Streamflow
1. Compute discharge through a river with following data:
Distance from right Depth (m) Velocity at 0.6d (m/s)
bank
0 - -
2 0.5 0.3
4 0.9 0.45
6 1.1 0.5
8 0.8 0.32
10 0.6 0.27
12 - -
Solution:
Average depth of 1st section (Wav1) = (W1 + W2/2)2 /2W1
Average depth of last section (Wavn) = (Wn + Wn-1/2)2 /2Wn
Average depth of 1st section (Wav1) = (Wi+ Wi+1)/2
Depth = yi
Cross-sectional area (Ai) = Wavi * yi
Average velocity (Vavi) = V0.6d
Segmental discharge (Qi) = Ai * Vavi
Total discharge = ∑ 𝑄𝑖
Distance Width of Average Depth Cross Average Segmental
from right section(m) width yi(m) sectional velocity discharge
bank(m) Wavi(m) area Vavi (m/s) Qi(m3/s)
Ai(m2)
0
2 2 2.25 0.5 1.125 0.3 0.3375
4 2 2 0.9 1.8 0.45 0.81
6 2 2 1.1 2.2 0.5 1.1
8 2 2 0.8 1.6 0.32 0.512
10 2 2.25 0.6 1.35 0.27 0.3645
12 2 Sum 3.124
Discharge = 3.124 m3/s
2. Given the following data for a stream gauging operation in a river, compute
discharge.
Distance from Depth (m) Velocity (m/s)
left bank (m) At 0.2d At 0.8d
0 - - -
1.5 1.3 0.6 0.4
3 2.5 0.9 0.6
4.5 1.7 0.7 0.5
6 1 0.6 0.4
7.5 0.4 0.4 0.3
9 - - -
Solution:
Average width for 1st section (Wav1) = (W1+W2/2)2/ 2W1
Average width for last section (Wavn) = (Wn+Wn-1/2)2/ 2Wn
Average width for other section (Wavi) = (Wi+Wi+1/2)2/ 2
Cross sectional area (Ai) = Wavi . yi (Where yi is depth)
Average velocity (Vavi) = (v0.2d + v0.8d)
Segmental discharge (Qi) = Ai .Vavi
Total discharge = ∑ 𝑄
Distance Width of Average Depth yi Cross Average Segmental
from left section width (m) sectional velocity discharge
bank (m) (m) Wavi (m) area Ai Vavi (m/s) Qi(m3/s)
(m2)
0
1.5 1.5 1.687 1.3 2.193 0.5 1.097
3 1.5 1.5 2.5 3.75 0.75 2.813
4.5 1.5 1.5 1.7 2.55 0.6 1.53
6 1.5 1.5 1 1.5 0.5 0.75
7.5 1.5 1.687 0.4 0.675 0.35 0.236
9 1.5 Sum 6.426
Discharge Q = 6.426 m3/s
3. Given below are observed flows from a storm of 6-hr duration on a stream with a
catchment area of 500km2.
Time(h) 0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72
3
Flow(m /s) 0 100 250 200 150 100 70 50 35 25 15 5 0
Assuming base flow zero, derive the ordinate of 6-h unit hydrograph
Solution: Area = 500 km2
Base flow (Qb) = 0
Volume of runoff = 1000 x 6 x 60 x 60
= 21.6 x 106
Depth of runoff = 21.6 x 106 / 500 x 106
= 0.0432m
= 4.32cm
Ordinate of 6-h UH = Q/4.32
Time (h) Flow ( m3/s) 6-h UH(m3/s)
0 0 0
6 100 23.15
12 250 57.87
18 200 46.29
24 150 34.72
30 100 23.15
36 70 16.20
42 50 11.57
48 35 8.10
54 25 5.79
60 15 3.47
66 5 1.16
72 0 0
4. The ordinate of a 6-h unit hydrograph are given below. A storm had three successive
6-h intervals of rainfall magnitude of 3.0, 5.0, and 4.0 cm respectively. Assuming an
index of 0.2cm/h and a base flow of 30m3/s. Determine and plot the resulting
hydrograph of flow.
Time (h) 0 3 6 9 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66
6-h UH 0 150 250 450 600 800 700 600 450 320 200 10 50 0
ordinates
(m3/s)
Solution: φ index = 0.2 cm/h
Loss = 0.2 x 6h = 1.2cm
Time ( h ) 0-6 6-12 12-18
Rainfall ( m ) 3.0 5.0 4.0
Losses 1.2 1.2 1.2
Excess rainfall ( cm) 1.8 3.8 2.8
Time 6-h UH DRH DRH DRH Total Base Flood
(h) (m3/s) due to due to due to DRH flow Hydrograph
1.8 cm 3.8cm 2.8cm (m3/s) (m3/s) (m3/s)
0 0 0 - - 0 30 30
3 150 270 - - 270 30 300
6 250 450 0 - 450 30 480
9 450 810 570 - 1380 30 1410
12 600 1080 950 0 2030 30 2060
18 800 1440 2280 700 4420 30 4450
24 700 1260 3040 1680 5980 30 6010
30 600 1080 2660 2240 5980 30 6010
36 450 810 2280 1960 5050 30 5080
42 320 576 1710 1680 3966 30 3996
48 200 360 1216 1260 2836 30 2866
54 100 180 760 896 1836 30 1866
60 50 90 380 560 1030 30 1060
66 0 0 190 280 470 30 500
72 0 0 0 140 140 30 170
78 0 0 0 0 0 30 30
Flood hydrograph
7000
6000
Discharge Q(m3/s)
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
0 3 6 9 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78
Time (h)
Flood hydrograph
