Hydrological Sciences-Journal-des Sciences Hydrologiques, 46(3) June 2001

349

Reservoir attenuation of floods from ungauged

basins

KWAN TUN LEE, CHIN-HSIN CHANG, MING-SANG YANG

Department of River and Harbor Engineering, National Ocean University, Keelung 202,
Taiwan, ROC
e-mail: ktlee@mail.ntou.edu.tw

WEI-SHENG YU
Computer Division, Chung Yu Junior College of Business Administration, Keelung 202,
Taiwan, ROC
Abstract In a typical reservoir routing problem, the givens are the inflow hydrograph and reservoir characteristic functions. Flood attenuation investigations can be
easily accomplished using a hydrological or hydraulic routing of the inflow hydrograph to obtain the reservoir outflow hydrograph, unless the inflow hydrograph is
unavailable. Although attempts for runoff simulation have been made in ungauged
basins, there is only a limited degree of success in special cases. Those approaches
are, in general, not suitable for basins with a reservoir. The objective of this study is
to propose a procedure for flood attenuation estimation in ungauged reservoir
basins. In this study, a kinematic-wave based geomorphic IUH model was adopted.
The reservoir inflow hydrograph was generated through convolution integration
using the rainfall excess and basin geomorphic information. Consequently, a fourthorder Runge-Kutta method was used to route the inflow hydrograph to obtain the
reservoir outflow hydrograph without the aid of recorded flow data. Flood attenuation was estimated through the analysis of the inflow and outflow hydrographs of
the reservoir. An ungauged reservoir basin in southern Taiwan is presented as an
example to show the applicability of the proposed analytical procedure. The analytical results provide valuable information for downstream flood control work for
different return periods.
Key words reservoir routing; kinematic-wave based GIUH; Runge-Kutta method

Laminage de crues de bassins versants non jaugs par un rservoir

Rsum Classiquement, dans un problme de laminage par un rservoir, les
donnes sont l'hydrogramme d'entre et les fonctions caractristiques du rservoir.
L'tude du laminage de la crue peut tre mene aisment en appliquant un transfert
hydrologique ou hydraulique l'hydrogramme d'entre pour estimer l'hydrogramme de sortie, sauf si l'hydrogramme d'entre est indisponible. Bien que des
tentatives de simulation de dbit aient t ralises sur des bassins versants non
jaugs, elles ne sont satisfaisantes que dans certains cas. Ces approches ne sont en
gnral pas applicables des bassins versants prsentant un rservoir. L'objectif de
cette tude est de proposer une procdure d'estimation du laminage de crue en
bassins versants non jaugs prsentant un rservoir. Nous nous sommes appuys sur
un modle de type HUI gomorphologique base d'onde cinmatique.
L'hydrogramme entrant dans le rservoir a t gnr par convolution de la pluie
nette et de l'information geomorphologique caractrisant le bassin versant. Puis une
mthode de Runge-Kutta du quatrime ordre a t utilise pour transfrer
l'hydrogramme entrant en hydrogramme sortant du rservoir, sans recours des
donnes observes. Le laminage a t estim partir de l'analyse des hydrogrammes
entrant et sortant du rservoir. La procdure analytique ainsi propose est mise en
uvre sur un bassin versant non jaug prsentant un rservoir au sud de Taiwan. Les
rsultats analytiques fournissent une information pertinente pour le contrle des
crues l'aval, et ce pour diffrentes priodes de retour.
Mots clefs laminage en rservoir; GIUH base d'onde cinmatique; mthode de Runge-Kutta

Open for discussion until 1 December 200]

350

Kwan Tun Lee et al.

INTRODUCTION
Flood waves passing through a reservoir are delayed and attenuated while they enter and
spread over the reservoir storage area. Excess water during storms can be temporarily
stored in the reservoir to alleviate downstream flooding. Numerical solutions of the continuity and momentum equations are usually applied to investigate flood propagation
through a reservoir (Garcia-Navarro & Zorraquino, 1993). Linearized equations (Singh
& Li, 1993) can also retain the essential dynamic features of the flood waves in a reservoir. If the reservoir is not excessively long and the inflow hydrograph does not rapidly
change with time, the flow can be approximated using a simple technique known as
level-pool routing (Linsley et al, 1982; Fread, 1993). In this technique, the reservoir is
assumed always to have a horizontal water surface throughout its area. Graphical techniques such as the storage indication method (Lawler, 1964) were used in previous
works. Currently, direct computational techniques, without the aid of graphs are more
acceptable. Numerical methods, such as the Runge-Kutta algorithm (Chow et al, 1988;
Kessler & Diskin, 1991; Bedient & Huber, 1992) and the iterative trapezoidal integration
algorithm (Fread, 1993), are used to generate the outflow hydrograph in each time
interval. However, both hydraulic and hydrological routing methods require the upstream inflow hydrograph of the reservoir. This is considered difficult for flood routing
in an ungauged reservoir basin.
Runoff simulation in ungauged basins is one of the most difficult problems in water
resources engineering. Although many methods provide runoff estimation in ungauged
basins (Snyder, 1938; Gray, 1961; SCS, 1986), they are limited to small basins and under
specific geomorphic conditions. The renewed researches for runoff routing in ungauged
areas are TOPMODEL (Beven & Kirkby, 1979; Takeuchi et al, 1999) and the geomorphic instantaneous unit hydrograph (GIUH). In the GIUH approach (Rodriguez-Iturbe &
Valdes, 1979; Gupta et al., 1980), rainfall excess is assumed to follow different runoff
paths to reach the basin outlet according to the drainage pattern. Recently, Lee & Yen
(1997) developed a kinematic-wave based GIUH model (KW-GIUH) to estimate the mean
travel times on overland areas and in channels. The drawback of the runoff travel-time
determination based on empirical equations in the original GIUH is then solved. In the
KW-GIUH model, the basin rainfall-runoff relationship can be obtained using only the
rainfall excess and the geomorphic information of the basin. Therefore, the KW-GIUH is
applicable to basins without discharge records for model parameter calibration.
In this study, flood routing in a reservoir basin was accomplished using the KWGIUH model to estimate the inflow hydrograph of the reservoir. The Runge-Kutta
method was adopted for storage routing to obtain the outflow hydrograph. The routing
procedure specifications were the rainfall excess, the basin geomorphic information, and
the reservoir characteristic functions. Flood attenuation and reservoir storage efficiency
were investigated through the analysis of the inflow and outflow hydrographs of the
reservoir. The proposed analytical procedure was applied to an ungauged reservoir basin
in southern Taiwan. The amount of flood water released from the reservoir was analysed
for flood protection work carried out further downstream for different return periods.
RESERVOIR INFLOW SIMULATION
In traditional hydrology, the basin hydrological response function is, in general, based
on hydrological records, which are used to determine the shape of the hydrograph or to

Reservoir attenuation of floods from ungauged basins

351

calibrate model parameters. For basins without streamflow records, attempts have been
made to link the hydrological response function to basin geomorphic characteristics.
Geomorphic runoff modelling
Based on the Strahler ordering scheme, a basin of order Q can be divided into different
states. Let xoi denote the /th-order overland flow regions, and xt denote the /th-order
channels, in which / = 1, 2,..., Q.. For an instantaneous rainfall, the hydrograph is only
influenced by the geomorphic characteristics of the basin. Thus, the instantaneous unit
hydrograph of the basin can be expressed as (Rodriguez-Iturbe & Valdes, 1979):

<t)=l[fJ&*f^)*f*St>---*fJt)\rp(w)

(D

where weW, W is the path space given as W = {xoi, x,, xj,..., JCQ); u(t) is the
basin hydrological response function; fx(t) is the travel-time probability-density
function in state Xj with a mean value of Tx ; * denotes as a convolution integral; and
P(w) is the probability of a raindrop adopting path w.
Kinematic-wave based GIUH
According to equation (1) of the GIUH model, the hydrological response function of a
basin is the summation of the travel time convolution in each flow path that can be
described based on basin geomorphology. However, the runoff velocity varies spatially
and temporally in basins rendering the model complicated and impracticable (RodriguezIturbe & Valdes, 1979). Basin empirical formulas for travel time determination were
usually adopted in previous GIUH models (Rodriguez-Iturbe & Valdes, 1979; Gupta et
al, 1980; Agnese et al, 1988). Lee & Yen (1997) considered a sub-basin consisting of
two identical rectangular overland-flow planes as a V-shaped model (Wooding, 1965).
The overland-flow planes contribute lateral flow into a channel of uniform crosssection and slope. For an /th-order sub-basin with a mean overland length L , the time
needed for water to travel through the overland plane obtained by means of kinematic
wave approximation is (Henderson & Wooding, 1964):
i

T, =

-^/2. m _i

(2)

where n0 is the roughness coefficient for overland planes, S(> is the mean /th-order
overland slope, m is an exponent, which can be recognized as 5/3 from Manning's
equation, and ie is the rainfall excess intensity. The mean /th-order overland length can
be expressed as (Lee & Yen, 1997):
Lo, =^5^
2NiLi:,

(3)

where A is the basin total area, P0A is the initial state probability, which is equal to the
ratio of the /th-order overland areas to the total basin area, TV, is the number of

352

Kwan Tun Lee et al.

z'th-order channels, and Lt, is the mean /th-order channel length. In addition, the time
needed for water to travel through the fth-order channel can be written as (Lee & Yen,
1997):

Tr

B:
2iL,

hi +

2iencL,Lc

^WB~

-K

(4)

where nc is the roughness coefficient for channels, Sc is the mean fth-order channels
slope, Bi is the width of the fth-order channel, and hco is the inflow depth of the fthorder channel due to water transported from upstream reaches. The value of hco is
equal to zero for i = 1 because no channel flow is transported from upstream. For
1 < i < Q,, hco can be expressed as (Lee & Yen, 1997):

h. =

iniN.A-AP^
e c\
N;B;S

(5)

1/2

where A, is the mean fth-order drainage area. By using equations (2), (3), (4) and (5),
the travel time for different states can be estimated analytically from overland and
channel hydraulics instead of relying on basin empirical formulas.
The probability-density function of travel time in equation (1) was proposed as an
exponential or a uniform distribution (Rodriguez-Iturbe & Valdes, 1979; Gupta et al.,
1980). To simplify the mathematical operation, an exponential distribution is adopted
herein. Thus, the hydrological response of a basin can be treated conceptually as a
combination of linear reservoirs in series and/or in parallel, depending on the stream
network of the basin. Hence, equation (1) can be analytically obtained from:

"W=S a

t
exp(_

t
t
) + b exp(-) + b exp(-) +
(6)

+ Q exp(--)
KL

where aoi, bt, bj,..., >Q are coefficients. The coefficients can be determined by
comparing coefficients in partial fractions after applying the Laplace transformation.
The output of the basin, which is determined using the convolution integral of the
rainfall excess input and the hydrological response function u(t), can be expressed as:

( f ) = J0'e(T)"(f-T)d>:

(7)

where Q is the direct runoff at the basin outlet, ie is the rainfall excess, and x is a
dummy variable.
By applying equations (l)-(7), the upstream inflow hydrograph of the reservoir
basin can be obtained based on rainfall excess and the geomorphic information of the
basin. It should be emphasized that the hydrological response function u(t) in

Reservoir attenuation of floods from ungauged basins

353

equation (7) varies temporally with the rainfall hyetograph because the runoff travel
time Tx in the hydrological response function is a function of rainfall excess
intensity, ie. Because of this, a linear model can describe nonlinear effect (Kundzewicz
& Napiorkowski, 1986), The dynamic nature of the basin hydrological response
function is considered the major merit of the KW-GIUH model.
Calculation of geomorphic parameters and estimation of roughness coefficients
Most of the geomorphic information in the KW-GIUH can be obtained from
topographic maps. Techniques are now available for extracting slope properties,
drainage divides, drainage areas, and stream networks based on digital elevation
models analysis (Band, 1986; Jenson & Domingue, 1988; Lee, 1998) with less effort.
However, a field investigation is still required to determine the channel width B a
parameter required in equations (4) and (5).
In gauged basins, the overland and channel roughness coefficients in equations (2),
(4), and (5) can be obtained using an optimization technique with the help of observed
hydrographs. Nevertheless, the roughness coefficients determination in ungauged
basins can be based only on field surveys. References for the channel roughness
coefficient determination can be found in general open-channel flow books (Chow,
1959; Chaudhry, 1993). A possible way to determine the overland roughness
coefficient is based on land cover analysis. References, which provide a link between
overland surface conditions and the roughness coefficient, can be found in the
Hydrologie Engineering Center (1990) for practical applications. Hence, the overland
roughness coefficient in ungauged basins in this study was determined by field surveys
and remote sensing images analysis.
RESERVOIR ROUTING FORMULATION
An alternative to the storage indication method applied in previous engineering work
was the Runge-Kutta numerical method to solve the continuity equation. The RungeKutta method does not require the computation of the special storage-outflow function,
and it is more closely related to the hydraulics of flow through the reservoir (Chow et
al, 1988).
The continuity equation of a reservoir is expressed as:
^r

= QiB(t)-QoJH)

(8)

at

where Sr is the reservoir storage in volume, Qm(t) is the reservoir inflow as a function
of time t, and Q0ut(H) is the reservoir outflow as a function of the water elevation H.
Since the reservoir water surface Ar is a function of the water elevation, the change in
storage dSr due to a change in elevation is equal to Ar(H)dH. Thus, the continuity
equation for the reservoir flow can be rewritten as:
df

Ar(H)

= f(t,H)

(9)

where t is the independent variable, and H is the dependent variable. The solution for

Kwan Tun Lee et ai

354

equation (9) is extended forward in small increments of time t, using known values of
the water elevation H. Various orders of the Runge-Kutta algorithm have been derived
(Carnahan et al, 1969). A fourth order scheme was adopted in this work. The water
elevation H at the (n + i)th time interval can be expressed as (Bedient & Huber,
1992):
H n+1 =H+7[* 1 +2*,+2fc 3 + *4]Af
(10)
6
where Hn is the water elevation at the nth time interval, At is the small time increment,
and the coefficients ki,k2,h, and k4 are determined using:
kl = f(tn,Hn)

(11)

k2=f{tn+At/2,Hn+^a)

(12)

k3=f{tn+At/2,Hn+ik2At)

(13)

k4 = f{tn+At,Hn+k3At)

(14)

Using equations (10)-(14) and the gout vs H curve of the reservoir outlet device, the
outflow hydrograph of the reservoir can be calculated in each time interval.
Using the KW-GIUH model and the Runge-Kutta method, the flowchart for flood
attenuation analysis in an ungauged reservoir basin is shown in Fig. 1. The input
hydrological data for a storm event simulation is only the measured rainfall hyetograph
of the storm, and historical rainfall records are required for a design work to conduct
rainfall frequency analyses.
MODEL APPLICATION
An ungauged reservoir basin was used as an example in this study to demonstrate the
applicability of the proposed procedure. The Akung-Tien reservoir is a small reservoir
located in southern Taiwan. The purpose of this reservoir is for downstream flood
control. A portion of the storage water is conveyed to neighbouring farms for irrigation
usage. There is only one rainfall gauging station in this area. Flow record for the
reservoir basin was unavailable. Recently, floods have frequently occurred in the
downstream area. The detention capability of the reservoir must be determined in order
to improve the flood prevention work downstream.
Geomorphic conditions and reservoir characteristic functions
The reservoir basin area is 32 km2. The height of the main dam is 31 m, and the
elevation of the top of the main dam is 42.0 m. The results of the SPOT images
analysis show that the land cover is 49.3% forest, 35.6% grass and farm field,
5% building and road, 1.3% bare soil, and 8.8% water body and some inadequately
classified regions. As shown in Fig. 2, due to the complicated stream network, the
basin is divided into three sub-basins for runoff simulation. In sub-basin I, the area is
9.07 km2; the mean overland length is 0.65 km; and the mean overland slope is 0.131.
The geomorphic parameters of sub-basins II and III are listed in Table 1. Reservoir
sedimentation is a severe problem in the Akung-Tien basin. Seventy-one percent

Reservoir attenuation of floods from ungauged basins

START

Input

basin geomorphic information

reservoir characteristic functions
basin rainfall records

Storm event simulation

Design work

"

''
Measured rainfall hyetograph

Frequency analysis of historical rainfall

records

Deduction of rainfall losses

Generation of design hyetograph

by alternating block method

Simulation of reservoir upstream of

basin rainfall-runoff
by KW-GIUH model

Reservoir flood routing

by Runge-Kutta method
Flood attenuation analysis

END

Fig. 1 Flowchart of the analytical procedure.

of the available reservoir storage capacity has been filled with sediment. The reservoir
storage capacity has decreased from 20.5 X 106 m3 after dam construction in 1953 to
5.9 X 106 m3 in 1993. The stage-storage relationship measured in 1993 was:
Sr = 178871(f/-30) 2 + 5 9 6 3 8 ( # - 3 0 ) + 112261

(15)

where Sr is the reservoir storage (m ), and H is the water elevation (m). Differentiating
equation (15) with respect to H yields:
A r (i) = 3 5 7 7 4 2 ( # - 3 0 ) + 59638/

(16)

where A,(H) is the area of the water surface (m2).

In this earthfill dam, a 1.5 m concrete pipe is used to convey water for irrigation,
and the maximum capacity of the pipe is 5 m 3 s"1. The main drainage facility is the
Morning Glory spillway to drain the water past the dam during floods. The elevation
of the crest of the Morning Glory spillway is 35.5 m, and its outflow function is:

Kwan Tun Lee et al.

356

Qom = 74.375(H - 35.5)1'7881

<20ut = 2.2934(# - 35.5) + 77.5
3

for H < 36.6 m

(17)

for H > 36.6 m

(18)

where gout is the discharge (m s" ), and H is the water elevation (m).
Storm event simulation
The KW-GIUH model has been tested in several gauged basins in Taiwan (Lee & Yen,
1997) as well as in the United States (Yen & Lee, 1997) and shown good results. In the
Akung-Tien basin, the discharge record is unavailable. The Chu-Tzu-Chiao rainfall
station located near the dam site is the only hydrological gauging station in this area.
To perform a storm runoff simulation using the KW-GIUH model, the hydrographs
resulting from those three sub-basins (as shown in Fig. 2) are summed to obtain the
inflow hydrograph of the reservoir. The outflow hydrograph of the reservoir can then
be calculated using the Runge-Kutta method.
Reservoir storage area
Sub-basin I
Sub-basin II
Sub-basin m

N
*iv

.>

2 km

Fig. 2 Map of the Akung-Tien basin.

As stated previously, in ungauged basins the roughness coefficients nc and n0 can

only be determined from field surveys and land cover analysis using remote sensing
images. Based on references from Chow (1959) and HEC (1990) as well as the
authors' previous experience (Lee & Chiang, 1997; Lee, 1998), the prior roughness
values were chosen as nc = 0.04 and n0 = 0.6. The IUHs for the three sub-basins were
determined. Figure 3 shows an example of the IUHs for sub-basin III. In this figure,
the peaks of IUHs vary proportionally with the rainfall excess intensity.

Reservoir attenuation offloodsfrom ungauged basins

4
Time (h)

Fi!>. 3 Variation of IUH with rainfall excess rate (sub-basin III)

40
1994
August

38
36
34

recorded
simulated

32
30

"T

120
72
96
Time (h)
Fig . 4 Recorded and simulated water stage for August 1994 event.
0

24

48

144

Over the past 40 years, there was only one unofficial stage record at the reservoir,
due to a storm which occurred in August 1994. This record was measured at different
time intervals. The proposed procedures were applied and the simulated and recorded
stages at the dam site are shown in Fig. 4. The rainfall excess hyetograph used in this
simulation was determined by deducting the abstractions from the rainfall record
assuming a constant loss / = 1.0 mm h"1. This value is adopted by the Taiwan Water
Conservancy Agency in mountain areas to represent saturated hydraulic conductivity
because soil is usually wetted by antecedent rainfalls before the main storm. The
tendency of the stage hydrograph, shown in Fig. 4, was captured by using the proposed
routing technique. The deviation between the recorded and simulated water stages
results possibly from the precision of the observed stage data, the accuracy of the
stage-storage relationship, and the model simulation error. The rainfall excess rate, the
simulated reservoir inflow discharge, and the simulated reservoir outflow discharge are
also shown in Fig. 5. In this figure, flood attenuation and reservoir storage capacity are
explicitly demonstrated in this storm event. By using the roughness condition nc = 0.04
and n0 - 0.6, simulation for another event (July 1997 storm) is presented in Fig. 6.
Although no stage record can provide model verification work, the hydrographs show
the same tendency for flood peak attenuation in this reservoir.

Kwan Tun Lee et al.

358

E
E
^

Ttffl

40

n B

-yy-ir

|ii

80

1994
August

400

Inflow

320

Outflow

240

C 160
E

8 0 -

1 /J'"Is

1r\f / 'N
1 *

j
0

24

1 ' 1

1 " 1

'

96
120
144
72
Time (h)
Fig. 5 Simulated inflow and outflow hydrographs for the August 1994 event
48

30

90
60
Time (h)
Fig. 6 Simulated inflow and outflow hydrographs for the July 1997 event.
0

120

Flood attenuation analysis for design work

For flood control work further downstream, hydrograph analysis for specified return
periods is required. Since flow records are unavailable, a synthetic hyetograph combined with the proposed KW-GIUH model and the Runge-Kutta routing technique is
one of the acceptable alternatives to obtain the design hydrographs at the reservoir

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Kwan Tun Lee et al.

360

outlet. Rainfall frequency analysis indicates that the records of the Chu-Tzu-Chiao
station follow a log Pearson Type III distribution. The rainfall intensity-duration
functions for different return periods are:
1447
(td + 20)u
2554
(f rf +35) a
4687

for T= 10 yrs

(19)

for T= 25 yrs

(20)

for T= 50 yrs

(21)

for T= 100 yrs

(22)

(td+55f
12588

(td+95f

where / is the rainfall intensity (mm h" ); td is the rainfall duration (min); and Tis the
return period (years).
To account for the temporal rainfall characteristics, the alternating block method
(Chow et al., 1988) is adopted to derive the design hyetograph. By using equations
(19)-(22), the design hyetographs for different return periods are shown in Fig. 7. The
duration of the design hyetographs was chosen as 24 h, which can produce the highest

10
Time (h)
Fig. 7 Design hyetograph of the Akung-Tien basin.

Reservoir attenuation offloodsfrom ungauged basins

361

0.20Flood attenuation ratio

Flood storage ratio
-0.7

0.15-0.6

0.5

0.10400

600

800

Inflow peak discharge (m3/s)

1000

Fig. 8 Flood attenuation ratio and flood storage ratio vs reservoir inflow peak
discharge.

runoff peak rate for the given temporal rainfall distribution for different return periods.
Using the design hyetographs as input conditions, the results of the design inflow peak
and the design outflow peak for the reservoir basin simulated by the KW-GIUH model
and the Runge-Kutta method are listed in Table 2.
To perform a quantitative analysis in the reservoir basin, two ratios were used as
criteria to evaluate flood attenuation and reservoir storage efficiency during a storm.
The flood attenuation ratio is defined as the outflow peak divided by the inflow peak,
and the storage ratio is defined as the maximum storage divided by the total volume of
the inflow hydrographs (Basha, 1994). As shown in Table 2 and Fig. 8, the flood
attenuation ratio was from 0.11 to 0.17 and the storage ratio was from 0.54 to 0.67 for
these four return periods. The flood attenuation ratio decreased with the inflow peak
increase. On the contrary, the storage ratio increased with the inflow peak increase.
Hydroeconomic analysis will be performed in the future to select the optimum design
return period to be used to determine the downstream flood prevention work.
CONCLUSION
The procedure described herein offers an efficient approach for flood attenuation
analysis in ungauged reservoir basins. The main advantage of the proposed procedure
is that hydrograph analysis can be carried out without the use of any data. The procedure is based on basin geomorphic information and reservoir characteristics only.
There is no empirical equation involved in the analytical procedure. The geomorphic
parameters in the KW-GIUH model can be obtained by applying current geographic
information systems (GIS). The computational works of the KW-GIUH model and the
Runge-Kutta method are easily managed in a PC operation.
Acknowledgements This study is part of a research work supported by the National
Science Council, Taiwan, ROC, under grant NSC 88-2625-Z-019-002. Financial
support from the National Science Council is gratefully acknowledged. The
hydrological data from the Akung-Tien Administration Bureau is highly appreciated.

362

Kwan Tun Lee et al.

REFERENCES
Agnese, C , D'Asaro, D. & Giordano, G. (1988) Estimation of the time scale of the gomorphologie instantaneous unit
hydrograph from effective streamflow velocity. Wat. Resour. Res. 24(7), 969-978.
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Engng
2(1),2000;
1-9. accepted 7 December 2000
Received
28 ASCE
February