STREAMFLOW HYDROGRAPH ANALYSIS

Though total hydrograph define the relationship between total rainfall and watershed
runoff, it is much easier to visualize the linear relationship between excess or
effective rainfall and the direct runoff hydrograph due to the short time interval
between input and response functions. This is relationship between the time
distribution or hydrograph of direct runoff and the time distribution or hyetograph of
the effective rainfall.
Factors affecting shape of hydrograph: The nature of hydrograph is determined by
three sets of factors:
a) The physical characteristics of the catchment e.g. area, shape, elevation,
orientation, type of drainage net, soil type, water storage capability and
vegetal cover etc.
b) Climatic factors e.g. nature of precipitation, evapotranspiration losses,
rainfall intensity, duration of rainfall, distribution of rainfall, direction of
storm movement, antecedent precipitation and soil moisture etc.
c) Human factors e.g. land use and agricultural practices, urbanization,
existence of hydraulic structures etc.
A) PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CATCHMENT :
Effects of some examples :0
i.
Shape of Catchment : The shape of catchment has an influence on the shape
of the hydrograph, particularly the peakedness and lag time. Qualitatively
shapes may be described as rectangular, square, fern-shaped, parallel or tree
like etc.(Illustrate with sketches). Quantitatively, shapes are difficult to
express satisfactorily by means of numerical index. The following are some
attempts in this direction:
Form factor (Rf): The ratio of basin area (Aw) to the square of basin
length Lb. The form factor gives some indication of tendency towards
floods, because a basin with a low form factor is less likely to have
intense rainfall simultaneously over its entire extent than an area of
equal size with a large form factor.

Rf

Aw
L2b

Circularity ratio ( Rc): Is the ratio of basin area of a given order (Aw)
to the area (Ap) of a circle having a circumference equal to the basin
perimeter (Lp).

Rc

Aw 4Aw
2
AP
LP

Where
Diameter of the circle (D),
Area of circle (Ap), AP

D
4

LP

2
P

L
4

Elongation ratio (Re): The ratio of diameter of a circle with same area as that
of the basin (Dc) to the basin length (Lb).
D
Re C
Lb
Drainage density (Dd) : This the total length of streams draining that area
(L) divided by the area (A). Drainage density thus has the dimension (L-1).
Drainage density varies inversely as the length of overland flow and therefore
provides at least an indication of the drainage efficiency of the basin.

Dd

A
Stream order (w): A first order stream is the smallest unbranched stream. The
first order stream originates at a source. Two first order streams join to form a
second order stream. Likewise, when two streams of order (w) join, a stream of
order (w+1) is created. On the other hand when two streams of different orders,
say w and (w+1), join the stream segment immediately downstream retains the
higher of the orders of the two combining streams and will consequently have the
order (w+1). The order of the stream increases as it goes downstream. The order
of the drainage basin is designated as the order of the stream draining its outlet,
the highest stream order in the basin (W).

Sketch below is a river network. Where is the source of the river and
state
the
order
of
the
drainage
basin.


i.

Laws of drainage network and basin:

Hortons Law of stream numbers: Horton (1945) found empirically that the
bifurcation ratio (Rb), this is the ratio of the number (Nw) of channels of order (w) to
the number (Nw+1) of channels of order (w+1) is relatively constant from one order
to another. The usual range of Rb is 3<Rb<5.

Nw
Rb
N w1
ii.

Hortons Law of stream lengths: By measuring the length of each stream, the average
length of stream of each order (Lw) can be found. Horton proposed a law of stream
lengths in which the average lengths of streams of successive orders are related by a
length ratio (RL). Generally the average length of stream segments of a given order is
greater than that of the next order but less than that of the next higher order (Lw-1 <
Lw < Lw+1). RL is normally between 1.5 and 3.5 in natural network.

RL

Lw1
Lw

Note that Lw = Total length of all streams of order w divided by the number of
stream segments of order w.
iii.Schumns Law of stream areas: Schumn (1956) proposed a law of stream areas (RA)
to relate the average areas Aw drained by streams of successive orders.

Rw

Aw1
Aw

3< RA<6

Graphical impressions of the three laws

B) CLIMATIC FACTORS: Climatic factors which influence runoff are:

i. Nature of precipitation: (For example types of precipitation rain snow,
sleet). The effect of rainfall is felt immediately, but that of snow may be
delayed for months. The snowmelt hydrograph tend to have a lower peak
and to extend over a longer period of time.
ii. Evapotranspiration and Interception: These are losses and therefore reduce
the peak and the volume of the hydrograph.
iii. Rainfall intensity: Only if the rainfall intensity exceeds the infiltration rate
will any surface runoff occur.
iv. Duration of rainfall: If all other conditions remain uniform throughout the
catchment and assuming that rainfall start all over the catchment at time
t=to and that the rainfall excess i.e. (mm/hr) remain constant. The area
contributing to the outflow at the outlet of the basin from time t=to will
increase with increase of duration of rainfall until the duration of rainfall
excess equals or exceeds the maximum travel time, then the outflow
becomes constant at a rate of (i.e. x Area). The time when this occurs
marks the time of concentration for the given catchment, (tc= t-to).
v. Areal distribution of rainfall: Higher intensity rainfall near the outlet leads
to a rapidly rising and falling hydrograph with a sharp peak. Rainfall which
is mainly concentrated in the upper reaches of the catchment produces a
lower peak which occurs later and a broader hydrograph.
vi. Direction of storm movement: Has more effect on shape of hydrograph in
elongated basins. Same amount of rain over the same period produces a
much greater peak and short period of surface runoff when the storm is
moving down the valley. The rainfall from a storm moving up the valley
becomes runoff long before the storm reaches the top of the catchment,
therefore resulting in a lower peak of flow and a longer period of surface
runoff.
vii. Summary: Duration and intensity of rainfall are the most important climatic
factors.
C) HUMAN FACTORS: Examples are many e.g.
i.
Urbanization: Increases impervious surfaces and therefore increased
surface runoff and high hydrograph peaks with reduced lag time. Baseflow
volume is substantially reduced due to reduced infiltration.
ii.
Deforestation: Increased surface runoff, increased evaporation loss from
bare soil surfaces, reduced baseflow volume. A forestation achieves the
opposite. Land use and agricultural practices may also be discussed in a
similar way.
iii.
Discuss other activities like River regulation by construction of dams.

HYDROGRAPH ANALYSIS
1) Introduction: The unit hydrograph concept formulated by Sharman (1932) is perhaps
the most popular black box model for rainfall-runoff relationship. The Unit Hydrograph
(UH) of a watershed can be defined as the hydrograph of direct runoff resulting from one
unit (1 inch or 1 cm) of effective rainfall occurring uniformly over the watershed during a
specified period of time (T). Note that this period (T) of effective rainfall is the period
for which the unit hydrograph is determined. As soon as this period changes, so will the
UH for a specified watershed. Therefore, there can be as many UHs for a watershed as
there are periods of effective rainfall.
The concept of UH rests on three assumptions:
i.
Constant base length: Any uniform net rainfall having a given duration will
produce runoff of specific duration regardless of intensity. In otherwords for a
given catchment the duration of runoff is essentially constant for all rainfalls of a
given duration and independent of the total volume of runoff.
ii.
Proportional ordinates: For a given duration and catchment the ordinates of runoff
hydrograph are proportional to the total volume of runoff (i.e. total rainfall
excess). This means that for a given drainage basin, if two uniform intensity
storms of the same length produce different total volumes of surface runoff, then
the rates of surface runoff at corresponding time t, after beginning of the two
storms are in the same proportion to each other as the total volumes of surface
runoff.
iii.
Superposition: This is an assumption of linearity. Accordingly the runoff
hydrograph of a particular rainfall can be superimposed with concurrent runoff
due to preceding rainfall. In other words, the hydrograph representing a
combination of several runoff events is the sum of the individual contributory
events.
iv.
Note: These three assumptions all imply that the response of catchment to rainfall
is linear, which is not true. However UH have been found to work reasonably well
for a wide range of conditions. UH theory has therefore been used extensively for
design flood predictions.
2) DERIVATION OF UH
To develop a UH, it is desirable to get as many rainfall records as possible within the
study area to ensure that the amount and distribution of rainfall over the watershed is
accurately known. Preliminary selection of storms to use in deriving a UH for a
watershed should be restricted to:
Storms occurring individually, i.e. simple storm structure.
Storms having uniform distribution of rainfall throughout the period of rainfall
excess.
Storms having uniform spatial distribution over the entire watershed.
Essential steps in developing a UH are:
a) Separate the baseflow (groundwater flow) to get the total direct runoff
hydrograph (DRH).

i.

Measure the area under the direct runoff hydrograph (Equal

summation DRH ordinates x time interval). The area under DRH is the
volume of direct runoff, if divided by area of watershed then the result
is depth of direct runoff (D) which is also equal to the depth of
effective rainfall.
DRH t
D
AREA

ii.

All direct runoff ordinates divided by depth of effective rainfall in cm

result in ordinates of UH
Show graphical illustration of this procedure

iii.

3) APPLICATION OF UH MODEL
UH model is used to calculate direct runoff hydrograph from a given effective rainfall
of equal duration to the unit effective rainfall on which the UH was derived. This
condition of compatibility of duration of rainfall excess and UH results in need for
change of duration of UH to another duration corresponding to observed rainfall.
Total hydrograph can be calculated if baseflow ordinates are added to the
corresponding DRH ordinates. Another challenge in UH application is that it is not
transferable to another control point in the basin.
i.
Methods for conversion of duration of UH: Three methods are commonly used
depending on the complexity of the time transformation;
a. Modification of duration of a given UH to an integer multiple (e.g. changing a 1-hr
duration to 2-hrs, 2-hrs, 4-hrs etc.) Straight forward superposition approach is
sufficient.
Examples .
The ordinates of 1-hr UH from a watershed are given in Table 1 below, using direct
derive a 2-hr UH and as well estimate the area of the watershed.
Table 1
Time h
0 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
3
UH (m /s.cm 0 1
15
40
20
7.5
2.5 1
Solution:
1-hr UH
Time
hrs
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

UHO
m3/s
0
1
15
40
20
7.5
2.5
1

1-hr UH
lag 1hr
UHO lag
1hr
0
1
15
40
20
7.5
2.5
1

Superposition 2-hr UH
Col.2+Col 3
0
1
16
55
60
27.5
10
3.5
1
6

Col.4/2
2- No of UH
0
0.5
8
27.5
30
13.75
5
1.75
0.5

b. Conversions to durations which are non-integer multiples or fractions of the original

durations; S-curve approach is most suitable. S-curve is a hydrograph obtained for a
continuous rainfall at a constant intensity.
Example 2: Solve problem shown in Table 1 by S-curve method and compare results.
Time
hrs

1-hr
UH

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

0
1
15
40
20
7.5
2.5
1

S-Curve

0
1
16
56
76
83.5
86
87
87
86
71
31
11
3.5
1

1-hr
UH
lag
1hr
0
1
15
40
20
7.5
2.5
1

S-Curve
2hrs

0
1
16
56
76
83.5
86
87
87
86
71
31
11

1-hr
UH
lag
2hr

0
1
15
40
20
7.5
2.5
1

1-hr
UH
lag
3hr

0
1
15
40
20
7.5
2.5
1

1-hr
UH
lag
4hr

0
1
15
40
20
7.5
2.5
1

lag Difference
col.1 and 2
0
1
16
55
60
27.5
10
3.5
1
-

1-hr
UH
lag
5hr

0
1
15
40
20
7.5
2.5
1

1-hr
UH
lag
6hr

0
1
15
40
20
7.5
2.5
1

of 2 hr UH
Col3xT1/T2
T1= 1, T2=2
0
0.5
8
27.5
30
13.75
5
1.75
0.5

1-hr
UH
lag
7hr

0
1
15
40
20
7.5
2.5
1

S-curve
ordinates

0
1
16
56
76
83.5
86
87
87
86
71
31
11
3.5
1

3.5
1

Note: Calculation of area of watershed can be done before or after changing the duration
UHO t , in this D= 1cm=0.01m and
of the UH by simply applying equation D
AREA
from Table 1, UHOt =87 x 1x60x60 =313200m3 , therefore AREA = 31320000m2
=31.32km2. Try the same calculation using 2-hr UH ordinates ?.
2) DERIVATION OF DIRECT RUNOFF ORDINATES FROM UHO AND
EFFECTIVE RAINFALL IMPULSES
From unit hydrograph ordinates (UHO) and effective rainfall impulses of compatible
duration, direct runoff ordinates (DRO) can be calculated by any of the following
methods:
a. Simple multiplication of each rainfall impulse with UHO and summing up
all resulting DRO, taking into account lag time for each impulse. This
calculation is normally achieved accurately by a table.
Example:
The ordinates of 1-hr UH from a watershed are given in Table 2 below, using direct
multiplication approach; calculate direct runoff hydrograph as a result of a storm in
which P1 cm of rain falls in the first one hour, P2 cm of rain falls in the second one hour.
Table 2
Time h
UH (m3/s.cm

1
U1

2
U2

3
U3

4
U4

5
U5

6
U6

Solution: Draw a multiplication table as follows:

RUNOFF PER PERIOD DRHO
Time
UHO
UHO x P1 UHOxP2
Col. 3+Col.4
1
U1
U1P1
U1P1
2
U2
U2P1
U1P2
U2P1+U1P2
3
U3
U3P1
U2P2
U3P1+U2P2
4
U4
U4P1
U3P2
U4P1U3P2
5
U5
U5P1
U4P2
U5P1+U4P2
6
U6
U6P1
U5P2
U6P1+U5P2
U6P2
U6P2
Note: store P2 is lagged one tour as stated in the problem
b) Convolution Equation : Rainfall impulse units can easily be multiplied by
unit hydrograph ordinates in an expanded discrete form of convolution
equation. The convolution integral for solution of a linear system on a
continuous time scale given by

Q(t ) I ( )u (t )d
0

Where I is unit input applied instantaneously

at time the response of the system at a later time t is described by the impulse
response function u (t ) ; t
is the time lag since the impulse was
applied. The discrete time version of the convolution integral in terms of pulse
response function U (t ) and input (rainfall impulses) Pm is:
n M

Qn

P U
m

n m 1

This equation allows the computation of direct runoff

m 1

Qn given excess rainfall Pm and the unit hydrograph U n-m+1. The equation is valid
provided n M ; if n<M then the equation would only need to account for the
first n pulses of input, since these are the only pulses that can influence the output
time nt
Example 2, Solve the problem given in Table 2 by expanding discrete convolution
integral.
Solution:
Q1= P1U1
for n=1 there is only one term corresponding to m=1
Q2=P1U2+P2U1 for n=2 there are two terms corresponding to m=1,2
Q3=P1U3+P2U2 for n=3 there are two terms corresponding to m=1,2
Q4=P1U4+P2U3 for n=3, 4,5 there continue to be just two terms *
Q5=P1U5+P2U4
n=5
* Qn P1U n P2U n1 P3U n 2
Q6=P1U6+P2U5
n=6
Q7=P2U6
n=7
Note: In the example above there are 2 input pulses and 6 non-zero terms in the pulse
response function U, so there are (M+U-1) 2+6-1=7 non-zero terms in the output function
Q. Solution of the above series of convolution equations follows conventional methods
because all terms on the right are known, however if P and Q are known and U is
required then the problem is De-convolution problem done by step substitutions. This
solve for U1 in step 1 and substitute U1 in step 2 to solve for U2 and continue similarly
in the subsequent steps.
Try the same convolution integral expansion exercise with M=2 and U= 6, how
many terms does Q have ?
c) Matrix Approach: Rainfall impulse units can easily be multiplied by unit
hydrograph ordinates by defining UH as a vector of flows, that is a column
vector and building a corresponding compatible rainfall impulse matrix.
Example 3: Solve problem given Table 1 by Matrix approach.
Solution: Above process of convolution expansion can be achieved by solving the
following matrix ( P.U=Q) as follows:

P1 0
Q1
0
0
0
0
U1
P 2 P1 0
Q2
0
0
0
U2
Q3
0 P 2 P1 0
0
0
U3
= Q4
0
0 P2 P1 0
0
U4
Q5
0
0
0 P 2 P1 0
45
Q6
0
0
0
0 P 2 P1
U6
Q7
0
0
0
0
0 P2
Solution of the above matrix follows conventional methods, however if P and Q are
known and U is required then the problem is De-convolution problem solved by method
of inversion P T P.U P T Q , this multiplying both of the equation by transpose of P for it
to be invertible. The solution for U becomes:
U [ P T .P]1 .P T .Q In practice the method suffers from complications due to
instability which arises because the UH is only an approximate model and because of
data errors.

3)

OTHER THEORIES RELATING TO UNIT HYDROGRAGH CONCEPT

I. Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (IUH): The difficulty arising from the dependence of
the UH on the duration of effective rainfall (D) is circumvented mathematically by
letting D diminish indefinitely. The UH so obtained is called Instantaneous Unit
Hydrograph (IUH). This by letting the duration (D) approach zero in UH function.
Thus the UH is a hypothetical UH due to the effective rainfall whose duration tends
to zero as a limit but whose volume remains unit (say 1 cm). It is then evident that
IUH is independent of the duration of effective rainfall. For approximation, the IUH
ordinate at time t is simply set equal to the slope at time t of an S-hydrograph from
an excess rainfall intensity of unit depth per unit time. This procedure is based on the
fact that S-hydrograph is an integral curve of the IUH; that is, its ordinate at time t is
equal to the integral of the area under the IUH from 0 to t. This method of deriving
IUH is only approximate because the slope of an S-hydrograph is difficult to
measure accurately. Other methods for deriving IUH are orthogonal functions such
as Fourier series, integral transforms such as Laplace transforms, Fourier transforms
and Z-transforms etc.
II. Synthetic Unit Hydrograph (SUH): UH developed from rainfall and streamflow data
on a watershed applies only for that watershed and for the point on the stream where
the streamflow data were measured. Synthetic UH procedures are used to develop
UH for ungaged locations on the stream in the same watershed or for nearby
watersheds of similar character. The theory of SUH was developed by Snyder 1938.
Snyder standard UH is one whose rainfall duration (tr) is related to the basin
lag(tp) by ( tp= 5.5tr). SUH is constructed by estimating certain salient position of
hydrograph geometry e.g. Position from center of rainfall to peak of hydrograph,
base time, width of hydrograph at 50% of its height and width of hydrograph at 75%
10

of its height. These relationships are in form of parametric equations which are not
transferable from place to place (Refer to sample equations in library reading)

EXERCISE
QUESTION 1
For a square basin with single drainage channel centrally located as sketched below,
estimate the following parameters
I. Form factor
II. Circularity ratio
III. Elongation ratio

Channel

QUESTION 2
The ordinates at two hour interval of a 2-hr UH are: 0, 2, 30, 80, 40, 15, 5, and 2 (units
are m3/s.cm. Calculate the following:
i.
Estimate the watershed area.
ii.
Calculate direct runoff hydrograph from 10cm of excess rainfall which lasts 4
hours.
QUESTION 3
Using convolution equation and data shown below derive 1-hr UH ordinates in m3/s.cm.
Assume that rainfall loss rate is =0.25cm/10min

11

Time (hr)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Total rainfall
(cm)
4
6.5
2.5

Streamflow
hydrograph m3/s
3.5
43.5
178
267
160.75
65.75
23.5
8.5
2

12

Baseflow m3/s
1
1
2
2
2
2
1
1
1