Flood Routing
 Technique of determining the flood
hydrograph at a section of a river by
utilizing the data of flood flow at one or
more upstream sections
Flood Hydrographs
 A trigonometric function; graph that shows
how a drainage basin responds to a period
of rainfall
Two Broad Categories of Routing
1. Channel / River Routing
- Storage is a function of both Inflow
and Outflow
- used to predict the magnitudes,
volumes and temporal patterns of the
flow (often a flood wave) as it translates
down a channel
Continuity Equation
I = Inflow
O = Outflow
S = Storage
Two types of Flow Routing Methods:
(a) Lumped or Hydrologic Routing
- flow is calculated as a function of time
at one location
(b) Distributed or Hydraulic Routing
- flow is calculated as a function of
space and time throughout the system
 Muskingum Method
- Describes the transformation of
discharge waves in a river bed using
two equations
 Muskingum – Cunge Method
- Uses kinematic wave (conservation of
mass/momentum approach
Advantage: routing coefficients are
evaluated from physical characteristics of a
channel and can be determined without
the flood hydrograph data
2. Storage / Reservoir Routing
- similar to the concept of channel
routing
Variables:
i. Input (upstream) hydrograph
ii. outflow (downstream) hydrograph
iii. stage – storage volume relationship
for a given storage
iv. physical characteristics of the outlet
structure (i.e weir length, riser pipe
diameter, orifice diameter, number
of outlet stages, length of the
discharge pipe, etc. )
v. coefficients of energy loss (at weir
and orifice) coefficients
vi. storage volume vs time relationship
vii. depth (stage) – discharge
relationship
viii. target peak discharge from the
reservoir
ix. volume and time for extended
detention
Scales and scaling -can only be found few kilometers below the
earths surface because the weight of the upper
Scales
surface compress the crevices and cracks in the
- is the indication of order of magnitude change rocks.
rather than a specific value.

- used commonly by meteorologists and

hydrologist for weather phenomenon.

Three dominant types of scales

1. Process scales – where natural

phenomenon occur.
2. Observational scale – where one choose
to collect samples and study
phenomenon concerned.
3. Operational scale – working scale at
which management actions and
operations focus.

Processes that are observed using scales

1. Infiltration
2. Evaporation
3. Transpiration
4. On how water flow through soils

Scaling

-represents the links between processes at

different levels in time and space.

The invisible resource: groundwater

Groundwater

-a part of precipitation that seeps down through

the soil profile until it reaches rock material that
is fully saturated.

-can be found in void spaces between rock

particles, fractures, fissures, joints, cavities.

-it moves due to gravity and then discharge to

the ocean

-shallow depths( hours old), moderate

depths( 100 years old), great depths( thousand
of years).