Simplied Input Instructions for the U. S.

Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Modeling System HEC-HMS

David B. Thompson Civil Engineering Department Texas Tech University Draft Monday 08Nov2004 Version: 0.1

Abstract This article is an introduction to use of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Modeling System, HEC-HMS. In it is presented the structure and input data requirements for computation of a basic ood hydrograph and routing through a small reservoir. An example problem is included in the presentation. The complete manual is quite lengthy and not necessary for student preparation of input for CE 3354 classwork. Be sure to watch for critical elements!

Copyright 2004, David B. Thompson

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Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . 2 Model Components . . . . . 2.1 Control Specications 2.2 Meteorological Model . 2.3 Basin Model . . . . . . 3 Operation of HEC-HMS . . 3.1 Run Conguration . . 3.2 Run Manager . . . . . 3.3 Reviewing Results . . 4 Example . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 Control Specications 4.2 Meteorological Model . 4.3 Basin Model . . . . . . 4.4 Results . . . . . . . . . 5 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 7 7 10 10 10 11

1. Introduction
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers HEC-HMS (HMS) hydrologic modeling system is the replacement for the old record-driven HEC-1 ood hydrograph package. It is part of the Corps NEXGEN software, which is to have graphical user interfaces for input and output of computational engine operations. The core engines of the models have been rewritten as well. Some components of the HEC-1 system are not currently available in HMS. In this manual, when reference is made to a menu item, the typography Menu -> Item is used to denote click on Menu then on Item.

2. Model Components
Modeling work with HMS is done from the project denition window, gure 1. A HEC-HMS model comprises three components, a control specication, a meteorological model, and a basin model. These components serve to dene computational parameters that control the modeling engine, and are accessible from the project denition window. Multiple basin models, meteorological models, and control specications can exist in a particular project. In fact, it is often useful to have multiple components in a given project because such delineation can be used to separate dierent storm events and dierent plans for a design, or dierent events for forensic modeling of actual events.

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Figure 1: Project denition window from HMS. 2.1. Control Specications The control specications dialogue is reached by clicking on Component -> Control Specifications -> {New, Open, Delete}. An existing control specication can be edited by double-clicking on it. The computational time interval (which should be equal to the duration of the unitgraph to be used), the model starting date and time, and the model ending date and time are set in the control specications dialogue. Multiple control specications can be set up to model dierent duration storm events. These data for the example problem (see section 4.1) are shown on gure 2. 2.2. Meteorological Model The meteorological model is reached by clicking on Component -> Meteorological Model -> {New, Open, Delete}. An example of the meteorological model dialogue is shown on gure 3. The meteorological model is used to relate a precipitation gage (and hyetograph) with a watershed (see basin model, section 2.3). Each precipitation gage can have one and only one hyetograph (and depth of precipitation). Precipitation data are input through the data input dialogue. Use Data -> Precipitation Gages to access the precipitation gage manager window. From this dialogue, new gage data can be input or existing gage data can be

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Figure 2: Control specication window from HMS. edited or examined. To create a gage, at the precipitation gage manager dialogue, click Edit -> Add Gage. Data can be added to an existing gage using Edit -> Gage Data. The time interval to be used for a particular gage is specied when the data are entered. For cumulative hyetographs, a variety of time intervals are available. A choice should be made that will give reasonable denition of the hyetograph. 2.3. Basin Model The basin model is where the topology of the model is prepared. Use the graphic editor to connect basins, channels, junctions, and reservoirs such that the conceptual model represents the physical reality. An example of a basin model is shown on gure 4. The order of input is not important; what is important is that all operational components of the study watershed be represented in the model. Care is required to ensure that this is the case.

3. Operation of HEC-HMS
HEC-HMS uses a tool called the run conguration to put together a control specication, a meteorological model, and a basin model. The three components together form a run. Runs are kept together under the run manager for selection and operation.

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Figure 3: Meteorological model window from HMS. 3.1. Run Conguration The run conguration is begun by selecting Tools -> Run Configuration. Choose from the list of basin models, meteorological models, and control specications. When one selection from each group is made, press OK to store it under the run identication displayed in the dialogue box. 3.2. Run Manager The run manager is accessible by selecting Tools -> Run Manager. The runs are displayed in a table. A double-click on one of them will highlight the commensurate basin model, met model, and control specication on the project denition window. The run can exercised by pressing the Compute button. Any warnings or errors will be displayed after the run is completed. These should be reviewed and addressed to be sure that the run is clean.

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Figure 4: Basin model window from HMS. 3.3. Reviewing Results Results are viewed from the basin model. Right click on the subbasin icon and pull down to reveal the View menu. There are three views available, graphical (which shows the hydrographs), summary table, and time series. Choose which view is most appropriate and use that. An example of a summary output table is shown on gure 5. Ive found that printing to PDF les is a good way to get output from the model for input to a report. There may be other ways of extracting the data as well, but none more laborious than writing down the results and then typing them into the report.

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Figure 5: Summary output table for a reservoir routing run from HMS.

4. Example
Example 1. For example, say that a 500-acre (0.781 square miles) drainage basin drains to a small reservoir. The time of concentration for the watershed is 48 minutes. Therefore, the duration of the NRCS dimensionless unitgraph is ve minutes and the lag time is 29 minutes. The curve number for the watershed is 78. The storm to be analyzed is presented on table 1. The stage-area curve for the reservoir is dened by table 2. The stage-discharge curve for the outlet works is presented on table 3. Compute the runo hydrograph from the given event and route it through the reservoir. Determine the maximum inow and outow and the peak stage of the event when routed through the reservoir.

4.1. Control Specications The duration of the NRCS dimensionless unitgraph is ve minutes, so create a control specication, the name is unimportant but should be something meaningful in the context of the problem. Choose a time interval of ve minutes. Enter a starting date and an ending date, then choose times for the start and end of the simulation. Because this example is not using measured data, then the times are arbitrary and should be something convenient. There must be enough time for the peak to pass through the reservoir. I used four hours total simulation time.

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Table 1: Precipitation series for example problem. Time (min) 5 10 15 20 25 30 Precipitation (inches) 0.25 0.25 0.35 0.50 0.40 0.30

Table 2: Stage versus area for example watershed. Stage (NGVD) 675 700 705 710 715 Area (acres) 0 2 4 8 12 Storage (ac-ft) 0 16.7 38.9 68.3 117.9

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Table 3: Stage-discharge curve for example problem outlet works. Stage (NGVD) 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 Discharge (cfs) 0 60 142 174 201 224 238 240 242 244 247 249 251 253 255 257

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Table 4: Results for rst example. Item Peak inow Time to peak Excess precip Peak outow Time to peak Peak stage Value 355 cfs 0850 0.51 inches 158 cfs 0915 702.50 ft

4.2. Meteorological Model From the project denition window, create a precipitation gage for your input precipitation sequence. Use Data -> Precipitation Gages from the top menu. From the precipitation gage manager, use Edit -> Add gage to add a new gage. Choose a name that is meaningful. Then add the precipitation data to the gage. Create an association between the basin and the gage using the meteorological model, Component -> Meteorologic -> New. 4.3. Basin Model For your project, you should have one basinthe watershed that contributes to the reservoir. Add a subbasin to the basin model and then double click on it. Click on the Baseflow tab and set the system for no baseow. Click on the Transform tab and set it for SCS and input a lag time of 29 minutes. Click on the Loss-Rate tab, select SCS CN, and input 78. Dont forget to include your watershed in the precipitation gage list in the meteorological model. 4.4. Results Use the run conguration editor (Tools -> Run Configuration) to create a run with the three components youve created (basin model, meteorological model, and control specication). Then select the run (Tools -> Run Manager) and press the Compute button. HMS should run with no errors if youve done everything correctly. If not, you should see a view of the run log that will tell you something about what went wrong. If there are errors, correct them and re-run the model. When you do everything correctly, then the results should be as shown on table 4. A display of the results for example 1 is shown on gure 5.

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5. History
Version 0.1 Changes Initial draft.