12/03/2020

HEC-RAS 2D
Rain-on-Grid for
Dam Hydrology
& Hydraulics
Ben Rufenacht, P.E.

woodplc.com

What is Rain-On-Grid
• Micro-hydrology
– It is traditionally
hydrology performed at
a small scale in which
infiltration and shallow
water equations
generate runoff for small
sub units.
– Compared to large
generalized sub-basins

2 A presentation by Wood.

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What is Rain-On-Grid

Step 1:Hydraulic properties

3 A presentation by Wood.

What is Rain-On-Grid

Step 2:
Hydrologic
cycle
calculations
(Per cell)
Rain on cell
Excess
precipitation
Soil
infiltration,
evaporation,
etc.
4 A presentation by Wood.

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What is Rain-On-Grid

Excess
precipitation

Hydraulic
runoff
Hydraulic
properties

Step 3: Hydraulic routing

5 A presentation by Wood.

What is HEC-RAS (5.0.7) Rain-On-Grid

• Currently, only a single hyetograph can be
applied to a 2D area and there are no
infiltration features.
• Hydrologic cycle must be taken out prior
to application.
– HEC-HMS
– Spreadsheet

6 A presentation by Wood.

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What is HEC-RAS (5.0.7) Rain-On-Grid

Step 1:Hydraulic properties

7 A presentation by Wood.

What is HEC-RAS (5.0.7) Rain-On-Grid

Step 2:
Hydrologic
cycle
calculations
(per cell)
Rain on cell
Excess
precipitation
Soil
infiltration,
evaporation,
etc.
8 A presentation by Wood.

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What is HEC-RAS (5.0.7) Rain-On-Grid

Excess
precipitation
(by others)

Hydraulic
runoff
Hydraulic
properties

Step 3: Hydraulic routing

9 A presentation by Wood.

Hydraulics – At cells

At same time
water is conveyed
through face to
As precipitation
the adjacent cells.
falls the
elevation rises
filling storage
volume.

10 A presentation by Wood.

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HEC-RAS vs HEC-HMS rainfall and losses

HEC-RAS HEC-HMS
• Can only input a single • Can develop hyetographs from
hyetograph per basin rainfall depth input
• No hyetograph development • Can perform loss calculations
• No loss calculations • Still only one calculation per
• Easiest way to develop excess basin
rainfall hyetographs is to use
HEC-HMS and link it to HEC-RAS
using the .dss output file

11 A presentation by Wood.

HEC-RAS vs HEC-HMS routing and transform

HEC-RAS HEC-HMS
• Water is routed from cell to cell • A unit hydrograph transform is
through detailed faces performed per basin
• Detail level depends on quality • Basins are routed together using
of topography and cell layout generalized calculations for each
basin
• Additional input development is
required (time of concentration,
flow lengths, storage coefficients)

12 A presentation by Wood.

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HEC-RAS vs HEC-HMS results

HEC-RAS HEC-HMS
• Resulting depths, flows, and • A single hydrograph output per
velocities can be viewed at each element
cell face, or group of cell faces
• Hydrologic and Hydraulic
outputs are combined

13 A presentation by Wood.

HEC-RAS vs HEC-HMS

14 A presentation by Wood.

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HEC-RAS vs HEC-HMS

Red = HEC-RAS Blue = HEC-HMS

15 A presentation by Wood.

HEC-RAS vs HEC-HMS

16 A presentation by Wood.

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HEC-RAS vs HEC-HMS

17 A presentation by Wood.

HEC-RAS vs HEC-HMS

Red = HEC-RAS Blue = HEC-HMS

18 A presentation by Wood.

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HEC-RAS vs HEC-HMS

19 A presentation by Wood.

HEC-RAS vs HEC-HMS

Red = HEC-RAS Blue = HEC-HMS

20 A presentation by Wood.

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Considerations – Manning’s N
• Manning’s N (not just CN) can vary based on
assumptions:
– Condition of cover type (good, fair, poor)

– Density of cover type (row crop spacing, residential

lot sizes, density of trees, etc)

– Specifics of land cover (type of crop planted, residue

left on field, frequency of mowing, etc)

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Considerations – Manning’s N
• HEC-RAS uses the Manning’s n value from the input land
cover data that falls at the center of each cell face.

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Considerations - Manning’s N
• Manning’s N: Variable N values not available in HECRAS 2D yet.

– Depth of water VS
roughness???

Manning’s N
Depth

23 A presentation by Wood.

Considerations - Manning’s N

24 A presentation by Wood.

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Considerations - Manning’s N

25 A presentation by Wood.

Considerations - Manning’s N

Red = Shallow Manning’s n Blue = Floodplain Manning’s n

26 A presentation by Wood.

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Considerations – Cell Layout

• Cell “leaking”
– Precipitation equally
distributed on cell but
incorrectly distributed
through face
– Breaklines resolve this
issue to re-orient cells

The RAS Solution: http://hecrasmodel.blogspot.com/2015/03/2d-

mesh-leaking.html
27 A presentation by Wood.

Considerations – Rainfall and Losses

• RAS can currently only use 1 hyetograph per 2D area
• May consider creating separate 2D model areas for
the following:
– Additional detail is needed in the modeling
– CN varies greatly across the basin
• Especially typical for towns
– Rainfall varies greatly across the basin
– Soil types vary greatly across the basin
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Considerations – Curve Number

• CN can vary from source to source, and are often
dependent on assumptions such as:
– Condition of cover type (good, fair, poor)

– Density of cover type (row crop spacing, residential

lot sizes, density of trees, etc.)

– Specifics of land cover (type of crop planted, residue

left on field, frequency of mowing, etc.)

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Considerations - Calibration
• Hydrograph accuracy is very dependent on:
– Quality of data
– Years of record
– Historical information available
• Calibration requires preplanning & careful consideration

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Advantages Using 2D Modeling

• Detailed data inputs
– Land cover
– Terrain
• Accuracy in complex areas
– Flat terrain
– Urban areas
– Parallel streams
– Multiple structures
– Storage areas
• Detailed results
– Obtain results on a per cell basis
– Useful gridded information
• Arrival times, durations
• Depths, velocities
• Maximum water surface
– Mapping and animations

31 A presentation by Wood.

Limitations
• Requires DEM manipulation based on policy needs and modeling situation.
– Storage considerations, bathymetric, etc.

• Cannot use HEC-RAS bridge modeling capabilities inside of a 2D flow area. They can be
added using the connection tool.

• Cannot perform sediment transport erosion/deposition.

• Cannot perform water quality modeling in 2D flow areas.

• Cannot combine storm and open channel hydraulics together.

• Processing time & large datasets

– Recent variable time step capabilities is huge!
– Limiting Rain-On-Grid models to approximately 200-300 sq. mile.

32 A presentation by Wood.

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Limitations
• Bridges
– Emphasis on terrain
– No piers, deck,
abutments, etc.
– No pressure/weir
flow calculation
– Full momentum –
contraction/
expansion, Example: Velocities around
multiple openings piers. Okay as long as
deck/low chord not a factor.

33 A presentation by Wood.

Upcoming 2D Capabilities
• Infiltration - initial and constant, SCS curve number, green
and ampt
• Rainfall – ability to apply varying rainfall over a single 2D
area
• 2D bridge modeling
• Non-Newtonian and sediment flows

34 A presentation by Wood.

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Questions/discussion

Ben Rufenacht, PE, CFM

[email protected]

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woodplc.com

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