Paper ID: 1269

A Comparative Study of Snyder and Clark Hydrological Procedures for Flood Peaks Estimation  

 

Ebrahim Al-Qadami1, Mohd Adib Mohammad Razi1,*, Syed Muzzamil Hussain Shah2,  Mohamad Fahmi Ideris3, Arman Mokhtar3, & Jaan H. Pu4 

1Faculty of Civil Engineering & Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400 Parit Raja, Johor, Malaysia

2Department of Civil Engineering, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi-75300 Pakistan

3Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia, Coastal Division, 63000 Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia

4Faculty of Engineering and Informatics, University of Bradford, Bradford, DB7 1DP, United Kingdom

 

*Corresponding author: adib@uthm.edu.my

 

Abstract

The Snyder (HP11) and Clark (HP27) hydrological procedures are valuable tools in managing water resources in urban and rural areas across Malaysia. This study presents an extensive comparative assessment of these two procedures in estimating different watersheds flood peak flows. A total of 22 watersheds on Langkawi Island were simulated, representing a range of catchment types and characteristics, with catchment areas ranging from 1 to 68.2 km², and slopes between 1.54% to 24.77%, encompassing small to moderately large basins with gentle to steep terrain. For HP11 analysis, a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet was developed and used to perform the analysis based on triangular distribution of direct runoff following Snyder’s method. On the other hand, HEC-HMS software was used to perform hydrological analysis based on HP27 guidelines for both current and future land-use scenarios following Clark Unit Hydrograph Method. Obtained results were analyzed statistically using SPSS covering several parameters and tests. The results showed that the estimated design peak flows using HP11 procedure were higher compared with those estimated using HP27 for same land-use condition especially at higher ARIs. The percentage difference reached more than 70% depends on catchment characteristics. The estimated design peak discharge flows for future land use distribution were increased as expected due to the increment in the imperviousness of the catchment area, which contributes to higher peak discharge values as the critical storm duration shifts to a shorter period. Overall, the study demonstrates that the choice of hydrological procedure has a significant impact on flood estimation and should be carefully considered in future planning and design. 

Keywords: bclark’s method; hydrological analysis; hydrological procedure; langkawi island; snyder’s method..

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