Quantifying Excess Stormwater Using SCS-CN–Based Rainfall Runoff Models and Different Curve Number Determination Methods
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 3
Abstract
Estimation of excess storm water is among the most basic hydrological challenges for hydrologists and engineers. The initial abstraction ratio (= 0.2) assumed in the original U.S. Soil Conservation Service curve number (SCS-CN) is ambiguous and must be calibrated from rainfall-runoff measurements for better runoff estimation. Eight different models including the original SCS-CN model, modified models inspired by it, and three newly proposed models were investigated to assess the accuracy of runoff estimation using rainfall-runoff measurements from 15 watersheds in South Korea. Different methods for CN determination were evaluated to see the effect of CN and on runoff estimation. The optimized and CN exhibited better results than fixed values as in the original SCS-CN model. Using three different goodness-of-fit statistics to assess the accuracy of the estimates, our proposed models outperformed in all watersheds in the study area when compared with the original SCS-CN model and some of its modified models.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a grant from the Construction Technology Innovation Program (11CTIPC06, Development of Korean Advanced Technology for Hydrologic Analysis) funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MLIT) of Korea. Special thanks to the Hydrological Survey Center (HSC) of Korea for providing the stream-flow data.
References
Baltas, E. A., Dervos, N. A., and Mimikou, M. A. (2007). “Technical note: Determination of the SCS initial abstraction ratio in an experimental watershed in Greece.” Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 11(6), 1825–1829.
Beck, H. E., De Jeu, R. A. M., Schellekens, J., van Dijk, A. I. J. M., and Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2009). “Improving curve number based storm runoff estimates using soil moisture proxies.” IEEE J. Sel. Topics Appl. Earth Observ., 2(4), 250–259.
Cazier, D. J., and Hawkins, R. H. (1984). “Regional application of the curve number method. Water today and tomorrow.” Proc., ASCE Irrigation and Drainage Division Special Conf., ASCE, New York, 710.
D’Asaro, F., and Grillone, G. (2012). “Empirical investigation of curve number method parameters in the Mediterranean area.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 1141–1152.
Ebrahimian, M., Nuruddin, A. A. B., Soom, M. A. B. M., Sood, A. M., and Neng, L. J. (2012). “Runoff estimation in steep slope watershed with standard and slope-adjusted curve number methods.” Pol. J. Environ. Stud., 21(5), 1191–1202.
Grove, M., Harbor, J., and Engel, B. (1998). “Composite vs. distributed curve numbers: Effects on estimates of storm runoff depths.” J. Am. Water Resour. Assoc., 34(5), 1015–1023.
Guo, Y., Li, Z., Amo-Boateng, M., Deng, P., and Huang, P. (2014). “Quantitative assessment of the impact of climate variability and human activities on runoff changes for the upper reaches of Weihe River.” Stoch. Environ. Res. Risk A., 28(2), 333–346.
Hawkins, R. H. (1993). “Asymptotic determination of runoff curve numbers from data.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 334–345.
Hawkins, R. H., Hjelmfelt, A. T., and Zevenbergen, A. W. (1985). “Runoff probability, storm depth, and curve numbers.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 330–340.
Hawkins, R. H., Ward, T. J., Woodward, D. E., and Van Mullem, J. A. (2009). Curve number hydrology-state of practice, ASCE, Reston, VA.
Hjelmfelt, A. T. (1991). “Investigation of curve number procedure.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 725–737.
Hjelmfelt, A. T., Kramer, L. A., and Burwell, R. E. (1981). “Curve number as random variable.” Proc., Int. Symp. on Rainfall–Runoff Modeling, V. P. Singh, ed., Water Resources Publications, Littleton, CO, 365–370.
Jain, M. K., Mishra, S. K., and Singh, V. P. (2006b). “Evaluation of AMC dependent SCS-CN-based models using watershed characteristics.” J. Water Resour. Manage., 20(4), 531–552.
Jain, M. K., Mishra, S. K., Suresh Babu, P., and Venugopal, K. (2006a). “On the Ia–S relation of the SCS-CN method.” Nordic Hydrol., 37(3), 261–275.
Johnson, R. R. (1998). “An investigation of curve number applicability to watersheds in excess of 25000 hectares ().” J. Environ. Hydrol., 6, 1–10.
King, K. W., and Balogh, J. C. (2008). “Curve number for golf course watersheds.” Trans. Am. Soc. Agric. Biol. Eng., 51(3), 987–996.
Marquardt, D. W. (1963). “An algorithm for least-squares estimation of nonlinear parameters.” J. Soc. Ind. Appl. Math., 11(2), 431–441.
McCuen, R. H. (2002). “Approach to confidence interval estimation for curve numbers.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 43–48.
Miliani, F., Ravazzani, G., and Mancini, M. (2011). “Adaptation of precipitation index for the estimation of antecedent moisture condition in large mountainous basins.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 218–227.
Mishra, S. K., Jain, M. K., Pandey, R. P., and Singh, V. P. (2005). “Catchment area-based evaluation of the AMC-dependent SCS-CN-inspired rainfall-runoff models.” Hydrol. Processes, 19(14), 2701–2718.
Mishra, S. K., Jain, M. K., and Singh, V. P. (2004). “Evaluation of the SCS-CN-based model incorporating antecedent moisture.” J. Water Resour. Manage., 18(6), 567–589.
Mishra, S. K., Pandey, R. P., Jain, M. K., and Singh, V. P. (2008). “A rain duration and modified AMC-dependent SCS-CN procedure for long duration rainfall-runoff events.” J. Water Resour. Manage., 22(7), 861–876.
Mishra, S. K., Sahu, R. K., Eldho, T. I., and Jain, M. K. (2006). “An improved Ia-S relation incorporating antecedent moisture in SCS-CN methodology.” J. Water Resour. Manage., 20(5), 643–660.
Mishra, S. K., and Singh, V. P. (1999b). “Behavior of SCS-CN method in C-I* -λ spectrums.” Hydrologic modeling, V. P. Singh, I. L. Seo, and J. H. Sonu, eds., Water Resources Publications, Littleton, CO, 112–117.
Mishra, S. K., and Singh, V. P. (1999a). “Another look at SCS-CN method.” J. Hydrol. Eng., 257–264.
Mishra, S. K., and Singh, V. P. (2003). Soil conservation service curve number (SCS-CN) methodology, Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, Netherlands.
Mishra, S. K., and Singh, V. P. (2006). “A relook at NEH-4 curve number data and antecedent moisture condition criteria.” Hydrol. Processes, 20(13), 2755–2768.
Mishra, S. K., Singh, V. P., Sansalone, J. J., and Aravamuthan, V. (2003). “A modified SCS-CN method: Characterization and testing.” J. Water Resour. Manage., 17(1), 37–68.
Park, S., Oh, C., Jeon, S., Jung, H., and Choi, C. (2011). “Soil erosion risk in Korean watersheds, assessed using the revised universal soil loss equation.” J. Hydrol., 399(3), 263–273.
Ponce, V. M. (1989). Engineering hydrology, principles and practices, San Diego State Univ., San Diego.
Ponce, V. M., and Hawkins, R. H. (1996). “Runoff curve number: Has it reached maturity?” J. Hydrol. Eng., 11–19.
Ritter, A., and Muoz-Carpena, R. (2013). “Performance evaluation of hydrological models: Statistical significance for reducing subjectivity in goodness-of-fit assessments.” J. Hydrol., 480, 33–45.
Sahu, R. K., Mishra, S. K., and Eldho, T. I. (2010). “Comparative evaluation of SCS-CN-inspired models in applications to classified datasets.” Agric. Water Manage., 97(5), 749–756.
Sahu, R. K., Mishra, S. K., Eldho, T. I., and Jain, M. K. (2007). “An advanced soil moisture accounting procedure for SCS curve number method.” Hydrol Processes, 21(21), 2872–2881.
Schneider, L. E., and McCuen, R. H. (2005). “Statistical guidelines for curve number generation.” J. Irrig. Drain. Eng., 282–290.
Shi, Z. H., Chen, L. D., Fang, N. F., Qin, D. F., and Cai, C. F. (2009). “Research on the SCS-CN initial abstraction ratio using rainfall-runoff event analysis in the Three Gorges Area, China.” Catena, 77(1), 1–7.
Soil Conservation Service (SCS). (1993). National engineering handbook: Hydrology, USDA, Washington, DC.
Soulis, K. X., and Valiantzas, J. D. (2012). “SCS-CN parameter determination using rainfall-runoff data in heterogeneous watersheds–the two-CN system approach.” Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16(3), 1001–1015.
Soulis, K. X., and Valiantzas, J. D. (2013). “Identification of the SCS-CN parameter spatial distribution using rainfall-runoff data in heterogeneous watersheds.” Water Resour. Manage., 27(6), 1737–1749.
Soulis, K. X., Valiantzas, J. D., Dercas, N., and Londra, P. A. (2009). “Investigation of the direct runoff generation mechanism for the analysis of the SCS-CN method applicability to a partial area experimental watershed.” Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 13(5), 605–615.
Woodward, D. E., Hawkins, R. H., Jiang, R., Hjelmfelt, Jr., A. T., Van Mullem, J. A., and Quan, Q. D. (2003). “Runoff curve number method: Examination of the initial abstraction ratio.” Proc., World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, 1–10.
Yaun, Y., Nie, W., McCutcheon, S. C., and Taguas, E. V. (2014). “Initial abstraction and curve numbers for semiarid watersheds in Southeastern Arizona.” Hydrol. Processes, 28(3), 774–783.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 3 • March 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 18, 2014
Accepted: Jul 15, 2014
Published online: Aug 25, 2014
Discussion open until: Jan 25, 2015
Published in print: Mar 1, 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.