Hydrology Studio

Upgrade to the top-tier Hydrology Software for Enhanced Stormwater Modeling

Design Detention Ponds the Smart Way

Experience the ease of stormwater design with Hydrology Studio, a remarkable hydrology software that simplifies complex watershed modeling and pre- and post-development drainage studies with detention ponds. Download this exceptional software for free and witness how it makes stormwater design a breeze.

Model Watersheds and Design Detention Ponds

Model multiple watersheds, including pre/post development for up to 100 hydrograph nodes, with up to 8 return periods... simultaneously. All standard, out-of-the-box features, matched to an intuitive, modern user interface and excellent reporting.

Industry Standard, Time-Tested Methodologies

Design and analyze using well-known methodologies that comply with industry standards and local regulations. NRCS TR20, TR55, Rational and Modified Rational methods are built-in along with an extensive library of NRCS and NOAA design storms and rainfall. Customize Unit Hydrograph Shape Factor to match your local criteria.

Enhance Your Design Processes

Our innovative design techniques and intuitive processes streamline your journey from start to finish. We are dedicated to providing clear guidance through visually engaging, interactive tools that ensure you stay on track.

Easily Customize to Match Your Local Rainfall

Hydrology Studio contains ready-to-use design storms including NRCS Types I, IA, II, Fla Mod, III, Std 6-hr, NRCS MSE, NOAA, NRCC, CA, FDOT, SFWMD, Austin Zones 1 & 2, Huff-75, Indiana Huff and IDF-based balanced/nested. Select with a single mouse click.

Rainfall Wizard Imports Directly From NOAA Atlas 14

You can create IDF curves and customize the rainfall for your SCS/NRCS design storms in just three simple steps.

Choose Your Location on the NOAA Map

Move a cross-hair to your exact site location. A button-click is all it takes to download the rainfall data used to develop IDF curves and serve all SCS or NRCS design storms.

Import the Data Directly Into Hydrology Studio

Import rainfall direct from NOAA or download ready-to-use rainfall files from Hydrology Studio's RainMaps.

Use a Library of Built-in Dimensionless Design Storms

Select from one of 88 built-in design storm distributions with a single mouse click. Storms are hard-coded and created on demand. No need to manage external data files.

Start producing higher quality stormwater designs with Hydrology Studio

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Design Your Next Detention Pond in 15 Minutes

Hydrology Studio’s innovative wizard simplifies the process of going from post-development to pre in just 3 simple steps. Say goodbye to the uncertainty of pond-sizing with its accurate storage estimation. Plus, the real-time pond routing tool saves you valuable time by streamlining outlet structure design

Step 1. Estimate Required Storage

Hydrology Studio will quickly estimate required storage volumes so you can build your detention pond to the correct size the first time around. No guesswork!

Step 2. Create Your Detention Pond

Build your new detention pond to the correct size. Enter or import contour areas from your CAD software, select trapezoid shaped, manufactured underground chambers or manual entry.

Step 3. Add Pond Outlet Structures

Hydrology Studio has developed an incredible breakthrough in detention pond outlet structures. It develops a Target Stage-Discharge for each return period and overlays it on a Schematic drawing for you to use as a guide when adding outlet devices. It’s fast, direct and eliminates iterations.

Your Design is Completed in Less Than 15 Minutes

Real-time interaction with a realistic schematic drawing of your detention pond’s outlet structures during Step 3 is the secret sauce. Your final detention pond design will be nearly perfect, every single time.

Design Underground Stormwater Detention Basins

Hydrology Studio has dedicated features that help you to design underground stormwater detention systems. Select from a built-in library of manufactured underground storage chambers or enter your own generic custom dimensions, shapes, etc. Include voided stone encasements too.

An Easy 3-Step Process

Step 1 determines the storage required using pre- and post-development hydrographs and target release rates. In the final step the software provides you with a dedicated outlet structure made just for underground detention design.

Create the Most Efficient UG Chamber Layouts

For Step 2 you’ll select your chamber system from your preferred manufacturer and lay out the system to match your target storage. Use an interactive tool to set the number of chambers, rows and endcaps. A manufacturer-specific layout is instantly drawn right before you indicating the dimensions and Stage-Storage curve.

Design Your Chamber Outlet Structure

The software automatically inserts a Riser structure for which you can add outlet devices such as a weir wall, orifice, exfiltration and outlet culvert. Perform trial pond routings along the way until it’s done exactly the way you need it.

Design Bioretention and Extended Detention Ponds

Hydrology Studio provides all the tools you’ll need to design and model extended detention ponds. Just enter your WQv volumes and interactively size the outlet structure to meet drain time requirements.

What is Bioretention?

Bioretention and bio-detention areas are structural stormwater controls that capture and temporarily store a pre-determined water quality volume (WQv) using soils and vegetation in shallow basins or landscaped areas to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff.

All of the Bioretention Pond Tools You'll Need

Hydrology Studio allows you to enter up to 4 unique volumes that can be monitored throughout your pond design. It shows you exactly the elevation(s) corresponding to their volumes so you can easily design your pond's outlet structure. No guesswork.

Interactive Tools Get You Desired Results in Seconds!

By simply adjusting the outlet structure orifice size you can watch the effects on the drain time on a Stage vs. Drain Time chart. A few mouse clicks and you're done. Plus, it's automatically included in your reports. While you're here, check out Studio Express Groundwater feature for retention pond recovery analysis in shallow aquifers.

Looking to perform retention pond recovery and groundwater mounding analysis?

Visit Studio Express Groundwater

Design Volumetric Detention Ponds

Hydrology Studio provides a complete solution for meeting volumetric detention pond criteria. Its advanced features allow for quick design of a flexible detention basin outlet structure that satisfies peak release rate and volume restriction needs. With minimal inputs required, designing success is guaranteed without any hassle.

The Problem With Traditional Detention Ponds

Traditional detention ponds that prioritize pre-developed peak flow rates have shortcomings as they may not adequately address flood flow stages downstream. This is because the increased volume of the post-developed hydrograph, specifically the outflow hydrograph from the detention pond, can lead to significant channel erosion.

The Solution

A new standard is emerging, which is supported by research indicating that a significant increase in volume happens within a specific "Critical Time Span". By limiting the volume after development to match the volume before development during this time period, we can effectively mitigate the negative impacts of urban development, such as rising flood stages downstream.

Hydrology Studio Leads the Way

With Hydrology Studio at your fingertips, this is an easy criteria to design for. Set the Critical Time Span in the Project Settings and Hydrology Studio manages the rest. Simply make adjustments to your low flow devices while performing your Trial Routing, until the Net Critical Volume is at or near zero.

Perform Critical Storm Duration Analysis

Need to model multiple design storms over multiple return periods? Hydrology Studio has you covered. Easily investigate your model over a series of unique design storms and frequencies in a matter of minutes.

Critical Storm Event Analysis Can Be Time Consuming

Having to work through five design storms over multiple frequencies can be daunting at best. Hydrology Studio's architecture lends itself well to performing these types of tasks. It already computes multiple frequencies at the same time. Just select a new Design Storm from a list box and re-compute. That's all there is to it. You'll have your answers in minutes, not hours.

View Your Results in Multiple Formats

You'll be able to instantly view your work in graphical or tabular forms. Overlay the hydrographs from each design storm for the perfect visual or get the numbers from a table.

Document With Return Period Recaps and Summaries

Easily produce professional-looking reports to document your work. Print out an easy-to-read Return Period Summary and/or a detailed breakdown from each frequency.

Model Large, Complex Watersheds

Hydrology Studio is more than just detention ponds. It’s quite capable of modeling regional watersheds of any size including runoff hydrographs, confluences, channel and river reaches, diversions and detention/retention ponds.

Make Regional Watershed Modeling Easy

Modeling large or regional watersheds with composite sub-basins and tributaries does not need to be difficult, nor require difficult-to-use software. In fact, with Hydrology Studio, it's remarkably easy.

100 Hydrograph Nodes Are Standard

No need to purchase extra software in a time of need. This software comes with 100 nodes out of the box - each holding up to eight return periods at once. A state-of-the-art basin model diagram allows you to visually point and click your way through the watershed.

Excellent Graphical Presentations

Hydrology Studio has a reputation for its graphic presentations. It absolutely shines when modeling multiple hydrographs where you can plot overlays, providing the ultimate visual with numerical support of your basin model.

Produce better watershed modeling studies with Hydrology Studio

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The More Technologically Advanced Hydrology Software

Hydrology Studio performs superior technical analysis not found in other software.

More Accurate Pond Outlet Structure Calculations

Hydrology Studio takes into account the intricate relationships between outlet devices in detention ponds, including the impact of culvert headwater on the tailwater for secondary devices upstream. Unlike many other programs, it accurately calculates the outflows of each device, preventing the common issue of overestimating discharge and ending up with an undersized detention pond

Animated Graphics Eliminate Guesswork

Hydrology Studio's graphics offer compelling visual evidence precisely when you require it. This side view showcases dynamic flow paths that vividly demonstrate the movement of water within your pond's outlet structure. It serves as yet another testament to the remarkable technical capabilities of this software.

Better Pond Troubleshooting Keeps You On Track

Don't let errors in your pond routings leave you feeling lost and frustrated. Hydrology Studio provides a solution that gives you clear answers on what went wrong and how to fix it. Stay informed and keep moving forward with our advanced detention pond analyzer

Enhance your professional image with user-friendly reports

Our reports are crafted for your convenience, ensuring clarity for you, reviewers, and colleagues alike. They are sure to leave you feeling confident when sharing your business card, and will undoubtedly impress reviewers during the approval process

Best-in-Class Professional Looking Reports

Report types range from recaps & summaries to scalable detailed reports and worksheets. Just check the options you like on a print menu and Hydrology Studio starts printing easy-to-read reports for any or all return periods.

Add a Complete Table of Contents

Automatically generates a table of contents. User defined starting page number and prefix allows you to insert into other reports.

Hydrology Studio's Technical Features

Models entire complex watersheds with multiple events
Employs SCS/NRCS TR-20, Rational and Modified Rational methods
2,880-point hydrographs for maximum accuracy
No limits on drainage areas
Comes standard with capacity for 100 hydrograph-node basin model, each with up to 8 return periods at once, for a total of 800 hydrographs
Computes composite Rational C values and SCS Curve Numbers (CN) from multiple subareas including a “Weighted Q” option
Each project can have up to 25 unique detention ponds
Automatic batch run operation for user-defined multiple return periods
Built-in NRCS 6 & 24-hr (including Type IIFla) design storms
Built-in B75 Huff Distributions, 3 quartiles
Built-in Indiana Huff Distributions in 4 zones, 3 quartiles
Built-in 24-hr NRCS MSE, NOAA, NRCC and CA Storm Distributions
Built-in Florida DOT (FDOT) 1, 2, 4, 8, 24 and 72-hour distributions including SFWMD 72-hour
Built-in Austin 24-hour HEC-HMS Frequency Storms, Zones 1 & 2
Up to 10 unique Custom design storms can be specified
Develops synthetic, nested, design storms based on local NOAA precipitation
Develops rainfall IDF curves for any location
Built-in Lag, Kirpich and TR-55 method Tc calculator for multiple flow segments
Combines up to 6 hydrographs at once
Routes hydrographs through channels
Diverts hydrographs by constant Q, ratio, 1st-flush volume or any pond outlet structure
Offers many Bio-retention and Extended Detention features including drain-time analysis and volumetric detention
Computes outlet flows for detention ponds
Estimates storage requirements prior to designing your pond
Interactive Pond Wizard significantly speeds up outlet device sizing & design
Up to 10 user-definable outlet structures per pond including infiltration/exfiltration
Handles multi-stage outlet works
Storage values can be computed from contour areas, bottom area/side slope or underground storage with stone encasement
Weirs types include rectangular, Cipoletti, riser, broad crested and v-notch
Routes hydrographs through wet, dry or interconnected ponds
Routes hydrographs through ponds with varied tailwater elevations for each return period
Imports images as a watershed background map from png, jpg and bmp files
Imports legacy Hydraflow Hydrographs .gpw project files
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U.S. Customary & Metric units
Stand alone and runs on any off-the-shelf PC with Windows 7, 8, 10 and 11
Much more!