Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras

CE3030 Water Resources Engineering

Tutorial: Introduction to Hydrological Modelling using HEC-HMS
PART – 1: Watershed Delineation in HEC-HMS
Geospatial Data Models (Raster and Vector Data):
GIS uses two basic data models to represent spatial features: vector and raster. The vector data
model uses points and the corresponding x, y coordinates in order to construct spatial features of points,
lines, and areas. A raster data model uses a grid to represent a spatial feature. Each cell in the grid has
a value that corresponds to the characteristic of the spatial feature at that location. Raster data are best
suited for representing continuous spatial features like elevation of a region, precipitation, temperature
etc. Many GIS functions are either vector-based or raster-based.

Raster Data Model (.tif, .sdat): The raster data model uses a regular grid to cover the space and the
value in each grid cell corresponds to the characteristic of a spatial phenomenon at the cell location.
Conceptually, the variation of the spatial phenomenon is reflected by the changes in the cell value. A
wide variety of data used in GIS are encoded in raster format. Eg. Digital elevation data, satellite
images, digital orthophotos, scanned maps, and graphic files. Raster data represent points by single
cells, lines by sequences of neighbouring cells, and areas by group of contiguous cells. Each cell in a
grid carries a value, either an integer or a floating-point value. Integer cell values typically represent
categorical data. For example, a land cover model may use 1 for urban land use, 2 for forested land, 3
for water bodies etc. Floating-point cell value represents continuous data. For example, a Precipitation
model may have precipitation values of 20.15 cm, 12.23 cm.

Vector Data Model (.shp): Vector data model consists of three types of geometric objects: point, line,
and area. A point is a one-dimensional object that specifies a location. A line is one-dimensional and
has the property of length. A line feature is made of points: a beginning point, an end point, and a
series of points marking the shape of the line, which may be a smooth curve or a connection of straight-
line segments. An area is two-dimensional and has the properties of area and boundary. Areas can be
created by enclosing a region by lines to form a polygon. Vector objects can be assigned attributes
associated with an attribute table. Vector data structures provide a compact way to conceptualize
geographic objects.

Digital Elevation Model (DEM) or Digital Terrain Model (DTM): Raster Data Model

A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is a digital cartographic dataset that represents a continuous
topographic elevation surface through a series of cells. Each cell represents the elevation (Z) of a
feature at its location (X and Y). Digital Elevation Models are a “bare earth” representation because
they only contain information about the elevation of geological (ground) features, such as valleys,
mountains, and landslides, to name a few. They do not include any elevation data concerning non-
ground features, such as vegetation or buildings.

DEM Data: Open source – SRTM and ASTER DEM (30 m Resolution)

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM): (Source: usgs.gov)

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is a joint project between the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA). The objective of this project is to produce digital topographic data for 80% of the Earth's
land surface (all land areas between 60º north and 56° south latitude), with data points located every
1-arc-second (approximately 30 meters) on a latitude/longitude grid. This radar system will gather
data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has
ever been assembled. These data can be tailored to meet the needs of the military, civil, and scientific
user communities. Uses of this data include (but not limited to) improved water drainage modelling,
flood control, soil conservation, reforestation, volcano monitoring, earthquake research, and glacier
movement monitoring. SRTM made use of a technique called radar interferometry. In radar
interferometry, two radar images are taken from slightly different locations. Differences between these
images allow for the calculation of surface elevation, or change.

Link to Download SRTM DEM: https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov

Link to Download ASTER DEM: https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search/?gdf=GeoTIFF

Coordinate Systems:

Coordinate systems enable geographic datasets to use common locations for integration. A coordinate
system is a reference system used to represent the locations of geographic features, imagery, and
observations such as GPS locations within a common geographic framework.

Each coordinate system is defined by:

 Its measurement framework which is either geographic (in which spherical coordinates are
measured from the earth's center) or planimetric (in which the earth's coordinates are projected
onto a two-dimensional planar surface).
 Unit of measurement (typically feet or meters for projected coordinate systems or decimal
degrees for latitude-longitude).
 The definition of the map projection for projected coordinate systems.
 Other measurement system properties such as a spheroid of reference, a datum, and projection
parameters like one or more standard parallels, a central meridian, and possible shifts in the x-
and y-directions.

A global or spherical coordinate system such as latitude-longitude. These are often referred to as
geographic coordinate systems.
Projected Coordinate Systems: (Source: esri.com)

A projected coordinate system based on a map projection such as transverse Mercator, Albers
equal area, all of which (along with numerous other map projection models) provide various
mechanisms to project maps of the earth's spherical surface onto a two-dimensional Cartesian
coordinate plane.

Projected coordinate systems are sometimes referred to as map projections. Coordinate systems
(either geographic or projected) provide a framework for a geographic coordinate system and uses a
three-dimensional spherical surface to define locations on the earth. It includes an angular unit of
measure, a prime meridian and a datum (based on a spheroid). In a geographic coordinate system, a
point is referenced by its longitude and latitude values. Longitude and latitude are angles measured
from the earth's center to a point on the earth's surface. The angles often are measured in degrees
defining real-world locations. A projected coordinate system is defined on a flat, two-dimensional
surface. Unlike a geographic coordinate system, a projected coordinate system has constant lengths,
angles, and areas across the two dimensions. A projected coordinate system is always based on a
geographic coordinate system that is based on a sphere or spheroid. To more accurately represent
locations on the earth's surface, map makers studied the shape of the earth (geodesy) and created the
concept of the spheroid. A datum links a spheroid to a particular portion of the earth's surface. The
most commonly used datums are:

 NAD 1927 (North American Datum 1927) using the Clarke 1866 spheroid
 NAD 1983 (North American Datum 1983) using the GRS 1980 spheroid
 WGS 1984 (World Geodetic System 1984) using the WGS 1984 spheroid
Universal Transverse Mercator Zone Numbers:

 The elevation in DEM is measured relative to a datum (WGS 84).

STEPS TO DELINEATE A WATERSHED IN HEC-HMS:

 Create a new project in HEC-HMS. (Name of the project, Description of your choice, select a
directory to save the project, Set units as Metric System)

 Create a new basin model. (Components -> Basin Model Manager (1) -> New (2) -> Name the
basin model and give a suitable description (3)). In the left pane a basin model folder (4) will be
 displayed. Click on the + symbol and select the basin model to open the basin model editor window
(5).

 The next step is to create a new terrain data and assign the terrain data (DEM) to basin model (6).
We will use SRTM 30 m resolution DEM for the delineation.

Sembakkam Lake
(Watershed Outlet)

 To create a new terrain data, select components -> Terrain Data manager -> New Terrain (Name
of your choice).
 Set projection for the terrain data. (UTM 44 N, Datum: WGS 84)

 After setting the projection click on the terrain 1. The terrain data will be visible in the basin model
window as shown below:
 The terrain data is pre-processed using the options in the GIS drop down menu.

 Pre-process Sinks: Pits are low elevation areas in digital

elevation models (DEMs) that are completely surrounded by
higher terrain (without any outlet). They are generally taken to
be artefacts of the digitation process that interfere with the
processing of flow across DEMs. So, they are removed by
raising their elevation to the point where they just drain.
 Pre-process Drainage: This tool creates two new layers, Flow Direction and Flow Accumulation.
The flow direction dataset shows the direction of flow from one grid cell to the next. The flow
accumulation grid shows the number of upstream grid cells.

 Identify Streams: Set the threshold area (It is the lowest drainage area above which a stream is
formed).
 Create a new Break point using the break point manager. Break point serves as the watershed
outlet. It can be river mouth, reservoir, lake or tanks. Place the break point exactly on the stream
pixel as shown below:

 Delineate Elements: Select this option and choose appropriate prefixes for the different elements
like sub-basin, junction and reaches. It is preferable to give S or SB for sub-basin, R for reach and
J for junctions. We are converting the breakpoint to a junction so that the watershed outlet is formed
as a Sink element in HEC-HMS.
 The delineated watershed with Sub-basin, Junction and Reaches are shown below:

 Some sub-basins delineated might be small hence we may have to merge some of the smaller sub-
basins with a larger sub-basin so that all the inherent hydrological assumptions do not have a non-
linear behaviour (Unit Hydrograph assumptions and validity). Select the sub-basin S4 and S5 and
merge them together. Delete the junction J2 and Reach R2 after merging. Now select sub-basin S1
and S2 and set the downstream as J1.
 The final watershed after delineation and merging operations is shown below: