SCSCurveNumberMethod

TheSCScurvenumbermethodisasimiple,widelyusedandefficientmethodfordeterminingthe
approxientamountofrunofffromarainfalleveninaparticulararea.Althoughthemethodisdesignedfora
singlestormevent,itcanbescaledtofindaverageannualrunoffvalues.Thestatrequirmentsforthis
methodareverylow,rainfallamountandcurvenumber.Thecurvenumberisbasedonthearea'shydrologic
soilgroup,landuse,treatmentandhydrologiccondition.The2formerbeingofgreatestimportance.
ThegeneralequationfortheSCScurvenumbermethodisasfollows:
Theinitialequation(1)isbasedontrendsobservedindata
fromcollectedsites,thereforeitisanempericalequation
insteadofaphysicallybasedequation.Afterfurtherempirical
evaulationofthetrendsinthedatabase,theinitial
abstractions,Ia,couldbedefinedasapercentageofS(2).
Withthisassumption,theequation(3)couldbewrittenina
moresimplifiedformwithonly3variables.TheparameterCN
isatransformationofS,anditisusedtomakeinterpolating,
averaging,andweightingoperationsmorelinear(4).
Withthefollowingchart,theamountofrunoffcanbefound
iftherainfallamount(ininches)andcurvenumberisknown.
TherearetwoadvantagesofusingLTHIAoveramanual
method.One,theavailablityofthedata.LTHIAprovidesthe
rainfalldataforanyareaintheUnitedStates.Two,LTHIA
completesthiscaluculationforeveryrainfalleventforthirty
yearsandthenreportstheaverageannualrunoffvalue.

DescriptionandCurveNumbersfromTR55

LandUse
Descriptionon
InputScreen

CurveNumberfor
HydrologicSoil
Group

CoverDescription

CoverTypeandHydrologicCondition

%
Impervious
Areas

64

75

82

85

85

89

92

94

95

Agricultural

RowCropsStaightRows+CropResidueCover
GoodCondition(1)

Commercial

UrbanDistricts:CommericalandBusiness

Forest

Woods(2) GoodCondition

30

55

70

77

Grass/Pasture

Pasture,Grassland,orRange(3) GoodCondition

39

61

74

80

HighDensity
Residential

Residentialdistrictsbyaveragelotsize:1/8acreor
less

65

77

85

90

92

Industrial

Urbandistrict:Industrial

72

81

88

91

93

LowDensity
Residential

Residentialdistrictsbyaveragelotsize:1/2acrelot

25

54

70

80

85

OpenSpaces

OpenSpace(lawns,parks,golfcourses,cemeteries,
etc.)(4) FairCondition(grasscover50%to70%)

49

69

79

84

ParkingandPaved
Spaces

Imperviousareas:Pavedparkinglots,roofs,
drivesways,etc.(excludingrightofway)

100

98

98

98

98

Residential1/8acre

Residentialdistrictsbyaveragelotsize:1/8acreor
less

65

77

85

90

92

Residential1/4acre

Residentialdistrictsbyaveragelotsize:1/4acre

38

61

75

83

87

Residential1/3acre

Residentialdistrictsbyaveragelotsize:1/3acre

30

57

72

81

86

Residential1/2acre

Residentialdistrictsbyaveragelotsize:1/2acre

25

54

70

80

85

Residential1acre

Residentialdistrictsbyaveragelotsize:1acre

20

51

68

79

84

Residential2acres

Residentialdistrictsbyaveragelotsize:2acre

12

46

65

77

82

Water/Wetlands

ColorKey
BasicInputValue

DetailedInputValue

BasicandDetailedInputTypeValue

Notes
(1)Hydraulicconditionisbasedoncombinationfactorsthataffectinfiltrationandrunoff,including(a)densityandcanopyof
vegetativeareas,(b)amountofyearroundcover,(c)amountofgrassorcloseseededlegumes,(d)percentofresidueontheland
surface(good>=20%),and(e)degreeofsurfaceroughness.
(2)Good:Woodsareprotectedformgrazing,andlitterandbrushadequatelycoverthesoil.
(3)Good:>75%groundcoverandlightlyoronlyoccasionallygrazed.
(4)CN'sshownsreequivalenttothoseofpasture.CompositeCN'smaybecomputedforothercombinationsofopenspacecover
type.