Infiltration

 Infiltration may be defined as the process by which water enters

the surface strata of the earth
 The infiltrated water first meets the soil moisture deficiency, if any,
and thereafter the excess water moves vertically downwards to
reach the groundwater table
 The vertical movement is called percolation
Infiltration Capacity
 Infiltration capacity of a soil under given conditions is defined as
the maximum rate at which it is capable of absorbing water and is
denoted by f
 The actual infiltration (fa) observed in a given soil will be equal to
or less than its infiltration capacity, f depending on whether or
not the rate of source supply is more or less than the infiltration
capacity
 If i denotes the rainfall intensity,
fa = f if i >= f
fa = I if i < f
 The information regarding the infiltration rates is required in the
estimation of surface runoff and groundwater recharge
Factors Affecting Infiltration Capacity
 Depth of surface detention and thickness of saturated layer

 Soil moisture

 Natural and human induced compaction

 Surface cover conditions

 Temperature (through viscosity)

 Quality of water
 Instruments for Measuring Infiltration
 Infiltrometers (single or double ring)

 Rainfall simulators
 Infiltration Equations and Indices
1. Horton’s Equation
 Horton developed a mathematical equation for defining the rate
curve of infiltration capacity given by:
𝑓 = 𝑓𝑐 + 𝑓𝑜 − 𝑓𝑐 𝑒 −𝑘𝑡
fo = initial infiltration capacity; t = time since the start of rainfall
k = a constant depending on type of soil and vegetation
fc = constant infiltration capacity
2. SCS (Soil Conservation Services) Curve Method
 The depth of excess rainfall or direct runoff is given as:
𝑃 − 0.2𝑆 2
𝑃𝑒 =
𝑃 + 0.8𝑆
Total infiltrated water depth is then given by:
𝑆 × 𝑃𝑒
𝐹𝑎 =
𝑃 − 0.2𝑆
P = total depth of precipitation
S = potential maximum retention and is related to curve number as:
1000
𝑆= − 10
𝐶𝑁
Where S is measured in inches
Infiltration Indices
 Infiltration indices in general express the infiltration as an average
rate throughout the storm
 Infiltration indices are best suited for use in the analysis of major
flood producing storms occurring on wet soils
φ-index
 The φ-index is an average rainfall intensity above which the
rainfall volume equals the runoff volume
 The φ-index can be determined for each flood event for which the
runoff measurements are available
 The φ-index is used in unit hydrograph studies to define the
pattern of excess rainfall
 The steps for finding φ-index are as follows:
1. Compute the depths of rainfall (Vp) and direct runoff (Vd).
2. Make an initial estimate of the phi index:
𝑉𝑝 −𝑉𝑑
∅=
𝐷
in which D is the duration of rainfall (excluding that part separated
as initial abstraction) and ∅ is an intensity, with dimension of length
per unit time such as inches per hour.
3(a) Compute the loss function, L(t):
∅ 𝑖𝑓 ∅ ≤ 𝑃(𝑡)
𝐿 𝑡 =ቊ
𝑃 𝑡 𝑖𝑓 ∅ > 𝑃(𝑡)
Where P(t) is the ordinate of rainfall intensity hyetograph at time t
3(b) Compute the total depth of losses, VL:
𝑉𝐿 = ෍ 𝐿(𝑡) × ∆𝑡

Where VL is the depth and the summation is over all ordinates

where losses occur
4. Compute PE(t) = P(t) – L(t) for all ordinates in rainfall hyetograph
5. Compare VL and Vp – Vd
a) If VL = Vp – Vd, go to step 6
b) If VL < Vp – Vd, compute the φ-index correction, Δφ:
𝑉𝑝 − 𝑉𝑑 − 𝑉𝐿
∆∅ =
𝐷1
Where D1 is the time duration over which PE(t) is greater than zero
c) Adjust the φ-index : ∅𝑛𝑒𝑤 = ∅𝑜𝑙𝑑 + ∆∅
d) Return to step 3
6. Use the latest value of φ to define losses
Example 1: A seven hour storm produced the following rainfall
intensities (given in the table below) at half an hour intervals over a
basin of area 1830 km2. If the corresponding observed runoff is 36.6
Mm3, estimate the φ-index for the storm.
Time (min) Intensity (mm/h)
30 4
60 9
90 20
120 18
150 13
180 11
210 12
240 2
270 8
300 16
330 17
360 13
390 6
420 1
Example 2: The ordinates of a rainfall mass curve of a storm over a
basin area 850 km2 measured in mm at one hour interval are:

Time
1 2 3 4 5 6
(hour)
Rainfall
0 10 22 30 39 45.5
(mm)
Time
7 8 9 10 11
(hour)
Rainfall
50 55.5 60 64 68
(mm)

If the infiltration during this storm can be represented by Horton’s

equation with fo = 6.5 mm/h, fc = 1.5 mm/h and k = 0.15/h, estimate
the resulting runoff volume.
Example 3: Storm rainfall occurred on a watershed as shown below
in the table. The value of CN is 80. Calculate the cumulative
abstraction and excess rainfall hyetograph.
Cumulative abstractions Cumulative Excess
Cumulative excess rainfall
Time (h)
rainfall (in) Ia = 0.2S Fa rainfall Pe hyetograph
(in) (in)
0 0
1 0.2
2 0.9
3 1.27
4 2.31
5 4.65
6 5.29
7 5.36
Runoff And Hydrograph Analysis

Dr. K. Pavan Kumar

Associate Professor
SCALE, VIT University
 Introduction
 The portion of precipitation which appears in the surface streams of either
perennial of intermittent nature is called the runoff
 This is the flow collected from a drainage basin and appearing at an outlet of
the basin
 In a general sense it is the precipitation excess after meeting the evapo-
transpiration demands
 Runoff is usually expressed as volume per unit time, the common unit being
m3/s or cumec
Schematic representation of runoff process
Factors Affecting Runoff
Climatic Factors
 Type of precipitation
 Intensity of rainfall
 Duration of rainfall
 Areal distribution of rainfall
 Direction of storm movement
 Antecedent precipitation
 Evaporation and transpiration
Physiographic Factors
 Land use
 Type of soil
 Area of the basin
 Shape of the basin
 Elevation
 Slope
 Hydrograph Analysis
 Hydrograph is the time distribution of runoff produced
due to a given precipitation on a basin

 The hydrograph can be regarded as an integral

expression of the physiographic and climatic
characteristics that govern the relations between rainfall
and runoff

 Detailed analysis of flood hydrographs is usually

important in flood control and flood forecasting or in
establishing design flows for hydraulic structures which
must pass flood waters
Features of a Hydrograph
 Rising limb
- The shape of rising limb depends on duration and intensity of rainfall and time
area diagram of the basin
 Crescent
- Peak discharge is included in the crescent and represents the highest
concentration of runoff from the basin
 Recession limb
- It is the portion of hydrograph after crescent
- The point of inflection on recession limb is commonly assumed to mark the
time at which surface inflow to the channel system or the overland flow ceases
- It is more or less independent of variations in rainfall and infiltration
Recession Equation
(𝑡−𝑡 )
𝑄𝑡 = 𝑄𝑜 𝐾𝑟 𝑜
Where, Qo and Qt are the flows at times to and t and Kr is a recession constant
with a value of less than unity
The storage St remaining in the basin at time is obtained as:
𝑄𝑡
𝑆𝑡 =
− ln 𝐾𝑟
Hydrograph and its components due to an isolated storm
Hydrograph Separation
 Separation of a hydrograph refers to obtaining direct runoff
hydrograph (DRH) by subtracting base flow from the hydrograph
 Base flow separation methods
1. Constant slope base flow separation
N = 0.827 A0.2
N = Number of days after the
peak of the hydrograph
(calculated empirically)
A = Area of the drainage
basin (km2)
N = a*tp
tp = time to peak
a is a constant; for small basins a = 2 to 4 and for large basins a > 4
2. Constant discharge base flow separation
 The line separating base flow and direct runoff begins at the point
of the lowest discharge rate at the start of flood runoff and
extends at a constant discharge rate until it intersects the
recession limb of the hydrograph
3. Concave base flow separation
 For the concave method, the starting and ending points for the line separating
base flow and direct runoff are the same as for the constant-slope method.
 However, for the concave method, base flow continues to decrease until the
time of the peak discharge of the storm hydrograph.
 At that time, the separation line is straight between that point and the
inflection point on the recession.
 Unit Hydrograph Theory
 Introduced by Sherman in 1932
 The theory is essentially based on the results reported in the study of
heavy floods in New England in 1927 by a committee of Boston Society
of Civil Engineers
 The unit hydrograph is a simple linear model that can be used to derive
the hydrograph resulting from any amount of excess rainfall.
 Sherman originally used the word "unit" to denote a unit of time, but
since that time it has often been interpreted as a unit depth of excess
rainfall.

Definition
The unit hydrograph of a drainage basin is defined as a hydrograph of
direct runoff resulting from 1 cm of effective rainfall applied uniformly over
the basin area at a uniform rate during a specified period of time.
Assumptions of Unit Hydrograph Theory
1. The excess rainfall has a constant intensity within the effective
duration (time invariance).

2. The excess rainfall is uniformly distributed throughout the whole

drainage area (spatial invariance).

3. The base time of the DRH (the duration of direct runoff) resulting
from an excess rainfall of given duration is constant.

4. The ordinates of all DRH's of a common base time are directly

proportional to the total amount of direct runoff represented by
each hydrograph.

5. For a given watershed, the hydrograph resulting from a given

excess rainfall reflects the unchanging characteristics of the
watershed.
Limitations of Unit Hydrograph Theory
 It has been found applicable to only small watersheds from less than 0.5
hectares to 25 km2 (about 1 acre to 10 mi2).
 Concerning assumption (1), the storms selected for analysis should be of short
duration.
 Concerning assumption (2), the unit hydrograph may become inapplicable
when the drainage area is too large to be covered by a nearly uniform
distribution of rainfall.
 Concerning assumption (3), the base time of the direct runoff hydrograph
(DRH) is generally uncertain but depends on the method of base flow
separation
 Concerning assumption (4), the principles of superposition and proportionality
are assumed. Actual hydrologic data are not truly linear
 Concerning assumption (5), the unit hydrograph is considered unique for a
given watershed and invariable with respect to time. This condition is violated
when the drainage area contains many reservoirs, or when the flood overflows
into the flood plain, thereby producing considerable storage.
Use and Application of Unit Hydrograph
In the development of flood hydrograph
corresponding to design storm which are
required for the design of hydraulic structures

In the watershed simulation models

In the studies of flood forecasting and flood

warning systems

In extending the flood flow records based on

rainfall records
Mathematical Expression of Unit Hydrograph
The general mathematical equation for a UH can be expressed as:
Let Qn be the instantaneous value of the flow rate at the end of nth
time interval
Pm is the depth of precipitation falling during the time interval
M = total number of rainfall pulses
U = unit hydrograph ordinate
The discrete convolution equation then can be expressed as:
𝑛≤𝑀

𝑄𝑛 = ෍ 𝑃𝑚 𝑈𝑛−𝑚+1
𝑚=1
The notation n ≤ M as the upper limit of the summation shows that
the terms are summed for m = 1,2,... , n for n < M, but for n > M,
the summation is limited to m = 1,2,. . . ,M.
Example: Find the half hour unit hydrograph using the excess rainfall
hyetograph and direct runoff hydrograph given in the table below.
Time (1/2 hour) 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

Solution: In this example M = 3 and N = 11, and number of pulses in

the unit hydrograph is N - M + 1 = 11 – 3 + 1 = 9