Runoff

Runoff starts when the rainfall rate exceeds the rate of infiltration. For lumped models rainfall
volume can be obtained by integrating the rainfall excess:
i
f
t
t
i
f
t
t

t f i Q ) (
Where Q is the runoff volume, i is the rainfall rate, and f is the infiltration rate. arious methods
have been developed to determine flow volumes, pea! flow rates, and runoff hydrographs.
"hese methods wor! reasonably well for hydrologic models, but are less effective for water
#uality models, since sediment or chemical concentrations are dependent on flow path.
Estimating Runoff Volume
SCS (NRCS) Curve Number Method
$n this method, the total rainfall is separated into three components as shown below,
i
f
t
P- Q
I a
Q
i
f
t
P- Q
I a
Q
$
a
is the initial abstraction before ponding (in),
% is the cumulative rainfall (in)
& is the runoff (in)
& is estimated from the following relationships:
Where ' ( maximum soil water storage potential (in) and is given by

'

,
_

)*
)***
CN
S

alues of +,, the +urve ,umber, have been established for various situations.
-verage coefficients are calculated for composite areas:
i
i i
A
A CN
CN

where C
i
is the coefficient applicable to the area A
i
.
Land Use Curve Numbers from TR-55 (Urban Hydrology)
S) +
I
- (P
)
I
- P (
= Q
a
2
a
es!r"#t"on on
$n#ut S!reen
Cover es!r"#t"on
Curve Number
for Hydrolog"!
So"l %rou#
Cover Ty#e and Hydrolog"! Cond"t"on
&
$m#erv"ous
'reas
' ( C
Agricultural
Row Crops - Staight Rows + Crop Residue Cover-
Good Condition (1)
64 7 !" !
Co##ercial $r%an &istricts' Co##erical and (usiness ! !) )" )4 )
*orest +oods(") - Good Condition ,- 7- 77
Grass./asture /asture0 Grassland0 or Range(,) - Good Condition ,) 61 74 !-
1igh &ensit2
Residential
Residential districts %2 average lot si3e' 1.! acre
or less
6 77 ! )- )"
4ndustrial $r%an district' 4ndustrial 7" !1 !! )1 ),
5ow &ensit2
Residential
Residential districts %2 average lot si3e' 1." acre
lot
" 4 7- !- !
6pen Spaces
6pen Space (lawns0 par7s0 gol8 courses0
ce#eteries0 etc9)(4) *air Condition (grass cover
-: to 7-:)
4) 6) 7) !4
/ar7ing and /aved
Spaces
4#pervious areas' /aved par7ing lots0 roo8s0
driveswa2s0 etc9 (e;cluding right-o8-wa2)
1-- )! )! )! )!
Residential 1.!
acre
Residential districts %2 average lot si3e' 1.! acre
or less
6 77 ! )- )"
Residential 1.4
acre
Residential districts %2 average lot si3e' 1.4 acre ,! 61 7 !, !7
Residential 1.,
acre
Residential districts %2 average lot si3e' 1., acre ,- 7 7" !1 !6
Residential 1."
acre
Residential districts %2 average lot si3e' 1." acre " 4 7- !- !
Residential 1 acre Residential districts %2 average lot si3e' 1 acre "- 1 6! 7) !4
Residential " acres Residential districts %2 average lot si3e' " acre 1" 46 6 77 !"
+ater. +etlands - - - - -
Runoff !urve numbers for hydrolog"! so"l !over Hydrolog"! So"l
%rou#
Land Use Treatment or
)ra!t"!e
Hydrolog"!
Cond"t"on
' ( C
*allow Straight Row --- 77 !6 )1 )4
Row Crops
Straight Row /oor 7" !1 !! )1
Good 67 7! ! !)
Contoured /oor 7- 7) !4 !!
Good 6 7 !" !6
<erraced /oor 66 74 !- !"
Good 6" 71 7! !1
S#all Grain
Straight Row /oor 6 76 !4 !!
Good 6, 7 !, !7
Contoured /oor 6, 74 !" !
Good 61 7, !1 !4
<erraced /oor 61 7" 7) !"
Good ) 7- 7! !1
Close-seeded 5egu#es or Rotation
=eadow
Straight Row /oor 66 77 ! !)
Good ! 7" !1 !
Contoured /oor 64 7 !, !
Good 6) 7! !,
<erraced /oor 6, 7, !- !,
Good 1 67 76 !-
/asture or Range
>atural /oor 6! 7) !6 !)
*air 4) 6) 7) !4
Good ,) 61 74 !-
Contoured /oor 47 67 !1 !!
*air " ) 7 !,
Good 6 , 7- 7)
=eadow >atural Good ,- ! 71 7!
+oods
>atural /oor 4 66 77 !,
*air ,6 6- 7, 7)
Good " 7- 77
*ar#steads --- --- ) 74 !" !6
Roads
(dirt) --- 7" !" !7 !)
(hard sur8ace) --- 74 !4 )- )"
ef"n"t"on of SCS Hydrolog"! So"l %rou#s*
3.4 Definition of SCS Hydrologi Soil !ro"#$%
"he '+' has classified more than .*** soils into four hydrologic soil groups (/'0) according
to their minimum infiltration rate obtained for bare soil after prolonged wetting.
Soil Group Description Final Infiltration Soil
Rate (mm/h) Texture
- &o'e$t r"noff #otential. $ncludes deep 12)3 sand,
sands with very little silt and clay, also loamy sand,
deep, rapidly permeable loess. sandy loam
4 (oderately lo' r"noff #otential. 5ostly .21 silt loam,
sandy soils less deep than -, and loess less loam
deep or less aggregated than -, but the group
as a whole has above2average infiltration
after thorough wetting
+ (oderately )ig) r"noff #otential. +omprises )2. sandy clay
shallow soils and soils containing considerable loam
clay and colloids, though less than those of group
6. "he group has below2average infiltration after
presaturation.
6 Hig)e$t r"noff #otential. $ncludes mostly clays of *2) clay loam,
high swelling percent, but the group also includes silty clay
some shallow soils with nearly impermeable loam,
subhori7ons near the surface. sandy clay,
silty clay,
clay

"
r
e
!
t

R
u
n
o
f
f

(
"
n
!
h
e
s
)
Ra"nfall ("n!hes)
Estimating Peak Discharge
When water entering an area is more than what can be transmitted or routed by established
watercourses, flooding occurs. 0enerating hydrographs from big storms becomes the 8ob of
flood prediction. We use the word #redition because we still deal with probabilities of events.
'ome of the reasons we study runoff pea!s and volumes are:
"o #uantify the volume and rate of water to be handled by water management facilities
"o predict soil erosion and transport of surface pollutants
"o identify critical non2point source pollution areas
)ea+ "s!harge , "he maximum volume flow rate passing a particular location during a storm
event. %ea! discharge has units of volume9time (e.g. ft
:
9sec, m
:
9sec, acre2feet9hour).
"he pea! discharge is a primary design variable for the design of stormwater runoff facilities
such as pipe systems, storm inlets and culverts, and small open channels. $t is also used for some
hydrologic planning such as small detention facilities in urban areas.
"here have been many different approaches for determining the pea! runoff from an area. -s a
result many different models (e*"ation$) for pea! discharge estimation have been developed.
$deally, we would li!e to have a :*2year flood record available at every site where a pea!
discharge estimate is needed for design wor!. $f such data were always available, then a
fre#uency analysis of the flood record could be used to characteri7e the flood potential at the site
of the design wor!.
5ore often than not, flood records are rarely available where pea! discharge estimates are
needed for design wor!. "herefore, it is necessary to use either a prediction method that was
developed from flood fre#uency analyses of gaged data in the region or an uncalibrated
prediction e#uation that was designed for use at ungaged sites.
.
Rational Method
"he most widely used uncalibrated e#uation is the Rational 5ethod. 5athematically, the
rational method relates the pea! discharge (#, m
:
9sec) to the drainage area (-, ha), the rainfall
intensity (i, mm9hr), and the runoff coefficient (+).
'$ ;nits - . /0//12C"'
Where # ( design pea! runoff rate in m
:
9s
+ ( the runoff coefficient
i ( rainfall intensity in mm9h for the design return period and for a
duration e#ual to the <time of concentration= of the watershed.
>nglish ;nits - . C"'
Where # ? ft
:
9sec
i ( rainfall intensity (in9hr)
- ( watershed area in acres
+ ( runoff coefficient, ratio of the pea! runoff rate to the
rainfall intensity, dimensionless
"o use the rational method there are a few assumptions.
Rainfall intensity and duration is uniform over the area of study
'torm duration must be e#ual to or greater than the time of concentration of the
watershed.
Time of Concentration (T
c
)
6efinition ? "he time re#uired for water to flow from the most remote (in time of flow) point of
the area to the outlet once the soil has become saturated and minor depressions filled. $t is
assumed that when the duration of the storm e#uals the time of concentration, all parts of the
watershed are contributing simultaneously to the discharge at the outlet. "here are several
methods for computing time of concentration. "wo of the most popular methods are the @irpich
e#uation and the '+' lag formula.
3"r#"!h 4ormula
T
!
. /0//52 L
/055
S
-/0625
where "
c
( time of concentration in minutes.
A ( maximum length of flow (ft)
' ( the watershed gradient (ft9ft )or the difference in elevation between the
outlet and the most remote point divided by the length A.
SCS Lag 4ormula
T
!
. /0//517 L
/02
(8///9CN , :)
/05
S
-/05
where A ( watershed length (ft)
' ( watershed slope (ft9ft)
+, ( curve number
Rat"onal Method Runoff Coeff"!"ents
"he rational method uses runoff coefficients in the same fashion as the '+' curve number
method for estimating runoff volume. 4elow are several tables for different land conditions.
+"noff Coeffiient C for Agri"lt"ral ,ater$)ed$ -Soil !ro"# ./ (S)'a0 et al.1 2333).
Cro# and Hydrologi Coeffiient C for +ainfall +ate$ of
Condition 24 556) 277 556) 277 556)
Row crop, poor practice *.B: *.BC *.BB
Row crop, good practice *..D *.CB *.B3
'mall grain, poor practice *.:1 *.:1 *.:1
'mall grain, good practice *.)1 *.3) *.33
5eadow, rotation, good *.3E *.:B *.:E
%asture, permanent, good *.*3 *.)D *.3:
Woodland, mature, good *.*3 *.)* *.)C
C Factor +onversion Factors for /ydrologic 'oil 0roups -, +, and 6.
Cro# and Hydrologi 8ator$ for Con9erting C fro5 !ro"# . Soil$ to
Condition !ro"# A !ro"# C !ro"# D
Row crop, poor practice *.1E ).*E ).)3
Row crop, good practice *.1B ).*E ).).
'mall grain, poor practice *.1B ).)) ).)B
'mall grain, good practice *.1. ).)) ).)B
5eadow, rotation, good *.1) ).): ).)1
%asture, permanent, good *.B. ).3) ).:)
Woodland, mature, good *..C ).3D )..*
-verage coefficients are calculated for composite areas:
i
i i
A
A C
C

where C
i
is the coefficient applicable to the area A
i
.
SCS Triangular Hydrograph Method
$n this method, pea! runoff is determined using the curve number approach. "he assumption of
uniform rainfall still applies. "he hydrograph ta!es on a triangular shape with e#ual pea! and
flow volume as in the rational method. "his can be seen below.

%ea! runoff rate is calculated by
- . /0//18;'9T
#
where & ( runoff volume in mm depth (from the curve number)
# ( runoff rate in m
:
9s
- ( watershed area in ha.
"
p
( time of pea! in hours
$n this method, the <time to pea!= does not e#ual the time of concentration as in the rational
method, in this method time to pea! "
p
e#uals
T
#
. 91 < T
L
. 91 < /07T
!
Where "
p
( time to pea! (hours)
6 ( duration of excess rainfall
"
A
( time of lag
"
c
( time of concentration
$t is assumed that the total time of flow is 3.BD "
p
and the recession time of the hydrograph is
).BD "
p
.
"ime of concentration is calculated using the '+' Aag formula discussed earlier