Introduction to Hydrology for

Engineers, Part 1
Notes, Handouts,
TR-55 Manual
 Course Topics
1. Pumps, Turbines and Pipe networks
– Moment of Momentum Revisited
– Types of pumps and turbines and uses
– Pump-pipe systems, networks
2. Open Channel Flow
– Specific Energy and Rapid Transitions
– Hydraulic Jumps
– Slowly varying flow
– Open channel control structures
3. Introduction to Surface Water Hydrology
– Hydrologic Cycle
– Rainfall, Runoff and Design Events
4. Hydraulic Structures
– Dams, weirs, spillways
– Culverts
– Safety and Effects of Hydraulic Structures
Notre Dame as an Example, 2016
Notre Dame as Example, Yesterday
 Outline of Hydrology Section
1. Introduction, Surface water processes, and
Watersheds
2. Overview of TR-55 Hydrology Manual
3. Curve Numbers and Runoff
4. Site Characteristics and Time of Concentration
5. Design Rainfall
6. Introduction to Hydrographs
7. TR-55 Tabular Hydrograph Method
8. TR-55 Graphical Peak Discharge Method
9. Rational Method
 What is Hydrology?
• Science dealing with the quantities, movement, properties (e.g.
contaminants) and use of earth’s fresh water, and its effect on natural and
human systems
– Surface water We will focus on this
– Ground water
– Frozen (snow and ice)
Not these
Examples:
– Severity and frequency of droughts
– Groundwater quality in agricultural areas
– Rainfall variability
– Soil and vegetation effects on hydrologic cycle
– Pollution transport
• Falls under the broad heading of water resources
• Here, we will concentrate on determining the input flows for our hydraulic
systems
– Very closely linked to rainfall and runoff
– Small regions studied here (easier)
The Hydrologic Cycle
 Hydrology vs Hydraulics
• Much of hydrology is based on observations that are
generalized to practice
– What is the expected maximum rainfall over a 24 hour
period?
• For what return period? 1 year, 10 year, 100 year?
– What will be the streamflow resulting from a given storm?
• Peak value, time variation, relationship to total amount of rainfall
• Hydraulics tends to start from basic physical principles,
then make approximations for practice
– What will be the flow depth in a given channel for a given
discharge?
– Hydraulics tends to work with manmade systems
• Often, surface water hydrology provides inputs (max
flow rate) for hydraulics (oversimplified explanation)
Important Processes for Surface Water
Hydrology
• Rainfall
– Geographic Location
– Amount/Time/Intensity
– Return Period
• Site Conditions
– Size/Length
– Gradient
– Soil/Vegetation Type/Development/Moisture
Content
 Watersheds
• Areas of interest are often watersheds
– Region that drains surface water to a given point
– Small end: parking lot for drain design
– Large end: Entire Mississippi basin for river at New
Orleans
• Need to delineate watersheds for hydrologic
analysis
1. Identify upstream points dividing watersheds (peaks,
ridges)
2. Connect points to form watershed area
• Example
What is the watershed that
drains to this location?
 What is the watershed that
drains to this location?

These streams are part of

the watershed
These streams are not
Identify dividing lines between
watersheds
(peaks, ridges, saddle points)
Connect dividing lines to
delineate watershed.
Lines are perpendicular to
contours going up valleys
and run along the tops of
ridges.
 Outline of Hydrology Section
1. Introduction, Surface water processes, and
Watersheds
2. Overview of TR-55 Hydrology Manual
3. Curve Numbers and Runoff
4. Site Characteristics and Time of Concentration
5. Design Rainfall
6. Introduction to Hydrographs
7. TR-55 Tabular Hydrograph Method
8. TR-55 Graphical Peak Discharge Method
9. Rational Method
 TR-55 Manual
• Gives widely used engineering methods to
compute both time variation of runoff and
maximum runoff from small watersheds
• For unconfined flow in open channels, not sewers
• Two main methods
1. Graphical Peak Discharge Method
2. Tabular Hydrograph Method
• Fairly long, but do not need to print entire
manual, particularly not Appendix A (soil groups)
• Very useful worksheets for computations
 Do Not Use TR-55 Manual if
• Sewer flow is important for the watershed
• Complete time records of stream flow are
required
• Runoff from snowmelt or rain on frozen
ground are important
• Complex storage routing is in place
• The 24 hour storm is not applicable to the
watershed of interest
 Overall Procedure for All Surface
Water Hydrology Here
1. Rainfall (inches, cm)
– May or may not need to include time varying
aspects
2. Runoff (inches, cm)
– Less than Rainfall
– Strongly dependent on watershed properties
3. Streamflow or Discharge (ft3/s, m3/s)
– Design Flows
– Function of runoff, watershed size, slope, …
 Beware of Frankenstein Units!
• Many formulas in hydrology will only work in one
specific set of (often strange) units. For example:
– Time in days
– Area in Acres, or Square Miles
– Distance in feet, or inches
– Volumes in acre-feet
– Rainfall rates in inches/hour
• If equations are computed in the wrong set of
units, they will not make sense
• Write down on your formula sheets, the proper
units for each equation, where applicable.
 Outline of Hydrology Section
1. Introduction, Surface water processes, and
Watersheds
2. Overview of TR-55 Hydrology Manual
3. Curve Numbers and Runoff
4. Site Characteristics and Time of Concentration
5. Design Rainfall
6. Introduction to Hydrographs
7. TR-55 Tabular Hydrograph Method
8. TR-55 Graphical Peak Discharge Method
9. Rational Method
 Runoff
• Divided into surface runoff (fast), groundwater runoff
(slow) (also interflow – usually small)
• Here, we will look largely at surface runoff to
streams, channels, and rivers
• Amount and time variation of surface runoff-produced
streamflow is often the design input for hydraulics
– Surface runoff reduced by interception, depression
storage, soil-moisture replenishment, groundwater
infiltration
• Surface runoff collects in streams, other channels
– Often develop stage (water level) –discharge curves to
obtain records of stream flow
• e.g. Sharp crested weir has strong elevation-discharge relationship
 Relationships between Rainfall and
Runoff
• Need a method to estimate runoff for ungauged sites
(most) – amount and time variation
– SCS (Soil Conservation Service, now Natural Resources
Conservation Service) methods
– Dependent on
• Land Use,
• Antecedent Soil Moisture,
• Soil Type, ABCD – sand/gravel (A) through clay (D)
• Rainfall Amount
1. Gives Curve Number: Runoff is simple function of
Precipitation and Curve Number
2. Combine with Synthetic Unit Hydrograph to get predicted
hydrograph from given storm
• Useful for sites where basin response time scale is similar
to or larger than storm time scales
– If basin response time is very small, use different methods
 Runoff Magnitudes
• SCS Procedures use data-driven methods to
find amount of runoff compared to amount of
rainfall
• Need to know:
– Catchment properties: Uses, soil types,
antecedent moisture
– Storm Characteristics: rainfall amounts in given
time periods
– Runoff can be quite nonlinear compared to rainfall
 Antecedent Moisture Conditions and
Soil Groups

•Often use AMC II (average moisture for general design)

•Runoff less for low soil moisture, greater for higher soil moisture
•Runoff higher for low infiltration rate (C-D), runoff lower for easy
infiltration to groundwater (A-B)
Some SCS Runoff Curve Numbers for
AMC II

Curve Numbers
CN
 Curve Numbers and Runoff
• Curve Number (0-100) gives a measure of the tendency toward
runoff (higher gives more runoff)
• Find Soil-moisture deficit S (inches) at beginning of runoff
• If Cumulative Rainfall P (inches) large enough, runoff occurs
• Procedure to estimate CN from Figs. 2-2, 2-3, 2-4, Table 2, TR-55
1000 − 10* CN
S=
CN
If P > 0.2 S
( P − 0.2S )
2

R=
P + 0.8S
Otherwise
R=0
 Simple Runoff Examples
1. If we have a storm that provides 1 inch of
rain for a meadow with Soil Group A and
AMC II, what runoff will it produce?
2. Do the same thing for a residential area with
1/8 acre lots and soil group D
 Example 1
• For a meadow with soil group A and AMC II, the
curve number is CN=30 (quite low)
• Gives S = 23.3 inches (very high)
• P= 1 inch
• 0.2*S = 4.6 inches
• Since P<0.2*S, Runoff R=0
• No direct runoff from this storm, but after some
time, the groundwater base flow will increase
 Example 2
• For a residential area with 1/8 acre lots, AMC
II, and soil group D, CN=92 (high runoff)
• Gives S = 0.86 inches (low)
• P = 1 inch
• 0.2*S = 0.174 inches
• Since P>0.2*S
Runoff R = 0.41 inches
• If we double precipitation to 2 inches, we find
R=1.24 inches
• So runoff is very nonlinear
 Why is Runoff Nonlinear?
• When rain first starts, it is very easy for water to
infiltrate into the ground, get trapped on leaves,
and just make things wet
– Initial rainfall does not lead to runoff
• After some time, it is harder for rainfall to make
its way into groundwater, etc., and runoff begins
– Some rainfall still makes it to GW etc
• After a long time, saturated conditions mean that
all additional rainfall leads to runoff
SCS Runoff with CN and Rainfall

All additional
rainfall
becomes
runoff here

Runoff does not begin until a certain

amount of rainfall has occurred
 Curve Numbers When Table 2-2
Assumptions do not Apply
• When assumptions do not apply (e.g. different
% impervious), can make modified CN
• Follow Fig 2-2 flow chart
• Ex: Type B Soil, ½ acre lots, 35% connected
impervious, good condition, 5 inches rainfall –
does not fit assumptions of Table 2-2
– Find CN for open space, type B
– Use Fig 2-3 to find CN for 35% impervious
– Equations in Appendix F
 When Table 2-2 Assumptions do not
Apply (cont.)
• Sometimes impervious area is not all
“connected”
– Not continuous along drainage path
• May need to use Fig. 2-4
– Type B soil; good condition open area; 22%
impervious; unconnected impervious area is 50%
of total impervious area
• Follow flow chart, Fig. 2-2
 Overall Runoff from Composite
Watersheds
• For regions with more than one type of land cover/land
use, make Overall CN from individual CN
• Area Weighted
– Can use Worksheet 2, TR-55
• Example: A catchment has 10 acres of previous
example, and 10 acres Soil type C, residential ¼ acre
lots, 38% impervious
• For some purposes (Tabular Hydrograph Method), you
will have to divide overall watershed into subareas, and
compute composite CN for each
How to Find the Amount of Runoff Generated
During Various Portions of a Storm

• Say we have a storm We need this

(Inches)
hyetograph, site

Runoff
time variation
of runoff
conditions
• We can now find the total
runoff produced
• To use unit hydrographs,
To produce
need the time variation of this
runoff produced
• How?
 Runoff Time Variation
• Simple solution to problem of runoff time
variation
1. At each time tj, find cumulative runoff from
cumulative precipitation up to that time, Rj
2. Runoff generated during that time interval of
tj-1 to tj is the difference between runoffs
dRj=Rj-Rj-1
3. These dRj values are inputs into the unit
hydrograph for that watershed
 Runoff Time Variation Example
• Say we have an urban industrial district with soil
group B, AMC II
• Rainfall is
Time (hrs) Rainfall Cumulative
(inches/hour) Rainfall
(inches)
0-2 0.1 0.2
2-4 0.2 0.6
4-6 0.5 1.6
6-8 0.3 2.2
8-10 0.3 2.8
10-12 0.1 3.0
12-14 0.05 3.1
 Cumulative Runoff
• From Chart, CN = 88
• S = 1.36 inches
• From cumulative
rainfall, find cumulative
runoff from
If P > 0.2 S
( P − 0.2S )
2

R=
P + 0.8S No runoff from first
Otherwise rainfall interval

R=0
 Incremental Runoff
• Incremental Runoff
found from difference in
runoffs produced
between two successive
time intervals
• These are the inputs for
a unit hydrograph
• These are not the time
variation of actual
discharge in a stream
 Outline of Hydrology Section
1. Introduction, Surface water processes, and
Watersheds
2. Overview of TR-55 Hydrology Manual
3. Curve Numbers and Runoff
4. Site Characteristics and Time of Concentration
5. Design Rainfall
6. Introduction to Hydrographs
7. TR-55 Tabular Hydrograph Method
8. TR-55 Graphical Peak Discharge Method
9. Rational Method
 Time of Concentration
• One of the most important factors of synthetic
unit hydrographs is the Time of Concentration, Tc
– Time for runoff to reach design point from most
distant location in watershed
– Three phases: add together to get total time
1. Sheet flow (very shallow over planar surface)
2. Shallow concentrated flow (gutter)
3. Open-channel flow (stream)
– Or, single empirical equation based on flow length,
watershed slope, and land use/soil type
– All have Frankenstein combinations of units: be
extremely careful
 Sheet Flow
• Very shallow depths only (<~0.1 ft)
– Flow across parking lot, grass, etc.
– Usually confined to first 100 feet or so


0.8

 (
Tt1 = 0.007 ( nL )  / P20.5 S00.4 )
Tt1 time in hours
n Manning's sheet flow roughness
L Flow length in feet
P2 2-year, 24-hr rainfall (inches)
S0 Dimensionless slope (.01 etc)
 Shallow Concentrated Flow
• When sheet flow converges to a more
consolidated flow in lower areas
– Gutters, etc.
V = 16.1345S00.5 Unpaved
V = 20.3282 S00.5 Paved
V Flow velocity in ft/s
You will be given lengths,
S0 Dimensionless slope
slopes, etc., for any problems
Tt2 = Lt 2 / V
Lt2 distance in feet
Tt2 in seconds if Lt2 in feet
 Channel Flow
• Exactly as before – use units of feet for
bankfull depth
• Need to specify some general flow depth –
does not change with flow rate
1.49 2/3 1/2
V= Rh S0
n
V in ft/s
Rh in ft
S0 dimensionless slope
Tt3 = Lt3 / V
Lt3 in ft
Tt3 in seconds
 Overall Time of Concentration
• Total time of Concentration
Tc= Tt1 + Tt2 + Tt3
• Make sure that units are the same when
adding
• Worksheet 3
 Alternate Time of Concentration
• For small watersheds (<2,000 acres)
• Based on regression of data
=

0.7

(
Tc  L0.8 ( S + 1)  / 1140*(100 S0 )0.5 )
Tc in hours
L Length in ft from most distant
point in watershed
S Soil moisture deficit calculated from
Curve Number CN (NOT SLOPE!!)
S0 Average slope