Which is the Best Time of Concentration

Formula for Overland Flow?

Tommy Wong Sai Wai (cswwong@ntu.edu.sg)

Introduction Federal Aviation Administrations (1970) Formula

The overland time of concentration is an important parameter (5)

in many drainage design methods. Combined with the time
of travel in a channel, it becomes the time of concentration where Cr = runoff coefficient.
of an entire basin. The latter is commonly used as a basis for
the determination of the design discharge via the rainfall Yen and Chows (1983) Formula
intensity-duration-frequency curves. As such, the overland
time of concentration has a major influence on the accuracy (6)
of the design discharge. Despite its importance, engineers
are often bewildered by the array of formulae that are Chen and Wongs (1993) Formula
available in the literature and are uncertain about the accuracy
of these formulae. The article compares estimates from seven
(7)
formulae with experimental values from two bays: concrete
and grass.
where is the kinematic viscosity of water (m2 s-1), and C
and k are constants relating the Darcy-Weisbach resistance
Time of concentration formulae coefficient, f, to the Reynolds number, R, as follows:
2006

The seven time of concentration formulae used in the f = C / Rk (8)

comparison are:
86
Izzards (1946) Formula Comparison of time of concentration formulae
Civil Engineering Research

(1)
where to is the time of concentration for overland flow, in is
the net rainfall intensity, Ni is the retardance coefficient, Lo
is the length of overland flow, and So is the overland slope.
The units are min for to, mm h-1 for in, m for Lo, and m
m-1 for So, and these units apply to all the subsequent time
of concentration formulae [Eqs. (2)-(7)].
The estimates from the seven formulae are compared with
the experimental values for two bays: concrete and grass.
Each bay is 25 m long by 1 m wide and with a slope of 2%.
Figure 1 shows the comparison for the formulae that account
for rainfall intensity. Figure 2 shows the comparison for the
formulae that do not account for rainfall intensity, and it is
apparent that they are only valid for a limited range of rainfall
intensities. Further, a objective function, R2, is used to assess

Kerbys (1959) Formula

(2)

where Nk is the retardance coefficient.

Morgali and Linsleys (1965) Formula

(3)

where no is the Manning resistance coefficient.

Woolhiser and Liggetts (1967) Formula

(4)

Figure 1. Comparison of time of concentration formulae that

account for rainfall intensity with experimental data

WATER

Figure 2. Comparison of time of concentration formulae that
do not account for rainfall intensity with experimental data
the goodness of fit between the estimated and the observed
times of concentration. The objective function, R2, is defined
as:
(9)
where too is the observed overland time of concentration, toe
is the estimated overland time of concentration, and tom is
the mean of all the observed overland times of concentration.
The summations are taken over all the observed and their
corresponding estimated values. A perfect agreement between
the estimated and the observed gives a value of unity for R2.
A poor agreement gives a negative value for R2. Tables 1
and 2 show two rankings of the formulae in terms of the R2
values. It is apparent that from both rankings, formulae that
account for rainfall intensity generally give better agreement
with the experimental data. The tables also show that the
time of concentration formula that gives the best agreement
with the experimental data is the Chen and Wongs formula
[Eq. (7)].
Conclusions
The comparison of estimates from seven time of concentration
formulae with experimental data from the concrete and grass
bays shows that for the formulae that do not account for the
rainfall intensity [Eqs. (2), (5), and (6)], they are only valid
for a limited range of rainfall intensities. The formulae that
account for the rainfall intensity [Eqs. (1), (3), (4) and (7)]
generally give better agreement with the experimental data.
Finally, the comparison shows that the time of concentration
formula that gives the best agreement with the experimental
data is the Chen and Wongs formula [Eq. (7)].
Table 1. Rankings of time of concentration formulae in terms of
R2 value for concrete bay
Rank Time of Concentration Formula R2
1 Eq. (7)* with C = 3 & k = 0.5 (Chen and Wong, 1993) 0.92
2 Eq. (4)* with no = 0.014 (Woolhiser and Liggett, 1967) 0.89
3 Eq. (3)* with no = 0.014 (Morgali and Linsley, 1965) 0.29
4 Eq. (1)* with Ni = 0.007 (Izzard, 1946) 0.00
5 Eq. (6) with no = 0.014 (Yen and Chow, 1983) - 0.02
6 Eq. (5) with Cr = 0.9 (Federal Aviation Administration, 1970) - 0.71
7 Eq. (2) with Nk = 0.02 (Kerby, 1959) - 0.80
* formula accounts for rainfall intensity
Table 2. Rankings of time of concentration formulae in terms of
R2 value for grass bay
Rank Time of Concentration Formula R2
1 Eq. (7)* with C = 1 & k = 0 (Chen and Wong, 1993) 0.75
2 Eq. (4)* with no = 0.04 (Woolhiser and Liggett, 1967) 0.44
3 Eq. (6) with no = 0.04 (Yen and Chow, 1983) 0.36
4 Eq. (3)* with no = 0.04 (Morgali and Linsley, 1965) -1.41
5 Eq. (5) with Cr = 0.3 (Federal Aviation Administration, 1970) -65.86
6 Eq. (2) with Nk = 0.4 (Kerby, 1959) -72.11
7 Eq. (1) with Ni = 0.06 (Izzard, 1946) -409.35
Civil Engineering Research
* formula accounts for rainfall intensity
References
[1] Chen CN, and Wong TSW. (1993). Critical rainfall
duration for maximum discharge from overland plane.
Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, 119(9), 1040- 87
1045.
2006
[2] Federal Aviation Administration. (1970). Airport
drainage. Advisory Circular No. 150/5320-5B,
Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
[3] Izzard CF. (1946). Hydraulics of runoff from developed
surfaces. Proceedings of 26th Annual Meeting Highway
Research Board, National Research Council, Washington,
D.C., U.S.A., 129-150.
[4] Kerby WS. (1959). Time of concentration for overland
flow. Civil Engineering, 29(3), 60.
[5] Morgali JR, and Linsley RK. (1965). Computer analysis
of overland flow. Journal of Hydraulics Division, ASCE,
91(HY3), 81-100.
[6] Woolhiser DA, and Liggett JA. (1967). Unsteady one-
dimensional flow over a plane - the rising hydrograph.
Water Resources Research, 3(3), 753-771.
[7] Yen BC, and Chow VT. (1983). Local design storms,
Vol III. Report H 38 No. FHWA-RD-82/065, U.S.
Department of Transportation Federal Highway
Administration, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.