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Ain Shams University Faculty of Engineering

Irrigation and Hydraulics Department Environmental Hydrology

Lecture 7: Hydrograph and Base flow separation


By: Prof. Ahmed Ali A. Hassan Dr. Peter Hany S. Riad

Syllabus

Introduction and review Hydrology and Environment Precipitation Statistical analysis of rainfall data Statistical analysis of rainfall data Watershed characteristics, morphology, and time of concentration equations. Hydrograph component and base flow separation Runoff Estimation (SCS method and indexes) Unit Hydrograph and Synthetic UH (Snyder UH, Dimensionless UH) Changing UH duration Hydrologic Routing Storm Water Drainage Network and Protection Works

Precipitation

Groundwater flow

Catchment

One Catchment

The Other

Catchment Area

Watershed divides the flow of water along different slopes.

Picture Shows Two Catchments

Hydrograph
What a)

can we get from hydrograph

the peak runoff flows(Qp) b) To estimate runoff volume.

Qp Volume of runoff

Time

The influence of catchment characteristics on hydrographs

Exercise: catchment characteristics - hydrographs

Steeper catchment

Less rough catchment

Lesser storage capacity

More connections between impervious areas

The influence of partial rain coverage

The influence of storm direction on hydrograph

Hydrograph Components
Duration of excess precip.

Duration Lag Time Time of Concentration Rising Limb Recession Limb (falling limb) Peak Flow Time to Peak (rise time) Recession Curve Separation Base flow

Lag time Time of concentration

Base flow

Time Base

Time to Peak, Tp: Time from the beginning of the rising limb to the occurrence of the peak discharge.
The time to peak is largely determined by drainage characteristics such as drainage density, slope, channel roughness, and soil infiltration characteristics. Rainfall distribution in space also affects the time to peak.

Time of Concentration, Tc: Time required for water to travel from the most hydraulically remote point in the basin to the basin outlet.
The drainage characteristics of length and slope, together with the hydraulic characteristics of the flow paths, determine the time of concentration.

Lag Time, Tl: Time between the center of mass of the effective rainfall hyetograph and the center of mass of the direct runoff hydrograph. The basin lag is an important concept in linear modeling of basin response. The lag time is a parameter that appears often in theoretical and conceptual models of basin behavior. However, it is sometimes difficult to measure in real world situations. Many empirical equations have been proposed in the literature. The simplest of these equations computes the basin lag as a power function of the basin area. Time Base, Tb: Duration of the direct runoff hydrograph.

Description of hydrograph shape

Runoff hydrograph

Description of hydrograph

Time of Concentration Contd.


It

is the time taken for the most remote area of the catchment to contribute water to the outlet.

Time of Concentration Contd.


can be related to catchment area, slope etc. using the Kirpich equation: Tc = 0.015 L 0.77 S 0.385 Tc is the time of concentration (min); L is the maximum length of flow (m); S is the watershed gradient (m/m).
Also, Tc

Tc = 1.67 TL

Time of Concentration Contd.

Et

Eo

S = (Et - Eo)/L where Et is the elevation at top of the watershed and Eo is the elevation at the outlet. Tc can also be obtained from Table 3.1 of Hudson's Field Engineering.

Time of Concentration Contd.


next figure, the highest runoff of a catchment (worst case) is obtained when rainfall duration (D) is equal to Tc. will give lower intensity of rainfall so lower runoff while T' will give higher intensity but not all parts of the watershed are contributing to runoff since Tc has not been reached.
T From

Rainfall Intensity Duration Curve

Rainfall Intensity

2 T Tc T

10 Return periods Rainfall Duration (D)

Runoff Prediction Methods The Rational Formula:


It states that: Qp = (CIA)/360 where Qp is the peak flow(m3 /s); C is dimensionless runoff coefficient; I is the intensity (mm/hr) of a storm of rainfall depth (mm) for a given return period Tc (hr). This is the worst case of runoff. A is the area of catchment(ha). Note: ha = 104 m2

Runoff Coefficient, C

STEP 1 Hydrograph separation: base flow recession

Linear Reservoir S = k* Q
Reversed proof The amount of water in storage is:

Qt = Qt0 e
t

t k

St = Q 0 e dt
t -k

St = Q t dt
t

St = Q 0 ke

St = Q 0

[ ] [ 0 ( ke ) ]
t k t

t k

All groundwater in storage at a certain time t is equal to all discharge between time t and infinite. That is also equal to the groundwater volume in the graph.

St = k Q 0 e

t k

= k Qt

Hydrograph separation: base flow recession Linear Reservoir

Q t = Q t -1 e

t k

1 lnQ t = ln Q t -1 k t

STEP 2: Determine direct flow

Qdir

So. The hydrograph gives information of hydrological processes in catchment But how do we separate a hydrograph?

Hydrograph separation

Engineering approach continued

a = constant slope method = straight line method (sometimes horizontal line) b = fixed base method = concave method c = variable slope method

Method 1: constant slope (straight line) method

Method 2: Fixed base (concave method)

Method 3: Variable slope

Thank you for the Attention

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