Infiltration and Runoff
Infiltration and Runoff
Infiltration and Runoff
Soil moisture
Quality of water
Instruments for Measuring Infiltration
Infiltrometers (single or double ring)
Rainfall simulators
Infiltration Equations and Indices
1. Horton’s Equation
Horton developed a mathematical equation for defining the rate
curve of infiltration capacity given by:
𝑓 = 𝑓𝑐 + 𝑓𝑜 − 𝑓𝑐 𝑒 −𝑘𝑡
fo = initial infiltration capacity; t = time since the start of rainfall
k = a constant depending on type of soil and vegetation
fc = constant infiltration capacity
2. SCS (Soil Conservation Services) Curve Method
The depth of excess rainfall or direct runoff is given as:
𝑃 − 0.2𝑆 2
𝑃𝑒 =
𝑃 + 0.8𝑆
Total infiltrated water depth is then given by:
𝑆 × 𝑃𝑒
𝐹𝑎 =
𝑃 − 0.2𝑆
P = total depth of precipitation
S = potential maximum retention and is related to curve number as:
1000
𝑆= − 10
𝐶𝑁
Where S is measured in inches
Infiltration Indices
Infiltration indices in general express the infiltration as an average
rate throughout the storm
Infiltration indices are best suited for use in the analysis of major
flood producing storms occurring on wet soils
φ-index
The φ-index is an average rainfall intensity above which the
rainfall volume equals the runoff volume
The φ-index can be determined for each flood event for which the
runoff measurements are available
The φ-index is used in unit hydrograph studies to define the
pattern of excess rainfall
The steps for finding φ-index are as follows:
1. Compute the depths of rainfall (Vp) and direct runoff (Vd).
2. Make an initial estimate of the phi index:
𝑉𝑝 −𝑉𝑑
∅=
𝐷
in which D is the duration of rainfall (excluding that part separated
as initial abstraction) and ∅ is an intensity, with dimension of length
per unit time such as inches per hour.
3(a) Compute the loss function, L(t):
∅ 𝑖𝑓 ∅ ≤ 𝑃(𝑡)
𝐿 𝑡 =ቊ
𝑃 𝑡 𝑖𝑓 ∅ > 𝑃(𝑡)
Where P(t) is the ordinate of rainfall intensity hyetograph at time t
3(b) Compute the total depth of losses, VL:
𝑉𝐿 = 𝐿(𝑡) × ∆𝑡
Time
1 2 3 4 5 6
(hour)
Rainfall
0 10 22 30 39 45.5
(mm)
Time
7 8 9 10 11
(hour)
Rainfall
50 55.5 60 64 68
(mm)
Definition
The unit hydrograph of a drainage basin is defined as a hydrograph of
direct runoff resulting from 1 cm of effective rainfall applied uniformly over
the basin area at a uniform rate during a specified period of time.
Assumptions of Unit Hydrograph Theory
1. The excess rainfall has a constant intensity within the effective
duration (time invariance).
3. The base time of the DRH (the duration of direct runoff) resulting
from an excess rainfall of given duration is constant.
𝑄𝑛 = 𝑃𝑚 𝑈𝑛−𝑚+1
𝑚=1
The notation n ≤ M as the upper limit of the summation shows that
the terms are summed for m = 1,2,... , n for n < M, but for n > M,
the summation is limited to m = 1,2,. . . ,M.
Example: Find the half hour unit hydrograph using the excess rainfall
hyetograph and direct runoff hydrograph given in the table below.
Time (1/2 hour) Rainfall (in) Direct runoff (cfs)
1 1.06 428
2 1.93 1923
3 1.81 5297
4 9131
5 10625
6 7834
7 3921
8 1846
9 1402
10 830
11 313