Abstract
Development of accurate surface runoff estimation techniques from ungauged watersheds is relevant in Indian condition due to the non-availability of hydrologic gauging stations in majority of watersheds. Besides this, the high budgetary requirements for installation of gauging stations are another limiting factor in India, which leads to the use of surface runoff estimation techniques for ungauged watersheds. Natural Resources Conservation Services Curve Number (NRCS-CN) method is one of the most widely used methods for quick and accurate estimation of surface runoff from ungauged watershed. Also, the coupling of NRCS-CN techniques with the advanced Geographic Information System (GIS) capabilities automates the process of runoff prediction in timely and efficient manner. Keeping view of this, a GIS interface was developed using the in-built macro programming language, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) of ArcGIS® tool to estimate the surface runoff by adopting NRCS-CN technique and its three modifications. The developed interface named as Interface for Surface Runoff Estimation using Curve Number techniques (ISRE-CN), was validated using the recorded data for the periods from 1993 to 2001 of a gauged watershed, Banha in the Upper Damodar Valley in Jharkhand, India. The observed runoff depths for different rainfall events in this study watershed was compared with the predicted values of NRCS-CN methods and its three modifications using statistical significance tests. It was revealed that using all the rainfall data for different AMC conditions, the modified CN I performed the best [R 2 (coefficient of determination) = 0.92; E (model efficiency) = 0.89) followed by modified CN III method (R 2 = 0.88; E = 0.87), while the modified CN II (R 2 = 0.42; E = 0.36) failed to predict accurately the surface runoff from Banha watershed. Moreover, under AMC based estimations, the modified CN I method also performed best ( R 2 = 0.95; E = 0.95) for AMC II condition, while the modified CN II performed the worst in all the AMC conditions. However, the developed Interface in ArcGIS® needs to be tested in other watershed systems for wider applicability of the modified CN methods.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bhuyan SJ, Koelliker JK, Barnes PL (2001) Modification of curve number adjustment technique for prediction of runoff. In: Ascough JC II, Flanagan DC (eds) Presented in soil erosion research for the 21st Century, Proc. Int. Symp., Honolulu, HI, USA, 3–5 January 2001, St. Joseph, MI: ASAE.701P0007, pp 287–290
Bhuyan SJ, Mankin KR, Koelliker JK (2003) Watershed-scale AMC selection for hydrologic modeling. Trans ASAE 46(2):303–310
Chattopadhyay GS, Choudhury S (2006) Application of GIS and remote sensing for watershed development project – a case study, Map India 2006. http://www.gisdevelopment.net
Chow VT, Maidment DR, Mays LW (1988) Applied hydrology. McGraw-Hill, NY
De JQ, Sparovek G, Flanagan DC, Bloem EM, Schnug E (2005) Runoff mapping using WEPP erosion model and GIS tools. Comput Geosci 31(10):1270–1276
DiLuzio M, Srinivasan R, Arnold JG, Neitsch SL (2002) Soil and water assessment tool. Arc view GIS Interface Manual: Version 2000. GSWRL Report 02-03, BRC Report 02-07. Texas Water Resources Institute TR-193, College Station, TX. 346 p. International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Cali, Colombia. 82pp
Geetha K, Mishra SK, Rastogi AK, Eldho TI, Pandey RP (2005) Identification of dominant runoff generation process using the modified SCS-CN Concept, recent advances in water resources development and management. Nov. 23–25:477–491
He C (2003) Integration of geographic information systems and simulation model for watershed management. Environ Model Softw 18(8–9):809–813
James LD, Burgess SJ (1982) Selection, calibration and testing of hydrologic models. In: Haan CT, Johnson HP, Brakensiek DL (eds) Hydrological modeling of small watersheds. American Society of Agricultural Engineers, St. Joseph, MI, pp 215–257
Martin PH, LeBoeuf EJ, Dobbins JP, Daniel EB, Abkowitz MD (2005) Interfacing GIS with water resource models: a state-of-the-art review. J Am Water Resour Assoc 41(6):1471–1487
Mishra SK, Singh VP (1999) Another look at the SCS-CN method. J Hydrol Eng, ASCE 4(3):257–264
Mishra SK, Singh VP (2002) SCS-CN method: part-I: derivation of SCS-CN based models. Acta Geophys Pol 50(3):457–477
Mishra SK, Singh VP (2003) Soil conservation service curve number methodology, vol 43. Kluwer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands
Mishra SK, Singh VP, Sansaleve JJ (2003) A modified SCS-CN method: characterization and testing. Water Resour Manage 17:37–68
Mishra SK, Jain MK, Bhunya PK, Singh VP (2005) Field applicability of the SCS-CN-based Mishra–Singh general model and its variants. Water Resour Manage 19:37–62
Olivera F (2001) Extracting hydrologic information from spatial data for HMS modeling. ASCE J Hydrol Eng 6(6):524
Olivera F, Valenzuela M (2002) Watershed and srteam delineation tool interface. http://cprofs.tamu.edu/folivera/GISTools/wsdt/ home.htm. Cited 26 June 2006
Pandey A, Sahu AK (2002) Generation of curve number using remote sensing and geographic information system. Water Resources, Map India Conference 2002, Map India 2002 ©GISdevelopment.net
Razavi AH (2002) ArcGIS developer’s guide for VBA. OnWard Press, New York
Reddy KS (1993) Studies on hydrologic modeling of water yield from microwatershed, Ph. D. Thesis, IARI, New Delhi
Sahu RK, Mishra SK, Eldho TI, Jain MK (2005) A modification to the initial abstraction in the existing SCS-CN methodology incorporating strom duration and antecedent rainfall, recent advances in water resources development and management, Nov. 23–25:697–704
Sarangi A, Bhattacharya AK (1999) Small watershed runoff generation model. J Soil Water Conserv 43(3&4):176–188
Sarangi A, Bhattacharya AK (2005) Comparison of artificial neural network and regression models for sediment loss prediction from Banha watershed in India. Agric Water Manag 78:195–208
Sarangi A, Madramootoo CA, Enright P (2003) Development of user interface in ArcGIS for estimation of watershed morphological parameters. Presented in CSAE conference, July 6 to 9, 2003, Montreal, Canada. http://www.engr.usask.ca/societies/csae/PapersCSAE2003/CSAE03-120.pdf. Cited 1 September 2006
Sarangi A, Madramootoo CA, Singh DK (2004) Development of ArcGIS assisted user interfaces for estimation of watershed morphologic parameters. J Soil Water Conserv 3(3, 4):139–149
Sarangi A, Madramootoo CA, Enright P, Prasher SO, Patel RM (2005a) Performance evaluation of ANN and geomorphology-based models for runoff and sediment yield prediction for a Canadian watershed. Curr Sci 89(12):2022–2033
Sarangi A, Bhattacharya AK, Singh AK, Sambaiha A (2005b) Performance of Geomorphologic Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (GIUH) model for estimation of surface runoff. In: International conference on recent advances in water resources development and management, 23rd to 25th Nov 2005, IIT, Roorkee, Uttaranchal, India, pp 569–581
SCS (1956) Hydrology, national engineering handbook, supplement A, Section–4 Chapter 10, Soil Conservation Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Shrestha MN (2003) Spatially distributed hydrological modelling considering land-use changes using remote sensing and GIS, Water Resources, Map Asia Conference 2003, Map Asia 2003. http://www.gisdevelopment.net
Singh AK, Bhattacharya AK (2006) Water management and crop production, Handbook of Agriculture, Directorate of information and publication of agriculture. ICAR, New Delhi, pp 300–348
Tarboton DG (2002) Terrain Analysis Using Digital Elevation Model (TauDEM) interface. http://moose.cee.usu.edu/taudem/taudem.html. Cited 24 August 2006
Zade M, Ray SS, Dutta S, Panigrahy S (2005) Analysis of runoff pattern for all major basins of India derived using remote sensing data. Curr Sci 88(8):1301–1305
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Patil, J.P., Sarangi, A., Singh, O.P. et al. Development of a GIS Interface for Estimation of Runoff from Watersheds. Water Resour Manage 22, 1221–1239 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-007-9222-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-007-9222-8