Numerical approximation of the hydrological time of concentration

Year 2021, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 121 - 136, 30.06.2021

Juan Ramón Barrón Fernández , Carmen Calvo-jurado

https://doi.org/10.30521/jes.823017

Abstract

The time of concentration, that is the time it takes for a single "drop of water" to move superficially from the most distant point of the watershed to the exit point, is a fundamental parameter of the hydrological analysis. Many studies have been conducted to propose empirical formulas to calculate the time of concentration. One of the best known is the Temez formula based on time series data collected in accounts in Spain with areas of less than 3,000 km2. This expression uses the main channel length as a parameter as in many works, for small slopes is approximated by the distance between the geographic coordinates between the starting and ending points, leading for larger catchments and slopes to approaches with a high error. In this work, using a proper discretization of the curve, by using polynomial interpolation methods, we improve the calculation of the length of the main channel and therefore, we provide a more reliable method for calculating the time of concentration using the Temez expression. We illustrate the proposed scheme with different numerical examples comparing the results with those provided by other methods.

Keywords

Concentration time, Interpolation methods, Main channel length, Temez’s formula

Supporting Institution

Junta de Extremadura through Research Group Grants

Project Number

GR18023

Thanks

Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [MTM2017-83583-P] of Spain

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