AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 Education Curriculum Student Workbook Unit 4: Environmental Design

Lesson

Watershed Analysis
Overview
In this lesson, you learn about how Civil 3D is used to analyze surface water runoff in a watershed. Hydrologic analysis begins with a close inspection of the terrain surface. A watershed is the total area of land that contributes surface runoff to a particular point of interest. A defined surface in Civil 3D may or may not entirely contain a watershed. Using the Watershed Analysis and Water Drop tools can help determine where surface water flows on the surface. Along with other factors such as soil type, slope, and land cover, the area of a watershed is necessary to calculate surface runoff flow rate.

Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to: Describe the different types of watersheds delineated by Civil 3D. Use watershed analysis to delineate watershed boundaries. Create surface water runoff paths.

Exercises
The following exercises are provided in a step-by-step format in this lesson: 1. Delineate Watersheds 2. Visualize Runoff Paths

Unit 4 Lesson 2: Watershed Analysis

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About the Hydrologic Cycle

The hydrologic cycle is the ongoing process in which water is evaporated from oceans, lakes, streams, and rivers and then redistributed to the surface of the earth in the form of precipitation. When precipitation, such as rain or snow, falls on the land surface, it encounters a number of different fates. A portion of the precipitation returns to the atmosphere as water vapor, or evaporates. Some of this water vapor is consumed by trees and other plant matter, and is eventually passed back to the atmosphere through their leaves in a process is called transpiration. Some precipitation infiltrates into the earth's soil and may be stored there as groundwater or it may continue flowing through the soil until it reaches a stream or river. Finally, some precipitation becomes surface runoff and enters our streams, rivers, and lakes. Civil and environmental engineers study the behavior of surface runoff to learn more about floods, droughts, and water pollution. Humans can greatly impact surface runoff patterns by altering the way land is used. When studying surface runoff, the basic hydrologic unit is the watershed.

About Watersheds
A watershed is an area that contributes surface water runoff to a particular point of interest, also called an outlet point. Any precipitation that falls within this area, and does not evaporate, transpire, or infiltrate, will run overland and eventually pass this outlet point. Because any point may be designated as a point of interest, the number of possible watersheds is infinite. However, logical points are typically designated as outlet points, such as the confluence of a tributary with a main stream or, in a developed area, where two storm sewers join. Delineation, or outlining, of the area which drains to a particular outlet point is of particular importance, because the volume of surface runoff is directly proportional to the drainage area. Civil 3D automatically analyzes a surface based on the triangles of the TIN to determine the outline of watersheds on the surface. This analysis is performed using the Analysis tab of the Surface Properties of any surface. There can be several different types of watersheds present on a surface based on the type of drain target of the watershed. A drain target is the location where the water flow either stops or leaves the surface. Water that flows along an area or across a surface triangle eventually flows off the surface, or it reaches a point from which there is no downhill direction. For each drain target in a surface, Civil 3D determines the region of the surface that drains to that target. This region is called the watershed for that drain target. The types of watersheds analyzed by Civil 3D include those listed in the following table.

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Watershed Boundary Point

Description If the downhill end of a channel edge is on the surface boundary, then water flowing through that channel continues off the surface. The boundary point is the lowest end of the channel. If an edge on the surface boundary belongs to a triangle that slopes down toward that edge, then water flows off the surface all along that edge. A boundary segment is a connected sequence of such edges. If a point is at a lower elevation than all its neighboring TIN points, then when water flows to it, it has no downhill place to go. Similarly, a connected set of points that are at the same elevation and all of whose neighbors are at a higher elevation, is a single drain target. A depression is any such set of points. A flat area watershed is a flat area, from which water could flow down to more than one drain target. It also includes the parts of the surface that drain to that flat area. A flat area is a connected set of triangles all of whose vertices have the same elevation. Flat areas abut parts of the surface that slope downhill. One type of ambiguous watershed is called a multi-drain or split channel watershed. A multi-drain notch watershed occurs where there is a flat edge between two points on a surface.

Boundary Segment

Depression

Flat Area

Multi-Drain Multi-Drain Notch

The following illustration displays several boundary segment watersheds.

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These watersheds are segregated because some of the edge triangles are sloped in towards the surface and not towards the edge. Turning on the triangles of the surfaces along with the slope arrows clarifies this in the following illustration along the border between watershed ID 22 and 24. Note that the slope arrows are drawn along the line of the slope of the face of the TIN triangle.

About Flow Paths

A particular path that a water drop takes for surface runoff is determined by the slope of the individual faces of the surface. Analyzing either an existing surface or a design surface for runoff flow paths is an important step in determining how to handle stormwater at the site. In general, you click a location on the surface as the start of the travel path for a drop of water. The algorithm traces a line parallel to the slope of the 3D face of the TIN triangle where you clicked until the line intersects another triangle. At that point, the path is turned to parallel the

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slope of the intersected triangle. This process continues until an endpoint is reached, which can be the edge of the surface, or a low point or depression. The following illustration displays the original starting point for the water drop as a red X marker, with the subsequent path as a blue polyline until it reaches the edge of the surface. Notice the changes in slope as the path intersects the next triangle.

Key Terms
Hydrologic Cycle Watershed Drain Target Runoff Water Path The ongoing process in which water is cycled through precipitation, runoff, infiltration, evaporation, and transpiration. A watershed is the total area of land that contributes surface runoff to a particular point of interest. A drain target is the location where the water flow either stops or leaves the surface The particular path that a water drop takes for surface runoff. The path is determined by the slope of the individual faces of the surface.

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Exercise 1: Delineate Watersheds

In this exercise, you modify a surface style and perform a watershed analysis in order to delineate watersheds and visualize drainage patterns. At the end of this exercise, the drawing displays as shown.

6. Expand the Surface property group. Change the Surface Watershed Label Style to Watershed. For this exercise open \I_WatershedsEX1.dwg (M_Watersheds-EX1.dwg).

Configure a Surface Style

1. In Toolspace, on the Settings tab, expand the Surface, Surface Styles. Right-click Border Only. Click Copy. 2. On the Information tab, for Name, enter Watersheds. 3. On the Watersheds tab, in the Watershed Properties table, expand the Depression Watershed property group. Change Use Hatching to True. 4. Click Hatch Pattern. Click . 5. In the Hatch Properties dialog box: For Pattern, select AR-SAND. For Scale, select 15. Click OK. 7. On the Display tab, in the Component Display table, click next to the Slope Arrows and the Watershed to turn on display of these components. Click OK.

Perform a Watershed Analysis

8. In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the Surfaces collection. Rightclick the Existing Ground surface. Click Surface Properties. 9. In the Surface Properties dialog box, on the Information tab, for Surface Style, select Watersheds. 10. On the Analysis tab: For Analysis Type, select Watersheds. Civil 3D 2010 Student Workbook 6

Unit 4 Lesson 2: Watershed Analysis

Select the Merge Adjacent Boundary Watersheds check box.

Note the list of watersheds in the Item View area.

15. Right-click a watershed in the Item View area. Click Zoom To. Click Run Analysis . The watersheds are analyzed and listed in the Details table. 11. Click the Watershed Type Display button . 12. Turn off the Boundary point and Boundary segment watershed types. Click OK twice. 13. Inspect the watersheds displayed in the drawing. You can also add a table to the drawing that lists all of the watersheds. 16. On the Annotate tab, Labels & Tables panel, click Tables > Add Surface Legend Table. 17. At the prompt to specify the table type, enter W for Watersheds. Press ENTER. 18. At the prompt for Behavior, enter D for Dynamic. Press ENTER. 19. Click a location in the drawing where you want to place the upper-left corner of the table. 20. The legend table is displayed in the drawing.

14. In Prospector, in the Existing Ground surface, click the Watersheds collection. Unit 4 Lesson 2: Watershed Analysis Civil 3D 2010 Student Workbook 7

Extract Watershed Boundaries

You can use the watershed analysis data to create polygons and an associated hatch of the watersheds. 21. In the drawing, click the surface to select it. 22. On the contextual ribbon, Surface Tools panel, click Extract Objects. 23. In the Extract Objects from Surface <Existing Ground> dialog box, clear all check boxes except for Watersheds. Click OK. 24. Press ESC. 25. Click to select a watershed boundary polyline or hatch. 26. Enter list. Press ENTER. The text window opens to display the attributes of the object. 27. Press ESC. Press F2. 28. Close the drawing. Do not save the changes.

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Exercise 2: Visualize Runoff Paths

In this exercise, you use the Water Drop tool to visualize runoff paths in the watersheds. At the end of this exercise, the drawing displays as shown. 3. At the Select point prompt, click several locations in the drawing in the specified area, which is a boundary segment watershed (blue polygon). Press ENTER when finished.

For this exercise, open \I_WatershedsEX2.dwg (M_Watersheds-EX2.dwg).

Visualize Runoff Paths

The Water Drop tool is a good way to visualize flow paths and to inspect a surface for possible problems. 1. On the Analyze tab, Ground Data panel, click Water Drop. 2. In the Water Drop dialog box, set the values as shown. Click OK. Markers are created where you clicked, and a polyline shows the surface water runoff path across the surface. Boundary segment watersheds have multiple locations where the low point is at the edge of the surface, meaning that water will continue to flow off the edge, past the known terrain information. 4. Click one of the polylines. Enter list. Unit 4 Lesson 2: Watershed Analysis Civil 3D 2010 Student Workbook 9

The text box displays information about the polyline. 5. Press ESC. Press F2. 6. In Prospector, expand Surfaces and the Existing Ground surface. Click the Watersheds collection. 7. In the Item View window, right-click watershed ID 50. Click Zoom To. This is a depression watershed. Note that the numbering may be different in the metric drawing. Zoom to a depression watershed. 8. On the Analyze tab, Ground Data panel, click Water Drop. 9. In the Water Drop dialog box, use the previous settings. Click OK. 10. At the Select point prompt, click several locations in the drawing in watershed 50. Press ENTER when finished. 13. Review the slope arrow directions and compare them to the water drop polylines. Sometimes it is good practice to also view the triangles. 14. In Prospector, right-click Existing Ground. Click Edit Surface Style. 15. In the Display tab, click to make the Triangles visible. Click OK.

11. In Prospector, right-click Existing Ground. Click Edit Surface Style. 12. In the Display tab, click to make the Slope Arrows visible. Click OK. Unit 4 Lesson 2: Watershed Analysis Civil 3D 2010 Student Workbook 10

It is more difficult to see the watershed outline, but clearer to see how the direction of the water drop path and the slope arrows are derived. 16. Repeat these steps on different watersheds, including a multi-drain watershed.

17. Close the drawing. Do not save the changes.

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Assessment
Challenge Exercise
Instructors provide a master or challenge exercise for students to do based on this lesson.

Questions
1. What is a watershed? 2. Define a depression-type of watershed. 3. What is a flow path, also known as runoff water path? 4. What are some major factors that are related to surface runoff flow rate?

Answers
1. A watershed is an area that contributes surface water runoff to a particular point of interest, also called an outlet point. 2. If a point is at a lower elevation than all its neighboring TIN points, then when water flows to it, it has no downhill place to go. Similarly, a connected set of points that are at the same elevation and all of whose neighbors are at a higher elevation, is a single drain target. A depression is any such set of points. 3. A flow path is the particular path that a water drop takes for surface runoff. The path is determined by the slope of the individual 3D triangle faces of the surface. 4. Watershed area, land cover, slope, and soil type are all important when calculating surface runoff rate.

Lesson Summary
In this lesson, you learned about the concepts of watershed analysis and how to use Civil 3D to perform basic analysis. You used the Watershed Analysis tool for an existing surface to delineate watersheds, extracted the boundaries as closed polygons, and inserted a watershed legend table. You used the Water Drop tool along with slope arrows and triangles to visualize the surface water runoff patterns on a surface.

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