S.NO.

LIST OF CONTENTS PAGE NO

1 INTRODUCTION 1-2
2 ASSUMPTIONS IN UNIT HYDROGRAPH THEORY 3

3 LIMITATIONS OF UNIT HYDROGRAPH: 3-4

4 DERIVATION OF UNIT HYDROGRAPH (UH) 4
5 UNIT HYDROGRAPH FROM A HYDROGRAPH WITH 4-8
ISOLATED PEAK
6 UNIT HYDROGRAPH FROM COMPLEX FLOOD 8
HYDROGRAPH
7 UNIT HYDROGRAPH DERIVATION BY DECONVOLUTION 8-9
OF DIRECT RUNOFF HYDROGRAPH
8 DETERMINATION OF TIME CONCENTRATION 10
9 DETERMINATION OF BASIN STORAGE COEFFICIENT 10
10 TIME AREA CONCEPT 11
11 INSTANTANEOUS UNIT HYDROGRAPH 12-13
12 UNIT HYDROGRAPH FOR UNGUAGED CATCHMENTS 13-16
13 RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN DEVOLOPING UH FROM 16
GAGED WATERSHEDS
14 APLLICATIONS 16
15 CONCLUSION 17
16 REFERENCES 17
 INTRODUCTION
HYDROGRAPH:

 A hydrograph is a graph showing variation of discharge (Q) with time (T),at a particular
point of stream or river.
 Discharge is usually expressed in cumecs or hectare meter per day and time is expressed
in hours or days. Discharge is plotted on y-axis and corresponding time is plotted on x-
axis.

COMPONENTS OF HYDROGRAPH:

 RISING LIMB
 PEAK OF CREST SEGMENT
 RECCESSION CURVE

FACTORS AFFECTING HYDROGRAPH:

 Area
 Shape
 Slope
 Rock type
 Soil
 Land use
 Drainage density
 Precipitation/Temp
 Tidal conditions

UNIT HYDRO GRAPH

The Unit Hydrograph (UH) is the simplest but at the same time a very powerful tool for
hydrological analysis in general and flood forecasting in particular. The unit hydrograph may
be defined as the direct runoff (outflow) hydrograph resulting from one unit of effective
rainfall, which is uniformly distributed over the basin at a uniform rate during a specified
period of time known as unit time or unit duration. The following paragraphs make this
statement still clearer.
Effective rainfall should be uniformly distributed over the basin, i.e. if there are five
rain gauges in the basin, which represent the areal distribution of rainfall over the basin, all
the five rain gauges should record for almost same amount of rainfall during specified time.
A watershed shown on the right here fully marks this stipulation, while converse is true in
respect of left one.

1
In addition, effective rainfall should be at a uniform rate during the unit duration. If the
average rainfall over a particular basin during 6 hour is 126mm, a unit hydrograph of 6 hours
duration can be derived only if the intensity of rainfall is more or less 21 mm/hour over 6
hours. If the same amount of rainfall is distributed with varied intensity, the unit hydrograph
cannot be precisely estimated by simple method.

The unit quantity of effective rainfall is normally taken as 1mm or 1cm; and the outflow
hydrograph is expressed by discharge in cumec. The unit duration may be of 1hour duration
or more, depending upon the size of the catchment, storm characteristics and operational
facilities. However, the unit duration cannot be more than the time of concentration or basin
lag or period of rise. The concept of time of concentration has been covered in detail later in
the chapter.

2
 ASSUMPTIONS IN UNIT HYDROGRAPH THEORY
The following are the basic assumption in the unit hydrograph theory:

The unit hydrograph theory assumes the principle of time invariance. This implies
that the direct runoff hydrograph from a given drainage basin due to a given pattern of
effective rainfall will be always same irrespective of the time, i.e. even if the basin
characteristics change with season etc., the unit hydrograph remains the same.
Unit Hydrograph theory assumes the principle of linearity, superimposition or
proportionality. It means that:
 If the ordinates of a unit hydrograph of say 1 hour duration are 0,1,6,4,3,2,1,0 units
respectively, the effective rainfall of 2 units falling in 1 hour will produce a direct
runoff hydrographs having ordinates of 0,2,12,8,6,4,2,0 units.
 Secondly, if the effective rainfall of two units occurs in 2 hours, i.e. 1 unit per hour,
the direct runoff hydrograph ordinates will be obtained by summing up the
corresponding ordinates of the two unit hydrographs as shown here.

LIMITATIONS OF UNIT HYDROGRAPH:

 The unit hydrograph theory cannot be applied to catchment areas greter than 5000km sq.
 The unit hydrograph theory cannot be applied to very small catchments with area less than
2km sq..
 This theory cannot be applied when the major portion of the storm is in the form of snow.
 This theory is not very accurate. the accuracy obtained is +10%.
3
 A large number of unit hydrographs are required for a catchment because as the unit
duration changes, the unit hydrograph also changes.

DERIVATION OF UNIT HYDROGRAPH (UH)

Selection of a particular UH derivation techniques primarily governed by three factors:

 The UH is best derived from the observed hydrograph resulting from a storm which
fulfils the two basic conditions i.e., the rainfall is more or less uniformly distributed
over the basin and has a reasonably uniform intensity. Such a hydrograph will generally form an
isolated peak.
 In case, such a hydrograph is not available, the UH has to be derived from the analysis
of an observed multipeaked flood hydrograph resulting from several spells of rainfall
of varying intensities.
 When the observed discharge and rainfall data at short interval are not available, the
synthetic UH is derived with the help of basin characteristics.

UNIT HYDROGRAPH FROM A HYDROGRAPH WITH ISOLATED PEAK

The steps involved in derivation of UH from the analysis of the flood hydrograph with a
single peak are as follows;

1. Inspect discharge records at watershed outlet and corresponding rainfall events to identify
events exhibiting isolated, well defined and single peak with considerable runoff volume.
Pick up as many sets of such records as available. A plot displaying rainfall and
corresponding rise in flood hydrograph, such as here, can help selection of records.

4
Note: A no break/continuous discharge series, as shown in the plot, is developed by
transforming hourly river stage (also water level) into discharge with the help of rating
equation. Rating equation used for this purpose must be developed for the period to which
flood event belongs to.

A rating equation/curve is an equation that relates discharge with water level observed at a
site, and in mathematically expressed as
Q = c * (G Go)n
Where, c, Go; & n are constants; and G is water level.
While gathering information as listed above, it is recommended that
 Storms with rainfall should have been active for duration of around 20 to 30 % of
basin lag. Various studies estimate basin lag as 5075% of Tc, time of concentration.
Later part of this chapter describes ways to estimate Tc
 Storms should have generated rainfall excess between 1 cm and 4.5 cm.
2.
A flood hydrograph is a basin (catchment) response driven by occurrence of rainfall event
plus contribution of base flow. Had there been no rainfall over the basin, 'Bulge' (rise) in
flood hydrograph would have not appeared. Secondly, all water that falls over a catchment
does not reach the river/stream because of 'losses'; and only a fraction of it contributes to this
'Bulge'. This bulge is termed as Direct Runoff Hydrograph (DRH). The part that reaches the
stream is called as 'Rainfall excess'. Hydrologist seeks to develop a relationship between
'rainfall excess' and DRH. Apparently, the next step is separation of base flow from flood
hydrograph to compute volume of DRH. Following are couple of methods outlined for
separation of base flow.

5
Fixed base method (ABD)

This method suggests the extension of the base flow line along its general trend before the
rise of the hydrograph up to a point B directly below the runoff hydrograph peak. From B, a
straight line BD is drawn to meet the hydrograph at point D, which is N days away from B in
the time
N (in days) = 0.83 A0.2
Where, A is the area of the drainage basin in square kilometersscale. 'N' is determined by an
empirical relation by Linsley as:

Variable Slope Method (A-B-C-E)

This method requires identification of two additional points on the recession limb of
hydrograph one is inflection point; while the other is point E. At inflection point, curve
changes its concavity. This point also indicates end of surface flow to river. This point
beyond, discharge is a combination of interflow (also called as subsurface flow) and base
flow. After a while, interflow also ceases; and only base flow remains in the river. The 'E'
suggests this stage. Once, these two points are located on the graph, a line from 'E' is drawn
6
backward to meet a vertical line from inflection point. A line ABCE divides the DRH and
base flow. Nevertheless, for flood studies, the base flow component is rather insignificant and
hence does not influence the magnitude of peak runoff substantially. Therefore, inaccuracies
involved in separation of base flow are not crucial in overall flood studies.
3. Computation of direct runoff hydrograph ordinates by deducting base flow ordinates from
that of the corresponding observed flood hydrograph.
4. Scanning and analysis of the rainfall data of all rain gauge stations in and around the basin
with a view to
 Obtaining areal rainfall over the catchment by appropriate methods, such as Thiessen
Polygon or Isohyetal technique, and
 Estimating phiindex. Volume of DRH equals the product of catchment area and
rainfall excess over the basin. This simple analogy helps us estimate depth of rainfall
excess.

Rainfall Excess = Volume of DRH / Catchment Area

A gap between effective rainfall and averaged rainfall points to losses. Here, in the plot,
index(also known as loss rate) is drawn in a manner that partitions hyetograph into two
partslower indicates losses, while upper rainfall excess.

5. As DRH is a consequence of given rainfall excess, say 'x' unit. Estimation of the ordinates
of the UH is obtained by dividing the ordinates of direct runoff hydrograph by 'x' rainfall
excess.

 How to fix duration of UH?

A plot shown here exhibits duration of rainfall as 5unit, of which only during 3unit duration
rainfall exceeds 'loss rate'. Thus, for this case, UH duration is a 3unit.

6. This process is repeated for all records picked up for this purpose.

7. It is highly probable that UHs derived for more than one record may differ in duration of
excess rainfall. They need to be converted to an identical duration before attempting step 8. A
discussion on conversion of UH duration has been added toward the end of this module.

7
8. All such UHs are eventually averaged. For this, first peaks, Qp, of all UH are averaged to
give Qp, followed by time to peak, tp and time base, Tb of UHs. All other ordinates are
adjusted in such a way that total runoff volume of UH equals the product of 1cm/mm and
catchment area.

More discussions on conversion of UH duration and averaging of UH have been added

toward the end of this chapter

UNIT HYDROGRAPH FROM COMPLEX FLOOD HYDROGRAPH

Flood hydrographs with a single and sharp peak resulting from an intense and uniform
rainfall are very uncommon. Often times, observed hydrographs contain multiple peaks of
various magnitudes resulting from several spells of rainfall. UH, in such cases, are derived by

Collins'-Method
Matrix-method
Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph

UNIT HYDROGRAPH DERIVATION BY DECONVOLUTION

OF DIRECT RUNOFF HYDROGRAPH

The discrete convolution equation allows the computation of direct runoff, Qn given excess
rainfall, Pm and the unit hydrograph, Un-m+1.

The reverse process, called deconvolution, can be utilised to derive a unit hydrograph given
data on Pm and Qn. Suppose that there are 'M' pulses or burst of rainfall excess and 'n' pulse
of direct runoff in the storm considered; then N equation can be written for Qn, n = 1,2,….,n,
in terms of (n-m+1) unknown values of the unit hydrograph. If Qn and Pm are given and
8
 Un-m+1 is required, the set equations is over determined, because there are more equations
(N) than unknowns (n-m+ 1). The term n <= M in the equation restrains the total nos. of P*U
terms for Qn. In first case, when n is <=M, m = 1, 2, .....n; while in case n is >M, m = 1,2,
….M.
(For more details, reader may refer to Applied Hydrology by Ven Te Chow) Let us derive
term for Q1, assuming total number of rainfall pulse, M = 3 Here, n =1  (M =3), hence, m
=1, therefore,

9
 UNIT HYDROGRAPH BY CLARK MODEL
The Clark model uses two parameters, time of concentration, 'Tc', and storage constant, 'K',
and a time area histogram concept. Before, we set out for UH by Clark model, let us first
familiarize ourselves with these new terminologies.

DETERMINATION OF TIME CONCENTRATION, Tc

The first parameter, time of concentration is the time taken by a water particle from the
hydraulically farthest point to the basin outlet. An estimate of this travel time is the time from
the end of runoff producing rainfall over the basin to the inflection point on the recession
limb of the direct Runoff Hydrograph (DRH). Because of complexities involved in rainfall
,runoff process, all such incidences never produce reproducible 'Tc' nor can we ever know
true Tc. And therefore, an averaged value of 'Tc' from observed data should be considered for
analysis. Alternatively, any empirical equation, most valid for area under study is
recommended for use. Some of theempirical equations normally used for estimation of this
parameter are as under:

DETERMINATION OF BASIN STORAGE COEFFICIENT (K)

This coefficient represents the temporary storage of precipitation excess in the watershed as it
drains to the outlet point. K is expressed in terms of time. If observed short interval flood
discharges at site are available, then hydraulically, K is estimated by using the formula:

10
Where;
Q1=correspond to the discharge, after separating base flow, at the point of inflection on the
recession limb of flood hydrograph.
Q2=correspond to the discharge, after separating base flow, after time t on the recession limb
of flood hydrograph.’
t=time interval between Q1 and Q2.

Adopting a suitable base flow, the value of K can be computed for different hydrographs and
an average value can be worked out.

TIME AREA CONCEPT

The timearea diagram represents the areas that will contribute to the flow at the outlet over
successive periods of time. Once the time of concentration is known, lines of equal time
interval called isochrones can be drawn with assumption that time of travel is directly
proportional to distance from the outlet to isochrones. In the picture shown here, dashed lines
in yellow mark isochrones. The US Army Corps of Engineers recommends following
formula to develop time area table/diagram for estimation of inflow from areas bounded
between successive isochrones. An example at the end of this discussion explains the use of
this equation.

The timearea diagram is considered as the inflow to a hypothetical reservoir (S = KO; this
implies that there is absence of wedge storage) and routed through the reservoir to obtain the
outflow hydrograph which is the required instantaneous UH for the basin. Before routing,
inflow from incremental areas between isochrones is converted into discharge units by
following equation;

Where 'ai' is the area in km2 and 't' is the routing period in hours.
Here, we will take a pause to understand as to how this model produces an outflow with
timearea concept; and inflow is generated by each timearea zone due to instantaneous 1mm
effective rainfall. Let us consider the uppermost part of the catchment. Being uppermost part
of the watershed, it does not receive any outflow (O0=0). Instead, it produces I1 runoff which
takes 1 hr (if tc for the catchment is 6hrs; and isochrones are separated by 1hr each) to reach
at the tip of area just below it with a magnitude of Oi routed by following equation.
Oi = CIi + (1-C) Oi – 1
11
Where C = (t/(K+0.5t)), here, t is routing interval in hr, k is basin storage coefficient; and Ii
and Oi are the inflow and outflow at the end of period ti.
In other words, for uppermost area, outflow is obtained by

Now, let us consider the area downstream of first one. Like above, this part generates inflow,
I2 and receives O1 as outflow from upper area. Using routing equation, this area will produce
O2 as

This process is continued till we reach terminal point of the catchment/study area. The IUH
can be converted to a unit hydrograph of same unit duration as routing interval simply
averaging two instantaneous hydrographs lagged by the selected duration that is,

To obtain unit hydrograph for durations other than routing interval (provided that it is exact
multiple of routing interval t. The following equation is used.

Where Qi is ordinate of unit hydrograph of desired duration D = nt.

INSTANTANEOUS UNIT HYDROGRAPH

The instantaneous Unit Hydrograph is defined as unit hydrograph or infinitesimally small
duration. In other words, IUH is the direct runoff hydrograph at the outlet of the catchment
resulting from 1 unit (1mm) of rainfall falling over the catchment in zero time. Of course, this
is only a fictitious situation and a concept to be used in hydrograph analysis.

Derivation of IUH

There are various methods for the determination of an IUH from the given effective rainfall
hyetograph and direct runoff hydrograph. But the most common is the model suggested by
Nash in 1957. Nash proposed a conceptual model by considering a drainage basin as 'n'
identical linear reservoirs in series. By routing a unit inflow through the reservoirs a
mathematical equation for IUH can be derived.
The ordinate of the IUH at time t is given by,

Where,
n = no. Of the reservoir; and
K= a reservoir constant, also called as storage coefficient.
The values of K and n in Nash model can be evaluated by the method of moments by using
the following relations.

12
Where,
MDRH1= First moment arm of Direct Runoff Hydrograph (DRH)
MERH1= First moment arm of Effective Rainfall Hyetograph (ERH)
MDRH2= Second moment arm of DRH
MERH2= Second moment arm of ERH

The unit of the ordinates of IUH is per sec (sec1). When the ordinates are multiplied by the
total volume of runoff (in cubic meters) resulting from 1mm of rainfall over the catchment
area, the unit will be cumecs.

Derivation of Unit Hydrograph from IUH

For finding the unit hydrograph from IUH, the area under the IUH is plotted with respect to
time at the point. The entire area from the start of IUH at different time interval gives points
of S Curve. If a unit hydrograph of T hour duration is required, the S Curve so arrived at is
shifted by T hour and the difference in the ordinates of the two S Curves is computed and
divided by T. The resulting curve forms the unit hydrograph of T hour duration. To illustrate
derivation of UH by Nash method, an example is presented ahead.

UNIT HYDROGRAPH FOR UNGUAGED CATCHMENTS

More often than not, project sites suffer from inadequate length of hydrometeorological
data or even no data to deduce any reliable hydrological inputs or to develop reliable transfer
function in the form of a UH. In several cases, constraint of this kind is not uncommon in
India, which compels an engineer to resort to develop a synthetic unit hydrograph. A
Synthetic Unit Hydrograph (SUH) takes its shape and size according to the physical
characteristics of the basin under study. There are few methods of developing SUH. Some of
the common methods for derivation of synthetic unit hydrograph for a basin are as follows:
Snyder method
Among several known methods for development of synthetic unit hydrograph, the one
suggested by F. F. Snyder (1938) is most commonly used. Snyder analyzed a large number of
hydrographs from drainage basins in the Appalachian Mountain region in the United States,
ranging in area from 25 sq. km. to 25,000 sq. km. To sketch a unit hydrograph, it is necessary
to know the time of the peak, the peak flow and the time base. The elements must be
determined for every particular or regional location of the drainage basin. Snyder proposed
the following empirical formula for the lag time (Hr.) from midpoint of effective rainfall
duration tr to peak of a unit hydrograph:

in which tp = the basin lag in hours, from midpoint of effective rainfall duration tr to peak of
a unit graph:
L= the length of the main stream from the outlet to the divide in kms;
Lc =the distance from the outlet to a point on the stream nearest to the centroid of the basin;
and Ct = a coefficient
The location of the center of area may be determined by cutting the basin outline from
cardboard and marking the point of intersection of plumb lines drawn with the map

13
suspended from different corners. The coefficient Ct varies from 1.0 to 2.2 with lower values
associated with basins of steeper slopes.
For the standard duration of effective rainfall tr , Snyder proposed:

For the rains of this duration, he found that synthetic unit hydrograph peak Qp
in cumecs may be obtained from the equation:

And in cumecs/sq km by the relation

Where, A = the drainage area in square kms.

Cp = coefficient ranging from 4.0 to 5.0
Qp = peak flood in cumec.

For the time base T (in days) of the synthetic unit hydrograph U.S. Army Corps of Engineer
adopted the following expression

These equations are sufficient to construct a synthetic unit hydrograph for a

storm of duration tr The value of Snyder's coefficients Ct and Cp are found to vary
considerably depending upon the topography, geology and climate. Snyder indicated that the
coefficient Ct is affected by basin slopes S. Linsely, Kohler and Paulhus have
suggested and expression for tp in which the basin slope S has been considered.

Where, N=0.38 and C =1.2 for mountainous drainage areas; 0.72 for foothills;
and 0.35 for valley areas.

From gauged to ungauged basin by transposition of unit hydrograph

If unit hydrographs are available for several areas adjacent to a basin for which a unit
hydrograph is required but for which necessary data are lacking, then transposition of
available unit hydrograph will ordinarily give better results than resorting to a synthetic
procedure. Sherman originally proposed that the ordinates and abscissas of unit hydrograph
for similar basins might be assumed to be proportional to the square roots respective drainage
areas. Further details are available in any textbook on applied hydrology.

14
Based on set of equations recommended by Flood Estimation Reports (FER)

FER for 26 hydrometeorologically homogenous subzones in India are reports jointly brought
by Central Water Commission (CWC); India Meteorological Department (IMD); Research,
Design & Standard Organization (RDSO); and Ministry of Shipping & Transport (MoST). In
each report, a number of mathematical relationships between physiographic parameters and
components of unit hydrograph, derived on multiple regression technique, exist. The
stepbystep procedures as to how to develop UH based on FER are illustrated in paragraphs to
follow.
Step-1
Physiographic parameters
1. Location of catchment area to be identified from Survey of India toposheet and measure
the catchment area (A)
2. Measure the length of the longest stream in Km. (L)
3. Length of the longest stream from a point opposite to C.G. of catchment to the point of
study in Km. (Lc)
4. Compute Equivalent Slope in m/Km. (Seq)

To determine equivalent slope, reader may look at following plot which displays longitudinal
profile and formula used for the purpose. We will use this formula a little later to calculate
Seq.

With advances in information technology in recent years and also with the availability of
Digital Elevation Model (DEM), distillation of physiographic parameters is relatively faster
and accurate. Illustrated example in later part of this chapter demonstrates the application of
GIS technique to deduce these parameters.

Step-2

To construct 1hour SUH Availability of physical parameters of catchment enables one to

estimate the components of SUH using following SUH equations for a Zone, say X;

15
Notations/components used in above table are used to construct an SUH using a plot shown
here. If the volume of UH so defined deviates from the volume of runoff generated by
catchment because of 1cm rainfall excess, falling limb of the hydrograph is suitably modified
without altering the points of synthetic parameters such that the volume of UH equals the
theoretical value. The SUH ordinates at one hour interval after corrections are taken as the
final estimate of SUH. Succeeding example presents stepwise procedure to develop SUH of
1hr duration.

RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN DEVOLOPING UH FROM GAGED WATERSHEDS

1. Storms should be selected with a simple structure with relatively uniform spatial and
temporal distributions.
2. Watershed sizes should generally fall between 1.0 and 100 mi2 in modern watershed
analysis.
3. Direct runoff should range 0.5 to 2 in.
4. Duration of rainfall excess D should be approximately 25% to 30% of lag time tp
5. A number of storms of similar duration should be analyzed to obtain an average UH for
that duration.
6. Step 5 should be repeated for several rainfall of different durations.

APPLICATIONS

 Once a unit hydro graph for a duration try has been developed for a basin ,the storm
hydrograph for that basin for any other storm of different intensity but the same duration
can be easily developed.
 To draw a maximum flood hydrograph for the design of spillways.
 It can be used for flooding and flood warning based on observed rainfall in the basin.
 To determine runoff from a storm of unit duration.

16
 CONCLUSION
The results pertaining to each approach are provided in the relevant chapters. There exists
numerous approaches based on which design flood in ungauged catchment are estimated.
Only four approaches have been attempted in this study. In the first approach a synthetic unit
hydrograph was attempted without using any meteorological data except the geomorphologic
parameters. The performance was evaluated incorporating the physical process represented
by the channel routing. It revealed that the unit hydrograph should have a region of its
application. There must be upper and lower limit of the catchment size and slope where such
a unit hydrograph concept is applicable. In the second approach, a rainfall based
methodology was developed. A PDF based model was prepared using the rainfall distribution
of 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours duration. Equating the statistical shape variables of both the recorded
and the fitted rainfall event, design hyetograph of given duration was developed. This design
hyetograph when applied as an input to a rainfall-runoff model or unit hydrograph provides
the design flood hydrograph of same return period. Next, runoff based analysis of the gauged
data of a head catchment in Baitarani Sub-basin was carried out. Both the AMS and the PDS
approaches were employed to determine flood quantile of different return period. In the AMS
analysis only the yearly maximum peaks were considered while in PDS analysis all peaks
above a threshold discharge value are taken into account. While a single probability
distribution is capable of modelling the flood peaks in AMS analysis, PDS analysis requires
two probability distributions; one for the number of peaks in a year and the other for the
magnitude of the peaks above a threshold value. But in both the cases, the analyses are
sensitive to the parameters of the probability distributions involved in the corresponding
analysis. After determining the T-year flood quantile at the gauged location, the information
were transferred to the ungauged site adopting a suitable transfer mechanism as per the
requirement.

REFERENCES
 Text book of “IRRIGATION AND WATER POWER ENGINEERING” by
Dr.BC.PUNMIA, Dr.PANDE B.B.LAL, ASHOK KUMAR JAIN, ARUN KUMAR
JAIN.

 www.wikipedia.com

17