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abstract 322

Design and Development of Software for Training the Watershed Managers in the Estimation of Runoff in a Catchment

Author(s): T. B. Kavitha, S. S. Shirahatti, P. Balakrishnan, S. S. Kumathe, M.S. Ayyanagowdar
All are from College of Agricultural Engineering, Raichur-584 102Karnataka, India. Full contact address of corresponding author: Dr. S. S. Shirahatti, Assoc. Prof. of SWE, College of Agricultural Engineering, Raichur-584 102 Karnataka, India. Phone:

Keyword(s): capacity building,watershed training,runoff estimation,hydrology software

Article:

Poster:

Session: OS4c Modelling and information management

Abstract1. Proposed title:

Design and Development of Software for Training the Watershed Managers
in the Estimation of Runoff in

a Catchment

2. Full name of the authors:
Kavitha, T.B., Shirahatti, S.S., Balakrishnan, P., Kumathe, S.S.

and Ayyanagowdar, M.S.

3. Full contact address of corresponding author:
Dr. S. S. Shirahatti, Assoc.

Prof. of SWE,
College of Agricultural Engineering, Raichur-584 102
Karnataka, India.
Phone: ++91-

08532-220440, Fax: ++91-08532-220079
E-mail: s_shirahatti@hotmail.com

Preferred mode of

presentation: Oral

4. Theme : 6 .Water Conservation and Demand Management
Sub

theme: Education and Public Awareness

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

The Hydrological

analysis in general is concerned with measurement, correlation and prediction. These require the determination of a

number of parameters associated with a watershed. The values estimated are needed for the design of a number of

hydrological structures such as culverts, dams and canals as well as for the estimation of irrigation requirement.

Therefore, watershed analysis is an area in which computer applications can be of great use.
Objective:

An interactive software package was aimed for the analysis of various hydrological processes related to a

watershed. This paper describes the runoff analysis software with a user-friendly graphical user interface. The

package is meant for Water Resources Engineers and Planners, as the determination of the various calculable

properties is a time-consuming task. It can also be used as a powerful educational tool for teaching and

demonstrating watershed analysis.
Methods:
Following methods of estimation of the runoff were used

in the software. Various forms were generated based on the user’s choice and intricacies involved as discussed

below:
Empirical method: The user chooses the type of area (Ghat region or Deccan plateau). Only the

precipitation value is entered into the Ingles and DeSouza formula to get the runoff value.
Barlow’s table: The user

chooses the catchment type and also enters precipitation value. The software from its database extracts the runoff

coefficient and the runoff value is displayed.
Strange’s table: The type of catchment, total monsoon rainfall and

area of the watershed are entered by the user. The software displays the percentage of runoff to precipitation, yield

of runoff from catchment and runoff volume.
Seasonal Runoff: Seasonal runoff is calculated by the Soil

Conservation Service–Curve Number (SCS-CN) method. Depending upon the land use pattern, appropriate curve

number can be selected by the software and mean precipitation value is entered to get the seasonal runoff.

Results:

A user-friendly software package was developed for the analysis of runoff in a watershed.

The package also helped in determining the various parameters associated with it, which are essential for the design

and management of hydrological structures. The flowcharts of the process will be given in the full paper. The

software was tested for the G.R. Halli watershed located in the red soil area in the south Indian state of Karnataka in

India .The computer generated results matched well with the analytical results.

Conclusion:
To aid

the watershed mangers and other consultants by providing them with a quick analysis tool, a package was developed

for watershed analysis. The software package was developed such that, a user with little knowledge of computers

can work with the software package using the help file. The front end of the package was developed using Visual

Basic and the Graphical User Interface provided makes the package user-friendly in nature. The software package

can also handle large set of data through file manipulation. The software package can also be used as a

demonstration tool in educational institutions.

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Design and Development of Software for Training the Watershed Managers in the Estimation of Runoff in a Catchment