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Unit Hydrograph

The document discusses unit hydrograph theory, which models the response of a watershed's streamflow to rainfall events. A unit hydrograph represents the response to 1 unit of excess precipitation distributed uniformly over the watershed. To develop a unit hydrograph, the volume of runoff from a historical storm is divided by the storm depth. This yields the unit hydrograph, which can then be scaled up based on the rainfall amount to generate storm hydrographs. When no historical data exists, synthetic unit hydrographs can be used that rely on watershed characteristics instead of records.

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Moch Irvan
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
162 views

Unit Hydrograph

The document discusses unit hydrograph theory, which models the response of a watershed's streamflow to rainfall events. A unit hydrograph represents the response to 1 unit of excess precipitation distributed uniformly over the watershed. To develop a unit hydrograph, the volume of runoff from a historical storm is divided by the storm depth. This yields the unit hydrograph, which can then be scaled up based on the rainfall amount to generate storm hydrographs. When no historical data exists, synthetic unit hydrographs can be used that rely on watershed characteristics instead of records.

Uploaded by

Moch Irvan
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Intro to Unit Hydrograph

Presented by: Dr. Michael Horst Assistant Professor of Water Resources The College of New Jersey

Unit Hydrograph Theory


Sherman (1932) What is Unit Hydrograph Theory
Given two evenly distributed rainfall events over an entire watershed The response hydrographs of the watershed will have similar characteristics The only difference will be in the magnitude of the flows

Unit Hydrograph Theory


Storm Hydrograph (4 inches)
400 350 300 250

Flow

200 150 100 50 0 0 5 10 15 Time 20 25 30

Unit Hydrograph Theory


Storm Hydrograph (4 inches vs 2 inches)
400 350 300 250

Flow

200 150 100 50 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Time

Unit Hydrograph Theory


Hydrograph Characteristics
400 350 300 250

Flow

200 150 100 50 0 0 5 10 15 Time 20 25 30

Unit Hydrograph Theory


The unit hydrograph is the response of the watershed to 1 unit of excess runoff distributed uniformly over the entire watershed
1 inch (English units) 1 mm (Metric units)

Unit Hydrograph Theory


Unit Hydrograph vs Storm Hydrographs
400 350 300 250

Flow

200 150 100 50 0 0 5 10 15 Time 20 25 30

Significance of Unit Hydrograph


Watersheds response to a given amount of excess precipitation is just a multiplier of the unit hydrograph Use unit hydrograph as a basis to determine the storm hydrograph from any given rainfall distribution

Example
Given the following rainfall distribution
Time 1 Precipitation 0.5

2
3 4

3
1.5 0.2

The watershed will respond as follows

Example
Incremental Storm Hydrographs
500

400
Time 1 2 3 4 Precipitation 0.5

300
1.5 0.2
Flow

200

100

0 0 5 10 15 Time 20 25 30 35

Example
Incremental + Final Storm Hydrograph
500

400

300

Flow
200 100 0 0 5 10 15 Time 20 25 30 35

Unit Hydrograph Derivation


A unit hydrograph is derived from historical rainfall and runoff data The volume of water produced by the storm (area under the hydrograph curve) divided by the area of the watershed equals depth of excess precipitation The ordinates of the storm hydrograph are divided by this depth to obtain the unit hydrograph Timing must be taken into consideration (S-curve technique to adjust timing)

What if there is no Historical Data?!?!


Synthetic Unit Hydrograph
Snyder (1938) Clark Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (1945) SCS Dimensionless Unit Hydrograph (1957)

Each method uses the principles of Unit Hydrograph theory

Synthetic Unit Hydrographs


Time to Peak Lag Time
centroid of excess precip to peak of hydrograph

Time of Concentration
end of excess precip to inflection point on recession limb

Time to Base Watershed Area

Synthetic Unit Hydrographs


Use watershed characteristics to compute various parameters
Time to peak = f(slope, LHL, Lca CN, etc.) Peak flow = (Constant * Area)/Time Time to base

Synthetic Unit Hydrograph


Synthetic Unit Hydrograph
600

500

400

Flow

300

200

100

0 0 5 10 15 Time 20 25 30 35

Synthetic Unit Hydrograph


Predetermined shape distribution of hydrograph

Synthetic Unit Hydrograph


Synthetic Unit Hydrograph
600

500

400

Flow

300

200

100

0 0 5 10 15 Time 20 25 30 35

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