MODELING EXERCISE 5:

INVESTIGATING BASEFLOW IN HEC-HMS

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INTRODUCTION

Two distinguishable components of a streamflow hydrograph are (1) direct, quick runoff of
precipitation, and (2) baseflow. Baseflow is the sustained or “fair weather” runoff of prior
precipitation that was stored temporarily in the watershed, plus the delayed subsurface runoff
from the current storm. So far, you have been doing the previous exercises without considering
the effects baseflow on the outflow hydrograph. However, for large river basins with wide
reaches, baseflow significantly affects the resulting runoff hydrograph. In this exercise, you
will investigate the effect of baseflow to a rainfall-runoff model.

OBJECTIVE(S)

At the end of this exercise, you will be able to:

(a) model baseflow using the recession model in HEC-HMS.

(b) describe the role of the different parameters associated with the recession model.

DATA REQUIREMENT(S)

(a) Text Inputs

Loss Method : SCS Loss Model

Transform Method : SCS Unit Hydrograph Model
Baseflow Method : None (for first run); Recession Model

(b) Numerical Inputs

Watershed Area : 100 km2

Curve Number : 55
Lag Time : 30 minutes
Simulation Time Step : 5 minutes
Simulation Start Time : 20 March 2020, 09:00AM
Simulation Time Period : 1-2 days

Rainfall Data: Hourly, incremental

Date Time P (mm)
20Mar2020 09:00 0.00
20Mar2020 10:00 3.12
20Mar2020 11:00 5.16
20Mar2020 12:00 11.65
20Mar2020 13:00 3.45
20Mar2020 14:00 2.98
20Mar2020 15:00 1.50
20Mar2020 16:00 0.00

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 (c) Variations in baseflow model parameters for other simulation runs

Run Initial Recession Ratio /

Threshold Type
Discharge Constant Flow
Run 2 10 0.1 Ratio to Peak 0.1
Run 3 10 0.3 Ratio to Peak 0.1
Run 4 10 0.6 Ratio to Peak 0.1
Run 5 10 0.9 Ratio to Peak 0.1
Run 6 10 0.1 Ratio to Peak 0.5
Run 7 10 0.3 Ratio to Peak 0.5
Run 8 10 0.6 Ratio to Peak 0.5
Run 9 10 0.9 Ratio to Peak 0.5
Run 10 10 0.1 Ratio to Peak 0.9
Run 11 10 0.3 Ratio to Peak 0.9
Run 12 10 0.6 Ratio to Peak 0.9
Run 13 10 0.9 Ratio to Peak 0.9
Run 14 10 0.25 Threshold Discharge 1
Run 15 10 0.25 Threshold Discharge 5
Run 16 10 0.25 Threshold Discharge 10
Run 17 10 0.25 Threshold Discharge 15
Run 18 10 0.25 Threshold Discharge 20

Note: The instructions of this exercise were based on the HEC-HMS 4.3 user interface.
However, you can still accomplish the procedures using any version of HEC-HMS but some
of the images may not exactly match with what you see on your screen.

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PROCEDURES

1. Open HEC-HMS and

create a new project. 1
Create a basin model,
meteorological model
and control
specifications using the
functions that you
learned in the previous
exercises. Use the data
found on page 2. Use
None for baseflow
method at this point.
Run the model. View the
results and copy the
time-series data to
Microsoft Excel. Save
your project.

2. Click the Components

tab and click Subbasin-
1. Change the baseflow
method to Recession.
Click the Baseflow tab 2
on the component
editor. Set Initial Type
as Discharge. Input the
parameters for Run 2
found on page 3. Run
the model. View the
results and copy the
time-series data to
Microsoft Excel. The
result in dashed line is
the modeled baseflow.
Repeat this step for the
other runs with
parameters found on
page 3.

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Prepared by: JONAH LEE I. BAS, MSCE jlibas@usc.edu.ph

REFERENCES

Bedient, P.B, Huber, W.C, Vieux, B.E (2013). Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis.
Merwade, V. (2019). Investigating Baseflow in HEC-HMS.
US Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center (2018). Hydrologic Modeling
System HEC-HMS Technical Reference Manual.
US Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center (2018). Hydrologic Modeling
System HEC-HMS User’s Manual.

SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Special thanks to Dr. Venkatesh Merwade of Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue
University, for giving formal permission to reproduce some phrases and procedures in this
exercise.