Basic SWM Concepts

October 11, 2019

Presentation Title Goes in Here
 Overview
• Drainage Area • Intensity Duration
• Rain Gauges Frequency (IDF) Curves
• Hyetographs and • Historical Storms
Hydrographs • Runoff Coefficient
• Effect of Watershed • Curve Number and
Characteristics Hydrologic Soil Group
• Rainfall Data • Time of Concentration
• Return Period (Tc) and its
• Characteristics of a Measurements
Design Storm and • Watershed Abstractions
available Data and Infiltration
• The Rational Method
 Learning Objectives
• Learn the followings Concepts:
– Drainage area and its affects on the Hydrograph;
– Effect of Watershed Characteristics;
– Intensity Duration Frequency (IDF) Curves;
– Runoff Co-efficient;
– Hydrologic Soil Groups and Curve Number;
– Time of Concentration and Time to Peak
– Infiltration; and
– Rational Formula.
 What is Urbanization
• Urbanization is the transition of land use from
natural and agriculture to residential,
commercial and institutional purposes,
• Land is cleared of vegetation,
• Impervious surfaces (roads, parking lots,
rooftops) are added, and
• SWM infrastructure such as curb and gutter,
storm sewers, catch basins are added.
 Drainage Area
• Drainage Area:
– An area of land where surface runoff from rain or rain and
snow melting converges to a single outlet point;
• Other terms that are used to describe a drainage basin
are:
– Catchment;
– Catchment Area;
– Catchment Basin;
– Drainage Area;
– River basin;
– Water basin; and
– Watershed and Sub watershed
 Drainage Area
• External Drainage Area;
• Municipal or property boundaries vs. drainage boundaries;
– Drainage area flowing to the same outlet but:
– May not belong to the same property owner or
– Flowing to the same outlet from another drainage area.
• Drainage basin is used for studying the movement of water
for that particular area.
• The majority of the precipitation falling within the drainage
area appears as surface runoff or discharge.
• There are several ways of measuring discharge generated
within the watershed using various techniques including
stream gauges at various locations in the watershed.
 Rain Gauges
• It is an instrument used for measuring the
amount of precipitation over a period of time;
• The rain is measured in depth usually in
millimetres or inches;
• Limitation of the rainfall data;
• Types of the rain gauges:
– Standard rain gauge
– Weighing precipitation gauge
– Tipping bucket rain gauge
– Optical rain gauge
 Rain Gauges

Tipping Bucket: http://www.weathershack.com/static/ed-tipping-bucket-rain-gauge.html

HTTP://WWW.INFOPLEASE.COM/CIG/WEATHER/MEASURING-RAIN.HTML
 Rainfall Data
Duration
24

18
Intensity, mm/h (in/h)

15

12

0 5 10 15
Time, h
A hyetograph is a graphical distribution of the rainfall over time.
 Runoff Hydrograph

Time to Peak

Peak
Rising
Limb

Recession Limb
Discharge

Direct
Runoff

Base Flow

Time
Time Base
Rain Gauges Network
 Isohyets
Line on a map connecting points having the same amount of rainfall
in a given period.
Isohyets
 Discharge, Q Intensity, i

Time, t
Discharge, Q Intensity, i
Hyetographs and Hydrographs

Time, t
 Effect of Storm Coverage

Storm A Storm B

Intensity
Storm A

Storm B
Storm B

Storm A
Discharge

Time
 Hydrologic Abstractions
• Hydrologic Abstractions is the collective term
given to the various processes which act to
remove water from the incoming precipitation
before it leaves the watershed as runoff.
• These processes are:
– Interception
– Evaporation
– Transpiration
– Depression
– Detention
– Infiltration
 Interception
• A portion of the rainfall is intercepted by plant
foliage, buildings, and other objects. This
water is not available for runoff.
• Interception typically removes about 0.5 mm
during a single storm event. Values as high as
1.5 mm have been reported.
 Evaporation
• Evaporation is the change of the state of water
from liquid to vapor as a result of heat
addition.
• Evaporation from a body of water occurs only
if the surrounding air is not completely
saturated with water vapor, i.e. if the relative
humidity is less than 100 percent.
 Transpiration
• Transpiration is the transfer of soil moisture from the
soil to the atmosphere by the action of vegetation.
Plants transpire water vapor through their foliage.
• Transpiration has minimal effect on individual storms
and is usually only taken into account in long-term
hydrologic budgets.
• Evaporation and transpiration are commonly lumped
in one variable called evapotranspiration.
 Depression Storage
• Depression storage accounts for the water
that becomes ponded in land surface
irregularities.
• Depression storage depends on the land use
of the watershed and typically amounts to 0.5
to 8 mm during a single rain event. It is
inversely proportional to the watershed’s
slope
 Detention Storage
• Detention storage is the volume of water that
moves as overland flow (sheet flow). This
volume is temporarily detained in transit to
the stream.
• Sheet flow storage depends on watershed
parameters including land use, vegetation,
slope, and rainfall intensity.
• Typical values range from 2.5 to 10 mm
 Infiltration
• Infiltration takes place as part of the rain
percolates through the soil.
• The rate of infiltration depends on the soil
type, slope, vegetation, soil moisture content,
temperature, and the precipitation intensity.
• Infiltration usually is the largest abstraction
and therefore has the most significant effect
on runoff.
 Infiltration
• Infiltration is the movement of water from the
ground surface into the soil;
• The rate and quantity of infiltration depend on
the permeability and voids within the soil
structure under dry conditions;
• The most widely used methods for calculating
infiltration losses include:
– The Horton’s infiltration equation,
– The U.S. SCS Curve Number
 Infiltration
• Infiltration rates generally decrease with time
as the rainfall proceeds and the soil becomes
saturated.
• Many infiltration models have been developed
from very simple to very complex.
 Infiltration:
Horton’s Model

fo Infiltration capacity curve

fp = fc + ( fo - fc )e-kt
fp, mm/h (in/h)

Hyetograph (total rainfall)

fp

fc

Time, h
 Rainfall - Runoff Relationships
• Total precipitation is composed of
– Hydrologic abstractions
– Excess rainfall (Direct runoff)
• Hydrologic abstractions remove a portion of
falling rain
• Excess rainfall is the remaining rain that
becomes runoff
Effect of Watershed Characteristics
• Drainage area;
• Slope;
• Roughness;
• Storage;
• Drainage density;
• Channel length; and
• Antecedent moisture.
 Rainfall Data
• Frequency analyses identify patterns of
observed data.
• Data observations (events) must be
independent.
• Highway hydrology applications:
– Developing IDF curves from precipitation data
– Design discharges from stream gauge data
 Probability
• Probability of occurrence (relative frequency)
– likelihood certain value occurs OR
– occurrence frequency over specific interval
• P=m/n
where, m = number of occurrences of a specific
outcome
n = total number of occurrences or possible
outcomes
• Example: probability of observing a value of 1 on a
single roll of a die = 1/6
 Return Period
• The probability of an event with a specified intensity
and duration, is called the return period or frequency
• Common return periods are:
– 2-Year
– 5-Year
– 10-year
– 25-year
– 50-Year
– 100-Year and
– 250-Year
• The intensity of a storm is predicted, for any return
period and storm duration, from charts based on
historic data for that watershed;
 Return Period
• The term 1 in 10 year storm means a rainfall
event which will likely occur once every 10
years, so it has a 10 percent likelihood in any
given year;
• The term 1 in 100 year storm means a rainfall
event which will occur with a likelihood of
only once in a century, so it has a 1 %
likelihood in any given year
 Characteristics of a Design Storm
• Instantaneous and average rainfall intensity;
• Maximum or minimum volume over a given
duration;
• Total volume (depth) and storm duration;
• Statistical distributions and classification of
rainfall;
• Storm type and specific applications; and
• Areal and temporal distribution.
 Available Data Types
• These sources include of:
– Intensity Duration Frequency (IDF) curves;
– Historical storms (actual rainfall
measurements);and
– Representative design storms, typically:
• Soil Conservation Service (SCS) and
• Chicago storms;
 Intensity Duration Frequency (IDF)
Curves
• An IDF curve is a statistical relationship of rainfall
intensity corresponding to a specified storm
duration and frequency for a given location;
• IDF curves are used where precipitation field
measurements on a drainage system may not be
available;
• IDF curves are one of the most widely used forms
of rainfall data;
• IDF rainfall data is also used for estimating flows
for the design of minor drainage systems with the
Rational method.
 Derivation of the IDF Curve
• IDF curves are statistically derived from rainfall
records compiled over a period of years.
• IDF curves are usually derived using an annual
duration series made up of the largest rainfall
intensities recorded in any one calendar year;
• Lesser values in the same year are ignored,
even though they may exceed some maximum
values for other years.
Derivation of the IDF Curve
 Steps in the Derivation of the IDF
Curve
• Step 1: Enter year’s in Column A
• Step 2: Enter rainfall depth (mm) in Column B
• Step 3: Sort out from higher to lower the rainfall depth in
decreasing order in Column D
• Step 4: Rank the column D in Column E starting from 1
• Step 5: Find Probability of Occurrence
• Step 6: Find Return Period
• Step 7: Convert rainfall depth (mm) into rainfall rates (mm/hr)
• Step 8: Assume B
• Step 9: The log of I and (T+B)
• Step 10: Plot of Log I vs. log (T+B)
• Step 11: Find A, B and c by comparing the two equations.
Return Period Rainfall Rates (mm/h) - 95% Confidence limits
Duration
2-Yr 5-Yr 10-Yr 25-Yr 50-Yr 100_Yr # Years
5 min 109.8 144 166.6 195.2 216.3 237.4 44
+/- 9.0 +/- 15.2 +/- 20.6 +/- 27.8 +/- 33.2 +/- 38.7 44
10 min 79.8 108.8 128.1 152.5 170.5 188.4 44
+/- 7.7 +/- 13.0 +/- 17.5 +/- 23.7 +/- 28.3 +/- 33.0 44
15 min 64 86.9 102.1 121.3 135.6 149.7 44
+/- 6.1 +/- 10.2 +/- 13.8 +/- 18.6 +/- 22.3 +/- 26.0 44
30 min 41.2 56.4 66.5 79.3 88.7 98.1 44
+/- 4.0 +/- 6.8 +/- 9.2 +/- 12.4 +/- 14.8 +/- 17.3 44
1h 24.5 35.1 42.2 51.1 57.7 64.2 44
+/- 2.8 +/- 4.7 +/- 6.4 +/- 8.6 +/- 10.3 +/- 12.0 44
2h 14.8 20.6 24.5 29.3 33 36.6 44
+/- 1.5 +/- 2.6 +/- 3.5 +/- 4.7 +/- 5.7 +/- 6.6 44
6h 6.1 8 9.2 10.8 11.9 13.1 44
+/- 0.5 +/- 0.8 +/- 1.1 +/- 1.5 +/- 1.8 +/- 2.1 44
12 h 3.6 4.5 5.1 5.9 6.5 7 44
+/- 0.3 +/- 0.4 +/- 0.6 +/- 0.8 +/- 0.9 +/- 1.1 44
24 h 2.1 2.8 3.2 3.7 4.1 4.5 44
+/- 0.2 +/- 0.3 +/- 0.4 +/- 0.5 +/- 0.6 +/- 0.7 44
 Derivation of the IDF Curve
Assume B = 8
Rainfall depth
Duration(T, min)
(mm) I (2-Yr, mm/hr ) Log I (T+B) log(T+B)

5 9.15 109.80 2.04 13.00 1.11

10 79.80 1.90 18.00 1.26

15 64.00 1.81 23.00 1.36

30 41.20 1.61 38.00 1.58

60 24.50 1.39 68.00 1.83

120 14.80 1.17 128.00 2.11

360 6.10 0.79 368.00 2.57

720 3.60 0.56 728.00 2.86

1440 2.10 0.32 1448.00 3.16

Derivation of the IDF Curve
2.50
y = -0.8369x + 2.9463
R² = 0.9993
2.00

Series1 Linear (Series1)

1.50

1.00

0.50

0.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00
IDF Curves
IDF Parameters
 Accuracy of IDF Curves
• The accuracy of rainfall intensities estimated by the IDF
method depends on the length of records at the station
relative to the desirable return period.
• If the length of record is less than the desirable storm
event return period, the accuracy will be relatively
lower.
• The extrapolation of frequency curves for return
periods greater than twice the length of record is not
recommended.
• MTO IDF Site:
– http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/IDF_Curves
 Storm Duration
• The duration of a storm varies with the type of
analysis;
• Watersheds with storage facilities may require the use
of a long duration storm such as 12 or 24 hours;
• For small urban watersheds, a 1 to 6 hours duration for
rainfall-runoff simulation may be appropriate;
• However, several storm durations should be simulated
and the most critical one chosen;
• Recommendation:
– The storm duration should at least be equal to the time of
concentration, and is usually taken as 3 or 6 hours or a
multiple thereof.
 Historical Storms
• The two historical design storms used in Ontario are:
– Hurricane Hazel, which occurred in October, 1954, and
– The Timmins Storm, which occurred in September, 1961.
• Hazel and Timmins have been designated as the
provincial regulatory storms;
• The Ministry of Natural Resources and Conservation
Authorities uses Hurricane Hazel and the Timmins
Storm for regulatory storm for drainage basins greater
than 130 hectares, unless an alternative storm is
authorized.
 Representative Design Storm
• When actual storm records are not available
for the site, the following methods of
estimating a storm are used:
– Two statistically derived storms have been
traditionally adopted as representative storm,
namely:
• The SCS Type II and
• Chicago Distributions
• Environment Canada Website for Data:
– http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/canada_e.html
 Runoff Coefficient
• The runoff coefficient (C) is the ratio of the depth
of runoff to the corresponding depth of rainfall
falling on an area.
• It indicates the runoff potential of a particular
combination of soil, land use and topography.
• The value of C ranges from less than 0.1 for sandy
woodland to 0.95 for paved areas.
– Concrete, paved areas etc
• The runoff coefficient is used in Rational Method
for runoff calculation.
 Curve Number
• The combined effect of soil type and texture, and land
use has an important influence on the magnitude of
floods;
• This effect can be quantified by the Curve Number (CN)
system developed by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service
(1972);
• The idea is to assign a CN to indicate the potential
abstractions of the drainage area given the soil type,
land use and the antecedent moisture condition such
as AMC I, II or III, which corresponds to dry, average
and saturated soils respectively
• The CN can be calculated by CN =25400/(254+S)
 Hydrologic Soil Group
• The hydrologic soil group is used to classify soils into groups
of various runoff potential;
• The SCS descriptions of the four groups, modified slightly to
suit Ontario conditions, are as follows:
– A: High infiltration and transmission rates when thoroughly wet,
e.g.. deep, well drained to excessively-drained sands and
gravels;
– B: Moderate infiltration and transmission rates when thoroughly
wet, such as moderately deep to deep open textured loam;
– C: Slow infiltration and transmission rates when thoroughly wet,
e.g.. fine to moderately fine textured soils such as silty clay
loam;
– D: Very slow infiltration and transmission rates when thoroughly
wet, e.g.. clay barns with a high swelling potential.
 Soil Moisture
• Antecedent Moisture Condition (AMC):
– The CN for given soil varies with the initial
antecedent moisture conditions (AMC).
– The three initial soil moisture conditions are:
• AMCI- dry
• AMC II – average moisture
• AMC III - saturated
Variation of CN with Antecedent
Moisture Condition
 Slope of Watershed
• The slope of a watershed has a considerable
effect on the time of concentration and the
peak runoff.
• For the purpose of calculating runoff, the
watershed slope is taken as the representative
slope along the longest flow path
• Methods for determining watershed slopes:
– The 85/10 method; and
– The equivalent slope method.
 Time of Concentration (Tc)
• It used in hydrology for measuring the response
of a watershed to a rain event;
• It is defined as the time needed for water to flow
from the most remote point in a watershed to the
watershed outlet;
• It is a function of the topography, geology, and
land use within the watershed; and
• The hydraulically “farthest” point is that with the
largest travel time and not necessarily the
greatest distance.
 Measurement of Time of
Concentration (Tc)
• Several methods are available to determine Tc
• Two recommended approaches are:
– The Bransby Williams formula, and
– The Airport formula.
• When runoff coefficient C is greater than 0.40,
the Bransby Williams formula is one of the more
accepted methods;
• When runoff coefficient C, is less than 0.40, the
Airport formula gives a better estimate of t.
Bransby Williams Formula
Airport Formula
 The Rational Method
• Earliest Methods of calculating peak flows;
• It remains a valid approach to peak flow estimation for
small drainage areas in addition to the availability of
advanced computational techniques;
• The application of this method should be limited to
watersheds less than 100 hectares in size.
• Applications of the Rational Method include:
– Determination of peak flows to size channels, sewers,
ditches and culverts;
– Preliminary design estimation for drainage systems;
– Flow estimation to design erosion and sediment control
devices
The Rational Method
 Rational Method Assumptions
• Drainage area < 100 ha
• Entire watershed contributes to flow
• Uniform rainfall intensity
• A storm with duration equal to tc produces the
greatest peak
• Frequency of peak flows equals frequency of
rainfall