Question
it there a rule of thumb or a specific calculation to use when figuring out the
surface area vs how many or how big catch basins should be?How large of a
discharge pipe should be used? etc..

Answer
Hi, Ralph: Kind of a loaded question.  It depends on a few more drainage factors like how much & how hard the rain typically falls in your area, what kind of surface is draining to the basin, how much slope the pipe is going to have, and where you want the water to go after you catch it in a basin or pipe, to name a few.   Storm drainage pipe-sizing is based a formula called the "Rational Method"; Q=Cia, where 'Q' is the volume of water, 'C' is the coefficient of runoff, 'i' is the rainfall intensity, and 'a' is the area being drained.

I don't want to overly complicate it and I am assuming you are just looking for answers to a residential situation:  If it is water coming off of a rain gutter, you can probably get away with 6" pipes for each individual downspout - just be sure to convey it far enough away from your home to avoid ponding.  The price difference between 4" or 6" pipes is not worth the headache of cleaning out smaller, clog-prone pipes.  

NDS has a nifty PDF guide called "NDS principles of Exterior Drainage - Short Course" that is a good guide.  Google for it.

Anything more detailed and you can consult the user-friendly NDS website for additional residential drainage ideas:

http://www.ndspro.com/ for their residential line of products.

Beyond that, NDS has a simple & nifty storm water volume calculator based on the Rational Method:  http://www.ndspro.com/drainage-calculator/

A similar manufacturer is ADS products (ADS-pipe.com) but their website isn't as residential user-friendly.

I wish there was an easier "short hand" or "rule of thumb" for sizing catch basins!  If I am totally off-base with the answer, or you want to go into further detail, shoot me a follow-up question.  Regards.

~Marc