Hydrology

[10-3]
Unit Hydrographs

Mohammad N. Almasri

1 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

Definition of Unit Hydrographs

ƒ The idea of using a unit hydrograph to describe the

response of a catchment to rainfall excess was first
introduced by Sherman (1932)

ƒ It is currently the most widely used method of

estimating runoff hydrographs

ƒ The idea here is to deduce the actual hydrograph

due to a specific storm when having the unit
hydrograph for a storm of unit rainfall by assuming
a LINEAR response of the watershed to storm
events
2 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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 Definition of Unit Hydrographs

ƒ A unit hydrograph is the hydrograph of direct runoff

for any storm that produces exactly 1.0 inch (or 1.0
cm) of effective rain

ƒ The ordinates of a unit hydrograph are 1/P times the

ordinates of the direct runoff hydrograph for an
equal-duration storm with P inches of net rain

ƒ The term unit has to do with the net rain amount of

1.0 inch and DOES NOT mean to imply that the
duration of rain that produced the hydrograph is one
unit
3 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

Unit Hydrograph Theory [1]

ƒ Consider the unit
hydrograph, u∆t(t), for a
given catchment and rainfall-
excess duration, ∆t

ƒ This is commonly referred to

as the ∆t-unit hydrograph where the ordinates of Q(t) are
equal to P∆t times the ordinates
of the unit hydrograph, u(t)
ƒ Assuming that the
catchment response is
LINEAR, then the runoff
hydrograph, Q(t), for a
rainfall excess P∆t occurring
over a duration ∆t it is given
by Q(t) = P∆t × u∆t(t)
4 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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 Unit Hydrograph Theory [2]
ƒ If the rainfall excess, P (in unit of
length), occurs over a duration
equal to an integral multiple of ∆t,
say n×∆t, and again assuming that
the catchment response is linear
then the catchment response is
equal to that of n storms occurring
sequentially with the rainfall
excess in each storm equal to
Pn∆t/n where the response of
the catchment equals the
ƒ The runoff hydrograph, Q(t), is
summation of the
then given by:
responses to the
incremental rainfall
Pn∆t n −1 excesses of duration ∆t
Q( t ) = ∑ u ∆t ( t − i∆t ) as illustrated in the figure
n i =0
5 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

Definition of Unit Hydrographs

ƒ An X-hour unit hydrograph is defined as a direct runoff
hydrograph having a 1.0-in volume and resulting from
an X-hour storm having a net rain rate of (1/X) in/hr

ƒ A 2-hr unit hydrograph would have a 1.0-in volume

produced by a 2-hr storm

ƒ A 3-hr storm producing 2 in of net rain would have

runoff rates 2 times the values of the 3-hr unit
hydrograph

ƒ A one-half (½) inch in 3 hr would produce flows half

the magnitude of the 3-hr unit hydrograph
6 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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 Example [1]

ƒ Compute a 1-hour
unit hydrograph for
watershed that has
an area of 47.4
km2

ƒ Runoff from a
single-peak 16-mm
precipitation is
given in the table

7 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

Example [1]
ƒ In order to develop the unit
hydrograph, we need to find out the
depth of direct runoff

ƒ Apparently, the stream was dry

before and after the storm so there is
no baseflow to separate

ƒ The total runoff = 195,840 m3 “The

area under the hydrograph”

ƒ The depth of runoff =

(195,840×1,000)/(47.7×106) = 4.13
mm

ƒ The hydrograph must have a net

depth of 1 mm thus, if we divide the
ordinates of the hydrograph by 4.13
we will get the unit hydrograph
8 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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 Example [1]

Area = 4.13
mm

Area = 1 mm

9 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

Example [2]
ƒ The 10-min unit hydrograph for a
2.25 km2 urban catchment is given
by the following table

i. Verify that the unit hydrograph is

consistent with a 1-cm rainfall excess
(verify that this time pattern qualifies
as a unit hydrograph)

ii. Estimate the runoff hydrograph for a

10-min rainfall excess of 3.5 cm

iii. Estimate the runoff hydrograph for a

20-min rainfall excess of 8.5 cm
10 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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 Example [2]
ƒ For a hydrograph to be a unit hydrograph, the area under it
should equal in terms of depth 1 cm

ƒ Thus, find out the total area under the hydrograph which in
turn is the volume of direct runoff in m3

ƒ Total runoff volume (approximately) = ∆t×ΣQ =

30(min)×60(sec/min)×(0+1.2+2.8+1.7+1.4+1.2+1.1+0.91+
0.74+0.61+0.5+0.28+0.17+0) = 22,698 m3

ƒ Direct runoff depth = [22,698/(2.25×106)]×102 = 1.008 cm ≈

1 cm

ƒ Since the depth of rainfall excess (direct runoff) is 1 cm, the

given hydrograph qualifies as a unit hydrograph
11 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

Example [2]

So, this is the

runoff
hydrograph
that results
from an
excess rainfall
of 1 cm over a
storm duration
of 10 minutes

12 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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 Example [2]

ƒ Apparently, the 10-min

hydrograph given in the table is
for an excess rainfall of 1 cm

ƒ Therefore, to find the 10-min unit

hydrograph for a storm of excess
rainfall of 3.5 cm, we multiply the
ordinates of the unit hydrograph
by 3.5

ƒ This yields the following runoff

hydrograph
13 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

Example [2]
ƒ Originally, we have a 10-min UH
8.5 cm
ƒ Now, there is a rainfall storm that
produced 8.5 cm of excess rainfall over 0 20
20-min period

ƒ Thus, disassemble this storm into two 4.25 cm 4.25 cm

consecutive storms each of ½×8.5 over
a ½×20 period 0 10 20

ƒ Why ½×20 period? Because originally 4.25 cm 4.25 cm

the UH is made up for a 10-min duration 1 cm
0 10 20
ƒ The runoff hydrograph of 8.5-cm excess
rain over a period of 20 min equals the
summation of two hydrographs: (i) one
10-min UH×4.25-cm excess rainfall and
(ii) a 10-min UH×4.25-cm excess rainfall
BUT shifted forward by 10 minutes

14 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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 Example [2]

15 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

Example [3]

ƒ Discharge rates for the 2-hr unit hydrograph are

summarized in the table

ƒ Develop the hourly hydrograph resulting from a 4-hr

storm having excess amounts as shown in the figure
16 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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 Example [3]

17 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

Example [3]
ƒ The 4-hr duration of the design storm is an integer
multiple of the unit hydrograph duration

ƒ Thus, the total hydrograph can be found by adding the

contributions of two 2-hr increments of end-to-end rain

ƒ The first 2-hr storm segment has 1.0 in of net rain and
thus reproduces a unit hydrograph

ƒ The second 2-hr storm segment has 2.0 in of net rain; thus
its ordinates are twice those of a 2-hr unit hydrograph

ƒ The total hydrograph is found by summing the two

contributions at the corresponding times. Note that runoff
from the second storm begins when the second rain
begins, not at the beginning of the first storm
18 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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 Example [3]
This method of “lagging” is
based on the assumption that
linear response of the watershed
Q2
is not influenced by previous
Q1 storms. So one can superimpose
hydrographs offset in time and
the flows will be directly additive

19 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

Derivation of Unit Hydrographs

Example [4]
ƒ Convert the total runoff
hydrograph summarized in the
table to a 2-hr unit
hydrograph if the Φ index for
the storm was 0.5 in/hr. The
baseflow was constant and
equaled 100 cfs

ƒ The storm has the distribution

summarized in the table

ƒ Find out the values of tp and

Tb for the storm
20 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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 Derivation of Unit Hydrographs
Example [4]
ƒ First we find the excess rainfall by subtracting Φ
index from the rainfall hyetograph. The excess
rainfall represents 2.0 inches of rainfall (1 in/hr for 2
hours)

ƒ We need to convert the hydrograph to 1 in of direct

runoff over the watershed or ½ in/hr for 2 hours

ƒ To do so, take off the baseflow from all the flow

values and multiply the resulting ordinates by ½

Tb = 9 hr
tp = 3 hr

21 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

Example [5]

Using the 2-hr

unit
hydrograph
summarized in
the table,
determine the
direct runoff
hydrograph for
a 4-hr storm
having the
following
excess rain
amounts
22 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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 Example [5]
ƒ Determine the correct UH multiplier for each X-hr
interval. Because X is 2 hours for this example, the
first two hours of the storm produce a total net
rain of 1.4 inches. Similarly, the last two hours of
the storm produce 2.4 inches of net rain

ƒ Determine the correct start and end times for each

of the two hydrographs and tabulate the
contribution of the 1.4-inch and 2.8-inch rains at
the appropriate lag times

ƒ Because the second X-hr storm started at t = 2

hours, runoff for this storm cannot begin until t =
2 hours

ƒ Add the contributions

at each time to
determine the total
runoff hydrographs
for the 4-hr storm

23 Hydrology – Fall 2007 – [10-3] Unit Hydrographs Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD An-Najah National University

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