Module 3

Lecture 5: Derivation of S-curve and

discrete convolution equations
Unit hydrograph

S – Curve method

• It is the hydrograph of direct surface discharge that would result from a

continuous succession of unit storms producing 1cm(in.)in tr –hr

• If the time base of the unit hydrograph is Tb hr, it reaches constant outflow
(Qe) at T hr, since 1 cm of net rain on the catchment is being supplied and
removed every tr hour and only T/tr unit graphs are necessary to produce an
S-curve and develop constant outflow given by,

Qe = (2.78·A) / tr

where
Qe = constant outflow (cumec)
tr = duration of the unit graph (hr)
A = area of the basin (km2 or acres)
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Unit hydrograph

S – Curve method Contd…

Changing the duration of UG by S-curve technique
Intensity (cm/hr)

Successive unit storms of Pnet = 1 cm

To obtain tr-hr UG
multiply the S-curve
difference by tr/trI

S-curve
hydrograph
Discharge Q (Cumec)

Unit hydrograph in
Succession produce
Constant outflow
Lagged s-curve
Qe cumec Constant flow Qe (Cumec)
Lagged by tr-hr

trI
Lagged Time t (hr) Module 3
Unit hydrograph

Example Problem

• Convert the following 2-hr UH to a 3-hr UH using the S-curve method

Time (hr) 2-hr UH ordinate (cfs)

0 0 Solution
1 75 Make a spreadsheet with the 2-hr
2 250 UH ordinates, then copy them in
3 300 the next column lagged by D=2
4 275 hours. Keep adding columns until
5 200
the row sums are fairly constant.
6 100
The sums are the ordinates of your
7 75
S-curve
8 50
9 25
10 0
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Unit hydrograph

Example Problem Contd…

Time 2-hr 2-HR lagged UH’s Sum

(hr) UH
0 0 0
1 75 75
2 250 0 250
3 300 75 375
4 275 250 0 525
5 200 300 75 575
6 100 275 250 0 625
7 75 200 300 75 650
8 50 100 275 250 0 675
9 25 75 200 300 75 675
10 0 50 100 275 250 0 675
11 25 75 200 300 75 675
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Unit hydrograph

Example Problem Contd…

Draw your S-curve, as shown in figure below

800

700 S-curve

600

500
2 hr UH
Q (cfs)

400 Lagged by 2 hr

300

200

100

0
0 2 4 6 Time (hr) 8 10 12 14

Make a spreadsheet with the 2-hr UH ordinates, then copy them in the next column
lagged by D=2 hours. Keep adding columns until the row sums are fairly constant.
The sums are the ordinates of your S-curve.

Module 3
Unit hydrograph

Example Problem Contd…

Time (hr) S-curve S-curve Difference 3-HR UH

ordinate lagged 3hr ordinate
0 0 0 0
1 75 75 50
2 250 250 166.7
3 375 0 375 250
4 525 75 450 300
5 575 250 352 216
6 625 375 250 166.7
7 650 525 125 83.3
8 675 575 100 66.7
9 675 625 50 33.3
10 675 650 25 16.7
11 675 675 0 0
Unit hydrograph

Example Problem

Find the one hour unit hydrograph using the excess rainfall hyetograph and
direct runoff hydrograph given in the table

Time (1hr) Excess Rainfall (in) Direct Runoff (cfs)

1 1.06 428
2 1.93 1923
3 1.81 5297
4 9131
5 10625
6 7834
7 3921
8 1846
9 1402
10 830
11 313

Module 3
 Unit hydrograph Contd….

Discrete Convolution Equation

Suppose that there are M pulses of excess rainfall.
If N pulses of direct runoff are considered, then N equations can be written Qn in
terms of N-M+1unknown values of unit hydrograph ordinates, where n=
1, 2, …,N.
m*
Qn = ∑ PmUn−m+1 m* = min(n,M)
m=1

Where Qn = Direct runoff

Pm = Excess rainfall
Un-m+1 = Unit hydrograph ordinates
Unit hydrograph Contd….

Input Pn Output Qn
m*
P1 P2 P3 Output Qn = ∑ PmUn−m+1
m=1

Unit pulse response applied to

Un-m+1 P1
Combination of 3 rainfall
UH

U2 U3 U4
U1 U5

n-m+1
Un-m+1 Unit pulse response applied to
P2

n-m+1
Unit hydrograph Contd….

The set of equations for discrete time convolution

Q1 = PU
11 m*
Qn = ∑ PmUn−m+1
Q
=2 P2U1 + PU
1 2 m=1

Q3 =P3U1 + P2U2 + PU
1 3 n = 1, 2,…,N

QM = PMU1 + PM−1U2 + ..... + PU

1 M

QM+1 =
0 + PMU2 + ..... + P2UM + PU
1 M+1

QN−1 = 0 + 0 + ..... + 0 + 0 + ..... + PMUN−M + PM−1UN−M+1

QN = 0 + 0 + ..... + 0 + 0 + ..... + 0 + PM−1UN−M+1

Unit hydrograph

Example Problem Contd…

Solution
• The ERH and DRH in table have M=3 and N=11 pulses respectively.
• Hence, the number of pulses in the unit hydrograph is N-M+1=11-3+1=9.
• Substituting the ordinates of the ERH and DRH into the equations in table
yields a set of 11 simultaneous equations

Q2 − P2U1 1,928 − 1.93x404

=U1 = = 1,079 cfs / in
P1 1.06

Similarly calculate for remaining ordinates and the final UH is tabulated below

n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Un (cfs/in) 404 1,079 2,343 2,506 1,460 453 381 274 173

Module 3