CIVE322 Basic Hydrology

Jorge A. Ramírez

Infiltration Computations Example

Assume that the time evolution of the infiltration capacity for a given soil is
governed by Horton's equation (Note that this equation assumes an infinite water supply
at the surface, that is, it assumes saturation conditions at the soil surface).

f p (t) = fc + ( fo − fc )e− kt (1)

For this soil, the asymptotic or final equilibrium infiltration capacity is fc = 1.25 cm/h;
and the initial infiltration capacity is fo = 8 cm/h. The rate of decay of infiltration capacity
parameter is k = 3 h-1. For the precipitation hyetograph tabulated below (Table 1), carry
out a complete infiltration analysis, including evaluation of cumulative infiltration and
rate of production of precipitation excess, s + v.
Table 1: Precipitation hyetograph
Time Precipitation Time Precipitation
(min) (cm/h) (min) (cm/h)
0 - 10 1.5 40 - 50 4.0
10 - 20 3.0 50 - 60 3.0
20 - 30 8.0 60 - 70 0.8
30 - 40 5.0

1) Compute infiltration capacity using Horton's equation for conditions of unlimited

water supply at the surface using equation 1 (Table 3 - Column 2).

2) Graph hyetograph (from Table 1) and infiltration capacity function (equation 1,

from Table 3 - Column 2). See Figure 1.

9
8
7
Rates (cm/min)

6
Infiltration
5 Capacity
4 Precipitation
Rate
3
2
1
0
0 100 200 300 400
Time (min)

Figure 1
 3) Compare infiltration capacity with precipitation intensity (Figure 1). Observe that
during the first 20 minutes of the storm, the infiltration capacity exceeds the
precipitation intensity. Thus, during the first 20 minutes of the storm, all of the
precipitation infiltrates. The actual infiltration rate is (Table 4 - Column 5),

⎧ i(t), i(t) ≤ f p (t)

⎪
f (t) = min[i(t), f p (t)] = ⎨ (2)
f (t), otherwise
⎩⎪ p

4) Compute the accumulated infiltration that would occur under conditions of

unlimited water supply at the surface using the following equation 3 (Table 3 -
Column 3),

fo − fc
Fp (t) = fct + (1− e− kt ) (3)
k

5) Compute accumulated precipitation volume (see Table 2) as a function of time.

t n
P(t) = ∫ i(t)dt ≅ ∑ ΔPj (4)
0 j=1

The incremental volume over each time period of 10 minutes is:

DP = i Dt
Table 2: Cumulative Precipitation
Time Precipitation Cumulative Time Precipitation Cumulative
(min) Intensity, i. Precipitation, P (min) Intensity, i. Precipitation, P
(cm/h) (cm) (cm/h) (cm)
0 - 10 1.5 0.25 40 - 50 4.0 3.583
10 - 20 3.0 0.75 50 - 60 3.0 4.083
20 - 30 8.0 2.083 60 - 70 0.8 4.217
30 - 40 5.0 2.917

6) Because i(t) <= fp(t) for t* <= 20 minutes, all the rainfall infiltrates and the actual
volume of infiltration at t* = 20 minutes is equal to the volume of rainfall up to
that time. Thus,

F(t = t* ) = P(t = t* )

7) Because the actual infiltration rate is less than the infiltration capacity during the
first 20 minutes, the actual infiltration capacity does not decay as predicted by
Horton's equation. This is because, as indicated above, Horton's equation assumes
that the supply rate exceeds the infiltration capacity from the start of infiltration.
Therefore, we must determine the true infiltration capacity at t = 20 min. To do
so, first determine the time tp by solving the following equation:
 t*
fo − fc
F(t* ) = ∫ i(t)dt = fct p +
− kt
(1− e p ) (5)
0
k

and then evaluate fp(tp) as follows.

At t* = 20 min the actual volume of accumulated infiltration is (use equation 4):

F(t = 20 min) = (1.5 + 3.0) cm/h (10 min/60 min/h) = 0.75 cm.

Substituting this value for F(t*) in equation 5 and solving for tp obtain: tp = 0.107
h = 6.41 min.

Finally, the true infiltration capacity at t* = 20 minutes is obtained using equation

1 as fp(tp) = 6.15 cm/h = fop. Alternatively, use equations 1 and 3 to eliminate time
and express cumulative infiltration as a function of infiltration capacity and obtain
the following equation (see Figure 2),

fc f −f f −f
Fp (t) = − ln( p c ) + o p (6)
k fo − fc k

8
Infiltration Capacity (cm/min)

0
0 10
Cumulative Infiltration (cm)

Figure 2

8) The rainfall rate at t* = 20 minutes i = 8 cm/h exceeds the corresponding

infiltration capacity fop = 6.15 cm/h. Therefore, the actual infiltration rate equals
the infiltration capacity, and the decay of infiltration capacity follows Horton’s
equation with an initial infiltration capacity equal to fop and starting at time t* = 20
min (Table 3 - Column 5 and Table 4 Column 3). That is (see Figure 2 and Figure
3),
− k (t−t * )
f p (t) = fc + ( fop − fc )e (7)
 9
8
7

Rates (cm/min)
Infiltration Capacity
6
5 Precipitation Rate
4
3 Actual Infiltration
Capacity
2
1
0
0 200 400
Time (min)

Figure 3

9) Because for t >= 20 minutes the precipitation rate exceeds the infiltration
capacity, there is excess precipitation available for runoff and depression storage,
s + v (Table 4 - Column 6).

σ + v = i(t) − f (t) (8)

Table 3
1 2 - Eq. 1 3 - Eq. 2 4 5 - Eq. 7
Time Infiltration Cumulative Cumulative Actual
(min) Capacity, fp Infiltration, F Precipitation, P Infiltration
(cm/h) (cm) (cm) Capacity
(cm/h)
0 8 0 0
10 5.344082 1.093639 0.25
20 3.733186 1.838938 0.75 6.150306
30 2.756129 2.372957 2.083333 4.222186
40 2.163513 2.778829 2.916667 3.052722
50 1.804074 3.106975 3.583333 2.343406
60 1.586063 3.387979 4.083333 1.913184
70 1.453832 3.640389 4.216667 1.652242
80 1.373631 3.875456 1.493972
90 1.324986 4.100005 1.397976
100 1.295481 4.318173 1.339752
110 1.277586 4.532471 1.304437
120 1.266732 4.744423 1.283018
Table 4
1 2 - Eq. 1 3 - Eq. 7 4 5 - Eq. 3 6 - Eq. 8
Time Infiltration Actual Precipitation Actual Excess
(min) Capacity, fp Infiltration Intensity, i Infiltration Rate, Precipitation
(cm/h) Capacity (cm/h) f(t) s+v
(cm/h) (cm/h) (cm/h)
0 8.0 8.0 1.5 1.5 0.0
10 5.344082 > 6.15030 3.0 3.0 0.0
20 3.733186 6.150306 8.0 6.15030 1.849694
30 2.756129 4.222186 5.0 4.22218 0.777814
40 2.163513 3.052722 4.0 3.05272 0.947278
50 1.804074 2.343406 3.0 2.34340 0.656594
60 1.586063 1.913184 0.8 0.8 0
70 1.453832 1.652242
80 1.373631 1.493972
90 1.324986 1.397976
100 1.295481 1.339752
110 1.277586 1.304437
120 1.266732 1.283018