HYDROGRAPHS

The Hydrograph is a relationship of discharge and time at

a particular location on a stream.
A runoff hydrograph is a continuous record of streamflow
over time. A complete runoff hydrograph contains
information on runoff volume as the area under the
hydrograph and peak runoff rates as the maximum flow or
peak of the runoff hydrograph.
The hydrograph is “an integral expression of physio-
graphic and climatic characteristics that govern the relation
between rainfall and runoff of a particular drainage basin”
(Chow, 1964).

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Components of Hydrograph

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Figure #1. Distribution of Precipitation input 3
(Viessman and Lewis, 1997)
 Hydrograph Elements and Base Flow
A typical hydrograph resulting from isolated rainfall (or snow melt) has four
major elements,
To use for analysis, we need to separate baseflow from direct runoff.
Several methods are available;
crest
Rising limb

Recession limb
Inflection point
Q,
cfs
D.R.

baseflow

Time
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 HYDROGRAPH SEPARATION

Only the direct runoff component of the measured hydrograph is used

in the computation of the unit hydrograph. Therefore, it is necessary
to separate the measured hydrograph into its direct runoff and
baseflow components. Interflow is usually included as part of
baseflow.
Procedures for baseflow separation are usually arbitrary in nature. The
following methods are used:
Straight line method
Fixed base length method
Variable slope method
Chow’s method

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 Baseflow Separation
Straight Line method:
draw a horizontal line from start of runoff to intersection with recession
limb. A modification to this technique uses a sloped line to intersect with the
inflection point of the recession limb. This recognizes that baseflow
increases during the event

time

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Fixed base
extend previous recession curve to time of hydrograph peak
extend from time of peak to intersect with recession limb using a lag time, N.
N  A0.2 (empirical for natural basins)
A = square miles N = days

Q
N

time
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Important

• Primary consideration when applying methods

for baseflow separation is to remain consistent
and document your approach.

• For urban systems base flow is often neglected.

It becomes more important in natural large
rivers.