, I. I. A plotting rule for extreme probability paper. J. Geophys.
Res., 68 (1963) 813-14
12. WHIPPLE, G. C. The element of chance in sanitation. J. Franklin Inst., 182
(1916)37
13. GUMBEL, E. J. On the plotting of flood discharges. Trans. Am. Geophys.
Union, 24, Part 2 (1943) 699
14. GUM BEL , E. J. Statistical theory of extreme values and some practical
applications. National Bureau of Standards (U.S.J Appl. Math. Ser., 33
(February 1954)
15. Ref. 16, discussion by E. J. Gumbel, p. 438
16. POWELL, R. W. A simple method of estimating flood frequency. Civ. Eng.,
13 (1943) 105
17. VEN TE CHOW and YEVJEVICH, V. M. Statistical and Probability Applied
Hydrology (ed. Yen Te Chow), McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964
18. DALRYMPLE, T. Flood Frequency Analysis. U.S. Geological Survey Water
Supply, Paper 1543-A, Washington D.C., 1960
19. PEARSON, K. Tables for Statisticians and Biometricians, 3rd edition,
Cambridge University Press, 1930
20. Guidelines for determining flood flow frequency. Bulletin 17, Hydrology
Communication Water Resources Council, Washington D.C., June 1977
21. HARTER, H. L. A new table of percentage points of the Pearson Type III
Distribution. Technometrics 11, No. 1 (1969) 177-187
22. SUTCLIFFE, J. V. Methods of flood estimation: a guide to the Flood Studies
Report. Report No. 49, Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, United
Kingdom, 1978
23. POOTS, A. D. and COCHRANE, S. R. Design flood estimation for bridges
culverts and channel improvement works on small rural catchments.
Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., 66, TN 229 (1979) 663-6
24. POOTS, A. D. A flood prediction study for small rural catchments. Unpub-
lished M.Sc. thesis, Queen's University, Belfast, 1979
25. Flood prediction for small catchments. FSR Suppl. Report No. 6, Institute
of Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdom, 1978
26. BROOKS, C. E. P. and CARRUTHERS, N. Handbook of Statistical methods
in Meteorology, H.M.S.D., London, 1953, p. 330
27. COCHRANE, N. J. Lake Nyasa and the River Shire, Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., 8
(1957) 363
28. COCHRANE, N. J. Possible non-random aspects of the availability of water
for crops. Con! Civ. Eng. Problems Overseas, Inst. Civ. Eng., London,
June 1964, Paper No .. 3
Further reading
ALEXANDER, G. N. Some aspects of time series in hydrology. J. Inst. Eng.

Australia, 26 (1954) 188-98
ANDERSON, R. L. Distribution of the serial correlation coefficient. Ann. Math.
Stat., 13 (1941) 1-13
BEARD, L. R. SimUlation of daily streamflow. Proc. Int. Hydrol. Symposium,
Fort Collins, Colorado, 6-8 September 1967, Vol. 1, pp. 624-32
FIERING, M. B. Streamflow Synthesis, Macmillan, London, 1967
HALL, M. 1. and O'CONNELL, P. E. Time series analysis of mean daily river
flows. Water and Water Engineering, 76 (1972) 125-33
HANNAN, E. J. Time Series Analysis, Methuen, London, 1960
KISIEL, C. C. Time series analysis of hydrologic data. Advances in Hydroscience,
Vol. 5 (ed. Ven Te Chow), Academic Press, New York, 1969, pp. 1-119
LANGBEIN, W. B. Annual floods and the partial duration flood series. Trans. Am.
Geophys. Union, 30 (December 1949) 879
MATALAS, N. C. Time series analysis. Water Resources Res., 3 (1967) 817-29
MATALAS, N. C. Time series analysis. Water Resources Res., 3 (1967) 817-29
Resources Res., 3, (1967) 937-45
MORAN, P. A. P. An Introduction to Probability Theory, Clarendon Press,
Oxford, 1968
National Research Council. Estimating probabilities of extreme floods; Methods
and recommended research. Water Science and Technology Board, Commis-
sion on Eng. and Tech. Systems. National Academy Press, Washington D.C.,
1989
NEWTON, D. W. Realistic assessment of maximum flood potentials J. Hyd. Eng.
ASCE, 109, No. 3 (1983) 905
O'DONNELL, T. Computer evaluation of catchment behaviour and parameters
significant in flood hydrology. Symposium on River Flood Hydrology, Inst.
Civ. Eng., 1965
QUIMPO, R. G. Stochastic analysis of daily river flows. J. Hydraulics Div., Am.
Soc. Civ. Eng., 94 HYl (1968) 43-57
Symposium on Hydrology of Spillway Design by the Task Force on Spillway
Design Floods on the Committee on Hydrology. Proc. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng.,
90, HY3 (May 1964)
WIESNER, C. J. Hydrometeorology and river flood estimation. Proc. Inst. Civ.
Eng., 27 (1964) 153
YEVJEVICH, V. M. and JENG, R. I. Properties of non-homogeneous hydrologic
series. Hydrology Paper No. 32, Colorado State University, 1969
WANG, B. H. and REVELL, R. W. Conservatism of probable maximum flood
estimates. J. Hyd. Eng. ASCE, 109, No. 3 (1983) 400
Problems
9.1 A contractor plans to build a cofferdam in a river subject to annual flooding.

Hydrological records over 30 years indicate a maximum flood flow of 7800 m 3 /s
and a minimum of 2000 m 3 /s. The observed annual maxima plot as a straight
line on semi-logarithmic paper where return period is plotted logarithmically.
The cofferdam will be in the river during four consecutive flood seasons and
it is decided to build it sufficiently high to protect against the 20-year flood.
Evaluate (without plotting) the 20-year flood and determine the probability
of its occurrence during the cofferdam's life.
9.2 The annual precipitation data for Edinburgh are given below for the years
1948-1963 inclusive:
Year Precipita tion Year Precipitation
(in.) (in.)
1948 36.37 1956 28.17
1949 28.01 1957 25.68
1950 28.88 1958 29.51
1951 30.98 1959 18.04
1952 24.41 1960 24.38
1953 23.64 1961 25.29
1954 35.15 1962 25.84
1955 18.08 1963 30.24
(i) estimate the maximum annual rainfall that might be expected in a 20-year
period and a 50-year period;
(ii) define the likelihood of the 20-year maximum being equalled or exceeded
in the 9 years since 1963.
9.3 Discuss the methods in common use for plotting the frequency of flood
discharge in rivers. List the separate steps to be taken to predict, for a particular
river, the flood discharge with the probability of occurrence of 0.005 in any
year. Assume 50 years of stage observations and a number of well-recorded
discharge measurements with simultaneous slope 0 bservations.
9.4 The following table lists in order of magnitude the largest recorded mean
daily discharges of a river with a drainage area of 12 560 km2 .
Year Date Discharge Year Date Discharge
(m 3 /s) (m 3 /s)
1948 29 May 2804 1922 19 May 1716
1948 22 May 2450 1925 20 May 1694
1933 10 June 2305 1924 13 May 1668
1928 26 May 2042 1917 9 June 1609
1932 14 May 2042 1916 19 June 1586
1933 4 June 2016 1912 21 May 1563
1917 17 June 1997 1918 5 May 1495
1947 8 May 1980 1918 10 June 1495
1917 30 May 1974 1929 24 May 1492
1921 20 May 1974 1943 29 May 1478
1927 8 June 1943 1922 26 May 1476
1928 9 May 1861 1919 23 May 1473
1927 17 May 1818 1936 10 April 1433
1917 15 May 1801 1936 5 May 1410
1938 19 April 1796 1923 26 May 1405
1936 15 May 1790 1927 28 April 1314
1922 6 June 1767 1939 4 May 1314
1932 21 May 1762 1934 25 April 1300
1912 20 May 1753 1945 6 May 1257
1938 28 May 1722 1935 24 May 1246
(continued overleaf)
Year Date Discharge Year Date Discharge
(m 3ls) (/Il3 Is)
1920 18 May 1235 1926 19 April 1017

1914 18 May 1195 1937 19 May 971
1931 7 May 1155 1944 16 May 969
1913 13 June 1119 1930 25 April 878
1940 12 May 1051 1941 13 May 818
1942 26 May 1051 1915 19 May 799
1946 6 May 1037
The mean of annual floods is 1502 m 3 /s and the standard deviation of the
annual series is 467 m 3 /s.
Compute return periods and probabilities for both partial and annual series.
Plot the partial series data on semi-log plotting paper and the annual series on
log. normal and Gumbe1 probability paper. Estimate from each the discharge for
a flood with a probability of once in 200 years.
9.5 The annual rainfall in inches for Woodhead Reservoir for the period of
record 1921-1960 is listed below:
Year Rainfall Year Rainfall
1921 44.48 1941 46.79
1922 56.25 1942 43.38
1923 65.57 1943 45.87
1924 45.72 1944 59.00
1925 44.78 1945 42.74
1926 48.02 1946 55.39
1927 54.48 1947 41.04
1928 51.53 1948 45.03
1929 48.11 1949 44.11
1930 59.03 1950 52.15
1931 60.59 1951 55.43
1932 47.20 1952 48.87
1933 38.16 1953 43.26
1934 45.38 1954 63.13
1935 54.62 1955 36.46
1936 53.03 1956 56.57
i937 40.98 1957 51.79
1938 50.88 1958 51.22
1939 49.95 1959 39.58
1940 46.27 1960 60.66
The mean and standard deviation for the period are 49.69 in. and 7.08 in.
respectively.
Arrange the data in ranking order. Compute return periods and probability.
Plot the data on probability paper.
(a) What are the 50-year and lOO-year annual rainfalls? How do these com-
pare with prediction made using Gumbel's theory? What qualification needs to
be made if using the latter results?
(b) What is the probability that the 20-year rainfall will be exceeded in a
lO-year, a 20-year and a 40-year period?
(c) A certain waterworks plant is to be designed for a useful life of 50 years.
It can tolerate an occasional rainfall year of 70 in. What is the probability that
this amount may occur during the project's life?
9.6 A river is subject to annual flooding, and from the records of the observed
annual maxima over 30 years, the data plot as a straight line on semi-log paper,
with return period plotted on the logarithmic scale. The maximum recorded
flood is 900 m3 /s and the minimum is ISO m3 /s. If 1000 m 3 /s is selected as a
design discharge, what is the probability of its being exceeded during the next
20 years?
9.7 Below are the annual mean daily inflows (in m3 x 10 6 ) to a reservoir
during 20 consecutive years:
7.31 6.90 6.64 5.08 5.37 5.75 7.30 7.22 6.48 5.20
6.38 5.51 5.65 5.82 5.81 6.30 6.53 6.12 6.06 6.07
The mean and standard deviation of the data are 6.175 and 0.68 (x 106 m3 ) res-
pectively
(a) Plot the data on Gumbe1 probability paper. Fit a straight line to the data
and estimate the lOO-year mean daily inflow. Compare plot with analy-
tical value if y = 4.60 for T = 100 years.
(b) What is the probability of this 100 year value occurring in any period of
10 consecutive years?
9.8 Determine the magnitude of the 200-year flood from a catchment in the
United Kingdom Region 2, given the following information:
catchment area 107 km 2
stream frequency 1.32 junctions/km 2
SI085 24.2 m/km
30 per cent of area is soil class 1,35 per cent soil class 2, 20 per cent soil class
4 and IS per cent soil class 5.
5 per cent of the catchment area drains through lakes
2-day MS rainfall is 100 mm at catchment outlet
r = (60 minute M5/2-day MS) x 100 = 20 per cent
s.m.d. = 4 mm
What spillway capacity would you design for, with an earth dam, at this location-
and why?
9.9 Annual flood discharges in a river for a 24-year period are listed below:
32.6 17.0 59.5
22.7 5.7 56.6
11.3 36.8 20.0
34.0 51.0 11.8
93.4 8.5 85.2
3l.l 73.6 3l.l
19.8 12.8 25.0
25.5 25.4 23.7
Rank the events in magnitude and compute their return periods and prob-
abilities. Plot the data. Estimate the discharge of a lOO-year flood.
What is the probability of such a flood occurring in the next 2 years?
9.10 The Flood Studies Report gives the following equation for a mean annual
flood in the central region of England:
Q= 0.0213 AREAo. 94 STMFRQo.27 SOIL1.23 RSMD1.03 (I + LAKE)-O.85
S1085o. 16
(a) Discuss the significance of each term in the equation.
(b) Describe how you would use the equation to determine the flood with a T-
year return period (QT)'
(c) How would you amend QT for the design of a dam spillway? Indicate what
value T might have in this case and whether you consider QT may be used
directly.
(d) Indicate the relative merits of this method of flood determination and the
unitgraph-rainfall approach. Give examples of situations where each method
might be used.
9.11 Using the data listed in 9.4, determine by use of the log Pearson III dis-
tribution, the maximum annual mean daily discharge, with a return period of
50 years.
9.12 (a) Using the small catchment equation

Q = 0.Q15 AREA 0.882 RSMD1. 462 SOIL 1.904
estimate the magnitude of 10 year, 100 year and 500 year floods from a catch-
ment in Region 6 of
AREA = 20km 2
RSMD =50mm
SOIL = 0.3
using figure 9.8.
(b) Compute an FSR synthetic unit hydrograph for the catchment if

MSL =4.5 km
S1085 = 6.0 m/km
there is no urban development
If two successive 1-h periods of nett rain at an intensity of 3 mm/h separated by
a 1-h dry period, fall on the catchment, what peak surface runoff would you
expect? Ignore base flow .
9.13 If Tp = 46.6 (MSL)0.14 (S1085)-0.38 (1 + URBAN)-1.99 (RSMD)-O.4 use

an FSR synthetic unit hydrograph to estimate the peak outflow of a 50 km 2
catchment where
MSL = 8 km no urban
S1085 = 5.0 m/km development
RSMD=75 mm
when the catchment is subjected to a 7 h net rainfall of following intensity
Hour 1 and 7 0.2 cm/h

2 and 6 0.4 cm/h
3 and 5 0.8 cm/h
4 1.5 cm/h
and baseflow rises from 2 m 3 /s at the beginning of rainfall to 5.5 m 3 /s at its end,
thereafter declining at the same rate. Assume response runoff starts simul-
taneously with rainfall.
9.14 The maximum annual discharges for a river are listed below for thirty-three
years of observation. The mean and standard deviation for the period are
131.5 m 3 /s and 83.0 m 3 /s respectively. Rank the data, compute probability and
plot the data on log-normal probability or semi-log paper.
Year Qpeak Year Qpeak
(m 3 /s) (m 3 /s)
1928 104 1944 57

1929 48 1945 229
1930 95 1946 129
1931 46 1947 153
1932 101 1948 137
1933 311 1949 54
1934 72 1950 102
1935 127 1951 137
1936 203 1952 196
1937 50 1953 114
1938 89 1954 161
1939 181 1955 294
1940 88 1956 360
1941 81 1957 20
1942 160 1958 32
1943 143 1959 226
1960 40
(a) Plot the line of best fit to the data and predict the lOO-year and 400-year
flood discharges.
(b) Given Gumbel's equation QT = Qav + a(0.78y - 0.45) and thaty = 4.60
for T = 100 year and y = 5.99 for T = 400 year, compare the results from
Gumbel's theory with your plot.
(c) What probability is there of a flow equalling or exceeding 300 m 3 Is in the
next five years?
9.15 The following table lists annual peak floods for a river gauging station.
Order the events, compute probabilities and plot the results on log-normal
probability paper.
U se T = -n -+0.2
-
r m _ 0.4
Year Flood flow Year Flood flow

(m 3 /s) (m 3 /s)
1945 1150 1957 445

1946 780 1958 2600
1947 530 1959 300
1948 1200 1960 870
1949 3300 1961 2100
1950 1100 1962 2000
1951 720 1963 700
1952 900 1964 580
1953 600 1965 3010
1954 420 1966 1100
1955 1300 1967 850
1956 1800 1968 800
What is the probability of a flood equal to or greater than 2900 m 2 /s occurring
in any year, and in any period of four consecutive years?
9.16 covers material from Chapters 1-9, and is included as an example of the
multiple-choice type.
9.16 A list of possible answers, each identified by a number, is supplied with

each of the questions. The numbers identifying the correct answers should be
selected and written in the boxes provided beside the individual questions. The
number of boxes beside the individual questions clearly indicates the number of
answers required.
1. wind speed 22. Log Pearson 3 distribution
2. isohyets 23. Gumbel distribution
3. daily stage records 24. normal probability
4. peak discharge 25. flow measuring structure
5. flow duration curve 26. aquifer permeability
6. recording rain gauge 27. hydrograph base length
7. ambient temperature 28. drawdown
8. routing techniques 29. return period
9. psychrometer 30. time to peak flow
10. current meter 31. mass curve
11. cloud cover 32. M2
12. standard rain gauge 33. draw-off rate
13. dilution gauging 34. consumptive use
14. recession curve 35. S-curve
15. relative humidity 36. reservoir capacity
16. phreatic surface 37. compensation flow
17. velocity-area method 38. unit hydrograph
18. M5 39. mean annual flood
19. sub-surface geology 40. Thiessen polygons
20. solar radiation 41. areal reduction factor
21. vegetation 42. Ml
Which of the above
D allows rainfall intensity to be estimated?
are used to estimate areal rainfall?
are used to establish a rating curve for

a river?
L-...L.._L-...L..---JI...-...JI are used in calculating daily evaporation?

D is reference frequency for rainfall in the

FSR methods?
CD affects the quantity of baseflow?
I I are the parameters for drawing a synthetic

unit hydrograph?
D is an expression of how baseflow alters

with time?
I I I are used in the capacity calculations for

reservoirs?
CD would be used in reservoir spillway design?
D
is the method where 'equilibrium flow' is
used as a check on unit hydrograph integrity?
are used in hydro-electricity capacity design?
are used with borehole pumping tests to

establish reliable yield?
I I are used to plot independent flood events

and hence to extrapolate to rare frequencies?
D may be preferred for the gauging

of minor streams?
CD is important in the design of

irrigation schemes?
D reduces evaporation?
D is used to change un itgraph

ordinates when the duration of
causative rain changes?
10 Urban Hydrology
10.1 Introduction
In the estimation of runoff from natural catchments, the determination of Tp ,

time to peak, and SPR, standard perce~age runoff, contain an URBAN term.
Similarly in chapter 9, the equation for Q, the mean annual maximum flood for
Region 6, departs from the general equation and includes an URBAN term.
URBAN, it may be recalled, is the fraction of catchment in urban development.
The reason for this special term's inclusion is the need to take account of the
impermeable areas of buildings' roofs, roads, pavements, car parks, etc. in a
built-up environment where there is negligible infiltration and runoff is accelera-
ted by drainage systems of gulleys, pipes and sewers. Obviously the time to peak
of a hydrograph and the percentage runoff will be decreased and increased res-
pectively compared with a natural catchment of permeable soils and vegetation.
10.2 The use of the Rational Method
It is in the specialised hydrology of urban drainage systems that a particular use

is found for the Rational Method of flood estimation. It was pointed out in the
discussion of this method in chapter 9 that the difficulty of evaluating the co-
efficient C made the method of limited value, but if C = 1.0, Le. complete
impermeability, then the logic of the contributing area times the rainfall becom-
ing runoff, allows the sewer designer to make reasonable estimates of pipe sizes.
Sewer design is based on the system coping with high-intensity rainstorms of
some pre-selected frequency and duration, and for drainage areas like housing
estates and villages the Rational Method of Lloyd-Davies [1], subsequently
modified, forms the basis of the TRRL Road Note 35 [2].
The recommended method involves the following procedures:
(a) A plan of the proposed sewer network is prepared, as shown typically in
figure 10.1 and the component pipes numbered according to a decimal
261
Nllfnhp.., 1",110:,,'. dOlr.I"u.1 t;1".d'lt:a,l_

0' '_fIr '''"g.h, .,.tw",," m,...hnlfl'
Figure 10.1 Key plan of sewer system (reproduced from TRRL Road
Note 35 (1976))
system. The longest sewer (measured from the outfall) is numbered 1 and
individual pipe lengths numbered successively 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, etc., starting
at the upstream end. The first branch sewer which joins 1 is numbered 2
and the longest sewer contributing to the branch has its component parts
numbered 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, etc. This process is repeated until every pipe in
the system is numbered.
(b) A table is then prepared, of which table 10.1 is a typical example. The
data of columns 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 are then entered in it. All of this
information should be available from a site survey and building proposals
and plans. Notice that it is only the directly-contributing areas which are
used. Permeable areas of gardens, woods, etc. are not included.
(c) Column 12 is then completed by adding in branch contributions at
junctions as the table is completed. Column 12 gives the total surface
area contributing to a particular length of sewer.
(d) It is' now necessary to fmd the time of concentration, i.e. the time it takes
for rain falling on the small area of impermeable surface that contributes
to pipe 1.0 to arrive at the manhole at its downstream end. To do this it
is necessary to assume a particular pipe diameter and material for 1.0. An
entry time must be chosen and 2 minutes is recommended for normal
urban areas, increasing to 4 minutes for very large, flattish paved areas.
Knowing the pipe diameter and gradient, the full-bore velocity in the
TABLE 10.1 Rationalformula design sheet,b
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Pipe Difference Time of Time of Rate of lmpermea b1e area ha Rate of Pipe
length in level Length Gradient Velocity flow concentration rainfall flow diameter
number (m) (m) (1 in) (mM (min.) (min.) (mm/h) Buildings, Total (l/s) (mm) Remarks
Roads yards etc. (9 + 10) Cumulative
1.0 1.J0 63.1 57 1.33 0.79 2.79 67.9 0.089 0.053 0.142 0.142 26.8 150
...c:er
I
1.1 1.J2 66.1 59 1.70 0.65 3.44 62.5 0.077 0.109 0.186 0.328 56.9 225
1.2 0.73 84.7 116 1.46 0.97 4.41 57A 0.081 0 0.081 0.409 65.2 300 =
%
2.0 1.40 44.8 32 2.32 0.32 2.32 72.5 0.113 0.081 0.194 0.194 39.1 225 -a
2.1 0.61 49.1 80 1.77 0.46 2.78 67.9 0.045 0.105 0.150 0.344 64.9 300 ...0
3.0 0.98 48.5 49 1.43 0.56 2.56 70.5 0 0.129 0.129 0.129 25.2 150 0"
2.2 1.65 54.3 33 2.74 0.33 3.11 65.5 0.101 0.073 0.174 0.647 117.7 300 Sewer 3 added ca
l.3 1.22 27.7 23 3.29 0.14 4.55 56.9 0.121 0.235 0.356 1.412 223.2 300 Sewers 2 and 3 -<
4.0 0.88 54.9 62 1.66 0.55 2.55 70.5 0.093 0.093 0.186 0.186 36.4 225 added
4.1 0.58 45.7 79 1.48 0.52 3.07 66.3 0.069 0.040 0.109 0.295 54.2 225
1.4 052 22.9 43 2.77 0.14 4.69 55.8 0.069 0 0.069 1.776 275.3 375 Sewer 4 added
Reproduced from TRRL Road Note 35 (J 976).

bStorm frequency one in 1 year. Roughness coefficient 0.6 mm. Time of entry 2 minutes.
m
pipe may be found from published tables [3] using the Colebrook-White
formula and an appropriate k value in that formula, for the pipe material.
This value is entered in column 5 and with the pipe length of column 3,
the time of flow may be calculated and entered in column 6.
(e) The rate of rainfall corresponding to the time of concentration in column
7 (time of entry and time of flow in the case of the first pipe) is then
determined from Meteorological Office tables. These are based on the
Meteorological section of the Flood Studies Report and may be obtained
for any National Grid reference point (approximately in the centre of the
drainage area) from the Meteorological Office, London Road, Bracknell,
Berkshire. Note that it is necessary to choose a design rain frequency.
Suitable frequencies may be between one year for modern separate
surface water systems and 100 years for old combined systems with base-
ment developments. Table 10.2 is an abbreviated typical example.
TABLE 10.2 Rates of rainfall in mmjh for a range of duration and return
period for a specified location in the UK (in Southern England)a
Duration Return period (years)

(min.)
1 2 10 100
2.0 75.6 93.4 138.3 213

3.0 66.3 82.3 123.4 192
5.0 54.3 67.1 102.5 163
8.0 43.4 53.4 82.9 135
12.0 35.0 42.8 66.9 III
20.0 25.9 31.4 49.3 83
aDerived from table 7 of TRRL Road Note 35 (1976).
(f) Using the Rational formula

Q (m 3 /s) =0.278q(mm/h) X A(km 2 ) or
Q(1/s) = 2.78Cj (mm/h) X A (hectares)
and taking C as 1.0, the discharge requiring conveyance in the pipe is
determined and compared with the available capacity of the assumed
pipe in column 6. If the latter is insufficient, the next larger pipe diameter
is assumed and the processes of steps (d) and (e) repeated.
(g) When pipe 1.0 has been chosen and found acceptable, its discharge is
added to the inflow to the next pipe automatically through the cumula-
tive-area-contributing column (column 12). The method of working
through the network is best seen by inspection of table 10.1.
There are many other recommendations and rules for the optimum
design of such completely separate surface-water systems and methods of
Urban Hydrology 265
incorporating additional permeable-area drainage, for which reference
[2] should be consulted.
Although the procedure of the TRRL Rational Method has been described to
illustrate the principles involved, the Modified Rational Method of the Wallingford
Procedure [4] has refined and improved the method. The modifications include,
amongst others, a value of the coefficient C derived from
C= Cv x Cr
where Cv is the volumetric runoff coefficient and Cr is a routing coefficient. Cv
varies from 0.6 to 0.9, depending on the nature of the underlying soil (pervious/
impervious) and Cr has a recommended value Jf 1.3, so the overall effect is
probably not large. Also changed somewhat is the time of entry, which is related
to length and slope of the sub-catchments and varies from 3 to 10 minutes
depending on the chosen design frequency, lllstead of the 2 minutes of the
TRRL.
10.3 Hydrograph methods
The Rational Method described provides an estimate of peak flow in a system

but does not provide a discharge hydrograph. Nor does it accommodate the
variation in rainfall intensity with time, which occurs naturally.
The first successful attempt at modelling a sewerage system by hydrographs
based on rain profiles, rather than a uniform average intensity as assumed in the
Rational Method, was the TRRL Hydrograph method which is still widely used.
However, the Hydrograph method of the Wallingford Procedure is considerably
more complex and, designed from the outset for use as a series of computer
programs, it represents the existing state of the art. Its basis is as follows:
(a) Design rainfall profiles are calculated for specified values of duration,
return period, MS-60 minutes and r values for a particular location (see
chapter 2, section 2.9.1). Summer profiles (as distinct from the Winter
profiles of section 2.9.5) should be used for periods of 15, 30, 60 and
120 minutes, for each return period examined.
(b) The data of the pipe network and the contributing areas, together with
Cv and Cr values, are entered.
(c) The percentage runoff from the whole catchment is calculated and separate
runoff factors from the three surface types (paved surfaces, pitched roofs
and pervious areas) are calculated.
(d) The chosen rainfall hyetograph from (a) is converted into ten standard
runoff hydrographs using the surface runoff models for three character-
istic slopes and three types of surface plus one for pitched roofs. Depres-
sion storage (if it exists) is deducted from the hyetograph first.
(e) The surface runoff hydrograph which contributes directly to the pipe is
calculated from the standard hydrographs, the contributing areas and the
percentage runoff factors.
(f) The hydrograph so obtained is added to the inflow hydrograph at the up-
stream manhole.
(g) The program then determines the smallest standard pipe size, of specified
shape, to convey the peak discharge at the upstream manhole.
(h) The combined hydrograph is routed through the pipe using the
Muskingum-Cunge routine model for free-surface flow.
(i) Steps (e)-(h) are repeated for each pipe length.
G) Steps (e)-(i) are repeated for a series of rainfall events of the same return
period but differing duration.
The Wallingford procedure includes further programs for optimising a pro-
posed system and simulating an existing system. Ancillary sewerage structures,
storage ponds and combined storm water and foul sewerage systems can all be
dealt with.
References
1. LLOYD-DAVIES, D. E. The elimination of storm-water from sewerage

systems. Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., 164 (1906) 41
2. TRRL Road Note 35. A guide for engineers to the design of storm sewer
systems, 2nd edn, HMSO, London, 1976
3. Hydraulics Research Station. Charts for the hydraulic design of channels
and pipes, 4th edn, HMSO, London, 1978
4. Dept of Environment. The Wallingford Procedure Design and analysis of
urban storm drainage (5 volumes), HMSO, London, 1981
Further reading
COLYER, P. J. Performance of storm drainage simulation models. Proc. Inst. Civ.

Engrs., 63, Part 2 (June 1977) 293
Construction Industry Research and Information Association, Rainfall, runoff
and surface water drainage of urban catchments. Proceedings of the research
colloquium at Bristol, April 1973 , published Nov. 1974
FORD, W. The adaption of the RRL Hydrograph Method for tropical conditions.
Proceedings of Symposium on Flood Hydrology, Nairobi, 1975. Transport
and Road Research Laboratory, Supplementary Report 259, 1977
KIDD, C. H. R. and PACKMAN, J. C. Selection of design storm and antecedent
condition for urban drainage design. Report No 61, Institute of Hydrology,
1979
MAYS, L. W. and YEN, B. C. Optimal cost design of branched sewer systems.
Water Resources Research, 11, No. 1 (1975) 37
PACKMAN, J. C. and KIDD, C. H. R. A logical approach to the design storm
concept. Water Resources Research, 16, No. 6 (1980) 994
Urban Hydrology 267
van den BERG, J. A. Data analysis and system modelling in urban catchment
areas (in the New Town of Lelystad, The Netherlands). HydroI. Sciences
Bulletin XXI, 1, No. 3 (1976)
YEN, B. C. et al. Advanced methodologies for design of storm sewer systems.
Water Resources Centre Report No 112, University of Illinois, 1976
11 International Flood Frequency
Growth Curves
11.1 World Flood Studies
Since the Flood Studies Report was published, many of the techniques devised
for it have been subsequently developed and their range of application extended.
One of the investigations arising from this development was the World Flood
Study [1] which, in the words of its authors, "was conceived with the aim of
examining and classifying the characteristics of floods in as many countries and
from as wide a range of climates as possible." Much of this work has been
subsequently reported in the literature [2].
Data were collected from individuals and organisations around the world in
70 countries, and were assessed and analysed uniformly to allow comparisons of
results between stations and countries. Both annual maximum flood series and
catchment characteristics were collected.
The results were used to produce growth curves (see figure 9.8) showing the
increasing value of the parameter Q/Q with decreasing frequency of occurrence.
By making the curves non-dimensional in this way, results could be compared by
region, climate, catchment area and annual rai~fall, for homogeneity.
It was, of course, necessary to establish Q, the mean annual flood (termed
MAF in [1, 2]) from the data set available in each region or country, but the
growth curves derived can be used to estimate floods at sites where there are no
gauging stations, always provided that Q may be estimated from catchment
characteristics.
A selection of the growth curves is shown in figures 11.1 to 11.4. It is empha-
sised that these represent averages of broad regions and, for specific projects and
detailed design, more data would always be necessary. The curves presented in
the figures are only some of those available. For example, Thailand on figure
11.4 has five curves representing different altitudes and catchment areas, the one
shown as no. 5 being an average curve for the country, excluding the Malay
peninsula. Those countries marked with an asterisk also have other more rigidly-
defined catchment curves presented in [1] . North and South America feature in
the source publication but are not sampled here.
268
International Flood Frequency Growth Curves 269
Interested readers are recommended to consult the original source publica-
tions for details of the data used, the statistical techniques employed, and the
limitations and qualifications about the use of the curves.
6,--.------"----,---.-----"---.-----.------.---~
1 Romania*
2 Bulgaria
3 Czechoslovakia"
5 4 Poland"
5 Spain
6 Hungary & Yugoslavia"
7 Denmark"
8 Sweden & Norway'"
9 France. Germany.
Netherlands
10 Italy'"
4~~----~~--~----+_----~--~+_--V_--~~~~
5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000

Return period T (year)
O~----~----_r----_r----~----~----~----~
o 234 5 6 7
Reduced variate y
Figure 11.1 European flood frequency curves

6'-~----~,---,---,,----,---~-,-,------,---,
1 S.Africa & Botswa,na *

2 Algeria, Morocco &
Tunisia
5 3 Madagascar
4 Malawi
5 Kenya
6 Togo & Benin
7 Nigeria (Gongola
Basin), Chad,
Cameroon (North)
8 Ivory Coast,
4 Ghana, Upper Voila
9
Sudan
0 Guinea & Mali
J
11 Congo & Zaire,
.Qr Cameroon (Sout ),
a Central African Rep
Gabon
24-~------~---M~--+---~~--~~~+-----+---4
9
10
11
2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000

O~----~----~----~-----r-----T-----'------T
o 2 3 4 5 6 7
Reduced variate y
Figure 11.2 African flood frequency curves

6~-.-------r----.----r-----.----.---.-----.----'
1 Saudi Arabia & Yemen

2 Jordan
3 Iran*
5 4 Sri Lanka
5 India: Kerala State
6 India & Bangladesh *
aT
Cl
2~-+------~---H~~A---~~--~----+-----+---~
2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000

01-----~------r-----~----~------~----_r----~
o 2 3 4 5 6 7
Reduced variate y
Figure 11.3 Middle Eastern and Indian flood frequency curves

6,,-r------.----.----.------.--~----._----._--~
1 Eastern Australia
2 Australia"
3 Thailand. Malaysia."
(Malay peninsula)
5 __ 4 Japan"
5 Thailand"
6 Korea
7 Papua New Guinea
8 Indonesia'"
2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000

O+-----~----,-----_r----_r----~----_,----~r_
o 2 3 4 5 6 7
Reduced variate y
Figure 11.4 Asian and A ustralasian flood frequency curves

11.2 General conclusions
Certain trends are evident from the material shown here. For example, semi-arid
climates have the steepest growth curves since the infrequent heavy rainfall
produces floods relatively much greater than the mean annual flood. Examples
of this in figure 11.2 are the curves for South Africa, Algeria, Morocco and
Tunisia, and in figure 11.3, Saudia Arabia and Jordan. Similarly, the equatorial
climates with high annual rainfall tend to have flatter curves, e.g. the Nigeria,
Ghana, Congo group in figure 11.2 and Indonesia and Papua New Guinea in
figure 11.4.
Clearly, the similarity of climate and topography are not the only factors
influencing the growth curves since Sri Lanka and Kerala State in India are both
subject to the South West monsoon but have appreciably different curves.
Other important factors are area, soils and type of vegetation. The larger the
catchment area, the flatter the curve is a general rule, though the authors of [1]
mention one exception to this in the Malay peninsula.
The Institute of Hydrology in the UK is continuing to expand the database of
flood series and catchment characteristics, and invites interested engineers and
hydrologists throughout the world to send it such information.
References
l. MEIGH, J. and FARQUHARSON, F. A. K. World Flood Study, Phase II.
Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, UK, Nov. 1985
2. FARQUHARSON, F. A. K. et al. Comparison of flood frequency curves for
many different regions of the World, from Regional Flood Frequency
Analysis (V. P. Singh, ed.), Reidel, Dordrecht, 1987
Further reading
RODIER, J. A. and ROCHE, M. World catalogue of maximum observed floods.

Int. Assoc. Hydrological SCience, No. 143 (1984)
UNESCO. World catalogue of very large floods, UNESCO Press, Paris, 1976
WILTSHIRE, S. E. Grouping basins for regional flood frequency analysis. Hydr.
Sci. Journal, 30 (1985) 151
12 Desig n Criteria
12.1 Risk analysis
All hydraulic engineering design carries with it an implied structural life during
which the structure is expected to meet its design specification. Some structures
have specified design lives (for example, a cofferdam or a diversion tunnel) but
often such a life is not made explicit. How long, for example, are the design lives
of a canal, a dam, or a breakwater?
The engineering designer has to approach the problem of design of hydraulic
structures from consideration of the damage that would ensue if failure of the
structure occurred and/or if it is possible to exceed the design specification with-
out structural failure. It is not sufficient to consider return period alone; what is
needed is an understanding of the risk of encountering certain conditions during
specific periods of time, and of the consequences of the design flow being
exceeded, including the danger to life and the economic, environmental and
social effects of failure of the structure. Only then can a proper judgement be
formed as to whether or not enough has been done to make the risk acceptable
without economic repercussions that are unacceptable.
It may be difficult to make any quantitative assessment of these factors, but
consideration of a series of steps may at least provide a logical means of com-
parison of the various options open to the designer:
(a) Identification of the events or sequences of events which may lead to
failure, and determination of their probability of occurrence.
(b) Identification of specific features of the structure which might initiate
failure or partial failure (e.g. failure of gates to operate or be operated,
loss of power, etc.) and estimates of their probability.
(c) The likelihood of combinations of events in (a) and (b).
(d) The consequences, including the forecast economic, social and environ-
mental costs of each combination in (c).
The thoroughness with which these studies are made will depend on the
nature of the structure. Dams are the most immediately obvious risks, but canals
274
Design Criteria 275
and their control structures, river bank revetments and sea defence works are all
hydraulic structures liable to need such risk analysis.
In the end, there must be engineering judgement about the acceptable level of
risk. Such judgement can best be exercised using whatever quantification of the
risk can be made, and it should always be made clear to the owner/client con-
cerned what is the basis for a recommended level of installation. A much fuller
discussion of the subject has been published in references [1] and [2].
The discussion of damage, and how it can be described and assessed in this
context, is beyond the scope of this text, but has been studied by Borgman [3],
US Army Corps of Engineers [4] and Penning-Rowsell and Chatterton [5].
12.2 Choice of design return period by consideration of design life and probability
of encountering design flow during this life
In table 9.1, the probability of the N-year flood occurring in a specific period of
years is set out. Table 12.1 is a somewhat expanded version of table 9.1, and a
different terminology is employed to make the concept clear. The return period
of an event (Tr) is related to the arbitrarily chosen design life (L) to give the
probability of encountering the event, or something greater, in that design life
(P). The table is based on the expression
P= 1- (1 - ~JL
TABLE 12.1 Percentage risk of encountering an event within a
particular design life L for different return periods a
Return period Tr (years)

Design life L
(years) 5 10 20 30 50 100 200 500 1000
1 20 10 5 3 2 1
2 36 19 10 7 4 2 1
3 49 27 14 10 6 3 1
5 67 41 23 16 10 5 2 1
7 79 52 30 21 13 7 3 1 1
10 89 65 40 29 18 10 5 2 1
15 96 79 54 40 26 14 7 3 1
20 99 88 64 49 33 18 IQ 4 2
30 96 78 64 45 26 14 6 3
50 99 92 82 64 39 22 9 5
75 98 92 78 53 31 14 7
100 99 97 87 63 39 18 10
150 99 95 78 53 26 14
200 98 87 63 33 18
300 95 78 45 26
500 99 92 63 39
1000 99 86 63
aWhere no figure appears the risk is either less than 0.5 per cent or more than 99.5 per cent
12.3 Choice of a design value of a rare event
Many of the techniques described in this text were developed to provide the
designer with numerical values of discharge, rainfall etc. that have physical
meaning (that is, they yield velocity, depth, volume and so on).
The various numbers that result from calculations, however, will not all
have equal significance because they have been derived in different ways, and
care needs to be taken before they are used as specifications. Consider the follow-
ing three examples.
(a) Probable maximum precipitation. Although in section 2.10 ways are

discussed of arriving at this figure, it is questionable whether, in the British
Isles, there is any need to look further than the boundary equation of figure
2.4, since the data are so extensive and the record so long. In areas less
well-documented and observed the more fundamental approach may be
appropriate.
(b) The QT value derived from the FSR equations (and their derivatives). The
equations for Qwere derived by multiple regression of catchment parameters
and are equations of best-fit. This means that there will have been as many
underpredictions as overpredictions. The designer who wishes to be confi-
dent that his catchment will not be one that is underpredicted should apply
a factor of safety (Fn) [6]. A value of Fn = 2.26 will give 95 per cent confi-
dence and Fn = 1.26 will give 68 per cent confidence that (1, and hence QT,
is not underpredicted; 98 per cent confidence would require Fn = 2.7 [7].
Clearly it is a matter of engineering judgement what value of Fn should be
used, since there is already an element of safety-factoring in the choice of T
for QT'
(c) The QT value derived from a long period of record. The recorded annual
maxima of the River Thames at Teddington (table 9.2) are likely to pro-
vide a value, however analysed, of (say) Q200 with an integrity that an
ungauged catchment cannot provide. In such an instance a factor of safety
applied to the Q value is probably inappropriate, and a conservative value
derived from a variety of plotting methods may well suffice.
References
1. Evaluation procedures for hydrologic safety of dams. Report by Task

Committee on Spillway Design Flood Selection, Hydraulics Division,
ASCE,1988
2. Guidelines to Decision Analysis. ACER Technical Memorandum No. 7,
Denver, USA
3. BORGMAN, L. E. Risk criteria. J. Waterways and Harbours Division, ASCE,
89 (1963)
4. Expected Annual Flood Damage Computation, US Army Corps of Engineers,
Hydrologic Eng. Centre, 1977
Design Criteria 277
5. PENNING-RoWSELL, E. C. and CHATTERTON, J. B. The benefits of flood
alleviation: A manual of assessment techniques, Saxon House, 1977
6. POOTS, A. D. and COCHRANE, S. R. Design flood estimation for bridges,
culverts and channel improvement works on small rural catchments.
Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., 66, TN 229 (1979) 663
7. Ref. 6, discussion by M. A. BERAN,PrOC. Inst. Civ. Eng., 68 (1980) 319
Further reading
MOSONYI, E. and BUCK, W. Some aspects of risk analysis for improved water
resources planning. Proc. 2nd World Congress Int. Wat. Res. Assoc. New Delhi
1975, Vol. 2, p. 221
Appendix A Rainfall and Soil
Characteristics of the
British Isles
The British and Irish National Grids are illustrated. The rainfall and soil type
maps are at a scale such that there are ten separate sections covering Britain
(with the exception of some Scottish islands) and four covering Ireland.
Each section has national grid lines identified by numbers signifying hundreds
of kilometres from the origin and is itself identified by a large bold number (for
example, southeast England is 3). For convenience, four different maps of each
section are kept together. These are:
(a) standard average annual rainfall (hundreds of mm) SAAR

(b) 2-day MS rainfall (mm) 2DM5
(c) ratio r = 60-minute M5/2-day MS (as a percentage) r
(d) soil classification for runoff potential RP
(see section 9.4 for calculation of SOIL term)
Each map has one of these abbreviated titles followed by a bold number that
identifies the section on the key map. Britain is dealt with first and then the
Irish key map and Irish sections follow.
These maps are reproduced from the NERC Flood Studies Report, 1975,
except for RP which is from the 1978 revision of Winter Rain Acceptance
Potential, published as Supplementary Report No. 7.
278
Appendix A 279
Key to section numbers for maps of Great Britain

Diagram showing 100 km squares and the letters

used to designate them
kilom('trC'\
Northing
1300
HL HM HN HO HP JL
1200
<U.
HQ HR HS HT JQ
I ~u
1100 I-n
HV HW HX HY: HZ JV
: NA NE OA
900L
800
I OF
OL
OQ
600
SOO
400
SK
300
SP
200
SQ
100
SV
0
/,0
"
100 200 lOO 400 700 k~~:::)
SOO 600
FAl SE ORIGI .... OF
NATIONAL GRIO
British National Grid

Appendix A 281
----------~~~S~A~A~R.:1-------------~
2 3
3+-----------------------+-------------.r--~--~~
2DM5.1
Appendix A 283
r. 1
RP.1
Appendix A 285
3 4
3,
SAAR.2
2DM5.2
Appendix A 287
3 4
3 .".., .........
!O
C~ 40
("'------'-'-":
..... It;
-.. __ .. ;'
" -.....---
~" ...", ../........ i
c)
10
......
". ____ .1
o
\ .......... ~
3I ., ,
r.2
3 .
, 5
I
RP.2
Appendix A 289
,
SAAR.3
5 6
. . "'~
~ ...... " .. ' ,"
.\
.....4f'; i<
~
J.
FIII"NeE
........
... .... ,
A.- \
G ~-.
...
.
2DM5.3
Appendix A 291
5 6
(
31~~~--+-----~~----~----~----+---------~--~-3
................. .
'.'.
-""
......
..... ---_ .. -
_-4S,,-
t6
-._-,,-
........
....... ...l
t .... 45"
2 2
--_.')
....._-_ ..
'RANCE
ChcaJMl 1.1o.1Id1
UTM
,.3
s
RP.3
Appendix A 293
.L---+-7R.lI}--l 5
SAAR.4
2 3
5,~----------------------~------~-'~----------~
4+-----------------------4------------------------+4
3+-----------------------+-------------~~~~~~
2t-------------------~~1---L-----~--~~~~~~
2
3
2DM5.4
Appendix A 295
2 3
5i+-------------------------1--------,~,,~~--------_t5
4+---------------------------~--------------------------_t,4
3;+-------------------------~--------------~-e~----~~
{:#~
:. .......?
~----------------------------~~~~~~--~--~------~\~~--~~--+Q
2 3
r.4
2 3
RP.4
Appendix A 297
SAAR.5
3 4
~.....
'''''.)
3 4
2DM5.5
Appendix A 299
4 5
0"/0,,'
{ !
\ ......
.'
.... __ .......':
(~......... -".
r.5
RP.5
Appendix A 301
S~~Y--- 5
I:" .. - -
., . .
3
:' \S' ,.;,\ ;"
...
2~~46~ SAAR.6 2
6
5~~>0~~------------------------+---------------~
4-------,.i \ \ ~~~~~-------------+----------------4
, ~
';
.'-...
7
5 6
2DM5.6
Appendix A 303
5 6
5~----.-+'------------------------+-----------------
J(. . . . /?,.
:
~-
41------~+_-r~~--~._------------+_----------------,~
.... ~6-._~
.....
3~~~--~----~~----~'----~~---+--------~.-~---3
.......... _-_. .....
\'"
)
._-45'-'
------":
.,;
.'
2~~----~------------ ____ ~~~ __ ________________

~ ~
5 6
r.6
5 6
( 5
"
2
5 6
RP.6
Appendix A 305
2 3
SAAR.7
5.1---+2 ---.4.::::::I:liL-_ r
, 2DM5.7
Appendix A 307
2 3
""'"", I .15---)
':
.. ,.-
13 ; _, -IS")
"," "'--
! "
,"
\ r
'"
r.7
2 3
RP.7
Appendix A 309
SAAR.8
3 4 5
2DM5.8
Appendix A 311
3 5
81~~------~
....~.-y----~--------------------~
:'~"""'25-""'~i
i'';''
........ .....
:"",_,:
7't---~~~~------~------------------k
.. _.....
'S'"2S.}
t, .......
"! . . . .
\/
~
. ........l>\
3 4 5
r.8
3 4 5
RP.S
Appendix A 313
SAAR.9
2DM5.9
Appendix A 315
2 3
2 3
f.9
2 3
RP.9
Appendix A 317
'7
5
SAAR.10
2DM5.10
Appendix A 319
i
5
91+-------------------------+-------------------------~
,' ____ .-25 .. ~:
,/"'/ ("
f
' .. -"~
..../.
7+---~~--~~~----------4_------------------------~
3 4 5
r.10
I I
S ~'8 4 5
4 5
RP.10
Appendix A 321
A B
4
H
3
N
2
S
1
X Y
o 1 2 3 4
Irish National Grid

Key to section numbers for maps of Ireland

Appendix A 323
I SAAR.'
- - --~ 12DM5.1
Appendix A 325
2------------------~~~~----_r_r--------~~~~
25
I r.1
2
I RP.1
Appendix A 327
2
()
I SAAR.2
2 3
I~~==~-----,~~~~~~----t----------------l
..-75
2 3
I2DM5.2
Appendix A 329
2
3----~------------~~------~------_+_+------------------3
.. , ....
" .... "
,
,:'
,'",
2~
I r.2
~~----~~------~P/~\T~rt---------------3
I RP.2
Appendix A 331
I SAAR.3
4 - - - - - - - -________-+____________ -.~~~~~
,.
()
ot
.......')
/
(~-~~~---.'
~D iD('
D
2--------------------~~~------~--~~~~~~~--~
I \
2
12DM5.3
Appendix A 333
4------------------~------------~~ __~~--4.
"
2--------------------~~~~~----~~----------~~__+~
2
I r.3
I RP.3
Appendix A 335
()
2---t---L~~~--~--L---~~~~1l-------2
2 3
I SAAR.4
12DM5.4
Appendix A 337
[)
~. !:'------,
..
{.... .3S .... ', ..
I
.
3----r-~=-------~~----~----_+_+---------------3
2 3
I r.4
2 3
3~~-----*--~~--------~~~+--4-4------------------
2 3
I RP.4
Appendix B Typical Values of Manning's
n in Q = (1/n) (AR 213 S1I2)
and Chezy's C* in
V = C-j(RS)
Type of channel n C
(SI units)
Smooth timber 0.011
Cement-asbestos pipes, welded steel 0.012 70-90
Concrete-lined (high-quality formwork) 0.013 60-75
Brickwork well-laid and flush-jointed 0.014
Concrete and cast iron pipes 0.015
Rolled earth: brickwork in poor condition 0.018 40-55
Rough-dressed-stone paved, without sharp bends 0.021 30-45
Natural stream channel, flowing smoothly in clean
conditions 0.030 19-30
Standard natural stream or river in stable
condition 0.035 14-25
River with shallows and meanders and noticeable
aquatic growth 0.Q45
River or stream with rocks and stones, shallow
and weedy 0.060
Slow flowing meandering river with pools, slight
rapids, very weedy and overgrown 0.100
* For a full discussion of Chezy's coefficient C see An Introduction to Engineering
Fluid Mechanics by J. A. Fox, published by The Macmillan Press, London, second
edition, 1977.
339
Answers to Problems
Chapter 2
2.1 (a) 28.32 mm Hg; (b) 8.5 mm Hg; (c) 19.82 mm Hg; (d) 22.0C;
(e) 23.7C.
2.3 (a) 29.99 in.; (b) Cubley 29.76 in.; Biggin School 41.97 in.
2.4 39.1 mm.
2.5 (i) 29.8 in.; (ii) 31.2 in.; (iii) 27.0 in.
2.7 (b) About 1951; (c) assuming earlier period correct, increases it from 279
to 328 mm/year.
2.8 Some evidence of cyclicity, but longer record needed to show it conclu-
sively.
2.9 (a) 0.136; (b) 7.34 m/so
2.10 (a) Once in 4 years on average; (b) 23.8 x 10 3 m3 .
2.11 At X, 75 mm; at Y, 92 mm.
2.12 (a) 20 mm Oxford; (b) 64 mm Kumasi (if equation 2.4 derived for U.K.
applies in Ghana).
2.13 481 mm; no.
Chapter 3
3.1 Amsterdam 4.0 mm/day; Seattle 0.05 mm/day; Khartoum 6.2 mm/day.
3.2 2.5 mm/day.
3.3 (a) April 5.24 cm; November 1.01 cm; (b) June 11.67 cm; October
3.70 cm.
3.5 6.7 mm/day.
3.9 Annual Eo = 966 mm, pan coefficient = 0.85, net annual loss = 1.367 x
103 m3 /km2 /day, evaporation 136 mm less in July at 40 0 S.
3.10 14.076 x 106 /m 3
340
Answers to Problems 341
Chapter 4
4.3 4.1 mm.

4.5 (a) 53 mm; (b) 9 mm.
4.8 CWI = 129; compare with figure 4.9 value 125.
Chapter 5
5.1 Canal A 2.4 m 3 Im/day; canal B 3.1 m 3 /m/day.

5.2 kH = 2.32 x 10- 2 m 2 Is;Ro = 1968 m; Qo = 0.044 m 3 Is.
Chapter 6
6.1 4085 m 3 Is; n = 0.032.

6.3 2560 m 3 Is at 50.46 m.
6.4 (b) 0.705 x 106 , 1.85 X 106 , 0.1 X 106 m 3 /day; (c) 18.14 x 106 m 3 ;
(d) 5.14 x 106 m 3 .
6.5 Additional storage 3.90 x 10 6 m 3 ; spillage (future) 12.01 x 106 m 3 ; (now)
21.37 x 10 6 m 3 .
6.6 46.8 x 106 m3 .
6.8 2124 m 3 Is; n = 0.016.
6.9 (a) 74.2 lis; (b) reservoir is drawn-down by 306 x 10 3 m 3 ; (c) 765 X
10 3 m 3 .
6.10 Capacity 65.73 x 106 m 3 ;Yield6.98m3 /s.
6.11 (a) Assuming mean flow at 30% exceedance P = 9.8 MW; E = 66 GWh;
(b) 227 m 3 Is (using techniques from chapter 9).
6.12 (a) 3.5m3 /s;(b)75.0x10 6 m3 ;(c)51 x10 6 m3 .
6.13 P = 1.2 MW (at 40% exceedance), E = 7390 MWh.
Chapter 7
7.1 Qt = 126 e-O.0231 t; Q120 = 7.9 m3 /s.

7.2 Qt = 120 e-O.0392t; Q60 = 11.4 m 3 /s.
7.3 Point N about 33 h.
7.5 76 m 3 /s assuming same cIJ index and a baseflow of 4 m 3 /s.
7.7 Qp = 705 ft3 Is; tp = 4.1 h.
7.8 Qp = 7.9 m3 /s;t p = 4.0 h.
7.9 36.3 m 3 /s at hour 7.
7.10 Point N is at 54 h; runoff volume = 557.3 x 106 ft3; net rain 2.0 in./h:
very severe for U.K. Tr> 100 y.
7.11 923 m3 /s at hour 6.
7.12 1332 m3 /s at hour 6.
7.13614m3 /sathour7.
7.14 687 m3 /s at hour 9.
7.15 84.2 m3 /s.
7.16115.5m 3 /sathour11.
7.17 (a) 125.4 m3 /s at hour 12.
Chapter 8
8.1 At hourly intervals: 0, 2.3, 6.9, 22.2, 42.1, 70.8, 95.6,115.6,126.6,128.9,

125.9, 116.8, 106.3,93.8 etc.
8.2 137 m3 /s at hour 32.
8.3 353 m3 /s.
8.4 At hourly intervals: 0,3.5,9.8, 19.8,37.4,56.6,72.7,88.4,98.0,100.2,
94.0, 84.1 etc.
8.5 At 3 h intervals: 0,5.5,23,46,64,75,83,87,88,87.5,85,82,78,72.5
etc.
8.6 250.4 m3 /s.
8.7 Qp = 428 m3 /s at tp = 8 h: net rain"" 1.4 cm/h.
8.8 At 3 h intervals: 6,6.1,3.9,4.4, 16.4,38.6,63.2,80.4,91.1,98.2,88.7,
74.2, 60.3 etc.
Chapter 9
9.1 Qzo =6360m3 /s;P= 18.6%.

9.2 (i) 37.0, 40.0 in.; (ii) 37%.
9.4 Qzoo = 3220 m3 /s.
9.5 (a) 68.04,71.9 in.; (b) 0.401, 0.642, 0.871; (c) 0.395.
9.6 20%.
9.7 (a) 8.31 x 106 m3 ; (b) 9.6%.
9.8 Q = 51 m 3 /s; Qzoo = 163 m 3 /s: with safety factor (say 2.3) design
Q = 375 m3 /s.
9.9 Ql00 = 140 m 3 /s;P "" 2%.
9.11 Qso = 2799 m3 /s.
9.12 (a) QIO = 10.7, QIOO = 20.8, Qsoo = 31.5 m3 /s; (b) 3.8 m3 /s.
9.13 71.9 m3 /s at hour 9.
9.14 (a) From plot QIOO = 405 m3 /s; (b) Gumbel QIOO = 392 m3 /s, Q400 =
482 m3 Is; (c) 22.6%.
9.15 5% in any year; 19% in any 4 years.
9.16 612,40,4113,10,17,2511,7,11,15,20118119,2614,27,301141
31,33,36,3714,813815,33,37126,28122,23,2411317,341111
35.
Index
Adiabatic lapse rate British Isles average annual rainfall

dry 9 Appendix A
saturated 9 British Isles greatest rainfalls 17
Albedo 42
Anemometer 9 California formula (for Tr) 232
Angot's radiation flux 47 Casing (to wells) 94
Anisotropic soil 86 Catastrophic floods 226
Annual maximum mean daily flow of Catchment characteristics 112, 244
River Thames at Teddington 233 altitude 117
Annual series 229 annual average rainfall (SAAR)
Antecedent precipitation index 72, 116
120 area 112
API 72 baseflow index (BFI) 116
Aquifers 83 climate 117
confined 83 lake and reservoir area 117
flow in 89 main stream length (MSL) 113
transmissibility of 97, 151 orientation 113
unconfined or phreatic 90 shape 115
AREA 244 slope 113
Areal reduction factor ARF 21, 28, soil moisture deficit 117
30 stream density 116
Artesian wells 83 stream frequency (STMFRQ) 116
Attenuation of flood waves 198,203 Catchment lag 215
Autographic rain recorder 12 Catchment wetness index (CWI) 76
Celerity of flood waves 132, 133
Bank storage 152 Channel precipitation 150
Bars 6 Channel storage 130
Baseflow 150,157 Chezy's formula 135,339
evaluation of 157 Cloudiness ratio 46
separation from runoff 153 Condensation 15
Basin lag 176, 177, 178 Consumptive use 55
Basin recharge 73 arable crops requirements 56
Bilham's rainfall classification 17 coefficients 58
Boreholes 94, 96 forest 60
pumps for 95 Control (of a river reach) 130
Boundary conditions 90,98 Coriolis force 5
343
Crop coefficients 58 Flood routing 198
Cumulative mass curve 137 Flood Studies Report, meteorology
Cunnane's formula 233 28
Current meter 120 Flood waves 132
gauging 123 celerity 132, 133
Cyclical nature of natural phenomena Flow duration curve 137,138,140,
249 141
from BFI values 142
Darcy's Law 88 modification by storage 140
Density of fresh water 84 non-dimensional 141
Density of saline water 85 Flow of groundwater 88
Depletion curve 150 laminar 84
Depression storage III Flow rating curves 120
Depth area-time relationship 19 Flow-measuring structures 120, 124
Design criteria 274 Fog 15
Dew 15 Forest 60
Dew point 8 Frequency 28
Dew ponds 15 Frequency analysis 228
Dilution gauging 120, 124 Frequency plots 232-40
Discharge measurements 120-30 Gumbel distribution 237
Distribution graph 163, 164 log-normal 238
Double mass curve 27 normal probability 237
Drawdown (of wells) 97 plane co-ordinates 236
Drilled wells 94,95 semi-logarithmic 236
Dupuit's assumptions 90 Fronts 10
value of the integration constant FSR prediction of Q and QT 244
Ra 98 Full series 229
Effective rain 158 Graphical routing method 211

Effluent streams 151 Gravel packs 94
Elevation-discharge curve 200 Gringorten's formula 232
Energy budget 44 Groundwater 2, 83
Ephemeral streams 151 abstraction of 94
Equilibrium flow 161 flow in a confined aquifer 89, 97
Estimated soil-moisture deficit 72 flow in an unconfined aquifer 90,
Evaporation 42 99
actual 43 with rainfall 101
empirical formula 44 flow of 84
from open water 46 influencing factors 84
from pans 54 occurrence of 83
from soil and turf 51 velocity in soil pores 88
nomograms for Penman's equation Growth curves 245
Appendix C international 268
potential 43,45,143 regional 247
Evapotranspiration, potential 53 Growth factor 28, 29
Events of random nature 229 Gumbel frequency analysis 237
ranking 232
Extreme value theory 237 Hazen's formula 232
Humidity 6
Flood formulae 226 relative 8
catchment area 226 Hydraulic gradient 84
catchment parameters 228 Hydrograph (see also Unit hydro-
Rational Method 227 graph) 136
Index 345
analysis 150 Mass curve 137
baseflow separation 153 in reservoir design 138
base length 157 of channel storage 205
components 151 Master depletion curve 154
from differently shaped catch- Maximum and minimum thermometers
ments 116 8
unit 158 Maximum rainfall depths 16, 1 7
Hydrological cycle Mean annual flood Q 243
forecasting 225 Mean daily temperature 9
Hydrometeorology 34 Mean flow Qm 141
Meteorological observation array 11
Independent series 229 Monsoon 118
Infil tration 2 MSL 179
capacity 68, 69 Muskingum routing method 204
drainage basin analysis 70
fav-method 71 National grid 278
indices 70 Negative baseflow 153
influencing factors 66 Netrain 158
methods of determining capacity Normal distribution 233
71 Normal probability 233
<P-index 70 N-year event 230, 232, 240
Infiltrometer 69
Inflexion point 151 Orographic rainfall 10
Influent stream 151 Outflow 1ag (in channel routing) 212
Instantaneous unit hydrograph 173
by routing 219 Pan evaporation 54
Interception 2 coefficients 55
Interflow 150 Partial duration series 229
Intermittent stream 152 Partial pressure 6
Inventory of Earth's water 3 Penman's theory 46
Isochrones 21 7 modified method for crop require-
Isohyetal map 23 ments 57
Isohyets 22 nomogram Appendix C (inside
Isovels 123 back cover)
Perched water table 84
K, storage constant 204 Percolation 2
variation of 212 Percussion drilling 94
Perennial stream 1 57
Lag 175,179 Periodicity 250
LAKE 245 Permeability 86
Laminar flow 84 coefficient 86
Lapse rate 9 in natural soils 87
dry adiabatic 9 Phreatic surface 83
saturated adiabatic 9 Piezometric surface 83
Latent heat of evaporation 8 Pore velocity 88
Log Pearson Type III distribution Porosity 85
241 effective 86, 88
Log-normal frequency plot 233 POT series (peaks over threshold)
Lysimeters 60 230,243
Precipitation 2
MS rainfall 28 climatic factors affecting 10
Manning formula 131 convective 10
values of 339 cyclonic 10
Rain-gauge networks 12
frontal 10 Random events, nature of 229
orographic 10 Rating curve 120, 123
Pressure 6 adjustment 130
partial 6 Boyer's method 133
saturation vapour 6 extension of 134
Prism storage 199 slope-area method 135
Probability 230 Steven's method 135
of N-year flood in a period 230 Rational Method 227,261
plotting 232 Reach (of a river) 198
Probable maximum precipitation Recession limb 150
(PMP) 34 Recurrence interval 230
Psychrometer 8 Regional coefficients 246
Psychrometer constant 8 Relative humidity 8,43
Reservoir lag 203
Q (mean annual flood) 230, 243 Reservoir routing storage curves 200
FSR general equation 244 computation 202
small catchment equation 247 Return period 27, 230
Rijkoort's nomogram for evaporation
Radiation 9 Appendix C (inside back cover)
Radiometers 9 Risk criteria and analysis 274
Rain gauges River gauging 120
anti-splash screen 12 dilution gauging 120, 124
recording 12 flow-measuring structures 120,
standard 12 124
Rain graph 150 ultrasonic gauging 130
Rainfall 10 velocity-area methods 120
applied to unitgraphs 186 Rotary drilling 94
areal extent 16 Routing 198
area1 reduction factor 16 in reservoirs 200
Bilham's classification 18 in river channels 203
British rainfall 270-339 period 199
depth-area 21 RP runoff potential 279-339
depth-are a-time relationship 19 RSMD 245
duration 15, 28 Runoff 111
duration-frequency 22 correlation with rainfall 119
frequency 16 Runoff accumulation-time curve
growth factors 29 137,138,139
intensity of 15
intensity-duration 16,118 Sl085 245
intensity-duration-frequency 17 S-curve 161
maps of Great Britain and Ireland equilibrium flow 163
279-339 SAAR 143
records 16, 17 Saline water density 85
return period/flood peak correla- Saturation deficit 6
tion 179,182 Saturation vapour pressure 6, 7
runoff analysis 111 Screens (for wells) 95
runoff correlation 119 Semi-log frequency plot 236
supplementary records 24 Series of events 228
trends from progressive averages annual 229
25 full 229
trends in data 24, 25 independent 229
Index 347
partial duration 229 nomogram 54
skewed distribution 241 Time of concentration 112
Slope-area method (rating curves) Time-area graph 217
135 Transpiration 2,43
Small catchment equations 247 Trends in observed data 24,25,249
Snow and ice 15 TRRL 261
Snow traverses 15
SOIL, definition of 244 Ultrasonic gauging 130
Soil classification 244 Unconfined aquifer 90
Soil moisture 72 Uniform-intensity storm 118
antecedent precipitation index Unit hydrograph or unitgraph 158
API 72 application of rain to 186
catchment wetness index CWI 76 as a percentage distribution 163
effective mean soil-moisture deficit average, from a number 166
72,75 Collins' method 167
for British Isles 75 derivation of 165
measurements of 77 from complex storms 165
Wallingford soil-moisture probe 79 from S-curves 161
Soil-moisture deficiency (SMD) 74 FSR method 179
Solar radiation 42 instantaneous 173
Specific velocity 88 of various durations 160
Springs 83 one-hour 190
artesian 84 principles of 158
Stage 120 synthetic 174
Standard deviation 238 from flood routing 213
STMFRQ 244 URBAN 245
Stomata 43 Urban hydrology 261
Storage constant K 204
variation of 211 Vapour pressure 6
Storage equation (evaporation) 44 Vapour removal 48
Storage equation (routing) 198 Velocity-area methods 120
Storage loops 205 Vertical temperature gradient 9
calculation of 205 Viscosity 85
Storm duration 28, 179 absolute 85
Storm profile 32, 33 kinematic 85
Streams 151,152
Superposition, method of 159 Wadi 151
Surface runoff 111 Wallingford Procedure 265
Synthetic data generation 248 Water budget equation 44
periodic component 249 Water divide 113
stochastic component 249 Water year 119, 229
Synthetic unit hydrographs 174 Wedge storage 199
from flood routing 213 Wells 96
from the FSR method 179 artesian 83
drawdown of 97
Temperature 8 drilled and dug 94
distribution of 9 flowing 84
Temperature inversion 9, 43 pumping from 95
Theim's equation 97 confined flow 97
Theissen polygons 22 un confined flow 99,101
altitude-corrected 22 pumps for 95
Thornthwaite's formula 51 screens for 94
Wells (cont'd) Wet-bulb temperature 8
test pumping in confined aquifer Wind 9,42
105 Wind run 10
test pumping in unconfined World's greatest rain falls 16
aquifer 107
yield of 96 Yield of wells 96
Additional material from Engineering Hydrology,
ISBN 978-0-333-53180-8, is available at http://extras.springer.com

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What is the book about?

What is the book about?

What are some of the topics covered in the book?

What are some of the topics covered in the book?

Engineering Hydrology

The English Language Book Society is

Bannister and Raymond

Blyth and de Freitas

Durka, Morgan and Williams

Kearey and Brooks

Marshall and Nelson

Simons and Menzies

Uren and Price

E. M. WILSON PhD MSc FICE FASCE

Companies and representatives throughout

E. M. Wilson 1969, 1974, 1983, 1990

All rights reserved. No part of this publication

First edition 1969

ELBS edition first published 1978

Additional material to this book can be downloaded from http://extras.springer.com.

ISBN 978-0-333-53180-8 ISBN 978-1-349-20610-0 (eBook)

Preface to the Fourth Edition ix

3 Evaporation and Transpiration 42

4 Infdtration and Percolation 66

6 Surface Runoff 111

7 Hydrograph Analysis 150

8 Flood Routing 198

9 Hydrological Forecasting 225

10 Urban Hydrology 261

11 International Flood Frequency Growth Curves 268

12 Design Criteria 274

Appendix A. Rainfall and soil characteristics of the British Isles 278

Appendix B. Typical values of Manning's nand Chezy's C 339

Answers to Problems 340

Appendix C. Nomogram for determining evaporation Eo from a free

Permission to publish copyright material is gratefully acknowledged as follows.

From the Director, the Institute of Hydrology, Wallingford, United Kingdom

Grateful acknowledgement of assistance and information is also made to

1.1 Allied sciences

1.2 The hydrological cycle

Figure 1.1 The hydrological cycle

1.3 Inventory of Earth's water

TABLE 1.1 Estimated Earth's water inventory

Location Volume Percentage

Total 1360000 1000

1.4 Hydrology as applied in engineering

2.1 Weather and climate

Figure 2.1 Saturation vapour pressure of water in air

TABLE 2.1 Saturation vapour pressure as a function of temperature t

where tw = wet-bulb temperature

Vertical temperature gradient. The rate of change of temperature in the atmos-

2.6.1 Recording precipitation. Precipitation occurs mainly as rain, but can

Figure 2.2 Meteorological observation array. On lower arm left, net

2.6.2 Rain-gauge networks. A question that frequently arises concerns the

Area Rain gauges

mile 2 km 2 Daily Monthly Total

aSource: Joint Committee of the Meteorological Office, Royal Meteorological

TABLE 2.3 Minimum numbers of rain gauges for monthly percentage-

There is considerable material devoted to this question of hydrological net-

Condensation. Although fog and dew are condensation effects, condensation