Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Lecture No. 1
Runoff:- The runoff of a catchment area in any apecified period is the total quantity of
water draining into a stream or into a reservoir in that period. This can be expressed

(i)centimeters of water over a catchment or

(ii) the total water in cubic meter or hectare – meters for given catchment.

Runoff is broadly classified into three types

1.Surface runoff

2. Sub-surface runoff

3.Base flow

The rainfall is disposed off in the following manner

1.Basin recharge

2.Direct runoff(or simply runoff)

3.Percolation down to ground water

4.Evaporation and tranpiration

1.Basin Recharge:- It consists of

(i)Rain intercepted by leaves and stems of vegetation

(ii) Water help up in surface depressions,commonly known as the depression storage

(iii)Soil moisture held as capillary water in pore spaces of soil or as hygroscopic water absorbed
on the surface of soil particles.

2.Direct Runoff:- Direct runoff is that water which reaches thestream shortly after it
falls as rain.Direct runoff consists of

(i)Overland flow or surface runoff

(ii)Sub-surface runoff or interflow(influent stream)

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

3.Percolaion Down to Ground water(Base Flow):- If the sub-soil is also

permeable ,water percolates deep downward to meet the ground water. Much of the low
water flow of river is derived from the ground water.

Basin:- A basin also called a drainage basin, catchment or watershed,is the area bounded by
the highest contour called ridge line from where precipited water is collected by surface and
subsurface flows and drained out throuugh a natural stream or river.

Stream:- Stream is a natural flow channel towards which the water from a basin flows. The
stream drains out the water so collected, into a larger water body.

Overland Flow:- Overland flow is that portion of rain water which flows over the land
surface in the form of sheet of water to join the nearest stream.

Surface runoff:- Surface runoff is the part of the preipitation and other drainage
water of a basin which moves over the natural land surface and then through a network of
channels of gradually large sections.

Stream flow:- Stream flow or the total runoff consists of surface flow, subsurface
flow,ground water flow (or base flow) and the flow due to precipitation falling directly on the
stream.

Drainage density:- Drainge density is defined as the ratio of the total length of all
stream of the catchment divided by its area

Dd = Ls/A

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Stream density:- Stream density is defined as the number of the streams of given order
per sq. km of the catchment area.

Ds = Ns / A

Centroid of the basin:- It is the point of weighted centre of a watershed.

Form Factor :- It is defined as the ratio of average width of the basin to its length
measured between the stream outlet to the most remote point on the basin.

Ff = Wb /Lb = A/Lb/Lb = A/Lb2

Compactness Coefficient:- It is ratio of the perimeter of the basin to the

circumference of a circle whole area is the area of the basin

Cc = P /√(4πA)

Elongation Ratio:- Elongation ratio is the ratio of the diameter of a circle of the same area
of the basin to the maximum length of the basin.

Er = 1/L * √(A/0.786) ≤ 1

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Lecture No. 2
Circulatory ratio:- It is the ratio o the area of the basin to the area of a circle having
the same perimeter as the basin.

Cr = 12.57 * A/P2 ≤ 1

Factors affecting Runoff:-

1.Precipitation characteristics

2.Shape and size of the catchment

3.Topography

4.Geological characteristics

5.Meteorological characteristics

6.Character of the catchment surface

7.Storage characteristics

Rainfall and Runoff relation:-

Rainfall = Evaporation + Runoff

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Flow duration curve:- It is cumuative frequency curve that shows the percent of
time specified discharges were equaled or exceeded during a given period.

Fig.1

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Mass Curve:- Mass curve indicates the total volume of runoff over time , with the X- axis
representing time periods like days, months, or years. This curve is derived from average
monthly flow records and shows the rate of flow at different points by the slope of curve.

Fig.2

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Lecture No.3
Computation of Runoff:- Methods for computing the runoff
(i)By linear or exponential regression

(ii) By empirical equations and tables

(iii)By Infiltration method

(iv)By unit hydrograph

(v)By Rational method

(i)By linear or exponential regression:-

(a) Straight line regression between P and R:- The equation of linear
regression line between observed values of R and P is

R = aP + b

(b) Exponential regression between P and R :-

R = β * Pm

(ii) By empirical equations and tables:-

(a) Runoff Coefficient:-

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

R= kP

R = Runoff (cm)
P = Precipitation (cm)
k= runoff coefficient

(b)Inglish’s Formula:-
Ghat areas (western ghats)

R = 0.85 P – 30.5

R and P are in cm

For Non ghat areas ( Plain regions)

R = 0.00394 P2 - 0.0701 P

(c)Lacey’s Formula :-

R = P /(1 + 304.8*F/(P*S))

S = Catchment factor
F = Mansoon duration factor

(d) Khosla’s formula:-

Rm = Pm - 0.48 Tm

Where

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Rm = monthly runoff in cm

T = mean temperature in degree celcius on the entire catchment

Pm = monthly precipitation in cm

(e) ICAR formula (for NILgiri hills):-

R = 1.511 (P1.44 ) ( Tm)-1.34 (A-0.0613)

A = water area km2

P and R = Annual rainfall in cm

(iii) Runoff by Infiltration method:-

Infiltration Index:- Infiltration index is the average rate of loss such that the volume
of rainfall in excess of that rate will be equal to the direct runoff.

There are two types of infiltration indices

(a)Average infiltration rate or W index

(b)φ index

(a)W index = (P – R – SR)/tr cm/hr

tr= duration of rainfall in hours

SR = Surface retention

(b)φ = (P – R )/tr

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Lecture No. 4
Q. The rainfall rates for successive 30 minutes intervals upto 4 hours are given below. If the
surface runoff is 3.6 cm. Determine φ and W indices.

Time(minutes) 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240

Rainfall intensity(cm/h) 0 1.3 2.8 4.1 3.9 2.8 2.0 1.8 0.9

Solution:-
(a)Computation of φ index :- Let ii = rate of rain in cm/h and φ index be expressed in cm/h

Then total

R = ∑(I – φi) t

Where t is the time in hours

Assuming φi to be greater than 1.3 cm/h but less that 1.8 cm/h , we have

3.6 = ( ( 2.8 – φi) + ( 4.1 - φi) + ( 3.9 - φi) + ( 2.8 – φi) + ( 2.0 – φi) + ( 1.8 - φi)) *30/60

From which

We get φi = 1.7 cm/h

Since this is greater than 1.3 nd less than 1.8 cm/h the above computations are correct.

(b)Computation of W index:-

Wi = (P - R – SR )/tr

Here

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

P = ( 1.3 + 2.8 + 4.1 + 3.9 + 2.8 + 2.0 + 1.8 + 0.9 ) * 30/60

P = 9.8 cm

R = 3.6 cm

SR = 0

tR= 4 hours

Wi = (9.8 - 3.6 – 0 )/4 = 1.55 cm/h

Hydrograph :- A hydrograph is a graph showing variations of discharge with time at a

particular point of a stream. It shows the time distribution of total runoff at the point of
measurement.

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Fig.3

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Unit Hydrograph:- A unit hydrograph is a hydrograph representing 1cm ( or 1 inch) of

runoff from a rainfall of some unit duration and specific distribution.

Fig.4

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Lecture No. 5
S - Hydrograph( Summation hydrograph):- S – hydrograph or S – curve is
a hydrograph that is produced by a continuous effective rainfall at a constant rate for indefinite
period. It is a continous rising curve , in the form of letter S , till equilibrium is reached. At the
time of equilibrium, it will represent a contant rate of continous effective rainfall , say R0 cm per
hour.

At the time of equilibrium the S curve will represent a runoff discharge given by

Q0 = (A * 100*100) R0/(100*3600)

= AR0/36 cumecs

A = Catchment area in hectares

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Fig.5

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Intantaneous unit Hydrograph:- Instantaneous unit hydrograph is a fictitious

conceptual unit hydrograph which represents surface runoff from the catchment due to an
instantaneous precipitation of rainfall excess volume of 1 cm. The IUH is designated as u(t,0) or
simply as u(t).

Fig.6

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Synthetic Unit Hydrograph:- We have seen that if the rainfall and runoff records
are available unit hydrographs can be derived. However in the case of ungauged rivers these
data are not available in some other cases, the data available may be scanty. For such
catchments unit hydrograph are derived by relating the selected basin characteristics to the
unit hydrograph shape. The resulting hydrograph derived from basin characteristics relationship

Is known as a synthetic unit hydrograph.

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

Fig.7

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

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Unit III Semester VII Engineering Hydrology

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