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    1 6 Rational Method

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    Adnan ullah
    The Rational Method is used to determine peak flow rates for small watersheds. It relates peak runoff rate to rainfall intensity, drainage area, and a runoff coefficient. The runoff coefficient is based on land use and soil type. The time of concentration is also required and is the time for runoff from the furthest parts of the watershed to reach the outlet. An example application to a 5 km2 watershed with varying land uses is provided to demonstrate calculating peak runoff rate.

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    1 6 Rational Method

    Uploaded by

    Adnan ullah
    12 views6 pages
    The Rational Method is used to determine peak flow rates for small watersheds. It relates peak runoff rate to rainfall intensity, drainage area, and a runoff coefficient. The runoff coefficient is based on land use and soil type. The time of concentration is also required and is the time for runoff from the furthest parts of the watershed to reach the outlet. An example application to a 5 km2 watershed with varying land uses is provided to demonstrate calculating peak runoff rate.

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    1-6-Rational-Method

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    The Rational Method is used to determine peak flow rates for small watersheds. It relates peak runoff rate to rainfall intensity, drainage area, and a runoff coefficient. The runoff coefficient is based on land use and soil type. The time of concentration is also required and is the time for runoff from the furthest parts of the watershed to reach the outlet. An example application to a 5 km2 watershed with varying land uses is provided to demonstrate calculating peak runoff rate.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    12 views6 pages

    1 6 Rational Method

    Uploaded by

    Adnan ullah
    The Rational Method is used to determine peak flow rates for small watersheds. It relates peak runoff rate to rainfall intensity, drainage area, and a runoff coefficient. The runoff coefficient is based on land use and soil type. The time of concentration is also required and is the time for runoff from the furthest parts of the watershed to reach the outlet. An example application to a 5 km2 watershed with varying land uses is provided to demonstrate calculating peak runoff rate.

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    of 6

    Rational Method

    • It has been reported that Mulvaney in 1851 has proposed this


    method for determination of the peak flow rate for urban
    catchments.

    • However, it is fairly applicable to small agricultural watersheds of


    40 to 80 hectares size (Chow, 1964).

    • Rainfall intensity i begins instantaneous and continues indefinitely


    and is homogeneous over the drainage basin.

    • The rate of runoff will increase until the time of concentration t c,


    when the entire watershed is contributing to flow at the outlet.

    1
    I

    Qp
    Recession
    curve
    Runoff Q

    Tc
    Time
    Time of
    concentration
    /equilibrium

    2
    The peak runoff rate Qp is expressed as

    Qp = 1/3.6 * C I A
    where
    Qp = peak runoff rate (m3/s)

    I = rainfall intensity (mm/h) for a duration equal to time of


    concentration
    A = area of drainage basin (km2)
    C = coefficient of runoff (Table 1)

    For multiple land use types within a single catchment a


    weighted runoff coefficient is determined and weighted by area:
    n
     Ci Ai
    weighted C  i
    n
     Ai 3
    i
    Table 1. Values of runoff coefficient factor, C.
    Slope Loam Silt
    Vegetation Sandy Stiff
    range loam
    Type loam soil clay soil
    % Clay soil
    0-5 0.1 0.3 0.4
    Woodland
    5-10 0.25 0.35 0.5
    and forests
    10-30 0.3 0.5 0.6
    0-5 0.1 0.3 0.4
    Grassland 5-10 0.16 0.36 0.55
    10-30 0.22 0.42 0.6
    0-5 0.3 0.5 0.6
    Agricultural
    5-10 0.4 0.6 0.7
    land
    10-30 0.52 0.72 0.82

    4
    Example 1
    A catchment has an area of 5 km2. The average slope of the land surface is
    0.006 and the maximum travel length of rainfall in the catchment is
    approximately 1.95 km. The maximum depth of rainfall in the area with a
    return period of 25 years is as tabulated below:
    Time duration (min) 5 10 15 20 25 30 40 60
    Rainfall depth (mm) 15 25 32 45 50 53 60 65
    Assume that 2 km2 of the catchment area has cultivated sandy loam soil (C = 0.2) and 3
    km2 has light clay cultivated soil (C = 0.7). Determine the peak flow rate of runoff by
    using the Rational method.
    Solution
    The time of concentration is given by Kirpich’s equation

    Tc = 0.0195 L0.77 S-0.385 = 0.0195 (1950)0.77 (0.006)-0.385 = 47.65 min

    The maximum rainfall depth for 47.65 min duration would fall between the
    period 40 - 60 min and is located at 7.65 min after the 40 min period at which
    the maximum rainfall depth is 60 mm, as per the available data . 5
    The rainfall depth during the 7.65 min period = (65-60)/20 * 7.65 = 1.9 mm
    Therefore, at 47.65 min duration, the rainfall depth = 60 + 1.9 = 61.9 mm

    The average rainfall intensity = Maximum rainfall depth / Tc


    (during the period of time of concentration)

    = 61.9/47.65 x60 = 77.96 mm/h

    Runoff coefficient = C = (2.0 x 0.2 + 3.0 x 0.7)/(2.0 + 3.0) = 0.5

    Peak Runoff Rate = Qp = (1/3.6) CIA = (1/3.6) x 0.5 x 77.96 x 5.0


    = 54.138 m3/s

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