Juha Aaltonen 10.12.

2015
Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

Data requirements for hydraulic modelling

Maps and photographs
A map is a great help when piecing together the completeness of the modelling task. HEC-RAS can
handle georeferenced TIFF (non-compressed), JPG or PNG-pictures, meaning the ordinary image file,
for example the .tif file is equipped with a .tfw world file describing for example the pixel size of the
map image and X and Y coordinates of the center of the upper left pixel.
Any photographs about the area are always welcome. They help picturing the area, especially if the
modeller is unable to make a field visit.
River reach delineations
Cross sections are positioned along a river reach. The river reach in HEC-RAS model is a polyline
consisting of X and Y coordinates. The direction of the polyline is from upstream to downstream. These
lines can be delivered as a plain text file, an Excel file or an ESRI Shape file. The elevation system and
coordinate system are essential piece of information.
Cross sections
In 1-dimensional hydraulic HEC-RAS model the reach to be modelled is represented by cross sections.
Cross sections are set up in HEC-RAS as Station-Elevation points (horizontal and vertical position).
Other necessary information is the distance from the cross section to the next cross section downstream
the river, estimation about Mannings roughness factor (for the friction calculation the river bed causes to
flow) and bank stations.
It is important that cross sections describe the present river system. Very old cross section data may
have changed over time by sedimentation, meandering and human impacts on river bed. Outdated cross
section data may prevent successful calibration or results, but bearing the possible inaccuracies in mind
they can be used as well.

Station-Elevation points should adequately represent the shape of the cross section. Representing the
real shape of the cross section is more important than the absolute amount of points in it. The same
cross section should be suitable for low flow season and high flow season. This means that there must
be an accurate enough channel for the very small flows and the cross section should be wide enough to
cover the flooded areas.
Cross sections are defined from left to right when looking downstream. They are also perpendicular to
the flow. This point should be taken into account in the field as the flow may behave differently in low and
high flow season, which the picture below illustrates. During the low flow season the water may flow at
the bottom of the reach (the blue route) and the length of the flow between cross sections j and j+1 is
longer than in high season, when water masses flow across the purple area. The information about flow

Juha Aaltonen 10.12.2015

Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
paths would be nice as well as photographs from the study area. Flow paths with elevation data might
also help in creating a 2-dimensional model from the study area. The red cross section line in the picture
below illustrates how the low flow season channel (blue) is delineated perpendicular to low flow while the
rest of the cross section is perpendicular to flood flow.

In addition to station and elevation points of the cross sections, their exact location (X and Y coordinates)
on a map should also be known, as the flood mapping and some preparatory work is done in a GIS
program (ESRI ArcGIS and HEC-GeoRAS extension).
Below is a suggestion for the format of the cross section file. The first column indicates the number of a
cross section, the second column the order of the XYZ coordinates and finally, the rest of the columns
the X, Y and Z coordinates. The measurements can also be in ESRI Shape file, for example. It is
important that cross section delineations have a geographical connection to a map, as flood mapping is
done in a GIS program where accurate locations are needed.

1
1
100.00
100.00
2.368
1
2
125.25
99.00
1.378
1
3
130.74
127.11
2.123
1
4
260.15
170.55
3.123
2
1
200.00
200.00
2.667
2
2
225.25
199.00
1.873
2
3
230.74
227.11
2.422
2
4
260.15
270.55
3.329

It is very important that all elevation related data is in a same elevation system. If not, different elevation
systems should be clearly indicated as well as instructions how to convert different elevations in the
same system. The coordinate system is also an essential piece of information.

Crosssectiondistances
There is no explicit distance for an adequate cross section distance. There is however a multiple points
to be considered when measuring cross sections in the field.
1) The concepts study area and the model areas have to be separated. Study area is the area we
are interested in to get hydraulic results. However, the hydraulic model must be extended over
the study area to ensure that for example the backwater effects area fully captured at the
upstream and possible errors in downstream boundary conditions will not disturb the study area
results.

Juha Aaltonen 10.12.2015

Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

2) There should be always a cross section if some of the following occur in the flow or river
reach:
Change in the gradient of the river bed
Change in river bed material or its roughness
Change in flow type, for example from subcritical to supercritical
Change in flow area or flow velocity
Tighter cross section spacing is especially needed in steep reaches and where river bed
grade is changing.
Structures in reach also require an approach with multiple cross sections. Below is an
example about a bridge cross sections. A bridge segment consist of 4 cross sections,
where cross sections #2 and #3 represent the bridge opening. Cross sections #4 is the
cross section where flow still occurs across the cross section, before contracting towards
the bridge opening. Similarly, cross section #1 represents a situation where flow has fully
expanded from the bridge opening. The same method can be applied in culverts, tunnels
etc.

Juha Aaltonen 10.12.2015

Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

Bridges may be taken into the model if they have a significant effect on water elevations.
Dams and weir are usually essential for accurate and realistic results.
3) If there are junctions or lateral inflow/outflow in the river system to modelled, these
locations should also be represented with cross sections. For junctions, the cross
sections should be as near from the junction as possible.

Information about structures in and alongside the rivers

Bridges and dams across the river may cause substantial effects on flow. They should be inserted
separately in the model instead of describing them in cross section data. Bridge or any other structure

(culvert, dam) in the reach are defined in HEC-RAS as Station-Elevation pairs.

Cross section distances

If cross section data is delivered as XYZ-files and they can be represented in GIS program the distances
between cross sections may be calculated automatically. Otherwise this information is needed
separately, for example in an Excel file indicating the distance from each cross section to the next cross
section downstream.

Juha Aaltonen 10.12.2015

Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
Estimations about Mannings roughness values
Mannings n values are modified during the calibration process. It would be however very helpful, if the
orderer could deliver an estimation about the river bed material and its Manning n values as a starting
point for the calibration process. Any significant river bed related information should also be included in
initial data set. Examples for such thing are for example river sections with supercritical flow and rapids.
Information about ineffective flow areas
Areas in the model domain where water exist but do not flow can in HEC-RAS be inserted as passive
flow areas. Information about these areas that are not actively conveying flow downstream can be
delivered separately for each cross section (stations where ineffective areas start and end) or as a map
polygon that can be directed to right cross sections from a GIS program.
Observations for calibration

The HEC-RAS model is mainly calibrated by changing the river bed roughness (Mannings n
value). Calibration of the model is important to get reliable results further modelling tasks. For
calibration set up the discharge from upstream (and from possible tributaries), the water surface
elevation of the most downstream cross section (or rating curve of discharge and water
elevation relationship) as well as measured water elevations along the river reach must be
known.
The model will be calibrated against the measured water elevations along the river. These
elevations may be measured for example during the cross section measurements or obtained
from water elevation loggers located in the river. Model may also be calibrated against a known
flood extend.
The calibration flow may be stationary or unsteady. The unsteady flow requires time series
about the upstream and downstream discharge and water elevations as well as water elevation
information along the river.
It is important the calibration datasets and the river cross sections represent the current state of
the river. Very old datasets may not be useful anymore due to changes in river geometry.
Calibration datasets should also contain high flows as the flood mapping scenarios are for high
flows. If there is a large gap between the magnitude of the calibration flows and flood scenarios,
it is a significant source of uncertainty.
If there are several datasets for calibration, some data set may be used to calibrate the model
and some to validate the calibration.
Elevation model for the flood mapping
In addition to cross sections, elevation information about the flood mapping area is needed. This dataset
may be delivered as an ESRI ArcGIS compatible raster or triangular irregular network (TIN) with all the
necessary metadata e.g. vertical error estimation and methods and sources used to achieve the
elevation model. In a case of poor elevation model data, a global ASTER DEM may be used, for
example (the sparse resolution and inaccuracies must be however taken into account).
Flood scenarios to be simulated
For flood simulations an upstream discharge and water elevation for the most downstream cross
section are needed. The water elevation may be obtained from a rating curve, if such is available. If
there are any tributaries in the river network, discharges for them are needed as well. Discharges may
be derived from statistical analysis (e.g. Gumbel distritbution) or from hydrological scenarios.
Downstream water elevations may be achieved in the same way or from a rating curve (water elevation
discharge) if available.
For sensitivity analysis the estimates for flood discharges and downstream water elevations could also
have a range, for example a confidence level of 95 %. If this is data is unavailable, the values may be
deflected for example by 10-20 %.