WRRCTR No.42 Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph Analysis of Hawaiian Small Watersheds
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1970-08
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Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa
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Abstract
The analysis of about 240 flood hydrographs of 29 small watersheds on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, shows some unique hydrologic characteristics. A typical Hawaiian small watershed has a small area, flash peak, short time to peak, and small recession constant. Most of the hydrographs have the typical shape of a steep triangle. Based on statistical analysis of the observed flood hydrographs, a linear relationship has been found between peak discharge and the volume of runoff for each watershed. Because of the similar shape of the semi-dimensionless hydrographs, a unit-hydrograph with uncertain duration can be developed for each small watershed. The duration of such unit hydrographs can be determined by using the S-hydrograph technique with the equilibrium discharge as a criterion and the trial-and-error method utilizing a digital computer. The durations of the unit hydrograph, or the effective rainfall durations for Hawaiian small watersheds, were found to range from 5 minutes ot one hour. A good correlation has been found to exist between effective rainfall duration and the watershed area. Such a short duration unit hydrograph can be used to develop an instantaneous unit hydrograph by using Nash's conceptual model and the method of moments, assuming the effective rainfall is uniformly distributed with respect to time and space. The instantaneous unit hydrgraph for each watershed can then be solved by a computer. The two instantaneous unit hydrograph parameters, Gamma function argument, N, and reservoir storage constant, K, were found to correlate with areas of small watersheds. The instantaneous unit hydrograph of a given ungaged area can be determined by knowing the area of the watershed. The flood hydrograph with a given duration can also be solved by applying the incomplete Gamma function. The superposition characteristics of a linear model can be applied for hydrograph analysis of Hawaiian small watersheds. Hence, the design discharge with certain recurrence years for different engineering purposes can be directly multiplied with the design runoff, which may be obtained with the reference of the rainfall depth-frequency-duration charts and soil conditions for certain areas. A hydrograph study using an instantaneous unit hydrograph provides a good approach for hydrologic research since the short duration of effective rainfall is close to the duration caused by an instantaneous burst of rainfall. The study also synthesizes the parametric hydrograph which simplifies hydrograph analysis.
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Keywords
Watersheds -- Hawaii -- Oahu., Hydrology -- Hawaii -- Oahu.
Citation
Wang R-Y, Wu I-P, Lau LS. 1970. Instantaneous unit hydrograph analysis of Hawaiian small watersheds. Honolulu(HI): Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa. WRRC technical report, 42.
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vi + 54 pages
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
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