Introduction to Visual Otthymo
This guide explores Visual Otthymo and its features
Welcome to Visual OTTHYMO v6.0 (VO6), the sixth version of the INTERHYMO–OTTHYMO hydrologic model simulation software package designed for Microsoft Windows OS.
OTTHYMO is a successful hydrologic management model that has been used for various simulation analyses such as: Watershed Studies, Sub-watershed Studies, Master Drainage Plans, Functional Stormwater Management Plans, Site Plans, and Stormwater Management Pond Designs.
The manual is divided into chapters and does not necessarily have to be read from start to finish. Users that are familiar with previous releases of Visual OTTHYMO can probably learn how to navigate around the model on their own and need only refer to the guide for new additional features. The User’s Manual is organized as follows:
TABLE 1-1: USER’S MANUAL OUTLINE
| Chapter | Description |
|---|---|
| Chapter 1 – Introduction | This chapter gives an introduction to the model including new features, how the Help System and documentation is organized, and how to install and uninstall the program. |
| Chapter 2 – Quick Start Tutorial | A tutorial to help new users to understand the basic steps to create and run a model. |
| Chapter 3 – Conceptual Model | An explanation of the conceptual model used in Visual OTTHYMO and describes all hydrologic objects. |
| Chapter 4 – Visual OTTHYMO Main Window | A description of the main interface and some windows are explained. |
| Chapter 5 – Working with Projects and Scenarios | Description of how to manage the concept of projects and scenarios in VO. |
| Chapter 6 – Working with Canvas | The usage of the canvas to create a model in Schematic View. |
| Chapter 7 – Working with the Map | Describes the usage of the map to create a model in Map View. |
| Chapter 8 – Working with Resource Library | The Resource Library’s concept and usage is described as it is the hub for climate data. |
| Chapter 9 – Running a Simulation | Instructs users to change simulation engine parameter and then create and run simulations. |
| Chapter 10 – Working with Output | Guides users to view simulation outputs with various tools. |
| Chapter 11 – Visual OTTHYMO Files | Covers and reviews all the files used in Visual OTTHYMO including importing from previous versions. |
| Chapter 11 – Troubleshooting | Instructs users through some common troubleshooting situations. |
| Chapter 12 – Appendix A – Useful Tools | Introduces to and guides users some useful tools. |
| Chapter 13 – Conclusion | Conclusion of the manual and contact information. |
VO has a comprehensive Help System and supporting documentation that will assist both beginners and advanced users. The primary goal in designing this Help System was to empower users with the tools and information so that almost every question can be answered in a timely manner, without having to call technical support. Should a question arise that is not addressed in the user manual, please contact technical support at support@smartcitywater.ca.
Two separate documents are accessible for VO, a User’s Manual and a Reference Guide. This current document, the User’s Manual, contains information on how to use the program and complete descriptions of all features. This manual does not concern the background theory. The Reference Guide contains all of the hydrologic theory behind the program and gives guidance for users to select or measure object parameters. The history of the development of the model is also addressed for advanced users who need to know “why” and from “where”.
Many parts of VO are context-sensitive. Context-sensitive means you can get Help on these parts directly without having to go through the Help menu. For example, to get Help on Resource Library in VO, press F1 while Resource Library is opened. You can press F1 from any context-sensitive part of the VO interface to display Help information about that part.
Smart Water City Inc. hosts seminars and workshops that allow users the opportunity to learn the basics of VO and use all its features to their full potential. Seminars and workshops are organized by need. You can find more information from our website.
Users requiring support should first consult the User’s Manual and Reference Manual to answer their question. Should a question not be addressed, or further assistance is required, users should contact Smart City Water’s VO Technical Support support@smartcitywater.ca or +1 (905) 417-9792. Live technical support is also available for all registered users regarding program installation and troubleshooting. A nominal fee will be charged to users requiring technical support pertaining to the use of the model in an engineering application.
Visual OTTHYMO is a complex computational software program (Visual OTTHYMO Software Program) for stormwater management owned by Smart City Water Inc.
Although the Visual OTTHYMO Software Program has been thoroughly tested by Smart City Water Inc. and has endeavoured to make this program error free, this program is not and cannot be warranted as infallible and there remains the possibility of program errors. Further, the Visual OTTHYMO Software Program is complex requiring professional engineering expertise and professional engineering judgment to input information and to interpret the information generated by the program. Therefore, Smart City Water Inc. can make no warranty either implicit or explicit as to the correct performance or accuracy of the Visual OTTHYMO Software Program to process or implement the information supplied.
As a result, Smart City Water Inc. disclaims all liability including, without limitation, special, collateral, incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the purchase and use of the Visual OTTHYMO Software Program.
Smart City Water Inc. reserves the right, from time to time, to revise and improve its documentation, program and software as they may deem necessary. The information in this program describes the state of the software at the time of its publication. It may not, however, accurately reflect the state of future revisions to the software.
You should read carefully the following terms and conditions before continuing with the installation and use of the Visual OTTHYMO software for stormwater management (the “software”). By installing the software, you are agreeing to be bound by the terms and conditions of this license. If you do not agree to the terms of this license, please permanently remove all copies of the installation (with all the original contents) to the place of purchase for a full refund within 10 days of purchase.
The software and the related documentation are licensed to you by Smart City Water Inc. (“LICENSOR”) as owner and also as distributor (“DISTRIBUTOR”). You will own the media on which the Software is stored and provided to you herewith, but LICENSOR retains all rights, including the copyright, in the Software and the related documentation. You may install and maintain the Software (the “Installed Copy”) on either a: (i) single computer for use by one person at a time (without sharing); or (ii) network server for use on an internal network, provided that the number of users concurrently using or sharing the Software does not exceed the number of valid licenses of the Software you have purchased from the LICENSOR. You may not assign or otherwise transfer any of your rights under this License to any third party. YOU AGREE TO ENSURE THAT ANYONE WHO USES THE SOFTWARE DOES SO ONLY FOR YOUR AUTHORIZED USE AND COMPLIES WITH THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT.
2. RESTRICTIONS:
The Software contains copyrighted material, trade secrets and other proprietary material. Accordingly, YOU MUST NOT TRANSLATE, DECOMPILE, REVERSE ENGINEER, DISASSEMBLE, MODIFY, ENHANCE, UPDATE, OR CREATE DERIVATIVE WORKS BASED UPON OR INCORPORATING, THE SOFTWARE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, UNLESS AUTHORIZED IN WRITING BY LICENSOR. OTHER THAN AS EXPRESSLY PERMITTED HEREIN, YOU MUST NOT USE OR COPY THE SOFTWARE OR RELATED DOCUMENTATION. YOU MUST NOT NETWORK, RENT, LEASE, LOAN, OR DISTRIBUTE, THE SOFTWARE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART.
3. TERM:
This License is effective until terminated. You may terminate this License at any time by destroying all copies (in any format and including the Installed Copy) of the Software and related documentation. This License will terminate immediately, without notice from LICENSOR, if you fail to comply with any provision of this License. Upon termination, you must destroy all copies (in any format and including the Installed Copy) of the Software and related documentation, and you must notify LICENSOR in writing that all such copies have been destroyed.
4. MEDIA WARRANTY:
LICENSOR warrants that the disk(s) or compact disc(s) provided to you by LICENSOR on which the Software is stored, shall be free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for ninety (90) days from the date of delivery to you.
5. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY:
You expressly acknowledge and agree that use of the Software is at your sole risk. Although the SOFTWARE has been thoroughly tested and LICENSOR has endeavored to make this program error free, the SOFTWARE is not and can not be warranted as infallible, and there remains the possibility of program errors. Further, the SOFTWARE is complex, requiring professional engineering expertise and professional engineering judgment to input information into the SOFTWARE and to interpret the information generated thereby. Therefore, LICENSOR and DISTRIBUTOR can make no warranty either implicit or explicit as to the correct performance or accuracy of the SOFTWARE to process or implement the information required. THE SOFTWARE AND RELATED DOCUMENTATION ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. LICENSOR AND DISTRIBUTOR DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SOFTWARE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE WILL BE INTERRUPTED OR ERROR–FREE, OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED. Furthermore, LICENSOR and DISTRIBUTOR do not warrant or make any representations regarding the use or the results of the use of the Software or related materials in terms of their correctness, accuracy, reliability or otherwise.
No oral or written information or advice given by LICENSOR or DISTRIBUTOR shall create a warranty or in any way increase the scope of the warranty contained in this License
6. MANDATORY MAINTENANCE:
Upon the expiration of the initial one-year maintenance period, the Licensee agrees to be charged for maintenance support in the amount of the LICENSOR’s regular list price for maintenance and support for the SOFTWARE as published from time to time by LICENSOR. Licensee shall notify LICENSOR in writing if it decides to decline mandatory maintenance. If Licensee fails to renew maintenance and later elects to receive it, LICENSOR reserves the right to charge Licensee its maintenance fees for the period(s) of the lapsed maintenance. Should the Licensee allow a lapse in maintenance, the Licensee forfeits access to technical support, updates and upgrades that may be available for the SOFTWARE. LICENSOR may elect to discontinue maintenance at any time upon written notice to Licensee.
7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY:
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, SHALL LICENSOR OR DISTRIBUTOR BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PARTY FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE OR RELATED DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF LICENSOR OR DISTRIBUTOR HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL LICENSOR’S OR DISTRIBUTOR’S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE) EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID TO LICENSOR OR DISTRIBUTOR TO LICENSE THE SOFTWARE HEREUNDER.
8. CONTROLLING LAW AND SEVERABILITY:
This License shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the province of Ontario and adjudicated in a court of that province. If, for any reason, a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of the License, or portion thereof, to be unenforceable, that provision of the License shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible in order to effect the intention of the parties, and the remainder of this License shall continue in full force and effect.
9. COMPLETE AGREEMENT:
This License constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the use of the Software and related materials, and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous understandings or agreements, written or oral, regarding such subject matter.
10. THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE:
Visual OTTHYMO Software may include software under license from third parties (“Third Party Software” and “Third Party License”). Any Third Party Software is licensed to you is subject to the terms and conditions of the corresponding Third Party License. The Third Party License(s) is located in the license.txt file. Please contact Visual OTTHYMO support if you cannot find a Third Party License.
11. COUNTRY UNIQUE CODES AND LICENSE SHARING
Purchase of Visual OTTHYMO Software program is country specific. License sharing is permissible within the country of purchase and not internationally. Separate licenses specific to the country will be required for the use of the program in multiple countries.
Before you install VO, make sure that your computer meets the minimum requirements listed below. The minimum system requirements for all versions of the program are given in Table 1-2.
TABLE 1-2: SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
| Minimum Requirements: | |
|---|---|
| Operating system: | Microsoft Windows XP SP3/ Vista / 7 (32 or 64-bit) |
| Processor: | Intel Pentium 4 1.5 GHz |
| RAM: | 1.0 GB |
| Hard disk space: | 500 MB |
| Recommended Requirements: | |
| Operating system: | Microsoft 7/10 (32 or 64-bit) |
| Processor: | Intel Core i7 2.0 GHz |
| RAM: | 1.5 GB |
| Hard disk space: | 1.0 GB |
VO has a simple yet effective cloud-based licensing protection system to ensure that users comply with the terms of their license agreement. As set out in the license agreement, VO may be installed in multiple computers, but only the computer securing a license from cloud will be able to run the application.
A customer portal is provided to track the usage of all licenses. For more information, please refer to Customer Portal for Cloud-based Licensing document.
Installing VO
Before installing VO, make sure that you have closed all other programs and that any virus protection software is disabled. To install VO on your computer, please follow the directions below.
Step 1: Download the installation file from VO Download page. The download link is updated once a new version is available.
Step 2: Click on the installation file and follow the instructions in the installation wizard as seen below.
Step 3: Accept the License Agreement
Step 4: By default, VO6 is installed on C:\Program Files (x86)\Visual OTTHYMO 6.0
Step 5: Setup will create a shortcut in the Start Menu folder
Step 6: Choose to Create a Desktop Icon AND UNCHECK USB Key License driver as we now utilize a cloud-based licensing system.
Step 7: Click Install
Step 8: To complete the installation, you need to restart your computer.
Step 9: To activate VO6, copy and paste VO cloud license file (vo.lic) into Smart City Water folder or Use Selected License button on the License Manager Window. The default location is C:\Program Files (x86)\Visual OTTHYMO 6.0.
To start VO, simply double-click on the VO desktop icon 
or find the VO item from your Start menu. Once VO starts, you will first see the splash screen as below
Then, you will see the main window.
You may be required to uninstall VO in the future. The following procedure should be followed to uninstall VO from your system:
For Visual OTTHYMO 6.0 (VO) we have added low impact development (LID), Water Quality calculations to the model, in-built TatukGIS map, Compound Channel, Erosion Index as well as various bug fixes. LID design tools are built to assist engineers in meeting the requirements laid out by the MOECP and GTA Conservation Authorities/Municipalities. Changes have been made to adapt to continuous simulations as summarized below.
For Visual OTTHYMO 6.1 (VO) we have added scenario comparison to single-event and continuous models., upgraded continuous modelling by including GIS tool and hydrograph commands of ScsHyd and NasHyd, improved LID package, expanded the data exporting/importing function between project manager and resource library, as well as various bug fixes.
The biggest change of VO6.2 from VO6.1 is to include another engine VO-SWMM. Therefore, with one installer and platform, user can have access to two engines: OTTHYMO engine and VO-SWMM engine. For more details, please refer to VO-SWMM Manual and VO-SWMM Tutorials.
In this tutorial, we will create a single-event VO model for the watershed shown below. It has two urban catchments (1003 and 1005) and three rural catchments (1001, 1002 and 1004). We will then run the simulation with 2-100yr design storms. The model is then converted to a continuous model to run the simulation with 10-year precipitation and temperature data.
To create a single-event OTTHYMO project, select File -> New Project -> New Otthymo Project.
To have a reference to place the hydrologic objects, a background picture can be added to the canvas. To add the background, switch to Schematic View and choose Background -> Change Background … from the context menu. Change the position of the background with mouse.
All available hydrologic objects are list in Tool Box on the left. To add one hydrologic object on canvas in Schematic View, drag and drop it onto the canvas. Then it can be moved to any location.
The study area has two urban catchments, three rural catchments, three channels and two con-fluence points. They can be modeled with StandHyd 
, NasHyd 
, RouteChannel 
and AddHyd 
respectively. Drag and drop them from Tool Box to Canvas and move them to the proper locations based on the background. At this point, your canvas should look like the one shown below. Note that the ID of each command is labeled at the bottom and a few hydrologic object icons have red outlines indicating errors.
Then the drainage system components (hydrologic objects) will be connected to form a connected system. The connection between hydrologic objects tells where the flow come from and where the flow will go. On canvas, it’s represented by an arrow line pointing from the source to the destination.
In the example study area, the flow generated at catchment 1003 flows to channel 2002. The relationship is represented by a connection (or link) from StandHyd 1003 to RouteChannel 2002. To create this connection, move the cursor on top of 1003. Notice that the curve changes to a cross. Then hold the left mouse button, move to 2002 and release the left mouse button.
The connection between other hydrologic objects can also be created. At this point your canvas should look like that shown below. Note that the red outline disappears.
Default parameter values are used for newly created hydrologic objects, which may need to be changed to represent the working project. Parameters can be edited with the Properties window or the Parameters Tables window.
The Properties window is used to edit the parameters of selected objects. If more than one objects are selected, only the common parameters are editable and changes will be applied to all selected objects.
The Parameter Tables window shows all parameters of each type of objects in a table. The table can be sorted by any columns. Besides editing single parameter value, data can be copied from a spreadsheet software as along as the columns are in the same order.
To edit the value for a property, select the hydrologic object(s) on the canvas and find the property in Properties window or Parameter Tables window. Type in the new value in the text box or select proper options from the combo box.
The design storm is added from Resource Library to Project Manager and then used in the simulation.
Resource Library
The Resource Library is a library of climate data including design storm and long-term measured precipitation data. The climate data for the model simulation should be first added to the Resource Library before it can be used in model simulation.
To open the Resource Library, click Resource Library button 
in Simulation tab. Some de-sign storms and reginal storms used in TRCA are shipped with VO, which can be a good starting point. If the required climate data is not available in the library, it can be added from different sources.
Project Manager
Project Manager is where the scenarios and climate data are managed. It’s located at the right side of the main window.
Adding Design Storm from Resource Library to Project Manager
To add a design storm to the project, drag and drop the design storm node from Library Explorer to the Rain Data section in Project Manager. A new rain group will be added in Project Manager. Design storms for other return periods can be added by the same method. Note that design storms of different return periods should be added to different rain groups.
A simulation is to apply a rainfall to a drainage network to calculate hydrograph. A simulation run can be created by combining the rainfall (design storm) and drainage network (scenario).
To create a simulation, click the Run button 
located at the Simulation tab to open the Batch Run window. A default simulation has been created with the default rain group (a Chicago design storm). The simulation can be renamed and changed to use another rain group. New simulation can be added by clicking the Add button 
in the toolbar.
To run simulations, check the simulations in the first column and then click the Run button at the bottom. A window will appear to show the simulation run progress. The Batch Run window will be closed after the simulation run is finished.
The main output from a single-event simulation is hydrograph. The hydrographs can be displayed in graph, table and summary.
Graph
To plot hydrographs with rainfall, select the hydrologic objects and then click the Hydrograph button 
in Simulation tab. The Hydrograph window will appear. The appearance of the plot can be changed using the control panel on the left.
Table
To view the hydrograph data in a table, click the Flow Data button 
in Simulation tab. The data can be exported to a file.
Summary
The summary of a hydrograph includes drainage area (AREA), peak flow (PKFW), time to peak (TP), runoff volume (RV) and dry weather flow (DWF). To view the summary of all hydrographs, use the Hydrograph Result window located at the bottom.
The summaries can be labeled on canvas beside the hydrologic objects as shown in the figure below. Refer to section 7.7 to apply labels onto the canvas.
Text
The classic OTTHYMO detail and summary output is available through the Detail Output 
and Summary Output 
button.
The single-event OTTHYMO model can be converted to continuous OTTHYMO model to run continuous simulation. To do this, first create a Continuous OTTHYMO project using menu File -> New Project -> New Continuous Otthymo Project.
Then the single-event model can be imported to the Continuous project using the menu File -> Import -> Import VH Scenario (Current Project). Extra parameters (e.g. land cover and soil parameters) are added to hydrologic objects to enable continuous simulation.
Same as design storm, long-term precipitation and temperature can be added from Resource Library to Project Manager by drag-and-drop.
Besides rainfall data, a continuous simulation can also use temperature and evaporation data. It’s also required to setup the starting and ending date.
To create a continuous simulation, click the Run button located at the Simulation tab to open the Batch Run window. And then click the Add button in the toolbar to create a simulation. If precipitation and/or temperature is available in Project Manager, it will be automatically selected in the new simulation. The starting and ending date is also automatically based on the precipitation and temperature data.
To run simulations, check the simulations in the first column and then click the Run button at the bottom. A window will appear to show the simulation run progress. The Batch Run window will be closed after the simulation run is finished.
Note that the default time step for a continuous simulation is 5 minutes. The simulation run may take a while when the climate data covers long time period. To use a longer time step, change it in the Simulation Engine window (Engine Options 
button in Simulation tab).
The continuous simulation models the water balance in snowpack and active soil zone. All the water balance components are available as time-series data from the outputs. Similar to hydro-graph summary, these water balance components are also summarized to help get the big picture.
Time Series
There are two ways to plot the time series data. The Hydrograph button is similar to the one for single-event simulation, which will open the Hydrograph window plotting flow versus precipitation.
Another tool is Plot Results 
, which will plot all available water balance components from a hydrological object. The time series data can be plotted with the original time interval or with higher values (year, month and week).
Summary
The average annual summary of the water balance components is shown in the Water Balance Results window located at the bottom.
To view the yearly and monthly summary for each catchment, choose Water Balance from the canvas context menu. The Water Balance window will appear.
The average annual summaries can also be labeled on canvas.
Visual OTTHYMO models flows generated from rainfall (or snow melt) on a drainage system. The drainage system first receives water from rainfall or snow melt and transform it to flow. The flow is then routed from upstream to the outlet. Structures may exist to 1) merge multiple flows together or 2) split one single flow to multiple parts.
Visual OTTHYMO conceptualized the drainage system as a collection of hydrologic processes. A hydrologic process is a unit process to 1) generate flow from rainfall, 2) route flow, 3) merge flow or 4) split flow. Each hydrologic process is modeled with a Hydrologic Object, a visual object represented with an icon on canvas or a feature on map. The hydrologic objects are then connected to simulate the sequence of hydrologic processes to simulate the whole drainage system.
An example of the conceptual model is given in the figure above. The drainage system consists of five (5) catchments, three (3) channels and two (2) confluence points. The system can be broken down into five catchments, three channels and two confluence points where catchments transform the rainfall to flow, channels route flow, and confluence points merge flow. Each of the components is a hydrologic process and can be represented by a Hydrologic Object (the icon at the right bottom corner of each component). The drainage system can be simulated with these hydrologic objects in Visual OTTHYMO by creating the hydrologic objects first, and then linking them as a connected system.
The behavior of a hydrologic process (e.g. flow generation) may be different. The behavior can be characterized with parameters (e.g. area and slope) and algorithms (e.g. different unit hydrograph). Visual OTTHYMO uses different Hydrologic Objects for different algorithms of same hydrologic process. For example, the flow from a catchment can be calculated using the Nash unit hydrograph or William unit hydrograph. So two different types of hydrologic objects, NasHyd and WilHyd, are provided in Visual OTTHYMO. As different algorithms may require different parameters, the parameters of different hydrologic objects will also be different.
The drainage system component and the corresponding Visual OTTHYMO hydrologic objects are listed in Table 3-1. The hydrologic processes modelled are given below each hydrologic object, which are 1) flow generation, 2) flow routing, 3) flow separation and 4) flow merging. Each hydrologic object is represented with a unique icon.
1) Flow Generation Process: Generates flow from rainfall or snow melt on catchments. Flows from rural and urban catchments significantly differ due to decreased infiltration caused by urbanization. With the same amount of rainfall, the hydrograph from an urban catchment has larger and earlier peak flows and more runoff volume. Visual OTTHYMO provides one hydrologic object for urban catchments and three hydrologic objects for rural catchments. Often rural hydrologic objects in existing condition need to be converted to urban hydrologic objects for post-development condition.
2) Flow Routing Process: Routes flow through a certain structure. The hydrograph is usually changed (delay and attenuation). The structures supported are channels, reservoirs (ponds), and pipes. Ponds are important as they are usually required for a new development to control the flow to the allowable rates. Visual OTTHYMO can help size the ponds by determining the rating curve (storage-discharge relationship).
3) Flow Separation: Separates flow to multiple receiving structures such as flow diversion or catch basin. The latter is commonly used in new developments to have part of the runoff flow into the sewer system. In the planning stage, the number of catch basins can be estimated and Visual OTTHYMO can model it with minimal parameters.
4) Flow Merging: Merges flow from different sources to one single flow which typically happens at the confluence points. The outlet of the study area is usually a confluence point.
TABLE 3-1 DRAINAGE SYSTEM COMPONENT AND AVAILABLE VISUAL OTTHYMO HYDROLOGIC OBJECTS
| Drainage System Component | VO Hydrologic Object | Drainage System Component | VO Hydrologic Object |
|---|---|---|---|
Urban Catchment | StandHyd (Flow Generation) | Channel, River | RouteChannel MuskingumCunge  ShiftHyd  CompoundChannel (Flow Routing)  |
Rural Catchment | NasHyd WilHyd  ScsHyd (Flow Generation)  | Reservoir, SWM Pond | RouteReservoir |
Pipe | RoutePipe (Flow Routing) | Confluence | AddHyd (Flow Merging) |
Flow Diversion | DiverHyd (Flow Separation) | Catch basin | DuHyd (Flow Separation) |
Wetland | RouteWetland (Flow Routing) Only available in continuous mode | Soakaway Pit | SoakawayPit (LID) |
Underground Chambers | Underground Chambers (LID) |  | Rain Garden (LID) |
 | Permeable Pavement (LID) |  | Enhanced Swales (LID) |
 | Bio retention (LID) |  | Green Roof (LID) |
 | Filter |
Note that only NasHyd, StandHyd, AddHyd, RouteChannel, RouteReservoir, Route Wetland, SoakawayPit, Chambers, Pavement, Rain Garden, Green roof, Filter, Bio-retention and Enhanced Swales are available in continuous mode.
Some parameters are available for all or most of the hydrologic objects. These parameters are given in Table 3-2.
TABLE 3-2 COMMON HYDROLOGIC OBJECT PARAMETERS
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value Applicable | Hydrologic Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| NHYD | Hydrograph number | Next available number | ALL |
| NAME | A descriptive name | Hydrograph object type name and NHYD | ALL |
| COMMENTS 1 | Any text description | Empty | ALL |
| COMMENTS 2 | Any text description | Empty | ALL |
| COMMENTS 3 | Any text description | Empty | ALL |
| OUTLET | The NHYD of downstream hydrologic object | Empty | ALL except ShiftHyd and DuHyd |
| DWF | A constant Dry Weather Flow or baseflow (m³/s or ft³/s) | 0 | All flow generation hydrologic objects |
| DT | Simulation time step increment (min). | 5 | ALL except AddHyd, ShiftHyd, DiverHyd, DuHyd and ReadHyd |
| AREA | Catchment area (ha or acre) | 10 | All flow generation hydrologic objects and StoreHyd |
| STORM INDEX | The index of the rainfall in the rain group | 1 | All flow generation hydrologic objects |
| RAIN | Optional list of rainfall intersities (mm/hr or in/hr) entered at the time steps equals to DT. If the list is not given, the model will use the rainfall data assigned by STORM INDEX. | Empty | All flow generation hydrologic objects |
StandHyd is used to simulate runoff flows from urban watersheds. Two parallel standard instantaneous unit hydrographs are used to convolute the effective rainfall intensity over the pervious and impervious surfaces.
The losses over the pervious surfaces are calculated by one of three methods: 1) Horton’s soil infiltration equation; 2) SCS modified CN procedure; or 3) Proportional Loss Coefficient.
A baseflow can also be added to the total simulated hydrograph.
To obtain adequate results, the hydrologic object should be applied to areas with impervious ratios larger than 20%. For smaller impervious ratios, the watershed should be sub-divided into urban and rural basins.
TABLE 3-3 STANDHYD PARAMETERS
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| TIMP | Ratio of total impervious area. The value must be in the range of 0 to 1 and greater than or equal to XIMP. | 0.50 |
| XIMP | Ratio of total area directly connected impervious areas are those form a continuous pathway from the point of runoff generation to the outlet point. For example, the area directly connected to the sewer system. The value must be in the range of 0 and 1. | 0.35 |
| LOSS | Rainfall loss method to be applied to the pervious area. It can be Modified SCS Curve Method, Horton’s Equation or Proportional Loss Method. | Modified SCS Curve Method |
| CN | Soil’s SCS or Modified Curve Number for the pervious area. Available when LOSS is set to Modified SCS Curve Method. | 85 |
| IA | Initial Abstraction (mm or in). Available when LOSS is set to Modified SCS Curve Method or Proportional Loss Method. | 1.5 |
| Fo | Initial infiltration rate (mm/hr or in/hr). Available when LOSS is set to Horton’s Equation. | 50 |
| Fc | Final infiltration rate (mm/hr or in/hr). Available when LOSS is set to Horton’s Equation. | 7.5 |
| DCAY | Decay constant (1/hr). Available when LOSS is set to Horton’s Equation. | 2 |
| F | Accumulated moisture in the soil at the beginning of the storm (mm or in). Available when LOSS is set to Horton’s Equation. | 0 |
| DPSP | Depression storage available over the pervious area (mm or in). Available when LOSS is set to Horton’s Equation. | 1.5 |
| C | Proportional loss coefficient ration (between 0 and 1). Available when LOSS is set to Proportional Loss Method. | 0.5 |
| SLPP | Average slope of the pervious area (%). Value must be greater than 0.0. | 2 |
| LGP | Overland flow length of the pervious area (m or ft) | 40 |
| MNP | Manning’s roughness coefficient for pervious surfaces. Note that coefficient should be selected based on sheet flow, not channel flow. | 0.25 |
| SCP | Storage coefficient for the linear reservoir of the pervious area (hr). Enter 0 to allow the program to internally select the value. | 0 |
| DPSI | Available depression storage over the impervious area (mm or in). | 1 |
| SLPI | Average slope of impervious area (%) | 1 |
| LGI Type | LGI calculation method. It can be Auto and Manual. Auto will calculate the LGI from AREA assuming AREA =  . Manual will read the LGI value from user input. | Auto |
| LGI | The overland flow length of impervious area (m or ft) | Calculated from AREA |
| MNI | Manning’s roughness coefficient for pervious surfaces. Note that coefficient should be selected based on channel flow (i.e. sewer and/or road flow). | 0.013 |
| SCI | Storage coefficient for the linear reservoir of the impervious area (hr). Enter 0 to allow the program to internally select the value. | 0 |
NasHyd is used to simulate runoff flows with Nash instantaneous unit hydrograph. This hydro-graph is made of cascade of “N” linear reservoirs. The command is mainly used for rural areas but can also be used for very large urban watersheds and to simulate the effects of infiltration/inflow in sanitary sewers. Rainfall losses can be computed by SCS Modified CN Procedure or Proportional Loss Coefficient.
TABLE 3-4 NASHYD PARAMETERS
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| CN | SCS Modified Curve Number or Proportional Loss Coefficient (if negative value between 0 and -1 entered). | 80 |
| IA | Initial abstraction (mm or in). If IA is negative, the program uses the SCS method where IA = 0.2 × S and S is a function of Curve Number. | 5 |
| N | Number of linear reservoirs used for the derivations of Nash Unit Hydrograph. | 3 |
| TP | Unit Hydrograph time to peak (hr). It is approximately equal to (N-1)/N × TC where TC is the Time of Concentration. | 0.2 |
WilHyd is used to simulate hydrographs from rural watersheds with long recession periods. The program uses the Williams and Hann’s unit hydrographs developed in the original HYMO program and the Modified SCS Curve Number Procedure to calculate the rainfall losses.
TABLE 3-5 WILHYD PARAMETERS
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| AA/DWF | Printout parameter or if less than 0, to enter a constant Dry Weather Flow or baseflow (m³/s or ft³/s). If AA is positive, the unit hydro-graph will be printed. If AA is 0, neither happens. | 0 |
| BB | Printout parameter. If BB is positive the rainfall excess ordinates will be printed. If BB is 0, excess ordinates will not be printed. | 3 |
| CN | SCS Modified Curve Number | 80 |
| IA | Initial abstraction (mm or in). If IA is negative, the program uses the SCS method where IA = 0.2 × S and S is a function of Curve Num-ber. | 5 |
| K | Recession constant in the William and Hann unit hydrograph equation (hr) | 4 |
| TP | Unit hydrograph time to peak (hr). The time step DT should be smaller than TP. | 0.2 |
ScsHyd is essentially the same as the NasHyd with the exception that it uses parameters for the SCS Procedure (i.e. initial abstraction is a function of the SCS Curve Number, and the number of linear reservoir “N” is set to 5). This command can be used when the SCS procedure is required by agencies or for comparison with other options.
TABLE 3-6 SCSHYD PARAMETERS
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| CN | SCS Modified Curve Number. The initial abstraction is calculated as 0.2 × S, and S is a function of Curve Number. | 80 |
| TP | Unit Hydrograph time to peak (hr). It is approximately equal to (N-1)/N × TC where TC is the Time of Concentration. DT should be smaller than TP. | 0.2 |
RouteChannel is used to route hydrographs through typical channel cross-sections using the Variable Storage Coefficient (VSC) Method. The open channel cross-sections are described with X and Y co-ordinates. The COMPOUNDCHANNEL command in VO6 has been split to calculate channel routing in both a “low flow channel” and “floodplain” portions of the cross section with the routing effects then being combined for the final output. The user can define channel and flood-plain lengths and slopes.
The ROUTECHANNEL and COMPOUNDCHANNEL have an option for Erosion Index calculations. Users could determine erosion threshold flow rate as targets to assess pre and post development conditions.
Other inputs are the average longitudinal slope and the variation of Manning’s roughness coefficient across the width. The hydrologic object computes a rating curve and travel time prior to routing with the VSC method.
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| CHLGTH | Length of channel reach (m or ft) | 500 |
| FPLGTH | Length of floodplain reach (m or ft) | 500 |
| CHSLOPE | Average longitudinal channel slope (%) | 0.2 |
| FPSLOPE | Average flood plain slope (%) | 0.2 |
| VSN | Valley Section Number used for identification and printing purposes. | 1.1 |
| NSEG | Number of segments in the channel cross-section with constant Manning’s roughness coefficients. The channel and floodplain sections of the cross section are defined here. A maximum of six across the section are permitted. NOTE: The Manning’s roughness coefficient that describes the main channel must be entered as a negative (e.g. –0.025) | 3 |
| ROUGH, SEGDIST | Paired values describing the roughness over the segment distance (X co-ordinate). Each roughness value, ROUGH, is applied over the distance specified by SEGDIST which should also be one of the distance co-ordinates found in DIST/ELEV. SEGDIST has units (m or ft). | 1.5, 0.050 4.5, -0.03 6.5, 0.050 |
| DIST/ELEV | Co-ordinates describing the shape of the cross section as (X, Y). A maximum of 100 points can be entered. Units area (mm or ft).  | 0.0, 101.5 1.0, 100.7 1.5, 100.5 2.0, 99.50 3.5, 99.60 4.5, 100.65 6.0, 101.45 |
| Divider | Number of lines in travel time table | 1 |
| Critical flow (m³/s) | Critical flow to calculate erosion index | 0.1 |
MuskingumCunge is used to route hydrographs through typical channel cross-sections using the Muskingum-Cunge routing method. This method is based on the continuity equation and the storage-discharge relation. The open channel cross-section is described with X and Y co-ordinates. Other inputs are the average longitudinal slope, the variation of Manning’s roughness coefficient across the width and a constant, and Beta of the stage-discharge curve which is also a function of the kinematic wave celerity.
MuskingumCunge shares same parameters as RouteChannel except for BETA. BETA is a function of the kinematic wave celerity and is a constant of the stage-discharge curve. Beta is a reflection of the channel shape. Beta has an upper limit of 1.67 and a lower limit of 1. Beta equals 1.67 for natural and wide rectangular channels, 1.5 for trapezoidal channels, 1.33 for triangular channels, 1.5 for rectangular channels.
RoutePipe is used to route hydrographs in circular or rectangular pipes. It uses a simplified form of the RouteChannel input.
Only the pipe diameter or width and heights are required and only one Manning’s roughness coefficient is allowed.
The hydrologic object automatically resizes the pipe cross-section if the dimensions entered are not sufficient to accommodate the peak flow without surcharging.
TABLE 3-7 ROUTEPIPE PARAMETERS
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| PIPE | Pipe identifier used for identification and printing purposes. | 1 |
| PLENGTH | The length of the pipe (m or ft) | 500 |
| ROUGH | The Manning’s roughness coefficient | 0.013 |
| PSLOPE | The average slope of the pipe (m/m or ft/ft) | 0.005 |
| TYPE | The pipe section type. It can be Circular or Rectangular. | Circular |
| DIAM | The pipe diameter (mm or in). Used when TYPE is Circular. | 1650 |
| WIDTH, HEIGHT | The width and height of the pipe (mm or in). Use when TYPE is Rectangular. | 2400, 1200 |
RouteReservoir is used to route hydrographs through reservoirs using the Storage-Indication method.
RouteReservoir has only one parameter, the Discharge-Storage Curve (Rating Curve). It has pairs of discharge-storage values to describe the Discharge-Storage relationship of the reservoir (m³/s & ha.m. or ft³/s & ac.ft.). A maximum of 20 co-ordinates can be entered. The first set of co-ordinates must be 0,0. If the outlet to the pond is not at the bottom of the facility, the curve can have multiple 0 values for discharge as shown in the example below:
In this example the reservoir would fill up to a volume of 0.100 ha-m before discharging any run-off.
The RouteReservoir command has the option to model an overflow hydrograph if the discharge-storage curve is exceeded during a model run. Selecting this option will limit the outflow from the reservoir to the maximum discharge value and will generate an overflow hydrograph equal to in-flow minus maximum outflow. If the overflow option is not selected and the inflow exceeds the capacity of the reservoir, the Discharge-Storage Curve will be automatically extended to contain the inflow.
ShiftHyd is used as an alternate routing method when the peak flow attenuation expected is negligible. The command shifts the entire hydrograph forward to the nearest equal number of time steps specified by user-entered time shift, TLAG (min).
DuHyd is used to separate the major (street flow) and the minor (pipe flow) hydrographs from a total hydrograph.
TABLE 3-8 DUHYD PARAMETERS
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| Major | NHYD of major system connection | Empty |
| Minor | NHYD of minor system connection | Empty |
| CINLET | The peak flow capture rate per inlet (m³/s or ft³/s) | 0.06 |
| NINLET | The number of inlets in the drainage system which have the capture rate of CINLET. Note: The maximum minor system capture equals CINLET × NINLET. | 10 |
RouteWetland command is used to route flows through a wetland. This command is only available for continuous modeling, which calculates the hydrologic cycle of a wetland. The wetland command includes a dry area (similar to a wetland) and a wet area (similar to a route reservoir).
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| Storage Area Geometry | ||
| Initial water Depth (m) | Depth of water in the wetland at the start of a model run | 0.0m |
| Bottom Elevation (m) | Elevation at the lowest point in the wetland | 10.0m |
| Depth Area Curve | Depth area curve for the entire wetland (Dry and wet areas), Starts at the bottom elevation of the wetland | 0.000 100 0.500 100 1.000 100 1.500 100 |
| Storage Area – Soil | ||
| Soil Thickness (m) | Thickness of the soil layer constraining movement between surface and ground water | 1.25m |
| Hydraulic Conductivity (mm/day) | Saturated hydraulic conductivity for soils in areas with ponded water, represent the ease at which moisture can move through a soil in which all easily drained pore spec is filled with liquid | 10.0 mm/day |
| Groundwater ID | 1 | |
| Fringe Area | ||
| Soil Texture | Description of soil base on relative content of sand, silt, clay particles | Clay Loam |
| Total Porosity | Fraction of soil that is made up of spaces (pores) be-tween particles | 0.464 |
| Field Capacity | Soil moisture held in soil after excess water has drained away | 0.310 |
| Wilting Point | Moisture left in dry soil that is not accessible to plants, causing them to wilt | 0.187 |
| Saturated K (mm/day) | Hydraulic conductivity of the soil in dry areas when saturated, represent the ease at which moisture can move through a soil in which all easily drained pore spec is filled with liquid | 24.38 mm/day |
| CN | Curve number used for SCS | 68 |
| IA (mm) | Pervious Area Depression Storage | 10 mm |
| Evapotranspiration | ||
| Land Cover | General description of vegetation | Crops to shoulder height |
| k | K = GI /Pan Evaporation – Growth index of a crop / Pan Evaporation | 1.4 |
| VEGK3 | ET opportunity coefficient, used to calculate ET from soil | 6.0 |
| Outlet | ||
| Type | Choice of method for defining outlet (Currently only Stage Discharge is available) | Stage Dis-charge |
| Discharge Curve | Depth discharge curve for the wetland, depth is defined from the bottom elevation of the wetland | Refer to Error! Reference source not found. |
DiverHyd can be used to simulate diversion channels and multi-outlet structures. By entering a table of inflow-outflow relationships the hydrologic object can split a hydrograph into a maximum number of five hydrographs. The five hydrographs must add up to the original inflow hydrographs.
The inflow-outflow relationship is defined with FLOW TABLE. As shown in Table 3 9, maximum 20 values can be defined for the inflow and each outflow. All outflows should add up to the total inflow.
TABLE 3-9 DIVERHYD FLOW TABLE
| Total Inflow | 1st Outflow | 2nd Outflow | 3rd Outflow | 4th Outflow | 5th Outflow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QTOTAL (1) | Q1(1) | Q2(1) | Q3(1) | Q4(1) | Q5(1) |
| QTOTAL (2) | Q1(2) | Q2(2) | Q3(2) | Q4(2) | Q5(2) |
| … | … | … | … | … | … |
| QTOTAL (20) | Q1(20) | Q2(20) | Q3(20) | Q4(20) | Q5(20) |
AddHyd is used to add any number of hydrographs. There is no parameter associated with AddHyd.
ReadHyd is used to read a previously saved hydrograph from a file. The parameter FILEPN is the file name of the saved hydrograph.
StoreHyd is used to enter ordinates of a hydrograph directly.
TABLE 3-10 STOREHYD PARAMETERS
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| AREA | The watershed area from which the hydrograph was derived (ha or acre) | 30 |
| HYD POINTS | A list of hydrograph ordinates entered at time steps equal to DT. Up to 2000 values can be entered (m³/s or ft³/s) | Empty |
LID parameters have been set based on the 2010 Low Impact Development Stormwater Management Planning and Design Guide. Certain parameters are available for most LIDs. These parameters are given in Table 3-11.
TABLE 3-11 LIDs COMMON PARAMETERS
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| WIDTH | Width of LID layer (m) | 1 |
| LENGTH | Length of LID layer (m) | 1 |
| HEIGHT | Depth of LID layer (m) | 1 |
| POROSITY | Fraction of void space (pores) in the storage layer | 0.4 |
| Min Drawdown Time | Drawdown time (hour) | 24 |
| ENGINEERED SOIL AND NATIVE SOIL | ||
| SOIL TEXTURE | Description of soil base on relative content of sand, silt, clay particles | Loam |
| INFILTRATION RATE | Rate with which water moves through porous materials (m/hour) | 0.051 |
| Total Porosity | The volumetric water content of a soil (volume of water per total volume) when its pore spaces are at saturated, vol/vol | Only available for continuous when infiltration type is set as Green ampt. |
| FIELD CAPACITY | The amount of water a well-drained soil holds after free water has drained off, or the maximum amount it can hold against gravity, vol/vol | Only available for continuous when infiltration type is set as Green ampt. |
| WILTING POINT | The soil moisture content at which plants can no longer obtain enough moisture to meet transpiration requirements, vol/vol | Only available for continuous when infiltration type is set as Green ampt. |
| SATURATED K | Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity (mm/day) | Only available for continuous when infiltration type is set as Green ampt. |
| SUCTION HEAD | Wetting Front Suction Head | Only available for continuous when infiltration type is set as Green ampt. |
| UNDERDRAIN | ||
| TYPE |  | Orifice Equation |
| DISCHARGE CURVE | Depth discharge curve for the underdrain, depth is defined from the bottom of the storage layer. Users can enter 0 discharge up to the invert of the subdrain, if perched. | – |
| DIAMETER | Diameter of underdrain pipe (mm) | 250 |
| MANNING COEFFICIENT | Manning’s Roughness Coefficient | 0.013 |
| LENGTH | Length of underdrain (m) | 4 |
| MAXIMUM FLOW | Maximum flow allowed through underdrain (m³/s) | – |
| SLOPE | Slope of the underdrain (m/m) | 0.001 |
| PERFORATIONS | ||
| PERFORATIONS/ROW | Number of perforations per row of perforations (#) | 10 |
| ORIFICE COEFFICIENT | Orifice coefficient used in orifice equation | 0.63 |
| MINIMUM SPACING | Minimum spacing between perforations (mm) | 25 |
| DIAMETER | Diameter of perforations (mm) | 25 |
| NUMBER OF ROWS | Number of rows of perforations (#) | 4 |
| SAFETY FACTOR | Safety or Clogging factor applied to subdrain outflow (#) | 1 |
Soakaway pits are excavations in the ground filled with clean granular stone or other void forming material that receives “clean” runoff designed to infiltrate into the native soil. Soakaway pits are designed with an overflow and an optional subdrain feature. Key features for Soakaway pit designs are highlighted in the diagram below.
TABLE 3-12 SOAKAWAYPIT PARAMETERS
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| Storage Layer | ||
| POROSITY | Fraction of void space (pores) in the gravel storage layer | 0.4 |
| Initial Water Level | Depth of water in the storage layer at the start of a model run | 0 |
Underground storage chambers are typically designed to store larger volumes of water and are often used for quantity control. Underground storage chambers have large void spaces and typically have open bottoms allowing the system to infiltrate into the surrounding soils. Currently ADS Storm Tech Chambers (all sizes) can be designed in VO. Users can input their design parameters and the program will automatically calculate how much storage is required and provided. Underground storage chambers are designed with an overflow, an outflow, and an optional subdrain feature. Key features for the underground storage chamber designs are shown in the diagram below.
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| Chamber Selection | ||
| NUMBER OF CHAMBERS | Number of individual storage chambers used in design | 900 |
| BASE OF STONE ELEVATION | Base of stone/storage elevation | 100 |
| DEPTH OF STONE BELOW CHAMBERS | Amount of stone between the base of the systems and the in-vert of the storage chambers (mm) | 152 |
| DEPTH OF STONE ABOVE CHAMBERS | Amount of stone between obvert of the chamber and the top of the storage layer (mm) | 152 |
| MIN BOTTOM AREA | Bottom footprint area of the underground storage layer | 100 |
| MAX STORAGE VOLUME | Maximum volume provided with current system design. Max storage is automatically calculated with the input parameters (m³) | 978.51 |
| DEPTH–STORAGE RATING CURVE | Volume provided with current system design. Storage volume is automatically calculated with the input parameters (m³) | – |
| Initial Water Level | Depth of water in the storage layer at the start of a model run | 0 |
Permeable pavement allows stormwater to drain through the surface layer into a stone reservoir. This is where water can be stored and then infiltrated into surrounding soils. Permeable pavement is designed with an overflow and an optional subdrain feature. Key features for permeable pavement designs are shown in the diagram below.
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| Surface Area Ponding | ||
| PERMEABILITY | Rate with which water moves through porous materials (m/hour) | 1 |
| DEPTH–AREA CURVE | Depth area curve for surface ponding area, depth is defined from the bottom of the ponding layer. | – |
Rain gardens generally function as a stormwater filter and infiltration practice which can be used to temporarily store, treat and infiltrate runoff. The LID is designed with an engineered soil layer to store and treat runoff which then infiltrates into surrounding native soil. Rain gardens are designed with an overflow and a native soil infiltration rate. Key features for rain garden designs are shown in the diagram below.
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| Surface Area Ponding | ||
| DEPTH–AREA CURVE | Depth area curve for surface ponding area, depth is defined from the bottom of the ponding layer | – |
| INFILTRATION RATE (m/hr) | The rate at which water on ponding surface enters the engi-neered soil layer | 0.5 |
| Engineered Soil Layer | ||
| TOTAL POROSITY | Fraction of soil that is made up of spaces (pores) between particles | 0.463 |
| SEEPAGE | Saturated hydraulic conductivity for soils in areas with ponded water, represent the ease at which moisture can move through a soil (m/hour) | 0.013 |
| SOIL MOISTURE | Initial soil moisture content of the engineered soil layer. (fraction) | 0.3 |
Bioretention areas filter, detain and infiltrate stormwater runoff. Bioretention areas are known for their water quality, quantity and water balance benefits. The LID is designed with an engineered soil layer to store and treat runoff, a storage layer to detain larger volumes of water which then can infiltrate to surrounding native soil. Bioretention areas are designed with an overflow, optional subdrain, an outflow and a native soil infiltration rate. Key features for bioretention designs are shown in the diagram below.
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| Surface Area Ponding | ||
| DEPTH–AREA CURVE | Depth area curve for surface ponding area, depth is defined from the bottom of the ponding layer | – |
| Mulch Layer | ||
| DEPTH | Depth of mulch layer (mm) | 0.3 |
| POROSITY | Fraction of soil that is made up of spaces (pores) between particles | 0.4 |
| Engineered Soil Layer | ||
| SOIL MOISTURE | Initial soil moisture content of the engineered soil layer (fraction) | 0.3 |
| INFILTRATION | Rate with which water moves through porous material (m/hour) | 0.5 |
| POROSITY | Fraction of soil that is made up of spaces (pores) between particles | 0.467 |
| Storage Layer | ||
| DEPTH | Depth of the storage layer (m) | 1 |
| POROSITY | Fraction of storage layer that is made up of spaces (pores) between particles | 0.4 |
Enhanced grass swales are vegetated open channels designed to convey, treat and store stormwater runoff. Enhanced swales will calculate the volume of surface ponding and infiltration throughout the swale. Users have options for designing enhanced dry or wet swales. Enhanced dry swale are designed with an additional storage layer, and water could be infiltrated from surface and then seepage to a native soil layer. Otherwise, in wet swale, water could penetrate from surface ponding layer to native layer without a storage layer. Key features for swale designs are shown in the diagram below.
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| Surface Area Ponding | ||
| DEPTH | Maximum depth of bioswale surface ponding area (m) | 0.3 |
| CHECK DAM DEPTH | The depth of check dam | 0.3 |
| WIDTH | Width of bioswale surface ponding area (m) | 1 |
| LENGTH | Length of bioswale surface ponding area (m) | 1 |
| LEFT SIDE SLOPE | Horizontal: Vertical left-side slope of bioswale (3:1) | 3 |
| RIGHT SIDE SLOPE | Horizontal: Vertical right-side slope of bioswale (3:1) | 4 |
| SURFACE SLOPE | Slope in the direction of the flow path (m/m) | 2 |
| Storage Layer | ||
| DEPTH | Depth of the storage layer (m) | 1 |
| POROSITY | Fraction of storage layer that is made up of spaces (pores) between particles | 0.4 |
Green roofs are covered with growing media and vegetation that enable rainfall infiltration and evapotranspiration of stored water. They are particularly cost-effective in dense urban areas where land values are high and on large industrial or office buildings where stormwater management costs are likely to be high. In VO6, users could have two options for designing green roof, including subsurface ponding and surface ponding types. The difference between the two types is water storing in different layers. In surface ponding types, users could set a parameter for a depth of ponding layer, while in subsurface type, a depth would be set in the storage layer. Both types have roof drains to convey storm water to drainage sewer or retaining area. Key features for green roof are shown in the diagram below.
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| Surface Area Ponding | ||
| DEPTH–AREA CURVE | Depth area curve for surface ponding area, depth is defined from the bottom of the ponding layer | For subsurface type, users could set 0 for depth |
| Engineered Soil Layer SOIL | ||
| MOISTURE | Initial soil moisture content of the engineered soil layer (frac-tion) | 0.3 |
| INFILTRATION | Rate with which water moves through porous material (m/hour) | 0.5 |
| POROSITY | Fraction of soil that is made up of spaces (pores) between particles | 0.467 |
| Storage Layer | ||
| DEPTH | Depth of the storage layer (m) | 1 |
| POROSITY | Fraction of storage layer that is made up of spaces (pores) between particles | 0.4 |
Filter systems is designed to remove the primary pollutants of concern from runoff and allows runoff to be treated close to its source without additional collection. Users could set a targeted treated flow rate with removal efficiencies in VO6. Key features for filter are shown in the diagram below.
| Parameter Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| TREATED FLOW RATE (m³/s) | Inflow flow rate smaller than targeted flow rate would be treated | 0.02 |
| Water Quality Removal Efficiency | ||
| TSS | Total Suspended Solids removal percentage | 80 |
| Tp(%) | Total phosphorus removal percentage | 60 |
The interface has been designed to provide plenty of working space for the schematic and map model while maintaining easy access to the hydrologic objects and their associated parameters. The layout consists of various sections as explained in the text below. Most of the windows can be docked to selected location. In the case that a window is closed, it can be re-opened through the Windows drop-down list 
in Home tab.
1) Toolbox: Gives the user access to all the hydrologic objects (e.g. Hydrographs, Routing Routines) for the respective project type. Each object is categorized for ease of access and is represented by an icon in the Toolbox.
2) Toolbar: Provides easy access to common program features found in all Windows pro-grams (e.g. New, Open, Save, etc), as well as VO’s own program features (e.g. Resource Library, Hydrograph, etc.). There can be up to three ribbon tabs (Home, GIS and Simulation).
3) Project Manager: Shows the user the names of all the hydrologic scenarios within the open project. This window also provides a simple way of modifying those scenarios (e.g. Add, Delete) and it holds the climate data used in the simulation.
4) Properties Window: Provides the user with the main form for inputting hydrologic object parameters (e.g. catchment area, slope, length). This window is where the bulk of the data entry takes place.
5) Map View: The geospatial representation of the same model. Each hydrological object is assigned to a geometry either from manual drawing or from existing GIS data. Hydrological objects of different type are in different layers. For more information, please refer to Chapter 7.
6) Schematic View: Where the user builds their model schematic from the hydrologic objects in the Toolbox. Objects are dragged from the Toolbox and dropped on the Designer Canvas. Links are generated by dragging the centre of a glyph to the centre of another. For more information, please refer to Chapter 6.
7) Parameter Tables: Lists all parameter values in tables. It provides a spreadsheet-like environment for data editing.
8) Hydrograph Results / Water Balance Results: This is where the simulation results are summarized. For single-event simulation, it has peak flow and runoff volume. For continuous simulation, average annual water balance components are summarized.
9) Error List: Violations are categorized to warnings and errors which are categorized on the Error List. The model is constantly checked for compliance with the established rules. Models with errors can’t run a simulation.
The following tables list the hydrologic objects from the Toolbox and their name. Hydrologic objects with bold font can be used in both single-event and continuous simulation. Users of previous versions of Visual OTTHYMO and OTTHYMO will recognize these commands. For a more detailed description of each command, refer to Chapter 3.
TABLE 4-1 OTTHYMO COMMANDS
| Generate Hydrograph Objects | |
|---|---|
| STANDHYD | SCSHYD |
| NASHYD | WILHYD |
| Route Hydrograph Objects | |
| ROUTE CHANNEL | ROUTE MUSK–CUNGE |
| ROUTE PIPE | ROUTE RESERVOIR |
| ROUTE WETLAND | COMPOUND CHANNEL |
| Flow Manipulation Hydrograph Objects | |
| ADDHYD | SHIFT HYD |
| DIVERT HYD | DUHYD |
 JUNCTION | |
| LID | |
| SOAKAWAY PIT | UNDERGROUND CHAMBER |
| PERMEABLE PAVEMENT | RAINGARDEN |
| BIORETENTION FACILITY | GREENROOF |
| ENHANCED SWALE | FILTER |
| Manual Input Hydrograph Objects | |
 READ HYD |  STORE HYD |
The following tables list the icons from the Toolbar and their name. There are three (3) tabs in total: Home, GIS and Simulation. A brief description of the contents of these tabs are given in Table 4-3 Table 4-5. For a more detailed description of each Toolbar item, please refer to the Help System within the program.
TABLE 4-2 FILE MENU
| Icon | Command | Icon | Command |
|---|---|---|---|
 | New Project Creates a new project |  | Open Project Opens an existing project |
 | Save Project Saves the current project |  | Save Project As Saves the current project under a different name |
 | Import Import scenarios |  | Export Export the current scenario |
 | Copy to Clipboard Copy select objects to clipboard |  | Print Print the canvas |
TABLE 4-3 HOME TAB
| Icon | Command | Icon | Command |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Project Creates a new project |  | Delete Deletes selection |
| Open Project Opens an existing project |  | Undo Removes the latest action |
| Save Project Saves the current project |  | Redo Repeats the last action |
| Save Project As Saves the current project under a different name |  | Edit History Displays list of actions performed by the modeler(s) |
 | Copy Copies the selection to the clip-board |  | Find Locates a specific object by ID or name |
 | Cut Extracts the selection to the clipboard |  | Windows Provides dropdown for selection of windows to be displayed |
 | Paste Pastes copied or cut hydrologic objects |  | Options Accesses window to define gen-eral settings details such as Unit and Precision, etc. |
TABLE 4-4 GIS TAB
| Icon | Command | Icon | Command |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Add Layer Provides Dropdown to add an imported GIS layer, Group Map layer or Base Map Layer into the Map View. | | Find Feature Locates a specific object or specific text in the Map. |
 | Attribute Table Accesses Attributes Table of selected feature. |  | Pan Allows to pan around the map. |
 | Zoom In Zooms into the selected area. |  | Zoom Out Zooms out from selected area. |
 | Fixed Zoom In Zooms in on the map at a preset scale, usually into the center of the Map. |  | Fixed Zoom Out Zooms out on the map at a preset scale usually from the center of the Map. |
 | Last Extent Brings the user back to the last extent view. |  | Next Extent Brings back to current extent if the Last Extent was used to view previous extent. |
 | Zoom Pan Zoom in/out depending on panning up or down. |  | Full Extent Shows the full extent of the map. |
 | Select Feature Select features on the Map. |  | Identify Identifies the selected features and displays all the attributes of it. |
 | Add Vertex When in editing mode (double click a focused feature) allows to add a new vertex along an existing polyline or polygon shape. |  | Remove Vertex When in editing mode deletes any existing vertex from a project object |
 | **Edit Tool* Select features on map to edit |  | Add Link Create the link between two hydrologic objects on map |
 | Point Allows to snap to a point. |  | MidPoint Allows to snap to a vertex when required |
 | Vertex Allows to snap to the vertex. |  | Intersection Allows to snap to the intersection |
 | Edge Allows to snap along the edge of polyline or polygon. |  | EndPoint Allows to snap to the end point of polyline or polygon. |
 | Assign Geometry Assign geometry to hydrologic objects |  | Calculate CN Calculate CN based on soil and land use layer and assign to NasHyd or StandHyd |
 | Calculate Area Weighted Calculate the parameter values with given layer using area-weighted method |  | Calculate Landuse Percentage Calculate the Area and Percent-age values with given layer using are-weighted method |
TABLE 4-5 SIMULATION TAB
| Icon | Command | Icon | Command |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run Runs simulation | | Hydrograph Displays hydrograph window |
 | Detail Output Displays the detail text output for selected objects | | Summary Output Displays the summary text output for selected objects |
 | Cross Scenario Plot Plots hydrograph for objects from different scenarios |  | Hydrograph Result Display the hydrograph summary in a table |
| Flow Data Displays the hydrograph time-series in a table |  | Resource Library Displays the Resource Library window |
 | Convert to CN * Converts the CN to CN * |  | Batch Assign Assigns parameter value of selected parameter to given values |
 | Calibrate Commands Changes parameter values with given percentage |  | Plot Calibration Plots calculated and observed hydrograph |
 | Export Channel Roughness Export the channel roughness to a file |  | Export Channel Cross Sections Export the channel cross sections to a file |
The Project Manager is to manage the scenarios and climate data in the project. By default, it’s located on the right-hand side besides the Properties window.
THE PROJECT MANAGER IN CONTINUOUS OTTHYMO PROJECT HAS THREE MORE SECTIONS (TEMPERATURE DATA, EVAPORATION DATA, GROUNDWATER DATA AND SCENARIO COMPARISON) COMPARED TO THE ONE IN SINGLE–EVENT OTTHYMO PROJECT AS SHOWN BELOW.
On the top of Project Manager is the tool bar. The buttons are described in Table 4-6.
TABLE 4-6 PROJECT MANAGER TOOLBAR
| Icon | Command | Icon | Command |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add Add Scenario or Open Resource Library |  | Duplicate Duplicate Selected Item |
 | Delete Delete Selected Item | | Resource Library Open Resource Library |
Below the toolbar there is a tree view of scenarios and climate data. Items are represented with icons described in Table 4-7. Some of the sections would open the detailed information window by double-click, which is also described in Table 4-7.
TABLE 4-7 ICONS IN PROJECT MANAGER TREE VIEW
| Icon | Command | Icon | Command |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Scenario Section |  | Evaporation Data Section |
 | Scenario Open Scenario |  | Groundwater Data Section |
| Rain Data Section |  | Evaporation / Groundwater Group |
 | Rain Group Open Rain Group Viewer for Single-event Simulation |  | Evaporation / Groundwater Data Open Data Viewer |
 | Rain Data Open Storm Viewer |  | Scenario Comparison |
 | Temperature Data Section |  | Flow Data Section |
 | Temperature Group |  | Flow Group |
 | Temperature Data Open Temperature Data Viewer |  | Flow Data Open Flow Data Viewer |
 | Water Quality Section | | Water Quality Data Open Water Quality Data Viewer |
For example, the Rain Group Viewer as shown below will be opened by double-clicking on Rain Group section.
Context menus are also available in the tree view as shown in the figure below. If one menu item is not applied to current item, it will be greyed out. For example, the Set as Default Scenario menu is only applied to scenario. All the menus are described in Table 4-8.
TABLE 4-8 CONTEXT MENU IN PROJECT MANAGER TREE VIEW
| Menu | Command | Applicable Items |
|---|---|---|
| Set as Default Scenario | Set selected scenario as default scenario | |
| Add… | Add Scenario or Open Resource Library | |
| Edit… | Open Scenario or Data Viewer | |
| Rename | Rename the selected item | |
| Delete | Delete Selected Item | |
| Duplicate | Duplicate Selected Item | |
Properties window shows all properties of selected hydrologic object(s) or current scenario. To use Properties window:
Categories
Properties are usually grouped in different categories to be easily located.
Tooltip
Tooltip is given for each property to give more detailed information. This is useful for users that are not familiar with OTTHYMO model.
Search
The search bar is located at the top. It will filter properties to only display those with given string.
Editing Property Value
The property value can be edited using the text box, combo box, or button at the right-hand side of the property name.
For simple property, a text box is given to enter the new value. The change will take effect by using the ENTER key or switching to other properties.
The combo box is available for properties with limited options, e.g. LGI Type of StandHyd as shown in the figure below. The property value can be changed by choosing a different option from the list. Other property values may also be affected by the change.
Some properties are a collection of data values, e.g. DIST/ELEV of RouteChannel and Rating Curve of RouteReservoir as shown in the figure below. A text box and a button are usually given to this type of property. The text box shows the number of rows in the collection data and is read-only. To change the collection data, click the button on the right to open the corresponding editor window.
The collection editor window usually has two parts. For the first part, the left is the data table which lists all the data records. The second part is the data plot is the one on the right. Data can be edited directly in the table or pasted from a spreadsheet software. Context menus are provided to help basic edit operations. Data can be copied and pasted by using CTRL+C and CTRL+V key respectfully. The data plot window will update automatically once the data value is changed in the table.
The LOSS property of StandHyd is to change the loss routine for pervious area. As different parameters are used in these routines, it needs to be edited in a separate editor. To edit the LOSS routine, click on the button to open the LOSS Editor where the LOSS routine type and corresponding parameters can be changed. This editor is similar to the Collection Data editor as it has the same text box and button format.
When SCS equation is used to calculate the rainfall excess in pervious area, the Curve Number (CN) is the most important parameter. From the early research of OTTHYMO, it has been rec-ommended to use the modified CN, i.e. CN*. VO has provided a tool (Convert to 
) to convert the CNII to CN*. To indicate the conversion has been conducted, a check box is given on the right of the CN property as shown in the figure below. The sole purpose of this check box is to tell the CNII has been converted to CN* to avoid repeating the conversion. It’s not recommended to manually uncheck or check it although it doesn’t affect the CN value.
The Parameter Tables window provides a spreadsheet environment for parameter editing. By default, it’s located at the bottom of the main interface.
Parameters of each type of hydrologic object is displayed in the same table and sorted by NHYD. These tables are arranged in different tabs. The tab’s name consists of the hydrologic object name and the number of the hydrologic object in the current scenario. To view the data table of another type of hydrologic object, click on the corresponding tab.
The data record in the data table is connected to the hydrologic object. By double-clicking a data record, it will zoom to the hydrologic object in Canvas and cause this object to flash.
The value of simple parameters can be edited directly in the table. For parameters that are collection data, it’s greyed out and needs to be edited in the Properties window.
The data table can be sorted by any data column. It’s useful to find abnormal values for some parameters, e.g. slope and curve number.
The data in the data table can be copied using CTRL+C or Copy menu in context menu. Data from other sources can also be pasted using CTRL+V or Paste menu in context menu. When a data table is pasted, the first data value will be pasted to the current cell and other data values will be pasted to cells after the current cells in the horizontal and vertical directions. It’s important to make sure the parameter values in the source is same as the one in the data table before pasting.
The parameter values can also be changed by using the Field Calculator which is opened by choosing the Calculate Field … from the context menu. It’s used to change the parameter value by percentage or fixed value (replace). In Field Calculator window, all available parameters are given on the left and the formula for property change is on the right. By default, the parameter (da-ta column) highlighted in the data table is added to the formula. It can be changed to implement the changes as shown in the figure below. Click OK button to make the change.
The Hydrograph Results and Water Balance Results window is the same window which appears differently for single-event simulation and continuous simulation. By default, this window is at the bottom of the main interface. It’s used to show the summary results of each hydrologic object.
For single-event simulation, the summary is the peak flow and runoff volume of the hydrograph. For continuous simulation, it’s the peak flow and average annual amount of each water balance component. The summaries are shown in a data table for each available hydrological object. Data can be sorted by any column.
In case there are multiple simulation runs, only summary results of select run (selected in scenario property) is shown in the table. To switch to another run, select the run from the drop-down list above the data table. It’s possible to show summary results of all runs by clicking on the Show All Runs button.
Same as Parameter Tables window, the hydrologic object can be zoomed in by double-clicking on the data record.
The Water Quality Results window is the same window appearing for single-event simulation and continuous simulation. By default, this window is at the bottom of the main interface. It’s used to show the water quality summary results of each hydrologic object.
In case there are multiple simulation runs, only summary results of select run (selected in scenario property) is shown in the table. To switch to another run, select the run from the drop-down list above the data table. It’s possible to show summary results of all runs by clicking the Show All Runs button.
Same as Parameter Tables window, the hydrologic object could be zoomed in by double-clicking on the data record.
The Error List window shows the errors and warnings in the model. By default, it’s located at the bottom of the main interface.
Certain rules apply to an OTTHYMO model. If these rules are not met, a warning or an error will show in the Error List window. A model with any error can’t be run. The error and warning information is shown in a data table with the error type, hydrologic object ID and name, hydrologic object type and error message. An error will be shown as 
and a warning will be 
. Same as the Parameter Tables and Hydrograph Results windows, the hydrologic object can be zoomed in by double-clicking on the data record in the table. Note that, a red outline is added to the object icon if an error is found. For example, a RouteChannel without source link will be shown as in canvas.
The data table can be filtered to only show errors or warnings. The three buttons on the top is to switch each message on and off. By default, all errors and warning are shown in the table.
This chapter discusses how to use projects and scenarios to manage multiple models, such as models for existing and post-development condition.
To the user, a project may represent a specific type of work which consists of multiple hydrologic models. Each model in a project is a scenario. In VO, a scenario is an independent drainage net-work. A common practice for a modelling project is to create a project with multiple scenarios. At the beginning of the project, a base scenario is usually created first for the base scenario (existing condition). After that, new scenarios (post-development) are created by modifying the base sce-nario.
This chapter introduces how to create, open and save a project.
There are two project types available in VO6:
These two project types share same hydrologic objects and can be converted to each other. Users should use the proper project type based on the project requirements.
A new project is created automatically when VO is opened. The project type of the default project can be specified in the Options window. By default, it’s set as Single-event OTTHYMO.
TO CREATE A NEW PROJECT, USE ONE OF THE THREE OPTIONS:
Similar options are also available for Open Project, Save Project and Save Project As.
To open an existing project, click the Open Project button or menu in Home tab, Quick Access Toolbar or File Menu. The Open window will appear to browse VO project files (*.voprj).
VO maintains a recent project file list. When a project is opened at the first time, it will be added to the list. To open it again, simply select it from the Recent Files list in the File Menu.
A project file can also be opened by double-clicking on the project file in File Explorer. The project file (.voprj) has been registered with VO and appears with icon in *File Explorer.
All changes made to a project are temporary until they are saved. To save changes to the project file, click the Save Project button or menu in Home tab, Quick Access Toolbar or File Menu.
The working project can also be saved to another location with the Save Project As button or menu in Home tab, Quick Access Toolbar or File Menu.
Note that the imported layers are not saved in the project file. You should make sure the file sources are valid.
In VO, a scenario is an independent drainage network. It includes all hydrological objects and the links between them. It can be displayed in Map View and Schematic View. All scenarios are listed in Project Manager.
To create an empty scenario, click the Add button at the top of the Project Manager or select Add menu from the context menu. The Scenario Create window will appear. Enter the name and description and click OK button to create the scenario. The new scenario will be opened immediately in Schematic View and/or Map View.
In often cases, a new scenario is created by copying an existing scenario and then making changes. This is done by completing the following steps:
at the top of the Project Manager or select Duplicate menu from the context menu.
If a scenario is not displayed in Schematic View and/or Map View, double-click it in the Project Manager. A new tab is created with scenario name and the scenario is displayed in the Schematic View and/or Map View.
A default scenario is the scenario that will be opened when a project is opened. It’s not necessary to open all scenarios at the beginning. To set an existing scenario to the default scenario, select Set as Default Scenario menu from the context menu. The selected scenario will be opened when the project file is opened the next time.
Scenario settings are available in Properties window. To show the scenario properties, open the scenario and deselect all objects.
The settings are described in the table below.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The name of the scenario |
| Description | The description of the scenario |
| Type | The type of the view. It can’t be changed. |
| Run # | The active simulation run |
| Show Background | If the background will be displayed in Schematic View |
| Width | The width of the background in point |
| Height | The height of the background in point |
A scenario can be created by importing from model data files. This is useful when 1) the model is in another model platform (e.g. SWMM) or in older VO data files and 2) there is need to integrate a scenario to current project.
VO6 supports the following data input files:
Please note that while every attempt has been made to verify that the import routine works in everyday cases, there may be some data files that will have errors upon import (or may not even import). As a precaution, users should verify that the data files actually run in the previous model version, prior to import.
The catchment and channel systems in SWMM can be imported to VO. The subcatchments are converted to either NasHyd or StandHyd based on the imperviousness and the open channel is converted to RouteChannel. It is not recommended to import models with detailed sewer networks.
The SWMM5 import function is available for single-event simulation. To import from a SWMM5 input file (.inp), select *File -> Import -> Import SWMM to open the Import SWMM to Otthymo window. Browse the SWMM input file by clicking the button below the exit button on the top right corner. Click OK to start the import. The imported model will be added as a new scenario to the current project.
Importing a Visual OTTHYMO v2.4 and higher project file (*.voprj) is necessary when you want to bring an existing scenario into your current project. This may be necessary if you are combining projects or if you want to use an existing model scenario to build a new model.
Once you have your project open, select File -> Import -> Import VH Scenario (Current Project) menu to browse the VO project file and open the Import Scenarios window as follows. All scenarios in the project are listed in the window. You may want to only select the scenarios that you want to import. Click Import Selected button at the bottom and the selected scenarios are added to current project.
Before running your new scenario, you should check that the storm files and any external files (e.g. READ HYD) are referenced to the proper location on your system.
Scenarios in Visual OTTHYMO v2.0 – v2.3 are saved in separate files (.sce). They can be imported to current project with menu *File -> Import -> Import VO2 Scenario (Current Project). The scenario will be added to current project immediately after the import. Rain data will also be imported.
The model file used in Visual OTTHYMO v1.0.x, OTTHYMO-89/INTERHYMO and OTTHYMO-83 is in similar text file format. It may have the extension of ott, dat or txt. These files can be imported as a new scenario to current project with menu File -> Import -> Import Scenario (Otthymo 89). As the location of the hydrologic objects are not specified in the model file, the objects will be arranged from top to bottom. The most upstream objects will be located on the top. Their locations can be changed later to represent the shape of the drainage network.
Any commands that are not included in VO5 are ignored during the import. These commands may include COMPUTE VOLUME, PRINT HYD, PLOT HYD, SAVE HYD and ERROR ANALYSIS.
Canvas is where the hydrologic objects can be visually created and connected with icons. Initially introduced in version 1, it has transformed the way to create an OTTHYMO model, through text file editing to LEGO-like structure building. The time spent on model creation has been significantly reduced. As well, the need to remember format of various commands have been removed. Building a model with VO is now more enjoyable.
A background showing the study area helps the modelers to place the hydrologic objects and the reviewers to quickly understand the model structure.
To add the background:
To remove background, select the Background -> Remove Background menu in Canvas con-text menu.
To hide background, uncheck the Show Background in the scenario properties window. Note that this is different from removing background. The background is still in the scenario.
Hydrologic objects are added to the Canvas by dragging the hydrologic object’s icon from the Toolbox and then dropping on the canvas.
New hydrologic objects can also be created by copying existing objects. To do this:
in Home Tab in Home Table
An individual hydrologic object is selected by pressing placing the mouse cursor over the object and clicking the left button. A blue outline will be added to the object icon.
INDIVIDUAL OBJECT SELECTION ON CANVAS
Multiple objects are selected by holding the CTRL or SHIFT key and then selecting each object.
MULTIPLE OBJECTS SELECTION ON CANVAS
Adjacent objects can also be selected by dragging a rectangle covering all the objects. There is no difference on how the rectangle is created (e.g. from left top corner to right bottom corner).
MUTIPLE OBJECTS SELECTION WITH RECTANGLE
SELECTION FUNCTIONS IN CANVAS CONTEXT MENU
All objects can be selected using CTRL+A keys. Various other selection functions are available from the context menu. These menus are described in Table 6-1.
TABLE 6-1 SELECTION CONTEXT MENUS
| Menu | Command |
|---|---|
| Select All | Select all objects |
| Invert Selection | Select objects that are currently not selected and deselect the selected objects |
| Select Upstream | Select objects located upstream of selected objects. The selection can be all objects or given types. |
| Select Downstream | Select objects located downstream of selected objects. The selection can be all objects or given types. |
Once objects are on the canvas it can be moved by selecting it and holding the left mouse button to drag it to the desired location. Multiple objects can be moved at the same time.
The location of objects can be also adjusted with various Align and Distribute tools in the Canvas context menu. To use these tools:
The available Align or Distribute tools are described in Table 6-2.
TABLE 6-2 OBJECT ALIGN AND DISTRIBUTE TOOLS
| Icon | Command | Icon | Command |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Align Left Align to the far left of all select-ed objects |  | Align Top Align to the top of all selected objects |
 | Align Center Align to the center (from far left to far right) of all selected objects |  | Align Middle Align to the middle (from top to bottom) of all selected objects |
 | Align Right Align to the far right of all selected objects |  | Align Bottom Align to the bottom of all selected objects |
 | Distribute Horizontally Distribute selected objects to have same horizontal distance |  | Distribute Vertically Distribute selected objects to have same vertical distance |
Note that the location change on canvas doesn’t have an impact on its geospatial location in Map View and vice versa.
The hydrologic objects and its immediate downstream objects are presented with an arrow pointing to the downstream objects. The arrow is called link in VO. To create a link on canvas:
Some rules and guidelines for linking objects are given in Table 6-3. The link will not be added if the number of input or output links reaches the limit.
TABLE 6-3 RULES FOR HYDROLOGIC OBJECT LINKS
| Hydrologic Object |
|
| Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | Black |
| 1 | 1 | Black |
| unlimited | 1 | Black |
| 1 | 1 | Black |
| 1 | 5 | Black |
| 1 | 2 | Minor: Red Major: Black |
| 0 | 1 | Black |
| 1 | Up to 3 | Over flow: Red Out flow: Black Underdrain: Orange |
The canvas can be easily navigated. Available navigation functions are described below.
There are two types of labels on Canvas:
To setup the customized label:
Note that the result summary value is empty if the output is not available.
The model schematic (including the background and labels) can be copied to clipboard or printed directly. This is useful for project report.
To copy the schematic to clipboard, click the Copy to Clipboard button in File menu. Then it can be pasted to a third-party software application. Note that only the selected objects will be copied if the selection is not empty.
To print the model schematic directly, click the Print button in File menu. The print preview window will appear where it can be viewed and printed. The schematic was zoomed to have all objects displayed and the selection doesn’t have any impact.
With VO 6.0, we are introducing TatukGIS that will be built into the program. No additional GIS license is required to use Tatuk Map. Users can now choose an ArcGIS or TatukGIS map. Note that an ArcGIS license is required to use the ArcGIS map. Map is another way to create, parameterize and present a VO model. It adds geospatial location information to each hydrological object and shows the model drainage network on the map. This section helps you work with the map in VO (ArcGIS map is used as default in this section). Several benefits from using the map are:
In VO, a scenario can be viewed in both the Schematic View (Canvas) and the Map View.
By default, only one view is visible. To have them side-by-side (split view), drag Map or Schematic tab to the desired location. Note that the Map View and GIS tab will not be available if an ArcGIS license is not found.
There are three components in the map view:
The default coordinate system of the map and layers is NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_17N. To change it:
in Home tab. The Options window will appear.
A map usually has multiple layers. The content shown on the map depends on the data in each layer and the order in Table of Content. Layers on top will cover the one on the bottom. VO utilizes various layers to represent the model and calculate model parameters. Users have the options to add, edit and remove layers.
Layers used in VO can be grouped to four (4) different types:
Both the Hydrologic Object Layers and Support Layers are system layers and are saved in the project file. They can’t be removed from Table of Content.
Hydrologic object layers are the geospatial representation of hydrologic objects. Each type of hydrologic object has one corresponding layer as shown in the figure below. These layers have the same name of hydrologic objects and are grouped in the same way as they are grouped in the toolbox. The geometry type (polygon, polyline or point) of each layer is given in Table 7-1.
TABLE 7-1 THE GEOMETRY TYPE OF HYDROLOGIC OBJECT LAYERS
| Category | Hydrologic object & Geometry Type | Category | Hydrologic object & Geometry Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrograph | Polygon Polygon Polygon Polygon | Operation | Point Point Point Point |
| Route | Polyline Polyline Polyline Polyline Point | Utility | Point Point |
| LID | Point Point Point Point | LID | Point Point Point Point |
Support Layers are added to help define rain gauges (Raingauge), display the type of hydrologic objects (Command) and display connections between hydrologic objects (Connector and CatchmentLine).
Context menus are available for each layer in the Table of Content. These menus are described in Table 7-2. The availability of the menus is dependent on type and status of the layer.
TABLE 7 2 LAYER CONTEXT MENU
| Menu | Command |
|---|---|
| Attribute Table | Open the attribute table of the layer. |
| Remove Layer | Remove the layer from map. Not available for hydrologic object layers and support layers. |
| Move Layer Up | Move the layer up one level. |
| Move Layer Down | Move the layer down one level. |
| Layer Selectable | Make the features selectable. Not available if it’s already selectable. |
| Layer Unselectable | Make the feature un-selectable. Not available if it’s already un-selectable. |
| Zoom To Layer | Change the map extent to show all features in the layer. |
| Deselect all but this | Turn off all other layers but turn on current layer. |
| Select all but this | Turn on all other layers but turn off current layer. |
| Show/Hide Arrows | Show or hide arrows for polyline layer. |
| Export as Shape File | Export current layer to shapefile. |
| Export as CSV | Export the attribute table to CSV file. |
| File Source | Display the file source. |
| Layer Properties | Open the Layer Properties window. |
To add a layer, use the following button from Add Layer sub-menus in GIS tab:
to add any supported GIS data files.
to add a new group layer.
to add the base map layer (Available only in ArcGIS).The new layer will be added to the bottom of Table of Content. For feature layers, multiple layers can be added at the same time.
The order of layers in the Table of Content affect how the features show up on the map. Features in top layers, would cover features in bottom layers. It’s generally recommended to put point and polyline layers on top of polygon layers to avoid any cover-up.
To move the layers in Table of Content, select the layer first and drag it to the new location. Moving a group layer will also move all children layers.
Layers can all be moved by using the Move Layer Up and Move Layer Down context menu. Layers in a group layer can only be moved inside that group.
Base map layer and imported layers can be removed from the Table of Content by selecting Remove Layer menu from the context menu. Note that the hydrologic object layers and support layers can’t be removed.
The visibility of a layer can be defined using the check box in Table of Content and the Scale Range setting in Layer Properties window.
Unchecking the check box would hide all features in that layer. For a group layer, it also hides features belonging to its children layers.
A scale range is the upper and lower scale limit when the features can be displayed on map. It is necessary to define the range when a certain layer is not useful when the map is zoomed in or out. To set up the scale range:
In the example shown in the figure below, the features in the layer would only display when the scale is between 1:50,000 and 1:250,000. If the scale goes beyond this range, all features would be hid-den and the checkbox beside the layer in Table of Content becomes grey to indicate the status.
The appearance of features on the map are defined using symbols. For an empty project, a default symbol is generated for each layer. To change the symbol:
The symbols will be saved in project file. It will be restored when the project is opened.
Attribute values can be displayed on top of features on the map. To create the label:
The value of selected field will be labeled on top of the feature as shown below.
The model components and other helper information are displayed on the map. With the geospatial information, the model is easier to understand. Furthermore, it enables to utilize existing GIS layers to create the model structure and determine the parameter values.
To zoom in and out of the map, wheel the scroll mouse up and down. More navigation tools are available in GIS tab and they are shown below. These tools are described in Table 4-4. The Pan tool is also available from the context menu. Note that in TatukGIS, the Zoom Out button is not available. Instead, To Zoom In, the user can click on the Zoom In button followed by clicking and moving the mouse to the right side to form a rectangle. To Zoom Out, follow the same step above but forming the rectangle towards the left after clicking on the map. The user can always use the scroll mouse to zoom in and zoom out. Identify button is only available in ArcGIS. Multi-selection of Snapping tools is available only on ArcGIS.
The scale of the Map View and Schematic View is synchronized by default to zoom to same hydrologic objects, which works best for the split view. The synchronization can be turned on/off in Options window. Turning off the synchronization would improve performance for a model with many hydrologic objects.
The two views can also be synchronized manually by choosing the Show Same Hydrologic objects as in Schematic View in map context menu or the Show Same Hydrologic objects as in Map View in schematic view context menu.
Note that the views are not synchronized when it is not in split view model even when the synchronization is turned on. Please use the manual synchronization context menu when switching to another view.
Features can be selected on map. To select features:
in GIS tab.Similar as in Schematic View, certain hydrologic objects can be selected by using the Selection context menu. These menus are described in 6.3.
For hydrological object layers, the hydrologic objects are also selected if the corresponding features are selected.
VO provides tools to create hydrologic objects on map. Different from the Schematic View, the geometry needs to be digitized on the map before the objects can be created. To create a hydro-logical object on map:
TABLE 7-3 SNAPPING TOOLS
| Icon Command | Icon Command | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Point Allows to snap to a point. | | EndPoint Allows to snap to the end point of polyline or polygon. (Available only in ArcGIS) |
| Vertex Allows to snap to the vertex. | | MidPoint Allows to snap to the middle point of a polyline |
| Edge Allows to snap along the edge of polyline or polygon. | | Intersection Allows to snap to intersection of two geometries |
b. Selecting the type of hydrologic object from map context menu.
Notice that the cursor changes to a pencil shape indicating it is ready to draw on map.
Existing GIS data can be utilized to define hydrologic objects. The data may be created from DEM data using other hydrological analysis toolsets. These datasets usually have a catchment layer, a stream layer, and an outlet layer. They can be imported into VO and used to create NasHyds/StandHyds, RouteChannels and AddHyds.
To create hydrologic objects from existing GIS layers:
in GIS tab. Move the layer on top of base map layer and zoom to it using the Zoom to Layer context menu. in GIS tab or the Map Context Menu.
Links between hydrologic objects can also be created in Map View. To create a link:
GIS tab or choose the Add -> Link menu from the map context menu. Notice the cursor changes to cross hair shape.
The starting point of the line is determined based on the shape of the hydrologic object. For polygon-hydrologic object, the starting point will be the centroid of the polygon. For polyline-hydrologic object, the starting point will be the middle point of the polyline. The starting point of a point-hydrologic object will be where the point is located. In TatukGIS, the connecting line appears only after the source and destination points are selected.
A new feature is added to CatchmentLine layer for the new link as shown below. The symbol may be different based on your settings.
Once the link is added, the output property of the starting hydrologic object is updated automatically to the output hydrologic object and a link is also added in the schematic view as shown below.
Hydrologic objects do not have geospatial location information when 1) they are created on canvas or 2) they are imported from an older model. To take advantage of GIS functions, the geospatial location information can be assigned to hydrological objects. To do this:
The shape of the hydrologic object features can be edited and deleted on the map. To do this:
in GIS tab or map context menu.
For polygon-hydrologic objects, the new shape may cover, cut or clip other hydrologic objects. This is not allowed. If that happens, a warning message shows up and the new shape will be rejected.
If the new shape clips other hydrologic objects like the one shown below, the behaviour is defined in the Options window. The default behaviour is Reject, which would reject the change. If it is set to Clip, the affected hydrologic objects would be clipped and the area is updated. This setting also applies when a new polygon hydrologic object feature is created and when an existing polygon hydrologic object feature is changed by moving, adding or removing a vertex.
Due to the possible changes to other hydrologic objects when moving polygon-hydrologic objects, it is not generally recommended to do so.
and Remove Vertex in GIS tab. For Add Vertex, set the snapping properly to make the new vertex more accurate. Click on the map, a new vertex is added at that location and the shape is changed accordingly. For Remove Vertex, the vertex will be removed by clicking on it. Note that these two tools are only available when a polygon or a polyline is selected using the Edit tool.
In some cases, a polygon-hydrologic object needs to be split into several smaller ones. For example, if part of NasHyd is developed and the imperviousness surpass 20%, users will have to:
If the polyline can’t cut the polygon into pieces, a warning window will appear.
The location of hydrologic objects in schematic view can be determined based on their geospatial location on map. As a result, the hydrologic objects will be in a similar location in schematic view, making the comparison easier.
To update the location, choose the Update Schematic Position context menu and click Yes on the confirmation window. The location of all hydrologic objects would be updated.
For some models with large number of hydrologic objects, the location of few hydrologic objects may not be completely accurate. They need to be adjusted manually.
GIS tools take advantage of GIS data to help with model parameterization and calibration. Three tools are provided in this version.
– Assigns CNII to catchments based on land use and soil layer. It also has a built-in lookup table. – Assigns catchment parameters from exiting GIS layer.
– Generates unique rainfall data for each catchment by interpolating the rainfall data from rain gauges.Curve Number (CN) is the most important parameter to determine surface runoff when SCS equation is used. Its value varies for different soil types, land use, and Antecedent Soil Moisture Condition (AMC). The CN for the average antecedent soil condition (CNII) is usually used. Lookup tables have been established for land use, soil hydrological group, and CNII (Table 7-4).
TABLE 7-4 SAMPLE LAND USE, SOIL AND CN LOOKUP TABLE
In most cases, CNII of each catchment is estimated with the land use and soil information and applicable lookup tables. If land use and soil layers are available, GIS software is usually used to conduct the calculation. For catchments covering more than one land use or soil type, an area weighted CNII are usually calculated.
The Calculate CN tool makes the process easier. To use this tool:
in the GIS tab. The Calculate CN window will appear. Notice that the number of selected hydrologic objects available for CN calculation is shown on the top of the window. The window has the left part for soil mapping and the right part for the land use mapping.
n some cases, model parameters are available in GIS layers. The Calculate Area Weighted tool reads the parameter values, calculate the area weighted value if necessary and then assign to catchments. The imperviousness (TIMP and XIMP) and initial abstraction are two parameters that can utilize this tool. To use this tool:
located in the GIS tab. The Calculate Area Weighted Parameter window will appear. Notice that the number of selected catchments is shown at the top of the window.
In some cases, model parameters are available in GIS layers. The Calculate LandUse Percentage tool reads the parameter values, calculate the area weighted value if necessary and then as-sign to catchments LandUse. To use this tool:
located in the GIS Tab . The Calculate LandUse Percentage Parameter window will appear. Notice that the number of selected catchments is shown at the top of the window.
Rainfall data, an essential element of storm water management analyses, is recorded at and collected from rain gauges. Therefore, the location of the rain gauge is important. The closer the rain gauge is to the flow meter the better. However, this may not always be possible. Also, rainfall data obtained and used for modeling from adjacent/closest rain gauge does not, in most cases, best represent the sub-catchments. Often modellers must use rain gauge data that are not truly representative of the area where the flow is being recorded. The best rainfall data are recorded at the center of each sub-catchment, as they capture the true influence of rain on that particular sub-catchment. In order to overcome this, the Distributed Rain Modeling Technique or DRMT was introduced. DRMT uses math interpolation on each actual live rain gauge and interpolate the values of intensity at each time step to create a virtual rain gauge. The DRMT takes data from multiple rain gauges, surrounding a site of interest or focus, and interpolates to create rainfall ‘surfaces’ for each modeling time step at the centroid of each catchment’s tributary area. This approach is helpful to account for temporal and spatial variability of storm events over a relatively large drainage area and to interpret the observed flow and level data. The interpolation technique currently used is Spline Interpolation.
The DRMT tool is useful to calibrate models covering large areas with multiple rain gauges. The simulated hydrographs are more reasonable compared to the one without using DRMT.
To have a proper rainfall surface, minimum three rain gauges are required. There are two ways to add rain gauges on the Map:
Add Rain Gauge Manually
Adding a rain gauge is similar to adding other point hydrologic objects (e.g. AddHyd). To add rain gauges on map:
It is recommended to use same storm index in different rain groups to avoid changing the storm index after switching between rain groups. In this context, the rain group is a collection of rainfalls happening at the same time but at different locations. It is recommended to name the rain group with the rainfall time range and to label the rainfall data with the rain gauge name.
Add Rain Gauge by Importing Shapefile
next to the Input Source field to navigate to and open the rain gauge shapefile. Set up the mapping table to map Mapped Properties with Layer Properties. Click Import. If a window popping up and asking whether to overwrite existing layer, select Overwrite. Close the Import Required Layers window.
To use the DRMT tool in continuous project, interpolate the rainfall for each catchment:
in GIS tab. The Generate DRMT window will appear. The number of selected catchments is given at top of the window. If no catchment is selected, it will apply to all catchments.
To use the DRMT tool in single-event project, interpolate the rainfall for each catchment:
in GIS tab. The Generate DRMT window will appear. The number of selected catchments is given at top of the window. If no catchment is selected, it will apply to all catchments.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Input Rain | Select the rain group as the hyetograph data source for rain gauges. |
| Output cell size | The number of cells at which the output raster will be created. By default, it is 400. |
| Spline Type | The type of spline to be used. It can be REGULARIZED or TENSION. REGULARIZED yields a smooth surface and smooth first derivatives. TENSION tunes the stiffness of the interpolant according to the character of the modeled phenomenon. |
| Weight | Parameter influencing the smoothness of the surface interpolation. When the REGULARIZED option is used, it defines the weight of the third derivatives of the surface in the curvature minimization expression. If the TENSION option is used, it defines the weight of tension. The default value is 0.1. |
| Number of points | The number of points per region used for local approximation. The default value is 12. (Available only on ArcGIS) |
| Intensity over catchment | The method to calculate the rain fall intensity over catchment using the rainfall surface. It can be centroid or catchment average. Centroid uses the rainfall intensity at the catchment polygon centroid. Catchment Average calculates the average rainfall intensity over the catchment. The centroid is the default value. |
| Rainfall raster output path | Folder for generated rainfall surface raster data |
| Selected rain gauges | Rain gauges whose location will be used for the interpolation. All rain gauges are selected by default. |
By default, VO 6.0 will load the TatukGIS map functions. When an ArcGIS license is available, the user can choose ArcGIS from the GIS Type selection drop-down menu.. This can be changed in Options window as shown in the figure below. Uncheck the Use GIS option in General tab. Note that this option only appears when ArcGIS license is available, and the change will take effect after the program is restarted.
Resource Library is a local climate data library with the ability to share with others. Shipped with standard design and regional storm, it is widely used in Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). It can be further expanded with any project related climate data.
The climate data in Resource Library includes Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF), design storm, regional storm, rain gauge, temperature gauge, evaporation gauge, precipitation time series, temperature time series and evaporation time series. More climate data will be added in later versions.
The climate data is organized in a folder-like structure, supporting unlimited levels. The Library Explorer in the Resource Library provides similar functionality as the File Explorer in Windows operating system.
With the current version, the climate data is either entered or imported from a file. The database connection will be added in the later version to grab data from an existing database.
Review agencies may find that the Resource Library is a good way to distribute the design storms required in the development submissions. Modellers and engineers may find themselves save time by avoiding using file-based climate files.
To open Resource Library, use the Resource Library button in the Simulation tab or the Project Manager tool bar.
The Resource Library has three (3) components: Toolbar, Library Explorer and Main View. The Toolbar is on the top where buttons are placed in different groups. The Library Explorer, a tree view of all items in the library, is located on the left. Each item has a unique icon and context menu. The Main View displays the information of selected item and it changes depending on the type of the items.
The buttons in the toolbar are described in Table 8-1. Most of them are also available through the context menu in Library Explorer.
The Library Explorer shows all items in a tree view structure.
Items of different types in one group are organized in a certain order as described below. Items with higher order will appear before items with lower order. Items of same type are arranged alphabetically by name.
TABLE 8-1 RESOURCE LIBRARY TOOLBAR
| Icon | Command | Icon | Command |
|---|---|---|---|
| Save Save changes | | Save As Save the library to another location |
 | Export Export selected item |  | Import Import from a previously exported database to merge new data into library |
 | Top Group Create a new top group |  | Sub Group Create a new sub-group |
 | IDF Group Create a new IDF Group |  | IDF Curve Create a new IDF Curve |
 | Manual Input Create a new Manual Input design storm |  | Read-in Create a new Read-in design storm |
 | Chicago Create a new Chicago design storm |  | MASS Create a new Mass design storm |
 | Rain Gauge Create a new rain gauge |  | Read-in Read-in precipitation time series |
 | Temperature Gauge Create a new temperature gauge |  | Read-in Read-in temperature time series |
| Evaporation Gauge Create a new evaporation gauge |  | Read-in Read-in temperature time series |
| Groundwater Gauge Create a new groundwater gauge |  | Read-in Read-in groundwater time series |
 | Flow Gauge Create a new flow gauge |  | Read-in Read-in flow time series |
| Remove Remove selected item |  | Add to Model Add selected item to current project |
 | Help Open help system |
In Library Explorer, icons are used to identify different items in the library as shown in Table 8-2.
TABLE 8-2 LIBRARY EXPLORER ICONS
| Icon | Data Type | Icon | Data Type |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Group | ||
 | IDF Group |  | IDF Curve |
| Manual Input Design Storm | | Read-in Design Storm |
| Chicago Design Storm |  | Mass Design Storm |
 | SCS Type II Design Storm |  | AES Design Storm |
| Rain Gauge | | Read-in Measured Storm |
| Temperature Gauge | | Temperature Data |
| Evaporation Gauge | | Evaporation Data |
| Flow Gauge | | Flow Data |
Context menus in Library Explorer is content-sensitive. An example is given below.
The items in Library Explorer supports drag-and-drop for various functions based on the type of source and destination item. Examples are:
The items in Resource Library is displayed and edited in the Main View. The Main View changes depending on the type of the item. The view for IDF group, Chicago design storm, MASS design storm, and temperature data is given below.
Items can be added to the library by using the buttons in the Toolbar or the context menu in Library Explorer.
There are two group types. The top group is the group located at the top level and the sub-group is the group located in another group.
To add a top group, click the Top Group button in Toolbar.
To add a sub-group in an existing group, select the parent group first in the Library Explorer and then click the Sub Group button in the toolbar or choose Add New SubGroup in the context menu.
An IDF group is a group of IDF curves of various return periods (2-100 year) for the same location or area. To add an IDF group, first select the parent group and then click the IDF Group button in the Toolbar or choose Add New IDF Group in the context menu, which will open the Add A New IDF Group window as shown below.
The IDF curves in IDF group can be defined with either fitting parameter A, B, C or the duration-intensity ordinates. For latter case, the A, B, C parameter will be automatically calculated. In most cases, the A, B, C values will be provided. Please note that the rainfall intensity equation used is i = A/(t+B)C. If a different format is used, the correct values should be used.
The new IDF group will be created by clicking the OK button. Note that the new IDF group is not empty. 6 IDF curves are created for return period 2 year, 5 year, 10 year, 25 year, 50 year and 100 year respectively with data from the City of Toronto (published by Environment Canada on December 21, 2014).
Utilizing IDF Files from Environment Canada
IDF files are publicly available from website for various locations across Canada. There are four (4) tables in the downloaded file and the Table 2a and 2b can be used to create the IDF group.
To create the IDF group, follow the steps given below.
It is necessary to add a new IDF curve if the desired return period doesn’t present in the IDF group. To add a IDF Curve, first select the IDF Group that you want to add a IDF Curve to in the Library Explorer, and then click the IDF curve button in the Toolbar or choose the Add New IDF Curve menu in the IDF Group context menu. The return period of the new IDF curve is 0 and needs to be edited later.
There are four ways to create a design storm in Resource Library which are corresponding to different scenarios.
To create these design storms, click the corresponding button in toolbar or choose the corresponding menu in the context menu as shown in the figure below.
New manual input and Chicago design storms will be added immediately and set as the active item. A window will appear for Read-in and MASS design storm for user to preview the data be-fore its added into the library.
Chicago, SCS Type II and AES design storms can also be created based-on IDF Group as shown in the figure below. The design storms are created for each return period in the IDF Group.
The window for new read-in storm is shown in the figure below. It allows users to create a name and browse the data file for preview.
Click the Browse … button in the window to browse the data file to display it in the Data Preview area at the bottom as shown below. It supports the STM file and CSV file. The format of climate data files can be found in 10.2 Climate Data Files.
If Use File Name is checked, the file name will be set as the name of the new read-in design storm. If you are satisfied with the data, click OK button to create the design storm in the library.
Multiple read-in design storms can be created from multiple storm files. It is available from the Group context menu as shown in section 7.5.4. The new design storms will be added to the select-ed Group without preview. It is convenient when there are a few storm files.
The window for new MASS design storm is shown in the figure below. The window is similar as the one for read-in design storm. The mass curve file SMT file is supported and the total precipitation can be entered. The format of climate data files can be found in 10.2 Climate Data Files.
Chicago, SCS Type II and AES design storms can be created using the IDF data. To create the design storms,
For continuous simulation, the time series data usually comes from monitoring gauges. It is necessary to have the gauge information (e.g. ID and location) included in the Resource Library to enable connect to monitoring database and apply distributed rainfall models. Each gauge may have more than one time-series data which may have different time step or cover different time range.
For evaporation, it may be a pan evaporation gauge or a general climate monitoring station where the potential evapotranspiration can be calculated using various equations.
To add a new gauge, first select the parent group in the Library Explorer and then click the Rain Gauge button , Temperature Gauge button , Evaporation Gauge button , Groundwater Gauge button , or Flow Gauge button in the Toolbar. For evaporation gauge, it is necessary to specify the type of the data type. It can be lake evaporation, pan evaporation or potential evapotranspiration.
The monitoring precipitation, temperature and evaporation data is added to corresponding gauges from a data file. To do this:
in the Toolbar.
The data file should be in a simple CSV file with first column as the time and the second column as the data value. The first row is treated as the column name and will be ignored.
Although data from any time step can be added to the library, the continuous simulation only sup-ports certain time steps. For precipitation, it is 5min, 10min, 15min, 20min, 1hr and 1day. For temperature and evaporation, it is 1day. The format of climate data files can be found in 10.2 Climate Data Files.
In the Library Explore, select the group where the new Water Quality will be located. Click the Water Quality button in the Water Quality toolbar, the LandUse table appears with default LandUse types, User can make changes to the Basic Information section and to LandUse section.
The Chicago design storm can use the information of any IDF curve in the library. There are two ways to assign the IDF curve information to a Chicago design storm:
To copy and paste A, B, C from an IDF curve to a Chicago design storm:
To use drag-and-drop to assign the IDF curve information to a Chicago design storm:
Resource Library sharing is necessary to:
Resource Library can share any part of the library. An item and its child items will be exported to a separated database, which can be merged to other database with the structure unchanged. Single items (e.g. design storm) can also be exported to data files.
To export an item (and its children):
in the toolbar or choose the Export menu in the context menu.Export function is used to export a branch of the library. To export the whole database, click the Save As button in the toolbar and follow the same procedure.
To import data from an exported database, click the Import button in the Toolbar. Browse the right file in the Open window and click OK.
Importing merges the two databases together by only adding different items. Not all the data will be imported into the local library. If the same structure with the same name already exists in the same level, the existing item will be kept. For example, if a top group named Toronto exists in both local library and the imported database, no new group is created and the existing one will be used. These processes will be applied to all items in the imported library.
The process is demonstrated in the figure below. A merged library is generated based on the local library and the imported library. In this case, Group 1 and IDF Group 1 exists in both libraries. The one in the local library will be kept without any change even the one in imported database is different. Sub-group 2 and Design Storm 3 doesn’t exist in local library and is added into the final merged library.
Resource Library acts as the sole source of climate data for model. The climate data (rain, temperature, evaporation, groundwater and flow) can be added to the working model by 1) using the Add to model button/menu, 2) using Add All Design Storms to Project menu or 2) drag-and-drop.
To use the Add to model button/menu:
in the toolbar or choose the Add to model … menu in the context menu;
To use Add All Design Storms to Project Menu
Design storms in a group can be added to a model at once. To do this, select the group in the Library Explorer and choose the Add All Design Storm to Project from the context menu as shown below. All the design storms will be added to the model and the run group is also created for each design storm.
To use the drag-and-drop:
for design storm and long-term precipitation
for temperature
for evaporation
for groundwater
for flow. , temperature group , evaporation/groundwater group or flow group in Project Manager;
Certain rules apply when adding climate data to model:
Water quality calculations have been added in VO 5.2. Total suspended solids (TSS) and total phosphorus (TP) loading and removal rates can be specified and calculated in the model. The user can input loading rates based on existing or proposed land use. To add water quality inputs to the model, the user must complete the following:
Open the Resource Library and select the Water Quality Button.
This will open the LandCover inputs tab. From here the user can specify TSS and TP loading rates for individual land covers. Once rates have been specified, the user must click “Add to Model” to add the water quality loading rates to the model scenario. Tables can also be saved for future use and so the user can save various municipality or conservation authority loading ratings.
The user can then assign land use parameters to each sub-catchment which the model uses in loading calculations. Typical loading rates can be assigned based on the existing or proposed land use. Removal efficiencies can be specified in the LID and Route Reservoir commands.
This chapters discusses the steps to create and run a simulation after the drainage network has been created and climate data has been added.
A simulation run is a combination of drainage network and climate data. For single-event simulation, the climate data may be design storm, regional storm or observed rainfall event. For continuous simulation the climate data is a combination of long-term precipitation, temperature, and evaporation time series data. Essentially, creating a simulation run is to combine the drainage network (scenario) with the right climate data. For single-event simulation, it is also possible to combine same drainage network with various design storms.
In VO, the simulation run is always created for current working scenario. Therefore, there is no need to specify the scenario for a simulation run. Setting up a simulation run is just to specify the climate data.
Note that, to create the simulation run, the scenario must be free of error and the climate data is already added to the Project Manager.
To create a single-event simulation, click the Run button located at the Simulation tab to open the Batch Run window, where all simulation runs are shown in a data table with three columns.
A new project usually has a default simulation run using the default rain group (a Chicago design storm). To add a new simulation, click the Add button in the toolbar. A simulation run can be deleted using the Delete button in the toolbar.
To run simulations, make sure the simulations are checked in the first column and then click the Run button at the bottom. A window will appear to show the simulation run progress. The Batch Run window will be closed after the simulation run is finished.
The simulation results are saved in files. To delete these results file, click the Clear All Results button at the left bottom corner.
This chapter introduces how to set and run a continuous model.
Before creating and running continuous simulations, it may be necessary to change the global parameters. To change these parameters, click the Engine Options button in Simulation tab. The Simulation Engine window will appear.
In the Simulation Engine window, the parameters are grouped to four (4) categories, generally based on the hydrological process. Each group has a corresponding tab in the window. There is only one parameter in the Time Step group, which is the simulation time step in minutes. The default time step is 5 minutes, which may need to be changed for long-term simulations. All other parameters are described in Table 9-1, Table 9-2 and Table 9-3 for snow, initial abstraction, and soil.
TABLE 9-1 SNOW PARAMETERS FOR CONTINUOUS SIMULATION
| Parameter | Unit | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowfall Temperature | °C | The dividing temperature for snowfall and rainfall | 0 |
| *Rel. Density | vol/vol | Relative density of new snow which varies from 0.02 to 0.15 | 0.1 |
| Fraction of Liquid Water | N/A | The fraction of liquid water in new snow | 0 |
| Compaction Coef. A | N/A | Compaction coefficient A used in KC = B * EXP (-A * TAIR) | 0.1 |
| Compaction Coef. B | N/A | Compaction coefficient B used in KC = B * EXP (-A * TAIR) | 5 |
| Max. Rel. Dry Density | vol/vol | The snow pack maximum relative dry density | 0.35 |
| Snowmelt Temperature | °C | The snowmelt base temperature | -0.2 |
| Snowmelt Factor | mm/(day.°C) | The monthly snowmelt factor | N/A |
| Fraction Free Water Capacity | N/A | Irreducible water saturation fraction of total pore volume | 0.05 |
| Rel. Density of Ice | vol/vol | The relative density of ice | 0.92 |
TABLE 9-2 INITIAL ABSTRACTION PARAMETERS FOR CONTINUOUS SIMULATION
| Parameter | Unit | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infiltration Ration in Per. | N/A | The infiltration ration in pervious area | 0 |
| Fraction Runoff Indirectly Imp. to Per. | N/A | The fraction of runoff from indirectly con-nected area flow to pervious area | 1 |
TABLE 9-3 SOIL PARAMETERS FOR CONTINUOUS SIMULATION
| Parameter | Unit | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Evap. to Pan Eva. Ratio | N/A | Lake evaporation to pan evaporation ratio, 0.6 – 0.8 | 0.8 |
| PET Reduction Ratio Due to Rain | N/A | PET reduction ratio to account for rain | 0.1 |
| Soil Storage Capacity Reduction Ratio Due to Frozen Soil | N/A | Soil storage capacity reduction ratio due to frozen soil conditions | 0.12 |
| Monthly Evaporation | mm/month | Monthly evaporation | N/A |
| Monthly Growth Index | N/A | Monthly growth index | N/A |
The snow parameters, Snowmelt Temperature, Snowmelt Factor and Max. Rel. Dry Density, are assumed to change in a year between a given minimum value and maximum value. The minimum value appears in each month. The change is described using a sinusoidal curve as shown in the figure below for a snowmelt factor. To edit the minimum, maximum value and the month for the minimum value, click the 
button on the right side of each parameter. The preview curve will be updated automatically once the values are changed. By default, a fixed value is used for Snowmelt Temperature and Max. Rel. Dry Density but Snowmelt Factor changes.
To edit the monthly evaporation and growth index, click the Edit button after the parameter name as shown in the figure below.
The monthly data editor will appear as shown in the figure below. New values can be entered in the table on the left and the plot will be automatically updated.
To create a continuous simulation, click the Run button located at the Simulation tab to open the Batch Run window. This layout is similar to the single-event simulation and has more columns which are described below.
Different from single-event simulation, no default simulation is created (as there is no default precipitation data). To add a new simulation, click Add button in the toolbar. All other operations are the same as single-event simulation.
The Engine Options button is also available in the toolbar, which can be used to change the global parameter before running the simulations.
Note that the continuous simulation run usually takes more time than single-event simulation. It is recommended to adjust the simulation time step if it takes too long.
This chapter discusses how to utilize the output features of VO. By becoming familiar with this chapter, users will find that their modeling time decreases rapidly, as they will find their answers more quickly and efficiently.
Different outputs are available for single-event simulation and continuous simulation.
Hydrograph is the main output from single-event simulation. The hydrograph is for only one event covering a few hours or days. VO provides five (5) different ways to view the hydrographs:
-Water balance is considered in the continuous simulation. The outputs are the long-term water balance and flow. VO provides two (2) output features to view continuous simulation outputs.
These output features can be found on the Simulation tab in the Output section. Access to these output features will be enabled after a successful simulation is run. Users will find that each feature has its use and at least one output feature will meet their needs for viewing output. A short description of each output feature is given as follows. More detailed information on each feature is contained within subsequent sections.
TABLE 10-1: OUTPUT FEATURES
| Output Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Single-event | |
| Summary Data | This gives a summary table of key output data, based on objects selected by user. |
| Hydrograph Data | This gives a summary table of actual hydrograph points (time and flow) for the objects selected by the user. |
| Hydrograph Plot | This shows a graphical plot of the hydrograph(s) and run(s) as selected by the user. |
| Detailed Output | This shows the user the detailed text output file, which is familiar to previous users of OTTHYMO. |
| Summary Output | This shows the summary text output file, which is familiar to previous users of OTTHYMO. |
| Continuous | |
| Summary Data | This gives a summary of all water balance components. |
| Time Series Plot | This shows a graphical plot of the time series data and run(s) as selected by the user. |
This chapter introduces how to view and plot the simulation results of single-event model.
Users can view key output data (Table 10-2) at any location within their model. Summary data can be viewed once a model simulation has been performed. The summary data can be viewed in a table or with labels.
TABLE 10-2 SINGLE–EVENT SIMULATION SUMMARY DATA
| Name | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|
| NHYD | – | NHYD |
| DT | hr | Simulation Time Step |
| AREA | ha | Contribution Area |
| PKFW | m³/s | Peak Flow |
| TP | hr | Time to Peak |
| RV | mm | Runoff Volume |
| DWF | m³/s | Dry Weather Flow |
TABLE 10-3 SINGLE–EVENT SIMULATION LID DATA
| Name | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Volume Reduction Rate | (%) | (Runoff Volume In – Runoff Volume Out) / Run off Volume In |
| Volume of Water for Drawdown | (m³) | Time taken for maximum volume stored in the LID to empty. |
| Time of Max Ponding | (Hr) | Time at which the maximum ponding volume occurs. |
| Seepage Rate | (m/Hr) | Seepage rate into native soil. |
| Calculated Draw-down Time | (Hr) | Time taken for LID to empty after the duration of the storm event. |
| Maximum Volume of Storage Used | (m³) | Maximum volume of water stored in the LID throughout the event. |
To view the summary data in a table, use the Hydrograph Result window at the bottom besides the Parameter Tables window. It shows the summary data of all objects in the model. On the top of the window, there are two options to specify the run and switch to show all runs. By default, only the summary data of the active run is displayed.
When there are large number of objects, it is necessary to show only the summary data of a few objects. To do this, first select the object on map view or schematic view and then click the Hydrograph Result button in Simulation tab. A new window is created besides the Map View and Schematic View.
VO can provide labels for each object on Schematic View, on an individual basis or all command basis. The label content includes the NHYD, name, and hydrograph summary data. To create labels:
Note that the summary data value is empty if the output is not available.
This output feature allows the user to view the actual hydrograph numerical data, in terms of time step and flow. Users can view an individual hydrograph, at a selected location within the model, or multiple hydrographs. Users can also copy the desired values and paste them in Notepad or Excel.
To view the hydrograph flow data, first select the objects in Map View or Schematic View and then click the Flow Data button in Simulation tab. The Hydrograph Flow Data window will appear where the hydrograph data is shown in a table. In case where more than one simulation is available, the simulation run can be switched through the combo box at the top. To export the data to a file, use the Export button on the top right corner.
The Hydrograph Plot feature can be used to view hydrographs graphically without the need for a third-party application. This feature allows users to quickly view their hydrographs, compare them, and make qualitative assessments about their model.
VO provides three (3) options to plot hydrographs for single-event simulation:
– Plot hydrograph with rainfall data. It can be used to check the hydrograph responses and compare the hydrographs from different objects in the same scenario; – Plot hydrographs from different scenarios (e.g. existing and proposed). It can be used to compare hydrographs of the same command from different scenarios; – Plot simulated and observed hydrograph. The comparison is helpful for model calibration.To view the hydrograph, first select the objects in Map View or Schematic View, then click the Hydrograph button in Simulation tab. The Hydrograph window will appear.
The hydrographs of selected objects are plotted at the bottom of the plotting area. The figure above is the rainfall plot. These two plots have same time scale. To zoom in, simply scroll the mouse scroll wheel up or draw a rectangle to the area of interest on the plot. To zoom out, scroll the mouse wheel down or select the Un-Zoom or Undo All Zoom/Pan from the context menu. All graph options available from the context menu are described in Table 10-4.
TABLE 10-4 GRAPH OPTIONS
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Copy | Copies the graph |
| Save Image As … | Saves the graphical image as the user-defined name |
| Page Setup … | Allows user to modify the setup for the page |
| Print … | Prints the hydrograph plot displayed |
| Show Point Values | Graph will display the value that the cursor hovers |
| Un-Zoom | Graph un-zooms the most recent zoom |
| Undo All Zoom/Pan | Graph will return to its original scale |
| Panning | Use the cursor to drag and pan the graph image |
| Zooming | Use the mouse scroll to zoom into and zoom out of the graph. Enclose the specified area using the mouse to zoom into that area |
The data source, visibility and color of the hydrographs can be changed with the controls on the left side of the window. At the top is the simulation run, selection box to switch to other simulation runs. Below that are the controls for rainfall and hydrograph plots. Individual plots can be turned off and changed to another color.
The Cross Scenario Plot feature can be used to compare hydrographs from two different scenarios (existing and proposed) on the same graph. This is a good tool for quickly comparing hydro-graphs at known locations, based on proposed modifications within the upstream catchments.
To open the Cross Scenario Plot, click the Cross Scenario Plot button in the Simulation tab. The Cross Scenario-Run Hydrograph Output window will appear. This window has two parts with a tree view of all scenarios, simulations and objects on the left and the plot area on the right.
Hydrographs are not plotted when they are first opened. To show the hydrographs, check the checkbox on the left of the desired objects in the tree view. Although it is possible to plot hydro-graphs of all objects, it is recommended to compare the hydrographs from the same objects.
It is necessary to compare the observed and simulated hydrograph in model calibration. Plotting the two hydrographs and the corresponding rainfall in the same plot is very helpful to guide the calibration.
Identifying the Gauge Objects’
To compare to an observed hydrograph, the location of the flow monitoring needs to be defined first. This is done by selecting the object and then right-clicking to open the context menu and choosing Has Gauge Here from the context menu.
Importing Observed Data
To import the observed data and setup the comparison, click the Plot Calibration button . The Compared to Observed Data window will appear. In this window, on the left is where the observed data will be imported, and the comparison can be configured on the right.
To add observed data, click the Add … button at the left bottom corner and select the observed hydrograph data file. For file format, please refer to 10.3 Calibration Files. The observed data will be added to the Observed Data list. To remove it, select it in the list and click the Remove button at the bottom.
Adding Result Comparison
There are three components in a result comparison: 1) observed data, 2) simulated data and 3) corresponding rainfall. The observed data is added by drag-and-drop from the Observed Data list. The Simulated Data is specified by selecting the simulation Run and the corresponding Gauge Location. The hydrograph from the specified object will be used to compare with the observed data. The Corresponding Rainfall is the rainfall data that is responsible for the hydrograph response. It will be plotted on the top of the hydrographs as a reference. It is important to have this when analyzing the observed and simulated hydrograph. If the observed hydrograph is not a clear response from the rainfall, it may be necessary to check the rainfall data.
To create a result comparison, double-click an observed data in the Observed Data list or drag it to the Comparison list on the right. A new result comparison will be added in the Comparison list and the observed data is set to selected observed data. Once added, all the three components can be changed by selecting the desired items in the drop-down list. Note that Gauge Location only lists the objects that is set as a gauge using the Has Gauge Here context menu.
More than one comparison can be added using the same methods. This is useful for large watersheds with multiple flow monitoring stations.
Viewing Observed and Simulated Plot
After result comparisons are created, it is time to plot the observed and simulated hydrograph. To view the plot, click the View button on the far-right side of each result comparison. The Ob-served/Simulated Plot will appear.
The plot area is at the top where the rainfall is plotted above the observed and plotted hydro-graph. The observed hydrograph is in green and the simulated hydrograph is in red.
Below the plot area are the statistics of two hydrographs including the minimum flow (m³/s), maximum flow (m³/s), volume (m³) and relative difference of peak flow and volume. Often the latter should be in an acceptable range for a calibrated model. For example, TRCA usually requires the simulated volume should be +20% to -10% of the observed one and the simulated peak flow should be +25% to -15% of the observed peak flow. The given relative difference in this window would help determine if the simulated hydrograph is acceptable or not.
At the bottom is the control bar to navigate through multiple comparisons in cases where multiple flow monitoring locations are available. Click 
or 
to move to the previous or next comparison in the list. A summary information of current comparison is also shown between the two navigation buttons.
This output feature allows the user to view the actual water quality results in Water Quality Results window found at the bottom of VO.
When a simulation is run successfully, VO generates traditional Summary Output and Detailed Output and stores them in the project folder. For those new to VO, the Summary Output file is a text-based file that contains the key output data for each object during each storm simulation. The Detailed Output file is a text-based file that contains all the output data for each object during each storm simulation. Review agencies often require these text output files when reviewing a model.
The detail output and summary output are available through the Detail Output button and Summary Output button and their sub-menus in the Simulation tab. The process to view and export the detailed and summary output are similar. In this guide, only the detailed output is described. You can easily follow the same steps for summary output.
Viewing Detailed Output
To view the detailed output of selected objects, first select the objects in Map View or Schematic View, and then click the Detail Output button in Simulation tab. A new window will appear besides the Schematic View tab. Note that the output of all simulation runs is listed. The infor-mation in this view can be exported or copied to a file through the context menu.
To view the detailed output of all objects in the current simulation run, deselect all objects and click the Detail Output button in Simulation tab. Similar to the previous case, a new tab is created besides the Schematic View to have all the information. To switch to another simulation run, select it from the drop-down list above the Output button in Simulation tab.
To view the detailed output of selected simulation runs, select View Selected runs detailed output sub-menu by clicking the triangle sign on the right of the Detail Output button in Simulation tab. The detailed output from selected simulation runs of all objects will be listed in a new tab besides the Schematic View tab.
Exporting Detailed Output
The detailed output can be directly exported to files. To do this, use Save detailed output as … or Save selected runs detailed output as … sub-menus by clicking the triangle sign on the right of the Detail Output button in Simulation tab. They export the detailed output of all object in Current simulation run or Selected simulation runs (the second one). Give a file name in the Save As window and click the Save button. The information is saved as a simple text file.
Prior to printing and submitting your model for review, it is a good idea to review the Detailed Out-put file and check for any Warning or Error messages. As with most computer programs, VO will often run with improper input and yield some suspect results. It is therefore recommended that all users become accustomed to reviewing output files.
Warning messages such as “Warning: Incoming Hydrograph is dry” may not necessarily be a problem, provided that the user intended it this way.
A common warning message for the STANDHYD commands is “Warning: Storage coeff. is small-er than time step”. This message says that storage coefficient is smaller than the time step, DT. This means that the time to peak of the unit hydrograph is greater than calculated time of concentration which can result in an underestimation of the peak flow. Therefore, the user should reduce the DT to an integer value less than the storage coefficient. Do not reduce DT less than 1.0. This warning message can be safely ignored when DT is set to 1.0.
All routing commands should be checked to ensure that the input rating curves have not been exceeded, which will result in erroneous results.
There are two main differences between the output from continuous simulation and single-event simulation.
The summary data in continuous simulation is listed in Table 10-5. Note that the average annual summaries may not be the average annual values if the simulation time period doesn’t cover the whole year.
TABLE 10-5 CONTINUOUS SIMULATION SUMMARY DATA
| Name | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|
| NHYD | – | NHYD |
| P | mm | Average Annual Precipitation |
| Rain | mm | Average Annual Rainfall |
| Snow | mm | Average Annual Snowfall |
| *Snowmelt mm | Average Annual Snowmelt | |
| ET | mm | Average Annual Evapotranspiration |
| INFIL | mm | Average Annual Infiltration |
| GWI | mm | Average Annual Groundwater Infiltration |
| Runoff | mm | Average Annual Runoff |
| Runoff Coef | – | Average Annual Runoff Coefficient |
| Peak Flow | m³/s | Peak Flow |
| Peak Flow Time | – | The Time when Peak Flow Happens |
Similar to single-event simulation, the summary data can be viewed in a table or with label as shown in the figure below. For continuous simulation, the summary data window is changed to Water Balance Result. Note that the water balance summary data is only available for catchments (i.e. NasHyd and StandHyd).
The water balance can also be summarized on monthly and yearly basis. To view the monthly and yearly water balance summary, choose the Water Balance menu from Schematic View context menu. The Water Balance window will appear as below.
On the left is the yearly and monthly water balance summary table shown in two tabs. Besides the summary data of each year and month, the average is also given at the bottom. For a month summary, a total summary is also available which basically is the average annual summary.
On the right side is a pie chart to highlight the three important water balance components: Infiltration, ET and Runoff. The chart is corresponding to the active summary data row in the summary table. To change to another summary data, click on the desired row or use the arrow key to move up and down. In this pie chart, default colors are used: green for ET, red for runoff and blue for infiltration. Note that the percentage in the pie chart is the percentage of the total of the three components. For runoff, it is not the runoff coefficient.
The water balance summary table can be for individual catchment or for all catchments. To show the summary table for individual catchment, select it before choosing the Water Balance context menu. For all catchments, deselect all objects before choosing the Water Balance context menu.
The Wetland Water Balance output is best represented using the scenario comparison tool 
. This tool provides graphical results for the Wetland Water Balance command and allows users to plot results for multiple scenarios as a time series or water balance graph. It should be noted that if you run multiple years of data, the graphs completed for a season or month provides the average values for all years. In order to show seasonal or monthly results for individual years, use a user defined time period. This can be set up in your model so that each year is run separately.
Multiple time series data are available for each hydrologic object. The available time series is different depending on the types of the objects. The time series can be viewed using three tools:
– Plot the simulated flow data with precipitation data. – Plot selected time series data with given time interval. – Plot observed and simulated flow or water level.Flow data is available from all hydrologic objects. To view the flow data, select the objects in Map View or Schematic View, and then click the Hydrograph button in Simulation tab. The Hydrograph window will appear as below. This window is same as the single-event hydrograph window. For more information, please see 10.2.3.1.
To view other time series data, select the objects in Map View or Schematic View, and then click the Plot Results button in Simulation tab. The Plot Results window will appear.
On the left side is the control panel to control the data source and appearance of the plots. From the top to bottom, the options are:
Below the control panel is the list of selected objects which is where the plot visibility and color can be changed. As continuous simulations tend to have large amounts of data in each time series data, it is not recommended to display multiple objects at the same time.
An example is shown in the figure below. In the first screenshot, the flow is plotted in 5-min time intervals. The same time series is summarized on weekly basis and plotted in the second screen-shot.
The time series data can be exported to a simple CSV file by clicking the Export button on the top left corner.
Similar to the single-event simulation, it is important to compare the observed and simulated time-series data for model calibration. For file format, please refer to 10.3 Calibration Files. As there are more than one time-series data available, it is necessary to specify which time series to use for the comparison. This is done by selecting the Observed Data Type in the Calibration window as shown in the figure below. The two options are Flow and Water Level in the current version.
As the time series data may have multiple events, besides the same normal statistical values that are used to evaluate the agreement of the observed and simulated data in the event-based simulation, two other statistical values are provided: 
and Nash-Sutcliffe Coefficient (NSE). A value close to 1 indicates a good match. These two statistical values update automatically when the plot area is zoomed in or out.
For wetlands, this plot calibration window provides the modeled vs observed water levels in the storage portion of the wetland and includes a blue line which shows the groundwater elevation. The statistics at the bottom of the screen includes a % difference as well as the and Nash-Sutcliffe Coefficient. These values are provided at daily, weekly and monthly intervals for the time range shown on the graph.
This chapter introduces the type and format of files that can be used by VO.
The project files are used to save all project data including:
The locations (on map and on canvas), labels, links and symbols are all saved in the project file.
There are two project files in the project folder. The main project file has the extension of voprj and the secondary one is vdata file. Both files use the same project name. To submit a VO5 model, it is necessary to have both files.
VO supports various climate files in Resource Library.
READ Storm File (*.stm)
This is the storm file used by OTTHYMO-89/INTERHYMO READ STORM command. In VO5, it is used to create a read-in design storm in Resource Library. The file format is described below.
1st line: 2 (1 indicates in/hr, 2 indicates mm/hr)
2nd line: comment line (up to 60 characters in length)
3rd line: 10 (storm time step, min)
4th line: 24 (number of rainfall increments)
5th line: 2.071 (1st rainfall intensity)
6th line: 2.266 (2nd rainfall intensity)
7th line: 2.524 (3rd rainfall intensity)
…th line: …
xth line: 2.135 (xth and last rainfall intensity, x corresponds to the number in the 4 th line)
last line: -1 (indicates the end of the file).
An example of a Storm data file (25mm4hr.stm) is as follows:
2
TWENTY–FIVE MM FOUR HOUR CHICAGO STORM
10
24
2.071
2.266
2.524
2.880
3.382
4.175
5.696
10.777
50.214
13.366
8.286
6.295
5.194
4.466
3.949
3.560
3.252
3.010
2.799
2.622
2.476
2.346
2.233
2.136
-1
MASS STORM File (*.mst)
This is the storm file used by OTTHYMO-89/INTERHYMO MASS STORM command. In VO5, it is used to create a MASS storm in Resource Library. The file format is described below. Note that the ordinate is the fraction of the accumulated rainfall volume to total volume. So it starts from 0 and increases to 1.
1st line: comment line (up to 60 characters in length)
2nd line: 20 (the time increment between each ordinate, min)
3rd line: 13 (the # of ordinates used to describe the mass curve, max.=400)
4th line: 0.00 (the first ordinate of the mass curve)
5th line: 0.01 (the second ordinate of the mass curve)
6th line: 0.04 (the third ordinate of the mass curve)
…th line: …
xth line: 1.00 (xth and last ordinate of the mass curve)
last line: -1 (indicates the end of the file).
An example of a MASS Storm data file (aesmass.mst) is as follows:
AES MASS CURVE DATA WITH TWENTY MINUTE TIME STEP
20
13
0.00
0.01
0.04
0.12
0.27
0.55
0.70
0.82
0.90
0.95
0.98
0.99
1.00
-1
Simple CSV
For single-event simulation, CSV file is used to import the precipitation. For continuous simulation, CSV file is used to import the precipitation, temperature, and evaporation data. The continuous simulation only supports certain time steps. For precipitation, it is 5min, 10min, 15min, 20min, 1hr and 1day. For temperature and evaporation, it is 1day.
Two columns are required for precipitation and evaporation. The daily temperature file has three columns with date time, minimum daily temperature, and maximum daily temperature. The first row of the CSV file is the column header and will not be read. For single-event design storm, the first column is in minutes and it is suggested to have the data starting from 0 minute. For continuous climate data, the first column is in a format of “year-month-day”.
An example of single-event rain data in CSV file is shown as below. Please download the CSV file template of single-event rainfall data.
An example of continuous rain data in CSV file is shown as below. Please download the CSV file template of continuous rainfall data.
An example of continuous temperature data in CSV file is shown as below. Please download the CSV file template of continuous temperature data.
The calibration files are used to import the observed time series data and compare to the simulation outputs. Two file formats are supported: 1) SWMM format and 2) simple CSV format.
SWMM Format
The SWMM calibration file format is supported. From SWMM user’s manual, the format of the file is as follows:
An excerpt from an example file is shown below. It contains flow at two locations FG02HC023 and FG02HC009. Note that a semicolon can be used to begin a comment.
Simple CSV Format
The simple CSV format has two columns: 1) measurement date and time column and 2) measurement value. The data and time column is in a format of “year-month-day hour:minute:second”. It is assumed that the first row is the header and will be ignored.
An example of calibration data in CSV file is shown as below. Please download the CSV file template of calibration data.
If the READ HYD object is used to read an external hydrograph file into the model, then the file must be coded in the correct format. This format is in the same format as the hydrograph files used in OTTHYMO-89/INTERHYMO. Therefore, previously made hydrograph files (from SAVE HYD command) may be used. The file format is described below.
1st line: 2 (1 indicates in/hr, 2 indicates mm/hr)
2nd line: comment line (up to 60 characters in length)
3rd line: 5 (storm time step, min)
4th line: 50 (the catchment area from which the hydrograph was obtained, ha or acre)
5th line: 0.000 (1st hydrograph ordinate, m³/s or cfs)
6th line: 0.100 (2nd hydrograph ordinate, m³/s or cfs)
7th line: 0.200 (3rd hydrograph ordinate, m³/s or cfs)
…th line: …
xth line: 0.100 (xth and last hydrograph ordinate)
last line: -1 (indicates the end of the file).
An example of a Hydrograph data file (test.hyd) is as follows:
2
HYDROGRAPH FROM OUR TEST CATCHMENT
5
50
0
0.000
0.100
0.200
0.300
1.000
1.200
4.500
8.150
10.000
9.500
5.450
2.000
1.000
0.500
0.300
0.100
-1
This Chapter is written to aid users in resolving some of the simpler problems, warning messages, and error messages that might arise when using the model. These problems or messages may be attributed to invalid input, using the model for situations where it was not designed to be used, or not following a procedure properly as set out in the User’s Manual.
Error and warning messages can appear within the interface and within the Detailed Output Files. The messages stem from an input error or computational error, which is likely caused by the input variables. This section outlines the most common messages and gives a brief description of their meaning.
Unable to save project: Project files can only be saved on a drive with a capacity of 10MB or more (e.g. local hard-drive or network drive). It is recommended that users only run models from local or network hard drives.
Multi-Instance is not allowed: Users can only run one copy of VO on their machine at a time.
You have exceeded the maximum number of objects for this license: The version of VO you are running has a specific number of objects allowed, per project. This number has been exceed-ed. Either decrease the number of objects or upgrade your version.
ERROR: CHECK NUMBER OF RAINFALL INCREMENTS: This occurs in the old URBHYD command where the number of rainfall increments was an input variable. It therefore has to match with the storm being simulated.
ERROR: CHECK THE STORAGE–DISCHARGE TABLE.: There is an error in the input variables in the storage-discharge table.
ERROR: UNITS OF INPUT DATA NOT SPECIFIED: Either the scenario or project settings have a conflict in the input units. Make sure each unit type is consistent (i.e. metric or imperial).
ERROR: SHIFT TO LARGE, RAIN ELIMINATED: This error occurs with the SHIFT HYD command. If the shift is too large, the rainfall may be eliminated past the 800 point time steps.
ERROR: TIME STEP = 0, COMMAND ABORTED.: A DT of 0 has been inputted and is unacceptable.
ERROR: RAINFALL INCREMENT = 0, COMMAND ABORTED.: The number of rainfall increments is zero, therefore runoff will not be calculated.
WARNING: A MINIMUM SURCHARGE OF (X) CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE GIVEN PIPE.: This is from the ROUTE PIPE command. The message indicates that surcharge may occur due to lack of conveyance capacity.
WARNING: AVERAGE OF EFFECTIVE RAINFALL INTENSITIES AS MADE (X) OVER A TIME LARGER THAN THE DURATION OF THE STORM: Try reducing the DT of the hydrograph.
WARNING: CANNOT COMPUTE 1a WHEN USING PROPORTIONAL LOSS METHOD: The initial abstraction cannot be calculated (i.e. cannot be -1) when using the proportional loss method. It must be specified by the user.
WARNING: COMPUTATIONS FAILED TO CONVERGE.: The routing time step is too large, try reducing it.
WARNING: FIRST OUTFLOW IS NOT ZERO.: The first point in a ROUTE RESERVOIR command must be 0,0.
WARNING: FOR AREAS WITH IMPERVIOUS RATIOS BELOW 20%, YOU SHOULD CONSID-ER SPLITTING THE AREA.: This is a warning for STANDHYD. The STANDHYD command was designed for areas with impervious ratios greater than or equal to 20%. When the ratio is less than this value, the runoff may not be correct. The catchment should therefore be split into impervious and pervious components.
WARNING: HYDROGRAPH PEAK WAS NOT REDUCED. CHECK OUTFLOW/ STORAGE TABLE OR REDUCE DT.: The routing command did not reduce the peak flow. Reduce the DT, check the input variables, or review the assumptions made with routing object.
WARNING: HYDROGRAPH WAS CUT. CHECK VOLUME.: This happens in routing commands and may be caused by a high DT or too many points in the hydrograph (i.e. approaching 800). If the volume out is only marginally less than the volume in, then this may not be of concern.
WARNING: LENGTH OF STORM HAD TO BE CUT FROM (X) POINTS TO 800.: The maximum number of hyetograph points is 800. The rest have been truncated. To include all points increase the DT of the storm file and hydrographs computations as well.
WARNING: MINIMUM PIPE SIZE REQUIRED = (X) FOR FREE FLOW. THIS SIZE WAS USED IN THE ROUTING.: Too small of a pipe size was inputted. The program automatically calculated a new size and this was used in the routing calculations.
WARNING: N DID NOT CONVERGE AFTER 50 ITERATIONS.: This is from the WILHYD command. There was a problem calculating an internal number for the number of linear reservoirs. Check the input parameters and re-run.
WARNING: SELECTED ROUTING TIME STEP DENIED.: The DT of the routing command is not less than or equal to the DT of the incoming hydrograph. Change the input parameter for this command.
WARNING: SLOPE <=0.0 (HYD WAS ONLY TRANSFERRED): This is from the ROUTE PIPE Command. The pipe slope must be positive or there is no routing calculated.
WARNING: STORAGE COEFF. IS SMALLER THAN TIME STEP!: The peak flow may be underestimated since the storage coefficient relates to the time-to-peak of the unit hydrograph. Users should manually decrease the DT of the hydrograph until the warning disappears or the DT is as small as 1.0 minute.
WARNING: THE PERVIOUS AREA HAS NO FLOW.: This may happen for small storms where the runoff volume is low, or in cases where the catchment imperviousness is high. Check the LGP (Pervious Area Flow Length) parameter as well. It can be too high.
WARNING: THE TABLE WAS EXTRAPOLATED FROM (X) TO THE END.: The rating curve table has been extrapolated. Add more points to the rating curve.
WARNING: TRAVEL TIME TABLE EXCEEDED.: For a ROUTE CHANNEL command, the rating curve table has been exceeded. Add more points to the channel geometry. Also this can result from too large of a computation time step.
WARNING: VALIDATE_UNDERDRAIN_PIPEDIAMETER.: For underdrain calculations. Check (Diameter of Perforations+Minimum Spacing)*Number of Rows cannot be larger than Pipe Circumference
WARNING: VALIDATE_UNDERDRAIN_WARNING.: For underdrain calculations. Check that (Circumference – Number of Rows * Diameter of Perforations)/Number of Rows is less than (Min-imum Spacing)
WARNING: SOAKAWAYPIT_VALIDATE_AREA.: For underdrain calculations. Minimum bottom Area doesn’t meet MOECC guideline. Area=(W(m) * L(m) * H(m))/(InfiltrationRate(m/hr) * Draw-downTime(hr))
WARNING: SOAKAWAYPIT_VALIDATE_HEIGHT.: For underdrain calculations. Height of Soakaway Pit should be less than (InfiltrationRate(m/hr) * Drawdown(hr)).
The most common cause of the program quitting during a run simulation is due to incorrect input. To isolate the suspect input, try the following:
As stated in Chapter 4, hydrologic object parameters can be edited directly in Properties window and Parameter Tables window. In some cases (e.g. model calibration), the parameter values may need to be changed by a certain percentage. Tools have been provided to make these changes.
There are three parameter-edit tools available for single-event model:
– to convert the CNII to CN* – to assign parameter with given values – to change parameter values by given percentageAll these tools are in the Simulation tab.
In the SCS runoff equation, it is assumed that the initial abstraction equals to 0.2×S, where S is the potential maximum retention. However, it has been found that it may underestimate the runoff volume. To fix this problem, OTTHYMO allows user to assign the initial abstraction explicitly and modify the CN accordingly. The modified CN is called CN* in OTTHYMO. For more information, see Chapter 2 in Reference Manual.
The conversion can be done using the Convert to tool. To covert CN to CN*:
button in Simulation tab.Calculation window will appear.
will be the CN* assigned to object. To see how each value is calculated, move cursor on top of the value and the equation will appear in the Description box on the bottom.
to CN property. The CN* flag in properties window will be checked. Note that the CN* flag can’t be used to convert CN back to its original value.
Parameter values may be available in another source. If these parameters are in the appropriate order, they can be pasted in Parameter Tables window. If not, they can be assigned to hydro-logic objects using the Batch Assign tool.
The Batch Assign tool uses an NHYD-Value lookup table to find the hydrologic objects and as-sign values. If the given NHYD doesn’t exist, the corresponding will not be used.
To use the Batch Assign tool:
in Simulation tab.
For model calibration, a few sensitive parameters may need to be adjusted several times before a good result can be achieved. The adjustment usually comes with a percentage change. To assist on this process, the Calibrate Commands tool can be used. It allows users to change parameters of different hydrologic objects at once.
The Calibrate Commands tool can select hydrologic objects in a sub-area. The sub-area can be all hydrologic objects 1) upstream of a given object or 2) between several objects. This is very useful in multi-site calibration when the watershed needs to be separated to sub-areas by flow monitoring stations.
To use the Calibrate Commands tool:
1. Select appropriate hydrologic objects.
a. To only update selected hydrologic objects, select all of them;
b. To update hydrologic objects upstream of a certain point, select the hydrologic object corresponding to that point, which is usually the AddHyd corresponding to the flow monitoring station.
c. To update hydrologic objects between one point to another, select the hydrologic object corresponding to the downstream point.
2. Click the Calibrate Commands button in Simulation tab.
3. The Command Calibration window will appear.
4. Set up the selection in the Selection portion on the top.
a. To only update selected hydrologic objects, choose Selected;
b. To update hydrologic objects upstream of a certain point, choose Upstream;
c. To update hydrologic objects between one point to another, choose Upstream and enter the NHYD of the most upstream hydrologic objects in Stop at Commands (Exclusive) text box. Multiple NHYD should be separated by comma.
For the model given below, the AddHyd 5 is selected. The updated hydrologic objects with the three options are given below.
a. Only AddHyd 5 will be updated if Selected is used;
b. NasHyd 1 & 2, RouteChannel 3 & 4 and AddHyd 5 will be updated if Upstream is used.
c. RouteChannel 3&4 and AddHyd 5 will be updated if Upstream is used and Stop at Commands (Exclusive) is set to 3, 4.
The number of updated hydrologic objects will be given at Selected Commands in Selection section. Note it is not always the number of selected hydrologic objects.
5. Specify the percentage change for RouteChannel, StandHyd and NasHyd in the three sections below the Selection section. All common parameters are listed and the default value is 100. To decrease the parameter values, enter a value smaller than 100 (e.g. 80). Otherwise, enter a value larger than 100 (e.g. 120).
6. Click OK button to apply the changes.
Scenario Comparison tools allows to compare model results of different scenarios at a certain location. For example, you could compare the peak flow at your site outlet from pre-development condition and post-development condition with a pond. Engineers could setup the comparison in the submitted model for reviewers to open directly for verification. This tool is available for both single-event and continuous simulation.
To use the Scenario Comparison tool:
1. Navigate to Simulation toolbar and click the Scenario Comparison button 
2. In the popped-up window choose the Design Storm from the drop-down list, check off the Scenarios that you want to include the Graph and Statistics table, and select the Command that you are interested to make a comparison.
For RouteWetland command, there are two extra tabs called Hydroperiod and Inflow Mass Curve for Continuous project. In those two tabs, VO uses the results of one pre-development scenario to calculate difference from the other scenarios to the pre-development scenario. Therefore, before doing the scenario comparison, users should select one scenario from all the scenarios in the project as the Pre-Development Scenario. By default, the first scenario under the Drainage Network Scenarios in the Project Manager is the pre-development scenario. To assign any scenario as the pre-development scenario, select and right-click on the desired scenario under the Drainage Network Scenarios group in the Project Manager. In the opened context menu, click on Set as Pre-Development Scenario
Open Scenario Comparison and choose RouteWetland command. Click on Hydroperiod or Inflow Mass Curve to see the comparison. The grey lines in the graph of Hydroperiod are the the upper and lower boundaries of the confidence interval. You can change the Year to be compared and the desired Confidence Interval (%) from the drop-down list. Below the graph is the Statistics table summarizing the days when the Storage depth of the RouteWetland is out of the confidence interval for each scenario in the selected year.
For RouteChannel command, there is an extra tabs called Erosion Indices for Continuous project. The Erosion Indices compares RouteChannel results in three erosion indices: Time of Exceedance, Cumulative Erosion Index and Cumulative Effective Work Index. Before doing the comparison, users should also assign the pre-development scenario as described above. Open the Scenario Comparison and choose RouteChannel command. Click on the Erosion Indices tab. In the drop-down window of Type, choose one index from the three erosion indices to be compared. Type the parameters and click Update. The Graph and the Statistics table will be updated.
Please note that it may take a while to show the results of Cumulative Effective Work Index.
User input parameters required for each index:
Time of Exceedance: Critical velocity
Cumulative Erosion Index: Critical velocity
Cumulative Effective Work Index: Critical Shear Stress, Coefficient
3. Export the Statistics table as a CSV file by clicking the Export button
4. Click the Save button. In the popped-up window, type a name for the comparison chart.
5. The current Scenario Comparison will be saved in the Project Manager under the Scenario Comparison group . To open the same scenario comparison, simply double click on the saved item.
Smart City Water is dedicated to continuously improving Visual OTTHYMO to design the best user interface and hydrologic model simulation software for our users. For example, we designed the LID toolbox for clients to more easily meet the requirements set by MOECP and GTA Conservation Authorities/Municipalities. We hope that Visual OTTHYMO has successfully run simulation analyses for Watershed Studies, Sub-watershed Studies, Master Drainage Plans, Functional Storm-water Management Plans, Site Plans, and Stormwater Management Pond Designs.
We are fully committed to our users and we want to make the best experience for you. Please contact us if there is something you want us to add to the software to make your experience easier. Should you have any question not answered in the User’s Manual or Reference Manual, contact Smart City Water’s VO Technical Support support@smartcitywater.ca or +1 (905) 417-9792.
We also offer software customization services to provide users specific functions in VO. Contact our VO Technical Support team at support@smartcitywater.ca for any customization inquiries.
Thank you for using our software and we look forward to seeing your amazing results completed with the help of Visual OTTHYMO.
This Reference Guide contains all of the hydrologic theory behind the program and gives guidance for users to select or measure object parameters.
This section outlines different methodologies for modelling ungauged rural catchments. While it is preferable to use a calibrated hydrologic model for water resources studies, especially for rural catchments, this is not always possible. Satisfactory results may still be obtained for macro level studies provided that the modeller chooses the appropriate parameters for each catchment.
The focus of this section is on the Initial Abstraction parameter, IA, and the Time to Peak parameter, TP, parameter. While the CN parameter plays a large role in determining the runoff character-istics of a particular catchment, this parameter can be readily determined and is rarely in dispute by watershed regulating authorities. Guidance is provided in this section on determining the Modified CN parameters, called .
This section introduces the calculation and selection of curve number based on initial abstraction parameter.
When using the Modified Curve Number Method, the IA parameter should be set to a value in the range of 1.0 mm and 5.0 mm, depending on the circumstances. The IA value must then be used to calculate (see below).
When using the SCS Curve Number Method, IA should be set to 0.2S where S is the soil storage (a function of CN). Bear in mind that this method may underestimate the peak flow for small storms because the initial abstraction is higher than the total rainfall, which is not accurate. A literature review of this method has found that for lower CN values, a lower IA should be used. Suggests guidelines are as follows:
CN ≤ 70 IA = 0.075S
CN > 70 ≤ 80 IA = 0.10S
CN > 80 ≤ 90 IA = 0.15S
CN > 90 IA = 0.2S
Please note that the above guidelines are for the SCS Method only, where the SCS Curve Num-ber is used to define the soil type.
Unlike the urban catchment hydrographs, rural catchment unit hydrographs do not calculate the time to peak TP as a function of the other variables. The TP parameter must therefore be deter-mined by the modeller. It should be noted that most methods of estimate TP, start by calculating the time of concentration, 
. Time of concentration is the time at which the centroid of the flow reaches the bottom of a catchment. TP is usually a fixed ratio of , depending on the unit hydro-graph chosen.
Over the past 40 years there have been numerous studies in both the United States and Canada in which empirical, semi-empirical, and mathematical relationships for have been derived. Most of the relationships state that is a function of catchment slope, catchment area, and ground cover. While no single method can be used for every situation, we have included the most common methods in this manual so that the modeller can choose what is appropriate for their situation.
Listed below are five methods for calculating TP. We have included both the source of the method as well as the context in which it was derived. This way the modeller should be able to choose a method that was derived for a similar situation as their own.
With Upland’s Method the average overland flow velocity is determined for a catchment based on the catchment slope and ground type, as shown in the figure below. Once the velocity has been determined then the time of concentration is determined by dividing the catchment length by the overland flow velocity.
UPLANDS METHOD OF ESTIMATING TIME OF CONCENTRATION (SCS NATIONAL ENGINEERING HANDBOOK, 1971)
In catchments where the runoff coefficient, C, is greater than 0.40, the Bransby Williams formula is a popular choice. The method calculates time of concentration as a function of catchment area, length, and slope as follows:
(1)
where:
= time of concentration (min)
L = catchment length, (m)
= catchment slope (%)
A = catchment area (ha)
For catchments where the runoff coefficient, C, is less than 0.40, the Airport formula may provide a better estimate of the time of concentration. This method was developed for airfields and calculates time of concentration as a function of runoff coefficient, length, and slope as follows:
(2)
where: = time of concentration (min)
C= runoff coefficient
L = catchment length, (m) = catchment slope (%)
Williams, who co-developed the William’s Unit Hydrograph (WILHYD in Visual OTTHYMO) with Hann in 1973 later derived empirical relationships for both the K and TP variables in WILHYD. These relationships are:
(3)
(4)
The above relationships were derived for watersheds in the southern United States. Refer to the Theory Reference section of this manual for more information on the derivation of the WILHYD unit hydrograph.
This section provides direction for modellers who are modelling ungauged urban catchments. In most cases, urban catchments are not gauged since the response to rainfall can be accurately simulated. However, like any model the user should be aware that the inappropriate selection of parameters can lead to erroneous output. This section will guide the modeller in selecting parameters that have been successfully used in the water resources industry.
There are two impervious ratios required, the amount of directly connected imperviousness, XIMP, and the total imperviousness, TIMP. XIMP must be less than or equal to TIMP.
TIMP is a function of the land use of the catchment. Land use is a planning term that describes the approved, or proposed, use for the catchment (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial). Water resources studies are generally tied to planning applications and depending on the level of planning application, (i.e. Secondary Plan, Official Plan Amendment, Draft Plan), the modeller will have a little or a lot of information about the land use. Therefore, it is important to select a conservative value for the imperviousness when performing more macro level studies so that when the subsequent more detailed studies are completed, the more refined land use calculations will still be valid in the overall model.
The following table gives examples of suggested TIMP and XIMP values, based on land use, for the macro-level studies. These values can be used with the information supplied by the planner to determine area weighted values for the catchment of interest.
| Land Use | XIMP | TIMP |
|---|---|---|
| Estate Residential | 20 | 40 |
| Low Density Residential (e.g. Single Units) | 25 | 50 |
| Medium Density Residential (e.g. Semi-detached Units) | 35 | 55 |
| High Density Residential (e.g. Townhouse Units) | 50 | 60 |
| School | 55 | 55 |
| Commercial | 85 | 85 |
| Park | 0 | 0 |
For more detailed level studies (i.e. Site Plan), there should be more information available so that the XIMP and TIMP can be calculated.
In both the United States and Canada, either the Horton’s Method (LOSS = 1) or the CN Method (LOSS = 2) are commonly used for urban catchments. The Proportional Loss Method (LOSS = 3) has been successfully used in France for urban catchments. While the selection of Loss Routine can be somewhat arbitrary and at the discretion of the user, there are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a loss routine.
Horton’s Method is what is used in the SWMM model, therefore if the user is comparing results with a SWMM based model, or working in a watershed where the overall model used was SWMM, then this method may be the most appropriate. However, the user should bear in mind that for longer duration storms (greater than or equal to 12 hours) the Horton’s Method may not accurately predict the runoff from pervious areas. We have seen cases where the model simulates no runoff from a previous area during a 12-hour 100-year storm. This is clearly erroneous. The CN Method does not have any limitations with respect to storm length and often yields more conservative results as compared to Horton’s Method.
If the user selects the CN Method, then the IA parameter should be set somewhere between 1.5 mm and 5 mm. Note that this is a different value than what would be used for a rural catchment with the same CN value. An urban catchment generally has less pervious depression storage than the same catchment in its rural state.
The pervious slope, SLPP, is the average slope of the pervious areas. This is not the catchment slope from highest point to lowest point, but an average when considering only the pervious are-as. For example, if the catchment consists of a residential subdivision, this value would represent the average slope of the pervious lot surface. In this example the slope would not be less than 2% or whatever the municipal minimum is.
The overland flow length, LGP, should be set to the representative value for the pervious areas. It is not the length of the catchment from high point to low point. This value represents the average length over which flows from pervious areas would travel before being intercepted by channels, sewers, or roads. For example, in a residential subdivision this value might be the representative lot length which is typically 40 m.
The Manning’s roughness coefficient for pervious surfaces, MNP, should be selected based on sheet flow and not channel flow. This is a common mistake for modellers. Most listed values of Manning’s values are for channel flow, whereas the pervious runoff simulated is sheet flow. Therefore, if we assumed a grassed surface then the sheet flow Manning’s roughness coefficient would be approximately 0.25, whereas the channel roughness coefficient for the same material might be 0.025.
For an ungauged urban catchment, the pervious storage coefficient, SCP, should be set to 0, which will let the program determine the storage coefficient.
The impervious depression storage, DPSI, should be set to an appropriate value for the representative impervious surface. For roads, driveways, and roofs, this value is typically between 0.8 mm and 1.5 mm.
The impervious slope, SLPI, is the average slope of impervious areas. This is not the catchment slope from highest point to lowest point, but an average when considering only the impervious areas. For example, if the catchment consists of a residential subdivision, this value would represent the average slope of the impervious road surfaces. In this example the slope would not be less than whatever the municipal minimum is. Typically, SLPI ranges between 0.5 to 2.0.
The impervious length, LGI, is one of the most important parameters for modelling urban catchments. A common mistake when modelling ungauged urban catchments is to set LGI equal to the measured catchment length. Previous studies by Paul Wisner Associates Inc. have determined that LGI is related to the catchment area based on the following equation:
(5)
where:
A = catchment area (
)
LGI = impervious length (m)
This relationship will yield runoff characteristics similar to those which would be measured. The LGI parameter should only be adjusted from this relationship if the model is being calibrated.
The Manning’s roughness coefficient for impervious surfaces, MNI, should be selected based on channel flow, not sheet flow as in MNP. For example, if the representative impervious surface were a road, then the MNI should be set around 0.013.
For an ungauged urban catchment, the impervious storage coefficient, SCI, should be set to 0, which will let the program determine the storage coefficient.
Probably the single biggest use for Visual OTTHYMO is to help create water resources strategies whereby stormwater management ponds are implemented to address issues of water quality control, erosion control, and water quantity (i.e. flooding) control. Visual OTTHYMO can be utilized to examine many scenarios that help water resources planners and engineers determine the most effective strategy, on a watershed or sub-watershed basis.
A rating curve for any stormwater management pond describes how the pond operates. In Visual OTTHYMO the command ROUTE RESERVOIR is used to enter a pond rating curve and simulate routing. The rating curve is described by the Discharge (i.e. outflow) and Storage relationship. Note that the Stage or water depth variable is taken out of the input, since both Discharge and Storage are a function of Stage. The Stage-Storage and Stage-Discharge rating curves are essentially combined into one Discharge-Storage curve. An example of a Discharge-Storage Curve is as follows:
| Discharge (m³/s) | Storage (ha-m) |
|---|---|
| 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 0.06 | 0.34 |
| 0.21 | 0.48 |
| 0.37 | 0.60 |
| 0.66 | 0.83 |
| 0.94 | 1.00 |
Designing a Discharge-Storage curve, at the watershed or sub-watershed planning level, involves determining each storage ordinate for every given discharge ordinate. Discharge ordinates are usually known or can readily be determined. They may represent allowable flows or release rates that when combined with other flows are the allowable flows at key locations. Storage ordinates are what the modeller is trying to calculate in order to meet the discharge targets.
For single event analysis the Discharge-Storage curve is built from the smallest to largest values, which corresponds to the smallest to largest rainfall events. For example, the above Discharge-Storage curve was based on the following design storm events.
| Discharge (m³/s) | Storage (ha-m) | Design Storm |
|---|---|---|
| 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 0.06 | 0.34 | 25 mm |
| 0.21 | 0.48 | 2 year |
| 0.37 | 0.60 | 5 year |
| 0.66 | 0.83 | 25 year |
| 0.94 | 1.00 | 100 year |
When building a curve, the storms must be run from smallest to largest and the storage iterated until the pond outflow matches that of the target value in the Discharge-Storage curve. Only then can the modeller move onto the next largest storm. The proper pond sizing methodology is therefore:
If the modeller is designing a SWM pond based on a real storm, or is analyzing an existing pond with design storms, then the actual discharge storage curve must be used. This can be obtained by combining the pond’s Stage-Storage curve (i.e. geometric relationship) and the Stage-Discharge curve (i.e. hydraulic relationship).
Also, a SWM pond’s actual Discharge-Storage curve must be used when creating a detail pond design, to ensure that the outflows match the targets from the design curve that was determined in the watershed or sub-watershed analysis.
When working with ponds users can choose to have an overflow hydrograph generated if the pond volume is exceeded. If the overflow option is not selected the discharge-storage curve will be extended automatically by VO.
This section introduces how to calculate rainfall losses by curve number and Horton’s equation.
This following section will introduce how to obtain SCS curve number and review its procedure.
The SCS CN procedure is based on the equation
(6)
It is assumed in the procedure that the initial abstraction 
= 0.2 S. This results in the equation
(7)
The curve numbers CN are functionally related to S by
(8)
CN can be obtained from tables based on land use, soil type and soil moisture conditions. However, the soil moisture is determined only for three antecedent moisture conditions (AMC), classified on the basis of precipitation in the previous 5 days. CN has no intrinsic meaning but is only a non-linear transformation of S, which is a storage parameter. CN varies from 0 (Q=0 for all P) to 100 (Q=P for all P). In Eqn. 8, the 10 and 1000 have inch dimensions. Conversion can be made to the metric system.
Background information on the derivation of the procedure can be found in a paper by Rallison and Cronshey (1979). In the mid-50s when the SCS CN procedure was developed, the only data available were daily precipitation and runoff records from agricultural watersheds and infiltration curves from infiltration studies. Rainfall versus Runoff (P vs Q) data were plotted. A grid of plotted CN for = 0.2S was then overlaid and the median CN selected. The values in the SCS NEH-4 manual (1971) represent the averages of median site values for hydrologic soil groups, land cover and hydrologic conditions. The SCS work involved considerable interpolation and extrapolation for different soil types and land cover. The rainfall versus runoff plots were also used to define enveloping CN for each site.
The SCS CN procedure is in widespread use and there has been criticism of the procedure (Hawkins 1978, Altman et al. 1980, Golding 1979) because it is often applied beyond the original conditions and intended use.
Some of the concerns about the procedure are over:
= 0.2S,The SCS CN procedure may severely underestimate the runoff volume, especially for small rainfalls. It was found that the runoff volumes obtained from real measurements on two residential watersheds were greater than those computed using CN = 90 (corresponding to a high degree of imperviousness).
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RAINFALL AND RUNOFF: CN AND REAL MEASUREMENTS (WISNER, GUPTA, KASSEM, 1980)
A study in Texas (Altman et al. 1980) involving four watersheds found that the optimized CN were greater than the weighted CN for four of the six watershed conditions studied (Table 1).
TABLE 1 COMPARISON OF CALCULATED AND OPTIMIZED CN (ALTMAN, ESPEY, FELMAN, 1980)
| Watershed | Date (calc.) | CN (calc.) | CN (opt.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin, Texas Region | |||
| Waller Creek (urban) | 1957-1959 1962-1965 1971-1973 | 84 84 84 | 92 79 81 |
| Wilbarger Creek | 1964-1975 | 83 | 85 |
| Dallas, Texas Region | |||
| Turtle Creek (urban) | 1967-1976 | 86 | 93 |
| Spanky Branch | 1973-1975 | 84 | 96 |
For areas with low CN, the SCS procedure may give significant errors. Golding (1979) utilized the SCS CN procedure to simulate runoff from a gauged urban basin in South Florida (58.3 ac., Group A soil, 36% imperviousness, 18% directly connected imperviousness). He found that the computed amounted to 0.86 inches (CN=70), which was greater than the total recorded rainfall on the basin, which had peak flows of up to 40 cfs in many cases. Reduction of the initial abstraction may give a more realistic runoff volume. The figure below compares the runoff volumes obtained for different and = 0.2S for storms of 3 return periods (Rowney, 1982). The SCS CN procedure is still a popular and simple tool, which will be around for some time to come. It is felt that with some improvements in the procedure and proper application, the method is still useful.
RELATION BETWEEN RUNOFF VOLUME: Q() (USING INITIAL ABS. = ), Q(0.2S) (USING INITIAL ABS. = 0.2S), (ROWNEY, 1982)
The methodology used in OTTHYMO involves determining the initial abstraction from the runoff threshold curve obtained from rainfall and runoff records (Jobin, 1982). A program called SECSER has been written in order to do this. The runoff volumes for the storms are then used to calibrate the CN with this . The resulting CN are called CN*. Instead of using 3 discrete AMC classes, the antecedent moisture condition is classified by the API (antecedent precipitation index) which is calculated from the hourly rainfall records. The API for each storm is then plotted against the CN*. The CN* for other storms can then be determined from this CN*-API relationship once the API for these storms are determined. This relationship would be a continuous one as compared to the 3 discrete classes used in SCS. It also would not require the definition of a standard reference moisture condition.
A small program has been written to calculate the runoff volumes Q for different rainfalls P using the specified .
PROGRAM FOR CN PROCEDURES
The results can then also be plotted on the Q-P chart. These charts are useful for a quick comparison of CN and CN*. Since CN* are a function of the , different charts will result for different .
Hydrology of Runoff Equation, Q = (P-0.2S)/(P+0.8S)
The modified SCS CN procedure was tested first on the Seymaz watershed in a joint study by the University of Ottawa and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne who had previously done extensive monitoring. This watershed is composed of 30.2 
of rural areas and 8 of urban areas and is located in the suburbs of Geneva, Switzerland.
Using the SECSER program and the rainfall and runoff records, a runoff threshold curve can be plotted. From the curve, the initial abstraction Ia was found to be 1.5 mm. The figure below also shows a comparison between the simulations using both = 1.5 mm and = 0.2S. In the latter case, the first peak cannot be simulated accurately because of the large initial abstraction.
OBSERVED AND SIMULATED RESULTS FOR EVENT OF 77/10/24
The variation of CN* with API for some storms on the Seymaz watershed is shown in the figure below.
RELATION OF CN VERSUS API FOR SEYMAZ WATERSHED
CN* is the calibrated CN obtained by using = 1.5 mm as obtained from the runoff threshold curve. (It was not possible to find a similar correlation of this type with = 0.2S). With the = 0.2S assumption, peak fitting for small rainfalls is possible if the CN values are increased, without consideration of antecedent conditions, to unrealistic values, e.g., CN = 90 or higher. Two of the simulated storms obtained with the new are compared with the observed storms in the following two figures.The CN* values used in the simulations are determined from the curve as shown in the figure above, once the API for the storms are obtained.
OBSERVED AND SIMULATED RESULTS FOR EVENT OF 78/08/07
OBSERVED AND SIMULATED RESULTS FOR EVENT OF 77/10/24
A similar CN*-API relationship has been determined for the Etobicoke Creek watershed in Metro Toronto as shown in the figure below.
!https://manula.r.sizr.io/large/user/17531/img/cnstar.png!–API RELATIONSHIP FOR ETOBICOKE CREEK WATERSHED
One of the typical comparisons between simulated and observed storms is shown in the figure below.
COMPARISON OF SIMULATED AND OBSERVED HYDROGRAPHS FOR ETOBICOKE CREEK WATERSHED
In VO STANDHYD is usually used to model the catchment of urban area. This section introduces the calculation procedure of STANDHYD infiltration loss.
For pervious areas, there are two options for calculating the infiltration losses. The first option is Horton’s equation where the infiltration capacity rate is an exponential function of time, which decays to a constant rate. It is written as follows:
(4)
where:
= the infiltration capacity rate (in/hr or mm/hr) at time t;
= the initial infiltration capacity rate (in/hr or mm/hr);
= the final infiltration capacity rate (in/hr or mm/hr);
= the decay rate (1/hr).
The equation is only satisfactory for the condition that the rainfall intensity is higher than the infiltration capacity rate. To overcome this problem, the cumulative form of the equation can be used. It has the advantage that the infiltration rate becomes a function of the amount of water accumulated into the soil.
(10)
where F is the cumulative infiltration volume, at time t.
The average infiltration capacity rate during the next time step is
(11)
In order to determine the actual infiltration rate f, the average infiltration capacity rate is then compared with the average rainfall intensity i during the time period ∆t.
If
(12)
then the calculation proceeds to the next time step with the cumulative infiltration volume at 
. If f = i, then the actual cumulative infiltration would be
(13)
where
(14)
The new time 
, which would correspond to the cumulative infiltration 
, is determined by means of an iterative process. The calculation then continues from this point for the next time step.
The antecedent moisture condition can be represented by the water, F, accumulated into the soil before the start of the storm. F can be directly specified as input. The other infiltration parameters also need to be specified.
For a decay rate of 4.0 
the infiltration capacity rate declines 98% towards the limiting value after 1 hour (if the rainfall intensity is always higher than the infiltration capacity rate). For α = 2.0 , the decline is 76% after 1 hour. This should be considered when selecting the time increment ∆t for computation.
The second option for infiltration losses in the previous area is the modified CN procedure, which is used in NASHYD.
For flood control purposes and master drainage planning, there are both rural and urban areas in the watershed. In Visual OTTHYMO, the rainfall losses in the rural areas are computed by means of the CN* procedure. The critical storms for rural conditions are long-duration storms such as the Southern Ontario Regional Storm with a peak intensity of 2.08 in/hr. The modified SCS method (CN*) is used in such conditions. The Horton model may result in underestimating the runoff mainly for low intensity storms, since it generates runoff only if the rainfall intensity is higher than the infiltration capacity rate. In such cases, the rainfall losses in the previous portion of the urbanized areas should also be computed with the CN* procedure. The ratio of the peak rainfall excess intensity to the peak rainfall intensity is an indicator of the effect of rainfall loss model. This ratio is called 
and the figure below shows against CN* and the maximum infiltration capacity rate for (Horton) for the Regional Storm. for this storm would be sensitive to the (minimum infiltration capacity rate) selected.
CUMULATIVE FORM OF HORTON’S INFILTRATION EQUATION
If the same storm is used in studying the effects of urbanization (e.g. comparing pre- and post-development flows), the CN* procedure can continue to be used for post- development conditions with STANDHYD.
For design purposes under urban conditions, however, the critical storms are the short- duration, high intensity storms such as the Chicago-type storms. Here Horton’s procedure is preferred because it is more sensitive to the storm intensity and in general results in higher peak flows than the CN* procedure. This is shown in the figure below for a residential watershed (30% imperviousness) for three storms, the 5-year, 100-year Chicago and the Regional storms.
VERSUS AND : REGIONAL STORM ( =0.30 in/hr, α=2.0/hr)
A series of numerical experiments have been done to find a range of values in which the Horton and CN* procedures would give the same runoff volumes. The runoff volumetric coefficient Cv was calculated for different combinations of , and values (Horton) and CN* values (with = 0.10 in). The range of values tested were 1.0 to 5.0 in/hr for , 0.10 to 0.50 in/hr for and 2.0/hr and 4.14/hr for α (decay constant). The results are shown in the following two figures. It is observed that equivalent Cv does not mean that the corresponding peak flows are equivalent.
PEAK FLOWS FOR RESIDENTIAL WATERSHEDS (30% IMPERV.) ( =0.30 in/hr, α=2.0/hr)
Cv VERSUS AND WITH =3 in/hr, α=2, =0.10 in
It is also found that total runoff for the Regional storm is more sensitive to while for the Chicago storms they are more sensitive to . There is no range of values for which the Cv are matched for all three storms. The results show that the Cv for the Regional storm can be matched by varying and that the Cv for the Chicago storms can be matched by varying .
These results also show that for consistency the selection of infiltration parameters should consider the characteristics of the soil and also those of the storm. Tables given in literature in which infiltration parameters like , and CN are given in terms of soil groups A, B, C, D alone may not give consistent results.
If data is available and the CN*-API relationship has already been derived during the planning stage, the CN* procedure can also be used for design purposes. The use of the CN* procedure with design storms is discussed in the section on design storms. This will result in compatibility between the planning and the design stages for the watershed.
In Visual OTTHYMO, the response of a watershed to the effective rainfall is obtained by convolution of a short duration unit hydrograph (UH) derived from the theory of conceptual “instantaneous unit hydrographs” or IUH. The characteristics of these unit hydrographs are not dependent on rainfall duration. However, depending on the size of the area being simulated, their use usually requires short computational time steps (1 to 15 minutes).
Visual OTTHYMO has three types of IUH’s which have a common parameter, the time to peak, Tp. Another parameter, K, is related to the hydrographs’ recession limb. K is also called a ‘storage coefficient’ and has different values in each IUH.
Another option in Visual OTTHYMO is the SCS non-dimensional UH, which is a specific NASH IUH defined only by Tp (see IUH Relations).
For Tp equal to the computational time step, the STANDARD IUH is identical to the single linear reservoir IUH from the URBHYD command in OTTHYMO 83.
TYPE OF IUH RELATION *REMARKS
STANDARD
For Tp = DT (the computational time step) the STANDARD IUH becomes the URBHYD IUH from OTTHYMO 83.NASH
N = Tp / k + 1
N is also the “number of reservoirs”WILLIAMS
Calibration recommended.
Where t_o is the inflection point after the peak; K_n is the storage coefficient of each reservoir; N is the number of reservoirs, and Γ(N) is the gamma function.SCSIs the NASH IUH with N = 5
The standard IUH is used mainly for urban areas with pervious and impervious contributions calculated separately.
The standard IUH was developed and tested in Germany by Verworn and Harms in 1978. It is used in the model HYSTEM. In Visual OTTHYMO, Tp > DT and therefore, for a given storm, Tp varies with the size of the watershed. (The URBHYD command in OTTHYMO 83 is equivalent to a STANDARD IUH with the time to peak equal to the time step, DT).
A relation derived from overland routing by the kinematic wave method (Peterson and Altera) gives the storage coefficient, K. This relation is close to the relation by Neumann used in HYS–TEM.
where:
L_= an equivalent flow length which requires calibration. A default value for impervious areas obtained from 
where _A is the watershed area, was frequently tested with measurements. For pervious areas, the default value is L = 40 m, representing an average travel length on inter-spaced green areas.
n = the roughness coefficient. Testing shows that adequate results are obtained it n = 0.013 for impervious areas and n = 0.25 for pervious areas.
i = the dominant rainfall intensity (maximum average intensity during K).
s = the characteristic slope in m/m.
C =a constant (0.00775 for L in feet, i in inches/hour).
The STANDHYD command is based on analysis of comparisons with measurements and practical applications. In STANDHYD, the dominant rainfall intensity is averaged over the duration of K. Since K varies with rainfall intensity this IUH varies from one rainfall to the other, the STANDARD IUH is a quasi-linear model.
For the impervious area, the time to peak, Tp, in the STANDARD IUH of Visual OTTHYMO is equal to the storage coefficient, K. For the pervious areas, fragmented in backyards and connected to storm sewers, Tp is equal to K pervious + K impervious, at time of convolution, Tp is rounded to the nearest multiple of the time step, DT.
In the STANDHYD command, the pervious hydrograph and the impervious hydrograph have, in general, different Tp values. There is also a lag between the peak discharge of the total hydrograph and the end of the peak rainfall intensity.
For watersheds with large estate lots and semi-urban areas with relatively large pervious components, it is recommended to simulate two component hydrographs:
The equivalent urban area and the imperviousness of this area (e.g., say 30 %) satisfy the following rule of thumb:
Fore very large urban areas (> 200 hectares), STANDHYD requires calibration.
This linear IUH is used mainly for rural areas. With Nash, the peak discharge increases with N and decreases with Tp. Measurements in Ontario and in Switzerland indicate that an average of 3 number of linear reservoirs may be appropriate.
The time to peak, Tp, is obtained from the time of concentration, Tc:
Tp = (N-1)/N Tc where, N, is the number of linear reservoirs
Tp = 0.67 Tc
In general, the time of concentration, Tc, can be determined using one of three methods:
The NASHYD command is used for non-homogeneous areas, and in the case of SCS abstraction methods, uses a weighted average of CN. Comparisons with measurements show a better performance if the response from the pervious and impervious areas are simulated separately.
Fore very large urban areas (> 200 hectares), NASHYD requires calibration.
Furthermore, if the response time of an urban watershed is increased by significant channel storage, this effect must be simulated by channel routing (unless Tp is calibrated).
The shape of the SCS UH is obtained from the NASH relation, with N=5. This value is greater than the one determined from studies in Ontario, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It is, however, conservative if the time to peak is correct.
The SCS non-dimensional unit hydrograph is used by SCS abstraction methods for both rural and urban areas. Comparisons with measurements show that even if Tp, Ia, and CN* are calibrated, the proper shape of the hydrograph is not always generated.
The 1986 SCS TR-55 publication indicates the following limitations:
The SCS methods apply the non-dimensional UH in conjunction the SCS CN method with the as-sumption that Ia = 0.2 x S. Although this may overestimate the rainfall losses, it was maintained in the SCS command for special agency requests.
It is recommended the to determine Tc with the velocity method:
The method is recommended for rural watersheds where observations indicate a long hydrograph recession limb. The Williams formula for Tp is not recommended in Ontario as it has been shown to give significant errors.
WILLIAMS IUH
As is predecessor (INTERHYMO / OTTHYMO.89), Visual OTTHYMO does not recommend de-fault values for K and Tp in the Williams command, since it is considered that this IUH requires calibration.
COMPARISON OF WILLIAMS AND NASH IUH
Visual OTTHYMO can be used to simulate the Infiltration/Inflow into sanitary sewers or combined sewers. The four types or rainfall-induced infiltration/inflow are:
Visual OTTHYMO can simulate these responses during a single event by adding individual response hydrographs from each type of contributions within the same area. The first three responses can be simulated with the quasi-linear instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (STANDHYD) while the fourth, slow response, can be simulated with the NASH unit hydrograph.
Baseflow can be super-imposed to account for the domestic sewage contributions during wet conditions.
For computation of flows from rural watersheds, the subroutines NASHYD, WILHYD or SCSHYD (NASHYD with N=5) can be used. The rainfall excess distribution is obtained by means of a modified CN procedure, which is then convoluted with the unit hydrograph obtained by means of the Nash model (NASHYD) or the Williams and Hann unit hydrograph (WILHYD).
Many ways of deriving synthetic unit hydrographs or IUH have been proposed since the early studies of Snyder in 1938. One frequently used way is by means of a conceptual model made up of a cascade of equal, linear reservoirs, first proposed by Nash in 1957. The IUH for Nash’s model can be written as:
(15)
where:
Γ(n) = the gamma function;
n = the number of reservoirs;
= the storage coefficient of each reservoir.
By differentiating Equation 15 with respect to t/ and equating to zero, the time to peak 
in terms of n and is obtained.
(16)
The peak flow then becomes
(17)
By substituting Equations 16 and 17 in Equation 15, the 2-parameter gamma equation is obtained
(18)
Williams and Hann (1973) use this equation from the time of rise to the inflection point for the IUH in WILHYD. Figure 19 shows the variation of the outflow hydrograph from NASHYD, with the number of reservoirs, n, for a fixed time to peak.
As shown in the figure below, for the same time to peak, the peak flow is sensitive to n in the range 2 to 6. The parameter n, can be a non-integer. The calibration of watersheds with areas of less than 15 on the Seymaz and Etobicoke studies presented in the previous section has shown that a first estimate for N = 3 can be used if data is unavailable. For consistency, the various subwatersheds should use the same n unless data is available for each subwatershed.
VARIATION OF HYDROGRAPH (NASHYD) WITH THE NUMBER OF RESERVOIRS (N) FOR FIXED
It is, of course, best to obtain Tp by calibration with measurements. If data is available, the following procedure may be utilized to estimate Tp.
DEFINITION OF TIME LAG
The first step involves determining the time lag 
which is defined as the time difference between the centroids of the rainfall excess hyetograph and the direct runoff hydrograph (after subtracting baseflow). is related to n and in the Nash conceptual model by
(19)
Once is determined and n is estimated by 3 for example, then can be obtained by equation 16.
If 
Since measurements are usually available only at the outlet of a watershed, the values would still have to be determined for each subwatershed after discretization. The main parameters that affect are the slope and the area. Since in small watersheds the slope does not vary too much, an approximate relation 
can be utilized. With the calibrated at the outlet, constants m and n can be obtained by trial and error.
In the Seymaz and Etobicoke studies, the Williams and Hann equation for t_p was found adequate. For smaller watersheds, the values obtained can be checked by using the velocity charts in the SCS TR-55 tables (1975) for overland flow and swale flow.
Several relations for or can be found in the literature such as Chow (1962), Kibler et al (1982), Boyd (1978) and Nash (1960).
WILHYD is the subroutine that uses the unit hydrograph proposed by Williams and Hann (1973). The unit hydrograph is divided into three parts for computation. The first part, from the beginning of rise to the inflection point, 
, is computed by the 2-parameter gamma distribution equation (Equation 18). The second part from the inflection point, to where = + 2_K_, is computed by
(20)
The third part from onwards is computed by
(21)
n is computed as a function of K/ and 
is a function of n and . Therefore only 2 parameters, K and are necessary to compute the entire unit hydrograph. Empirical relations have been derived for K and (Williams 1977) based on Southern U.S. watersheds. These relations may not be applicable in other areas.
(22)
(23)
where:
K = the recession constant (hr); = the time to peak (hr);
A = the watershed area (sq. miles); and
S = the difference in elevation in feet, divided by flood plain distance in miles, between watershed outlet and most distant point on the watershed.
The unit hydrograph in WILHYD has a longer recession tail than that in NASHYD and a smaller peak. It can therefore be used in those watersheds where the recession limb is longer.
A comparison of the two-unit hydrographs is shown in the figure below.
COMPARISON OF UNIT HYDROGRAPH BY: (I) WILLIAM’S AND HANN’S METHOD (II) NASH’S METHOD
| *METHOD | *BRIEF DESCRIPTION | *COMPLEXITY |
|---|---|---|
| SHIFT HYDROGRAPH | A simple translation of the hydrograph. Does not attenuate the peak discharge. | LOW |
| ROUTE CHANNEL | Combines the three routing commands of HYMO into a single command, based on the hydro-logic method VSC (Variable Storage Coefficient). | MEDIUM |
| ROUTE MUSKCUNGE | Applies the Muskingum-Cunge method of routing, which is based on the continuity equation and the storage- discharge relation. | HIGH |
| ROUTE PIPE | Applies the VSC method for conduits, and gives the minimum size to avoid surcharge. | MEDIUM |
The storm time step is determined by the format of meteorological data. For synthetic storms it is usually five to ten minutes. The hydrograph computational time step, DT, is determined from the watershed characteristics. For example:
Convolution with NASHYD requires DT < Tp (time to peak – preferably DT about 1/5 Tp)
Visual OTTHYMO will transform automatically for each sub-watershed, new storm input with the time step DT.
In routing with the VSC method, it is recommended to maintain a small-time step. Although this is not required for mathematical stability, Ponce and others recommend short time steps and the use of the Courant criterion for hydrologic routing.
The celerity is given by:
Celerity ranges from 1.1 to 1.6 times the average velocity. Using the above criterion, it is found that, for time steps used in convolution (hydrograph commands) the length cannot be very short.
For short reaches, the hydrograph should be simply ‘shifted’ in time. In comparison, routing with EXTRAN is usually conducted with time steps of 2 to 10 seconds, and gives an error message if the courant criterion is not met.
For discharges close to critical or supercritical flow, and for very short reaches (with time step constraints), SHIFT HYD can be used. Comparisons with the kinematic wave method show that, for a circular conduit, the time lag can be selected with the relation:
Time lag = reach length / (alpha – full pipe velocity)
where alpha is given by the following table:
 | *ALPHA |
|---|---|
| 0.40 | 1.10 |
| 0.60 | 1.17 |
| 0.80 | 1.19 |
| 1.00 | 1.11 |
Like other hydrologic routing methods, the variable storage coefficient (VSC) is based on the continuity relation. It does not apply empirical or calibrated parameters. It calculates channel storage based on average channel characteristics, and travel time based on Manning’s relation. It can be used for artificial and natural channels with three roughness coefficients in the same cross-section.
In Visual OTTHYMO, the three routing commands of the original HYMO model are lumped in a single command ‘Route Channel’. The VSC routing cannot be used when backwater effects are significant. In such cases, a fully dynamic model (e.g. EXTRAN should be used).
The updated RouteChannel command in VO 5.1 is used to route hydrographs through channel cross-sections with a defined channel and floodplain using the variable storage coefficient (VSC) method. The low flow channel section and a separate floodplain section are defined with X and Y co-ordinates.
The RouteChannel command in VO5.1 has been split to calculate channel routing in both a “low flow channel” and “floodplain” portions of the cross section with the routing effects then being combined for the final output. The user can define channel and floodplain lengths and slopes.
For circular or rectangular pipes, ROUTE PIPE command should be used. The command sizes the pipe to the minimum diameter necessary to avoid surcharging. For design, the user should increase the size to the next standard diameter.
The Muskingum method is based on the continuity equation and the storage-discharge relation. Cunge (1969) extended the method into a finite-difference scheme. The Muskingum-Cunge channel routing technique is a non-linear coefficient method that accounts for hydrograph diffusion based on physical channel properties and the inflow hydrograph. The advantages of this method over other hydrologic techniques are:
The major limitations are:
The outflow hydrograph at the downstream end is calculated using the following formula.
(24)
where:
(25)
(26)
(27)
(28)
(29)
where:
Q = discharge
K = travel time in seconds
x = weighting factor, 0 <= x <= 0.5
∆x = subreach length
∆t = time interval
q = lateral flow
c = wave celerity
The parameters of K and x are expressed as follows (Cunge, 1969 and Ponce, 1978):
(30)
(31)
where:
B = top width
S = the channel slope.
The outflow hydrograph is iterative and is calculated based on equation 24, the routing coefficients ( 
, 
, 
, 
) are re-calculated for every distance step ∆x and calculation time step ∆t.
Numerical Stability
∆t and ∆x are chosen internally by the model for accuracy and stability.
∆t is selected as the smallest of the following 3 rules:
The model checks the difference between the computational time interval (DT) and the time increment of the inflow hydrograph (SDT). If DT is less than SDT, the inflow hydrograph will be interpolated. The calculation time step must be equal or less than the inflow hydrograph SDT.
A computational space increment ∆x can be equal to the length of the entire routing reach or to a fraction of that length. It is initially selected as the entire reach length. If the size of this space increment does not meet the accuracy criteria for flow routing given by Ponce and Theurer (1982), it is re-evaluated by subdividing the length of the routing reach into even subreaches that produce ∆x’s that satisfy the accuracy criteria.
(32)
where,
(33)
= baseflow from the inflow hydrograph
= peak flow from the inflow hydrograph
The Courant (C) number can be defined as:
(34)
Main and overbank channel portions are separated and modelled as two independent channels. Right and left overbanks are combined into a single overbank channel.
Momentum at the flow interface between the two channel portions is neglected, and the hydraulic flow characteristics are determined separately, for each channel portion. At the upstream end of a space increment, the total inflow discharge is divided into main channel and overbank flow components. Each are then routed independently, using the previously described routing scheme. The flow redistribution between the main and overbank channels is based on Manning’s equation.
Data required for the Muskingum-Cunge method are as followings:
The channel routing in Visual OTTHYMO was tested using a natural channel, 5200 m long, main channel bed slope is 0.001, Manning’s n is 0.03, floodplain bed slope is 0.001, Manning’s n is 0.05, no lateral flow, the cross-section parameters are shown in the figure below.
NATURAL CHANNEL
The simulation results from Visual OTTHYMO-MC are compared with the complete unsteady flow equation (SWMM–EXTRAN) and Visual OTTHYMO–VSC and are shown below in the figure below.
COMPARISON OF TEST RESULTS
The results show that the Muskingum-Cunge (MC) routing method compares very well with the complete unsteady flow equations of EXTRAN. The peak discharge is attenuated slightly more from EXTRAN than that from the MC method; however, the time to peak for both methods is the same. The difference in peak discharges could be due to the fact that the inertial terms in the complete unsteady flow equations are becoming more dominant when rapidly rising hydrographs are routed through the flat channel, compared to the bed slope, as the channel slope is decreased. The Muskingum-Cunge routing method does not account for the inertial effects, and consequently the method tends to show more diffusion than what may actually occur.
Flow simulation for urban drainage studies is mostly done with one-event simulation models. The single event models determine flows produced by a single storm event. Continuous simulation models require rainfall data over a continuous period for the desired length of analysis. A frequency analysis is then conducted on the peak flows so that a flow of a desired return period may be found.
The flow with a single event model may be found by using a series of selected historical events or by using a ‘design storm’. The historical storm series may be selected using a continuous simulation program or by analyzing a rainfall record using a selection criteria. Each event in the selected series is then run through the event simulation model. The generated peak flows are then analyzed to determine their return period.
Design storms or model storms are single event rainfalls that are assumed to produce flows of a desired return period. They are of two types; synthetic design storms and historic design storms. Synthetic design storms are storms developed from intensity- duration-frequency (IDF) curves. Historic design storms are large single storm events; usually containing the maximum precipita-tion on record. In southern Ontario, hurricane Hazel is used as an historic design storm. In this text only, synthetic design storms are examined.
Each design storm has a unique temporal variation of intensity. Two general methods are used to determine the hyetograph shape. The first method derives the storm pattern based on an IDF curve. The design storms using only an IDF curve are the Uniform design storm, the Composite design storm and the Chicago design storm. The second method obtains the temporal structure of the design storm from an analysis of historic storm events. These are the U.S. Soil Conservation Service (SCS) 24-hour design storm, the SCS 6-hour design storm, the Illinois State Water Sur-vey (ISWS) design storm, the Atmospheric Environment Service (AES) design storm, the Flood Studies Report (FSR) design storm, the Pilgrim and Cordery design storm and the Yen and Chow design storm. Design storms that are not discussed are the Sifalda design storm, the Hamburg design storm and the Desordes (French) design storm. A more detailed description of each design storm is contained in the Design Storm Profiles section of this document. Table 2 summarizes the main characteristics of these design storms.
TABLE 2 SUMMARY OF DESIGN STORM CHARACTERISTICS
| *Design Storms | *Design Return Period | *Storm Duration | *Total Rainfall Depth | *Temporal Distribution | *Antecedent Moisture Conditions | *Intended Application |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uniform | User spec. | | i x | No variation in intensity | No | Sewer sizing |
| Composite | User spec. |  | i x | User selected | No | Sewer sizing |
| Chicago | User spec. | Usually be-tween 2-6 hrs. T | i x T | Based on an IDF curve | No | Sewer sizing |
| SCS 24-hr. | User spec. | Long duration usually 12-24 hrs. T | i x T | Tabulated type 1 & 2 distributions | Yes | Rural watersheds |
| SCS 6-hr. | User spec. | 6 hrs. | Given in maps | Tabulated | Yes | Design of small dams |
| ISWS | User spec. | 1 hr. | I x 1 | Huff 1st quartile 50% distribution | No | Sewer sizing |
| AES | User spec. | 1 or 12 hrs. T | i x T | Regional charts for the 1 and 12 hr. durations | No | Not specified |
| FSR | User spec. | 12, 30, 60,120 min. | i x td | 50% summer profile | Yes | Non-urban studies |
| Pilgrim & Cordery | User spec. | User spec. T | i x T | Local analysis of storm events | Yes | Urban and rural areas |
| Yen & Chow | User spec. | | i x | Triangular | No | Drainage facilities in small areas |
– time of concentration
T – user selected storm duration – storm duration selected using an iterative procedure. The design storm is tested using different durations. The one with the largest peak flow is selected.
Each of the design storms has a different hyetograph shape. Storm hyetographs were constructed and compared for some of the design storms. A five-year return period was selected and the storm volumes were obtained from the Bloor Street station (Toronto) IDF curve. The duration of the storms are not all the same, for this reason the storm volumes are different. The storm hyetographs for the Uniform, Composite, Chicago, SCS 24-hr., ISWS, AES, FSR, and Yen and Chow design storms are shown in the figures below.
COMPARISON OF DESIGN STORMS
COMPARISON OF DESIGN STORMS
All of the design storms are different. The peak intensities, storm profiles, durations and volumes vary even though they all have the same return period. The Uniform design storm has the lowest intensity. It has a constant intensity and is not recommended for use with an event simulation model. The Chicago design storm has a high peak intensity. The peak intensity of this storm de-pends on the time step one selects. In Figure 25 the time step was increased from 5 to 10 minutes this reduced the peak intensity by 29% from 168 mm/hr to 120 mm/hr. The FSR and Composite design storms also have high peak intensities, but their shapes are not similar. The ISWS, SCS 24-hr., AES and Yen and Chow design storms have peak intensities that are in the same range. The peak rainfall for the SCS 24-hour and the Yen and Chow storms that were computed are the same.
The wide variety of hyetograph profiles is why design storms of the same return period will not produce the same peak flows. Studies are therefore required to determine if design storms can be used to predict flows of a desired return period.
A review of previous studies showed that there is contradictory opinion regarding the use of design storms. Marsalek (1978) does not recommend the use of design storms while the results of Arnell (1982) and Watson (1981) suggest that design storms should be
