04-May-16

HYDROGRAPH

Methods of Base Flow Separation
 Straight Line Method (A‐E)
 Fixed Base Length Method (A‐B‐D‐E)
 Variable Slope Method (A‐B‐C‐E)
2
N=A0.2 (N: days, A: mile )
N=6.59A0.2 (N: hours, A: acres)

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Method I: Straight line method

• Draw a horizontal line from start of runoff to intersection with
recession limb (Point A).

Method II : Fixed Base Length Method

• In this method the base flow curve existing prior to the beginning of the
surface runoff is extended till it intersects the ordinate drawn at the peak
(point C in Fig). This point is joined to point B by a straight line.
• Extend from time of peak to intersect with recession limb using a lag time,
N.
N =0.83 A0.2
Where: A = the drainage area in Km2, and
N = days where Point B can be located & determine the end of DRO

• Segment AC and CB separate the base flow and surface runoff.

• This is probably the most widely used base-flow separation procedure.

Q
N
B
A

C
time

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Method III: Variable Slope Method

• Based on the assumption that the shape of the base flow curve before
the storm will match the shape of the base flow curve after the storm,
the base flow recession curve after the depletion of the flood water is
extended backwards till it intersects the ordinate at the point of inflection
(line EF in Fig), Points A and F are joined by an arbitrary smooth curve.
• This method of base-flow separation is realistic in situations where the
groundwater contributions are significant and reach the stream quickly.
• The selection of anyone of the three methods depends upon the local
practice and successful predictions achieved in the past.
• The surface runoff hydrograph obtained after the base-flow separation is
also known as direct runoff hydrograph (DRH).

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Physiographic Factors Affecting the Shape of 
Hydrograph
 Size of the catchment
Hydrograph of smaller area rises and
recedes to peak more rapidly than for a
larger catchment area. Larger is more
heterogeneous in nature.
 Shape of the catchment area
Time of concentration depends upon the
shape.

Also need to consider the storm

duration and time of concentration.

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Physiographic Factors Affecting the Shape of 
Hydrograph
 Catchment Elevation. Variation in temperature
and precipitation. In Indo‐Pak sub‐continent,
snowmelt at 15,000 ft. (above m.s.l) altitude. Low
peak and broader base.
 Catchment Slope. Rate of infiltration and surface
runoff affected.
 Channel Slope. Steeper channel slope gives rapid
rise in hydrograph.
 Miscellaneous factors. Man made changes like
dams, barrages, forest developments,
urbanization, etc

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Storm Characteristics Affecting the Shape of 
Hydrograph
 Seasonal distribution of rainfall. Summer high
losses of evapo‐transpiration may produce small
hydrograph peak for even high intensity rainfall.
 Rainfall Intensity. Higher intensity storm will
produce a rapid rise in hydrograph with a higher
peak.
 Duration of rainfall. Duration as compared to time
of concentration is important. For longer
durations whole of area contributes and peak rate
will be maintained.

Storm Characteristics Affecting the Shape of 
Hydrograph
 Storm distribution over area. Two storms of same
intensity may produce different hydrographs if
they are distributed differently over the area.
 Direction of movement of storm. The peak
discharge will be more if the storm is moving
towards gauging station, and there will be lag if it
is moving away.

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Two Storm Hydrograph

UNIT HYDROGRAPH

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Unit Hydrograph Theory
 Sherman (1932) first proposed the unit hydrograph 
concept.
 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 20 25 30
Time

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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 20 25 30
Time

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Unit Hydrograph Theory
The Unit Hydrograph (UH) of a watershed is
defined as the direct runoff hydrograph
resulting from a unit volume of excess rainfall
of constant intensity & uniformly distributed
over the drainage area. The duration of the unit
volume of excess or effective rainfall, sometimes
referred to as the effective duration. The unit
volume is usually considered to be associated with
1‐cm (or 1‐inch) of effective rainfall distributed
uniformly over the basin area.

Unit Hydrograph Theory
Unit Hydrograph vs Storm Hydrographs

400

350

300

250
Flow

200

150

100

50

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time

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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

Unit Hydrograph
 If a given rainfall produces a 1‐in depth of
runoff over the given drainage area, the
hydrograph showing the rates at which the
runoff occurred can be considered a unit
graph for that watershed.
 An X hour unit hydrograph is defined as a
direct runoff hydrograph having a 1‐in
volume and resulting from an X‐hour storm
having a steady intensity of 1/X in/hr.

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UHG Salients
 Hydrograph that results from 1‐inch (or 1‐cm)
of excess precipitation (or runoff) spread
uniformly in space and time over a watershed
for a given duration.
 The key points :
 1‐inch (or 1‐cm) of excess precipitation
 Excess precipitation spread uniformly over
space ‐ evenly over the entire watershed
 Excess precipitation spread uniformly in time ‐
excess rate is constant over the time interval
 There is a given duration

Assumptions in Unit Hydrograph
 Excess precipitation has constant intensity within the
duration
 Excess precipitation uniformly distributed over the entire
catchment area
 Constant base length (i.e. base time) of direct runoff for a
given duration storm (assumption of uniqueness or
variance)
 Ordinates of unit hydrograph are proportional to total
runoff (principle of linearity, superposition or
proportionality)
 Unit hydrograph reflects all combined physical
characteristics of the catchment area

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Methods of Developing UHG
 From Stream flow Data  A unit hydrograph is 
derived from historical rainfall and runoff data
 What if there is no Historical Data?!?! 
Synthetically
 Snyder Method (1938)
 Clark’s Time‐Area Method (1945)
 SCS Method (1957)
Note: Each method uses the principles of Unit Hydrograph theory
 Fitted Distributions

Unit Hydrograph
700.0000

600.0000 Total
Hydrograph

500.0000

Surface
400.0000 Response

300.0000

Baseflow
200.0000

100.0000

0.0000
0.0000 0.5000 1.0000 1.5000 2.0000 2.5000 3.0000 3.5000 4.0000

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Rules of Thumb
 The storm should be fairly uniform in nature &
excess precipitation should be equally as uniform
throughout the basin. This may require the initial
conditions throughout the basin to be spatially
similar.
 The storm should be relatively constant in time,
meaning that there should be no breaks or periods
of no precipitation.
 The storm should produce at least 1‐inch ( or 1‐
cm) of excess precipitation (area under the
hydrograph after correcting for base flow).

Derivation of Unit Hydrograph
 Construct stream flow hydrograph from the
available data
 Separate the base flow and direct runoff to
obtain direct runoff hydrograph
 Obtain excess/effective/net precipitation in
inches (or cm) by dividing the direct runoff
volume by watershed area
 Ordinates of the unit hydrograph are obtained
by dividing the direct runoff hydrograph
ordinates by the excess precipitation depth

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H H Q

t Q t

Stage Hydrograph Discharge Hydrograph

Stage-Discharge Curve
or Rating Curve

25000
UHG Derivation
Hydrograph

20000 Direct Runoff Hydrograph

15000
Flow (cfs)

Unit
Hydrograph

10000

Base Flow

5000

0
0
7

105
112
119
126
133
14
21
28
35
42
49
56
63
70
77
84
91
98

Time (hrs.)
In this example, units of the unit hydrograph would be cfs/inch of excess precipitation

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EXAMPLE
Example
From the data given in Table, derive a
6‐hour unit hydrograph if this data is
obtained from a six‐hour duration
storm and the catchment area is 3,200
square kilometers.

Date Time Discharge Base Flow

(day) (m³/s) (m³/s)
(1) (2) (3) (4)
11-Jan 1st 21 21
12-Jan 2nd 21 21
13-Jan 3rd 21 21
14-Jan 4th 20 20
15-Jan 5th 20 20
16-Jan 6th 20 20
17-Jan 7th 20 20
18-Jan 8th 20 20
19-Jan 9th 521 11
20-Jan 10th 160 21
21-Jan 11th 82 29
22-Jan 12th 63 35
23-Jan 13th 59 47
24-Jan 14th 53 53
25-Jan 15th 47 47
26-Jan 16th 45 45
27-Jan 17th 38 38

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Data for Unit hydrograph

Date Time Discharge Base DRO Volume Ordinates of
Flow Unit Hydrograph
(day) (m³/s) (m³/s) (m³/s) (x106 m³) (m³/s)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)=(3)-(4) (6) (7)=(5)/Eff. Rain
11-Jan 1st 21 21 0 0 0
12-Jan 2nd 21 21 0 0 0
13-Jan 3rd 21 21 0 0 0
14-Jan 4th 20 20 0 0 0
15-Jan 5th 20 20 0 0 0
16-Jan 6th 20 20 0 0 0
17-Jan 7th 20 20 0 0 0
18-Jan 8th 20 20 0 0 0
19-Jan 9th 521 11 510 44.06 255.00
20-Jan 10th 160 21 139 12.01 69.50
21-Jan 11th 82 29 53 4.58 26.50
22-Jan 12th 63 35 28 2.42 14.00
23-Jan 13th 59 47 12 1.04 6.00
24-Jan 14th 53 53 0 0 0
25-Jan 15th 47 47 0 0 0
26-Jan 16th 45 45 0 0 0
27-Jan 17th 38 38 0 0 0
Total Volume 64.11 x106 m³
Area 3200 x106 m² Volume 32.05x106 m³
Effective Rain 2.00cm Effective Rain 1.00 cm

The resulting unit hydrograph and DRO hydrograph are shown in Fig

6-Hour Unit Hydrograph

600

500

400
Discharge (m³/s)

300

200

100

0 5 10 15 20

Time (Day)

Total Hydrograph DRO Hydrograph One Day Unit Hydrograph

Fig 6.6 Developing a 6-hr unit hydrograph

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