53:078 Principles of Hydrology (Spring 2004)
Problem #21
Unit Hydrograph Derivation by the Single Event Method

For an extreme rainstorm on a 23.9 mi2 catchment, hydrograph analysis produced the following rainfall excess hyetograph and direct runoff hydrograph:

 

Time (hours)

0-3

3-6

6-9

9-12

Pe (inches)

0.00

0.29

0.36

0.00

 

Time (hours)

0

3

6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36
DRH (cfs)

0

0 340 970 700 492 347 229 130 73 42 19 0

Use this information to compute the following:

  1. Compute the unit hydrograph by the single event method.
  2. Determine the effective duration tr (hour) of the unit hydrograph and justify your answer (one or two sentences).
  3. Check the result by comparing (1) the actual rainfall excess pattern for the storm after rescaling by rd, and (2) the true rainfall excess pattern for a tr-UH (with tr as determined in part b.)

Last changed on 03/31/04 by aab.