Applied Hydrology:

Discharge, Hydrographs,
Floods, and Sediment Transport
 Objectives
Students will be able to:
Interpret hydrographs.
Explain the effects of urbanization on storm hydrographs.
Describe factors that influence overland flow of water.
Describe patterns of deposition based on particle size in a stream bed.
Explain how sediment load is related to discharge.
Hydrology
Hudrology exhibits wide variation across watersheds
Related to
◦ Precipitation
◦ Geology (including topography)
◦ Landuse & land cover

Hydrology is one of the primary factors influencing the physical and biological
characteristics of streams
Groundwater Hydrology – The study of the characteristics, movement, and
occurrence of water found beneath the land surface.
Surface Water Hydrology – Study of the occurrence, distribution, and chemistry
of water, which is open to the atmosphere and subject to runoff.
Discharge
Q - Volume of water passing a point per unit time.
Q=VA or WDV

- A continuous measure of
discharge plotted against time.
- 3 Components needed to
calculate discharge.
Q = WDV where,
Q = discharge (m3/sec)
W = width (m)
D = depth (m)
V = velocity (m/sec)

Velocity is estimated at 0.6D or is

0.8 x surface velocity

Fig. Channel discharge. Discharge is a

product of area times velocity.
Discharge and hydrographs
A river's discharge is defined as the volume of water passing
through the cross-sectional area of the channel per unit time.
It is a product of channel width, depth and velocity of water (any of
which can vary).

The total discharge can be separated into components based on the

source of the water (i.e., overland flow, channel precipitation,
throughflow, groundwater flow).
Discharge can be depicted using a hydrograph, which is simply a
plot of discharge vs. time. Rainfall and air temperature affect
discharge causing it to vary significantly with the seasons.
It is high in the early spring because of the release of precipitation
stored as ice and snow during the winter. It is low in the summer
despite high rainfall because large amounts of water are removed
through evaporation and plant uptake (due to high air temperature).
Discharge is high again in the fall because there is less evaporation
and transpiration, allowing more of the rainfall to go to the river.
Discharge is cumulative down a watershed and is accordingly
affected by the shape of the drainage basin.
Annual hydrographs
 Storm hydrograph

Fig :A storm hydrograph. A hydrograph shows how long a stream takes to rise from baseflow to
maximum discharge and then return to baseflow conditions.
Hydrograph Components
A. Baseflow – discharge from groundwater input
B. Stormflow – discharge reflecting water added by precipitation or snowmelt
C. Rising Limb – graphical representation of increasing discharge following
precipitation or snowmelt
D. Falling (Recession) Limb – graphical representation of decreasing discharge
following peak discharge

Hydrograph shape and duration are affected by a multitude of factors

A. Soil permeability
B. Basin size and topography
C. Forest cover
D. Wetland storage
E. Impervious Surface
Effects of urbanization on a storm hydrograph

Increased
impervious surface
in leads to faster,
more severe
hydrographs and
reduced infiltration
of rainfall into the
groundwater. This
can increase storm
induced erosion

Fig. A comparison of hydrographs before and after urbanization. The discharge curve is
higher and steeper for urban streams than for natural streams.
Flow paths
Overland flow
Occurs when soils are
◦ saturated (after snow melt or heavy rain)
◦ have low permeability (e.g., clay)
Strongly influenced by landform and land use
◦ Coarse textured glacial deposits are highly permeable;
bedrock & ancient lake bottoms are impermeable or have
low permeability
◦ Impervious surfaces (parking lots, structures) create
impervious surfaces;
◦ Forest harvest practices and agricultural practices affect
stream flow
 Overland flow and Development

As impermeable surface areas increase in a watershed overland flow increases and infiltration decreases.
 Flooding
We tend to have a biased view of
floods as unpredictable,
disastrous events, while in reality
they are predictable and
necessary occurrences.
How does impervious surface
affect the likelihood of flooding?
Rivers do not stay neatly in defined
boundaries: the water/land boundary
changes constantly over time in
response to the availability of water.
This natural phenomena is called
flooding (or overbank flow) .
Flood probabilities
Recurrence interval
◦ “1 in 100 year flood”
◦ = probability of 0.01 or 1%
◦ Also referred to as the recurrence interval
◦ Defined as P = 1 / T, where:
◦ P = Flood probability
◦ T = Recurrence interval
Human influence on floods
Rapid runoff into channelized streams increase flood frequency and
enhance downstream peaks in flood hydrographs.
Human influence on floods
Denial of this fact leads to poor planning and can result in
damaging effects on urban areas and negative ecological
consequences. For example, flooding is often more severe
in urban areas because water that would normally be
stored as groundwater is diverted to the river through
storm drainage systems. Channelization (the building of
walls to contain the river) can also worsen flooding since
increased water speeds during floods (from the smooth
channel banks) can cause more damage when the banks are
eventually overreached. Channelization may also enhance
flood peaks downstream causing damage in unprotected
areas. Another problem occurs in fields that have been tile
drained for agricultural purposes, since this leads to rapid
return of rainwater to the river, increasing its flood
proneness
Sediment transport
Sediment transport

Current Direction

Bed load particles moving by saltation

Stream Bed
earthsci.org/teacher/basicgeol/stream/stream.html#Erosion%20by%20Streams
 The transportation of materials
Category Dia (mm) Wentworth scale
Boulder > 256 < -8
Cobble
Large 128 - 256 -7
Small 64 - 128 -6
Pebble Large 32 - 64 -5
Small 16 - 32 -4
Gravel Coarse 8 - 16 -3
Medium 4-8 -2
Small 2-4 -1
Sand Very Coarse 1-2 0
Coarse 0.5 - 1 1
Medium 0.25 - 0.5 2
Fine 0.125 - 0.25 3
Very Fine 0.063 - 0.125 4
Silt < 0.063 >5

Particles larger than 64 mm in diameter are classified as cobbles. Smaller particles

are pebbles, granules, sand and silt. Those smaller than 0.0039 mm are clay.
The transportation of materials (called sediment) is a very important function of
river flow. Materials are transported by running water in three principal states:
as dissolved matter, as suspended solids, and as the bed load.
Large amounts of inorganic ions carried in solution make up the bulk of the
dissolved matter (although dissolved organic matter is also an important
component). Most of the other substances can be classified as either organic
detritus or rocky debris, the latter being called alluvium. The bed load is the
fraction of alluvium too large to be carried via suspension; it only rarely moves
by rolling, sliding or bouncing. Small alluvial items, such as clay, silt, sand and
small pebbles, are carried in suspension and are often visible as "turbidity"
(cloudiness).
Velocity, turbulence, and the size, shape and specific gravity of a suspended
particle determine how long and far it will be carried. The stream's competence
indicates the grain size that a current can barely move. In other words, a particle
whose size exceeds the stream's competence will be deposited. The stream's
capacity is the maximum volume of sediment of a given size that it can transport
(any sediment exceeding the capacity will be deposited).

The Wentworth Scale is the negative log2 of the smallest diameter in each size
group in millimeters
Erosion

Forms and directions of erosion by running water.

H = headward erosion
V = vertical erosion
L = lateral erosion www.aquatic.uoguelph.ca/rivers/chphys.htm
Erosion
The materials present in the river are for the most part a
product of erosional forces wearing away the land. A river
cuts both downwards (vertical erosion) and sideways (lateral
erosion) to extend its channel. It may also extend back in the
upstream direction through headward erosion. Four basic
types of erosion operate in rivers: corrosion (erosion by
chemical action), hydraulic action (i.e., water power),
corrasion (the wearing away by abrasion) and crumbling or
attrition(the cumulative result of repeated pounding). With all
of these forms of erosion working together, even the most
massive of rocks can be attacked and demolished over time.
 Erosion in action

Fig. - 7.23
 Deposition
Deposition within a single Deposition resulting in
channel multiple channels

aquatic.uoguelph.ca/rivers/chphys.htm aquatic.uoguelph.ca/rivers/chphys.htm
Deposition
At the same time that the river is tearing apart the land in some areas, it is
rebuilding it in others. The deposition of material downstream reduces
roughness in the river bed and banks. Sediment tends to be deposited along a
gradient down a river according to particle size. Larger particles such as stones
and pebbles are deposited first in the headwater regions, whereas finer
particles such as clay and silt are carried further downstream to be deposited
in the lowland reaches. Irregular deposition is responsible for many structures
common in rivers.
Rivers with very large alluvial loads may form braided streams where many
small channels are formed, separated by elongated bars and islands. Deltas are
"alluvial fans" characteristic of rivers depositing a lot of sediment at the river
mouth.
Sediment deposition and
current velocity

www.usd.edu/esci/figures/158401.JPG

Fine sediments are deposited in areas of slowest current velocity.

 Sediment load increases with
discharge

www.usda.gov/stream_restoration/chap1.html Fig. - 8.58

Fig. Sediment-transport curves for growing season storms. The effect of urbanization on
sediment discharge is illustrated from data collected in a 32 - square-mile area.
 Variation in sediment transport

Similar streams in close proximity to each other may exhibit different responses to storms. Chester and
Kingsbury Creek are small urban watersheds in the city of Duluth, Minnesota that start in wetlands before
rapidly flowing down the hillside toward Lake Superior.
 Longitudinal profile of a river
As discharge increases:
◦ Channel Width
increases
◦ Channel Depth
increases
◦ Mean velocity is stable
◦ Bed Material size
decreases
◦ Slope decreases
◦ Sediment
Dynamic storage
relationships between discharge and
increases
physical feature of a stream channel as you
move downstream.
In summary, from a physical perspective, this
explains why rivers are ever-changing,
dynamic forces on the landscape.
THANK YOU