RAINFALL EVENT ANALYSIS FOR DRAINAGE

INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN IN GREATER COLOMBO

WATERSHED
 RAINFALL EVENT ANALYSIS FOR DRAINAGE
INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN IN GREATER COLOMBO
WATERSHED

Welhenage Keerthirathne

138659T

Degree of Master of Engineering in

Water Resources Engineering and Management

Department of Civil Engineering

University of Moratuwa
Sri Lanka

August 2014
 RAINFALL EVENT ANALYSIS FOR DRAINAGE
INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN IN GREATER COLOMBO
WATERSHED

Welhenage Keerthirathne

138659T

Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the

Degree of Master of Engineering in Water Resources Engineering and Management

Degree of Master of Engineering in

Water Resources Engineering and Management

Supervised by
Professor N.T.S.Wijesekera

UNESCO Madanjeet Centre for

South Asia Water Management (UMCSAWM)
Department of Civil Engineering

University of Moratuwa
Sri Lanka

August 2014
DECLARATION
I declare that this is my own work. This thesis does not incorporate without
acknowledgement of any material previously submitted for a Degree or Diploma in
any other University or institute of higher learning to the best of my knowledge and
belief it does not contain any material previously published or written by another
person expect where the acknowledgment is made in text.

Also I hereby grant to University of Moratuwa the non-exclusive right to reproduce

and distribute my thesis, in whole or in part in print, electronic or other medium. I
retain the right to use this content in whole or part in future works (Such as articles or
books)

……………………………….. ………………………………..
W.H.Keerthirathne Date
Date
The above candidate has carried out research for the Masters thesis under my
supervisions

……………………………….. ………………………………..
Professor N.T.S.Wijesekera Date

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Author would like to express his sincere gratitude to the supervisor, the Senior
professor N.T.S. Wijesekera, B.Sc.Eng, Hons (Sri Lanka), PG.Dip (Moratuwa),
M.Eng(Tokyo), D.Eng(Tokyo), MICE(UK), FIE(SL) for his continuous
encouragement, guidance and commitment extended throughout the study. Without
his effort and support, this would not have been accomplished in a successful
manner.
Author takes this opportunity to thank his Course Coordinator Dr. R.L.H.
Rajapaksha and staff of UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Center for South Asia Water
Management, University of Moratuwa for assistance extended.

Author wishes to express his thanks to Eng (Mrs) Srimathe Senadeera, the General
Manager of Sri Lanka Land Reclamation & Development corporation, Eng R.C.
Fernando, Deputy General Manager and the staff for facilitating him to pursue
studies leading to a Masters degree.

Author takes this opportunity to thank to Late Shri Madanjeet Singh, the founder of
UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Center for South Asia Water Management South Asia
Foundation (SAF) and staff for providing a full scholarship.

Author has greatest regards to his parents, W.H Gunadasa and K.M.D. Gimara
Harmy for their dedication to bring up him and educate to provide services to the
society.

Finally the Author likes to express his heartfelt thanks to his two daughters Geethma
& Amawindi and his wife Nisha for the understanding, encouragement, commitment
and patience during the entire study period.

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ABSTRACT

Since the magnitude and temporal distribution of rain events directly influence the
streamflow in watersheds, due focus should be given when selecting the most
appropriate storm patterns for the design of hydraulic structures. Design storm can be
based on either observed patterns or predetermined distribution such as Alternating
Block Method. Lack of recent IDF curves and the concerns that had been raised with
ongoing climate variability, engineers worldwide are inclined to use pattern based
design events rather than IDF based pattern because they are said to reflect the recent
and site specific situations.

The present study evaluated fifteen-minute rainfall records of Colombo Meteorological

Station for a period of thirty years in order to identify the impact of guideline based and
pattern based design storms on runoff responses. Event separation for the study was
carried out by using a Minimum Inter event Time (MIT) of 6hrs. Two hundred twenty
one events were extracted from continuous data and grouped into five based on event
duration. Event analysis was carried out by developing dimensionless mass curves of
each event and then analysing the percentile curves representing the dimensionless
mass curves.

Six design events for event durations 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36hrs were developed from
percentile curves. Corresponding Alternating Block Method (ABM) and Uniform
Intensity distributions for each duration were developed using IDF curve. Eight design
hyetographs corresponding to a ten year Average Recurrence Interval (ARI) for each
event duration were developed. A mathematical model for a sub catchment in Colombo
watershed was developed using SCS HEC HMS model and the runoff response for each
design event was evaluated.

A Criticality Indicator was introduced to capture the influence of the design rainfall
patterns on both critical parameters of a hydrograph, Namely the flood peak and its time
of occurrence. This indicator helped to identify the effects of a flood peak from a
particular design rainfall pattern reaching the basin outlet.

Envelope design rainfall pattern developed after analysing the historical data produced
the most critical rainfall pattern when the event duration is closer to the time of
concentration of the watershed. It was observed that there is a high variation in runoff
response with the variation of temporal distribution corresponding an event. Runoff
response for Alternating Block Method based pattern and the pattern developed with
Envelope curves were found as the most consistent when compared with other design
events. Therefore, hydraulic structure designs based on limited observed data were
found as associated with high uncertainty. This study also concluded that in the
absence of sufficiently analysed past rainfall data, Alternating Block Method would
stand out as the most suitable design hyetograph. The present work also caution the use
of design patterns based on selected events since they would certainly lead to
underestimation of flood peaks.

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Table of Content
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 General 1
1.2 Objectives 6
1.2.1 Overall objectives 6
1.2.2 Specific objectives 6
2 METHODOLOGY 7
3 LITERATURE REVIEW 9
3.1 Event Separation 9
3.2 Event Selection 11
3.3 Design Rainfall Pattern 13
3.4 Length of Datasets 15
3.5 Temporal Pattern and Design Storm 16
3.6 Temporal Pattern and Design Storm 17
3.7 Design Return Period 18
4 DATA AND DATA CHECKING 20
4.1 Study Area 20
4.2 Land Use Pattern 20
4.3 Rainfall Data 23
4.4 Data Checking 26
4.4.1 Daily data 26
4.4.2 Monthly data 31
4.4.3 Seasonal & annual data 34
5 ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 37
5.1 Event Separation Criteria 37
5.2 Event Selection Criteria 37
5.2.1 General 37
5.2.2 Time of concentration values 38
5.2.3 Selection of design recurrence interval 38
5.2.4 Threshold depth of rain events 39
5.3 SelectedRain Events 39
5.4 Time Distribution of Rain Events 41
5.5 Storm Variability Within Categories 47
5.6 Development of Design Hyetograph 48
5.6.1 Standard patterns 48
5.6.2 Observed pattern 48
5.7 Runoff Modelling 52
5.8 Estimated Runoff 54

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 5.8.1 Streamflow response: category-1(6hr) 57
5.8.2 Streamflow response: category-2(12hr) 58
5.8.3 Streamflow response-category-3(18hr) 59
5.8.4 Streamflow response-category-4(24hr) 60
5.8.5 Streamflow response-category-5 (36hr) 61
5.9 Comparision of Peak Flow 62
5.10 Comparision of Time to peak 65
5.11 Summary of Results 67
5.11.1 Major consideration 67
5.11.2 Selected rainfall events 67
5.11.3 Design rainfall events 67
5.11.4 Peak runoff response 70
5.11.5 Time to Peak 71
6 DISCUSSION 72
6.1 Event Seperation and Categorisation 72
6.2 Selection of Minimum Inter Event Time (MIT) 72
6.3 Design Rainfall Patterns 73
6.4 Stremflow Responce 76
6.4.1 Event criticality 76
6.4.2 Relative criticality 76
6.4.3 Duration for a critical pattern 76
6.4.4 Rainfall duration equaling time of concentration 77
6.4.5 Rainfall duration exceeding time of concentration 78
6.4.6 Comparison of ABM, Envelope, UPC and UD 79
7 CONCLUSIONS 86
8 RECOMMENDATIONS 87
9 REFERENCES 88
10 Appendix A Time of Concentration of Sub Watershed 93
16 Appendix B Variation of daily Rainfall Data 98
17 Appendix C Inter-Annual Rainfall.................................................................................115
18 Appendix D Typical Runoff Curve Numbers for Urban Catchment 122
23 Appendix E Rainfall Events 125
24 Appendix F Probability Distribution of Observed Events 180
26 Appendix G Dimensionless Mass Curve of Design Events 195
31 Appendix H Time Distribution of Envelope Curve 205
32 Appendix I Intensity Duration Frequency Curve for Colombo 209
33 Appendix J Design Hyetograph 212
34 Appendix K Catchment Response for Design Storms 225

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: Guideline Recommended ARI for Urban Drainage 19
Table 4.1 : Land Use Pattern and CN Value for Selected Sub Watershed 21
Table 4.2: Details of Rainfall Data 23
Table 4.3: Summary of Missing and Unacceptable Data periods 27
Table 4.4: Distribution of Monthly Missing and Unacceptable Data 28
Table 4.5: 15minutes Aggregated Daily Data 29
Table 4.6: Standard Gauge Daily Data 30
Table 4.7: Aggregated 15minutes Daily Data 31
Table 4.8: Aggregated Standard Daily Rainfall Data 33
Table 5.1: Summary of Design Recurrence Interval for Urban Drainage 38
Table 5.2: Parameters to Determine Design Rainfall Events 39
Table 5.3: Event Summary for Analysis 41
Table 5.4: Design Temporal Distributions and Abbreviations 47
Table 5.5: Cumulative Rainfall for Pattern Based Events of Category 4 49
Table 5.6: 24hr, 10yr ARI Hyetograph of Alternating Block Method 51
Table 5.7: Total Depth and Intensity of Design Events to 10 Year ARI for Each Category 52
Table 5.8: Details of Watershed Selected for Runoff Comparison 54
Table 5.9: Streamflow Hydrograph for 10yr ARIDesign Event Category 1(6hr) 57
Table 5.10: Streamflow Hydrograph for 10yr ARI Design Event Category 2(12hr) 58
Table 5.11: Streamflow Hydrograph for 10yr ARI Design Event Category 3(18hr) 59
Table 5.12: Streamflow Hydrograph for 10yr ARI Design Event Category 4(24hr) 60
Table 5.13: Streamflow Hydrograph for 10yr ARI Design Event Category 5 (24hr) 61
Table 5.14: Variation of Relative position of Qp with Design Events 64
Table 5.15: Variation of Relative Position of (Tp) of Different Rainfall Events with Event
Duration 66
Table 5.16: Event Summary Table 67
Table 5.17: Variation of Peak Rainfall in Each Design Rainfall Distribution 68
Table 5.18: % Variation of Peak Rainfall in Each Design Rainfall Distribution 69
Table 5.19: Variation of Time to Peak Rainfall in Each Event Duration 69
Table 5.20: % Variation of Time to Peak Rainfall in Each Event Duration 70
Table 5.21: Variation of Peak Runoff with Event Pattern and Duration 71
Table 5.22: Variation of Time to peak in Runoff Response of Design Event 71
Table 6.1: Runoff Response for Design Events and Percentage Criticality of Events
(Category 1) 81
Table 6.2: Variation of Criticality with Rain Event Categories 82

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TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: Study Area and Stream Network .................................................................................... 4
Figure 1.2: Selected Watershed for Runoff Comparison .................................................................. 5
Figure 2.1: Methodology Flow Chart ............................................................................................... 7
Figure 4.1: Land Use Map of Colombo Watershed ........................................................................ 22
Figure 4.2: Location Map for Meteorological Station .................................................................... 25
Figure 4.3: Distribution of Monthly Average Rainfall In The Study Area ..................................... 26
Figure 4.4: Variation of Aggregated 15 minutes Daily Rainfall ..................................................... 32
Figure 4.5: Variation of Aggregated Daily Rainfall Data ............................................................... 32
Figure 4.6: Comparison of Average Rainfall Pattern with Two Method ........................................ 34
Figure 4.7: Monthly Average Seasonal Rainfall-Maha .................................................................. 35
Figure 4.8: Monthly Average Seasonal Rainfall-Yala .................................................................... 35
Figure 4.9: Annual Rainfall Variation ............................................................................................ 36
Figure 5.1: Event Distribution in Each Year .................................................................................. 40
Figure 5.2: Time Distribution of Observed Curve for Events-Category 1(6hr).............................. 42
Figure 5.3:Time Distribution of Observed Curve for Events-Category 2(12hr)............................. 43
Figure 5.4: Time Distribution of Observed Curve for Events-Category 3(18hr)............................ 44
Figure5.5: Time Distribution of Observed Curve for Events-Category 4(24hr)............................. 45
Figure 5.6:Time Distribution of Observed Curve for Events-Category 5(36hr)............................. 46
Figure.5.8:Estimated Streamflow Hydrographs for Design Event Category-1(6hr) ...................... 55
Figure 5.9: Estimated Streamflow Hydrographs for Design Event Category-2(12hr) ................... 55
Figure.5.10:Estimated Streamflow Hydrographs for Design Event Category-3(18hr) .. 56
Figure 5.11: Estimated Streamflow Hydrographs for Design Event Category-4(24hr) . 56
Figure5.12:Estimated Streamflow Hydrographs for Design Event Category-5(36hr) ... 57
Figure 5.13: Variation of Peak Streamflow rate with Event Duration ............................................ 62
Figure 5.14: Variation of Streamflow Peak with Rainfall pattern for Different Event Duration 63
Figure 5.15: Variation of Relative position of Qp with Design Events Duration ........................... 64
Figure 5.16: Variation of Time to Peak of Different Rainfall Patterns for Event Duration 65
Figure 5.17: Variation of Time to Peak (T p) with Event Duration ................................................. 65
Figure 5.18: Variation of Relative Position of Events T p with Event Duration .............................. 66
Figure 5.19: Variation of Peak Rainfall in Each Design Rainfall Distribution .............................. 68
Figure 5.20: % Variation of Peak Rainfall in Each Design Events ................................................ 69
Figure 5.21: Variation of Time to Peak with respect to Events Total Duration ............................. 70
Figure 6.1:Comparison of Uniform & Median Curve Rainfall Pattern .......................................... 75
Figure 6.2: The Runoff Response and Criticality of each event (Category 1 Events) .................... 81
Figure 6.3: Variation of % of Criticality with Event category........................................................ 84
Figure 6.4: Comparison of ABM, Envelope, UPC and Uniform Distribution................................ 85

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