PRESENTATION OF RAINFALL
DATA
1
1) Hyetograph
N
I
T
A
G
A
R
T
A
L
A
2
1) Hyetograph
N❑ A hyetograph is plot of rainfall intensity against the time interval
I
T❑ It is represented as bar chart
A
G❑ Area under a Hyetograph represents the total precipitation received in the period
A❑ The time interval used depends on the purpose ,in urban- drainage problems small durations are
R used while in flood-flow computations in larger catchments the intervals are of about 6h
T❑ Hyetograph can be derived from a Mass curve.
A
L
A
3
2) MASS CURVE
N
I
T
A
G
A
R
T
A
L
A
4
2) Mass Curve
N❑ It is a plot between accumulated rainfall against time in a chronological order
I
❑ It gives various information such as duration and magnitude of a storm
T
A❑ Also intensities at various time interval can be derived from the slope of the curve
G❑ Records from float and weighing bucket type recording rain gauges are in the form of mass curve
A
R
T
A
L
A
5
Numerical Problem 1
N
IA storm commenced at 7:00 hours. The ordinates of the rainfall mass-curve of the
T
storm in mm as recorded by a recording rain gauge at 15 min intervals are – 0, 9.5, 17,
A
G27, 40.5, 49, 63, 84, 95, 102, 110, 112, 112 construct a hyetograph of this storm for a
A
uniform interval of 15 min ?
R
T
A
L
A
6
Time Ordinate of Mass Rainfall in 15 min Rainfall intensity
Curve (mm) interval (mm) I (mm/hr)
7:00 0 0 0
7:15 9.5 9.5 9.5/ (1/4) = 38
7:30 17 7.5 7.5/ (1/4) = 30
7:45 27 10 10/ (1/4) =40
8:00 40.5
8:15 49
8:30 63
8:45 84
9:00 95
9:15 102
9:30 110
9:45 112
10:00 112
7
Time Rainfall in mm Rainfall in 15 min Rainfall intensity
interval (mm) I (mm/hr)
7:00 0 0 0
7:15 9.5 9.5 38
7:30 17 7.5 30
7:45 27 10 40
8:00 40.5 13.5 54
8:15 49 8.5 34
8:30 63 14 56
8:45 84 21 84
9:00 95 11 44
9:15 102 7 28
9:30 110 8 32
9:45 112 2 8
10:00 112 0 0
8
90
80
Intensity (mm/hr) 70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
7:00 7:15 7:30 7:45 8:00 8:15 8:30 8:45 9:00 9:15 9:30 9:45 10:00
Time in hr
9
Numerical Problem 2
For the storm commenced at 7:00 hours. The ordinates of the rainfall mass-curve of the
storm in mm as recommended by a recording rain gauge at different time intervals are –
0, 9.5, 17, 27, 40.5, 49, 63, 84, 95, 102, 110, 112, 112.
Calculate the maximum rainfall intensities for durations of 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120 & 180
minutes.
10
Time Ordinate of Mass Rainfall for a Period of different time (min)
Curve
15 30 45 60 90 120 180
7:00 0 0
7:15 9.5 9.5
7:30 17 7.5 17
7:45 27 10 17.5 27
8:00 40.5 13.5 23.5 31 40.5
8:15 49 8.5 22 32 39.5
8:30 63 14 22.5 36 46 63
8:45 84 21 35 43.5 57 74.5
9:00 95 11 32 46 54.5 78 95
9:15 102 7 18 39 53 75 92.5
9:30 110 8 15 26 47 69.5 93
9:45 112 2 10 17 28 63 85
10:00 112 0 2 10 17 49 71.5 112
11
21
Max. Intensity for 15 minutes duration = = 84 𝑚𝑚/ℎ𝑟
0.25
35
Max. Intensity for 30 minutes duration = = 70 𝑚𝑚/ℎ𝑟
0.5
46
Max. Intensity for 45 minutes duration = = 61.33 𝑚𝑚/ℎ𝑟
0.75
57
Max. Intensity for 60 minutes duration = = 57 𝑚𝑚/ℎ𝑟
1
78
Max. Intensity for 90 minutes duration = = 52 𝑚𝑚/ℎ𝑟
1.5
95
Max. Intensity for 120 minutes duration = = 47.5 𝑚𝑚/ℎ𝑟
2.0
112
Max. Intensity for 180 minutes duration = = 37.33 𝑚𝑚/ℎ𝑟
3
12
Moving Average
1) If we plot point rainfall with the time in chronological order the fluctuations will be large in the
time series of rainfall.
2) From this it will be difficult to determine the trend of the rainfall.
3) Thus a moving plot is made which smoothen out the fluctuation in time series & help in
determining trend of rainfall.
4) To find out moving average for say 3 years, average of rainfall of 1st, 2nd & 3rd years is plotted
against 2nd year. Average of 2nd, 3rd & 4th years is plotted against 3rd year & so on.
5) Similarly, for say 5 years moving average, average of rainfall of 1st, 2nd , 3rd, 4th & 5th years is
plotted against 3rd year. Average of 2nd, 3rd , 4th , 5th & 6th years is plotted against 4th year & so
on.
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Numerical Problem
Annual rainfall data of a station is given in the Table. Annual rainfall less than 75 % of
long term mean is considered for representing the meteorological drought.
1. Identify the drought year
2. Plot the 5 years moving average of the annual rainfall series
Year 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
AR 676 95 462 472 699 431 493 503 415 531 504 760 750 427 380 480
(mm)
Year 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
AR 620 550 640 550 640 624 500 400 356 700 580 520 600 525
(mm)
Solution
Bar Chart Showing annual Rainfall
Mean annual Rainfall = 529.43 mm
Mean annual Rainfall = 529.43 mm
75 % of Mean Annual rainfall = 397.08 mm
1951, 1964, 1974: Meteorological Drought Year
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Year Annual Rainfall 5 years Moving Average
1950 676
1951 95
1952 462 481
1953 472 432
1954 699 511
1955 431 520
1956 493 508
1957 503 475
1958 415 489
1959 531 543
1960 504 592
1961 760 594
1962 750 564
1963 427 559
1964 380 531
1965 480 491
1966 620 534
1967 550 568
1968 640 600
1969 550 601
1970 640 591
1971 624 543
1972 500 504
1973 400 516
1974 356 507
1975 700 511
1976 580 551
1977 520 585
1978 600
1979 525
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5 Years Moving Average
Annual Rainfall 5 years Moving Average Mean Rainfall
800
700
600
Annual Rainfall (mm)
500
400
300
200
100
0
1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985
Year
CHECK FOR CONSISTENCY OF
RAINFALL DATA
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PREPARATION OF RAINFALL DATA
Consistency: means that rainfall data of previous year should be consistent with the
Npresent environmental condition.
I
T Causes of inconsistency in records
A • Shifting of rain gauge to a new location: Change in environment
G • Change in the surrounding environment
A
R
❑ Like if there is forest in a particular area which did not exist 15 years ago then previous
T records will not be consistent with current record
A
❑ Air passing over forest pick up moisture given off by trees and plants, fueling rain. When
L trees disappear, affect the amount and pattern of rain
A
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DOUBLE MASS CURVE METHOD
N
I• Inconsistency of record is corrected by using double mass curve.
T• Thus on correction previous records becomes consistent with present
A
condition.
G
A
R
T
A
L
A
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Test for consistency record
Double mass curve techniques
• Select a group of 5 to 10 base stations in the neighborhood of
the problem station 𝑋
• Arrange the data of 𝑋 station rainfall and the average of the
neighboring stations in reverse chronological order (from
recent to old record)
• Accumulate the precipitation of station x i.e (ΣPx ) and the
x
average values of the group base stations (ΣPaverage ) starting
from the latest record
• A decided break in the slope of the resulting plot is observed
that indicates a change in precipitation regime of station 𝑋, i.e.
inconsistency.
• Therefore, it should be corrected by the factor
Test for consistency record
Double Mass Curve Analysis
4.5
4
accumulated annual rainfall of X stn in 10^3 cm
3.5
a
3
Mc c
2.5 c
=
2 Ma a
1.5
0.5
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Accumulated annual rainfall of neigbouring stns in 10^3 cm
0
Pcx – corrected precipitation at any time period t1 at station X
Mc
Pcx = Px Px – Original recorded precipitation at time period t1 at station X Mc –
corrected slope of the double mass curve
Ma
Ma – original slope of the mass curve
Annual rainfall data for station M as well as the average annual rainfall values for a group of ten neighboring stations
located in a meteorological homogeneous regions are given below. Test for consistency of station M and correct the record
if there is any discrepancy
26
27
DOUBLE MASS CURVE
28
1.0295
= 1.1728
0.8779
1.1728× 596 = 698.92
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Mean Precipitation Over An
Area
30
Mean Precipitation over an area
❑ Rainfall recorded on a gauge provides Only point measurements and hence
they poorly represent the spatial variability of the precipitation over an area
❑ The important rainfall for hydrological analysis is a rainfall over an area of an
interest, such as over the catchment
Mean Precipitation over an area
• To convert the point rainfall values at various stations into
average value over a catchment, the following methods are
used:
1. Arithmetic mean method
2. Thiessen polygons method
3. Isohyets method
Arithmetic Mean Method
• Average rainfall is calculated by taking the mean values of all the available rain
gauge stations
P1 + P2 + .....+ Pi + .....Pn N
P =
N
= 1
N P
i=1
i
• This method is suitable for area having uniform
rainfall.
• Suitable for small area
Thiessen polygons Method
• This method is based on the weighted mean concept.
• Multiplying each precipitation values by the proportion of the watershed it
represents, shown by the Thiessen polygons, and then add them all together.
𝐴1
Weight =
𝐴
Thiessen polygons Method
Steps for Thiessen Polygon Method:-
1) The basin area is plotted & location of the rain gauge
stations are indicated.
2) Joining the adjacent rainguage station by straight lines to
form triangle.
3) Draw a perpendicular bisector of the lines joining the rain A1
gauges to form Polygon. A2
4) Calculate area enclosed around each rain gauge station
A3
bounded by the polygons edges to find out the area of A4
influence corresponding to the rain gauge.
5) Each polygon should only contain one rain gauge 53
stations
Method of Thiessen polygons
P1A1 + P2 A2 + ..... + Pm Am
P =
(A1 + A2 + .....+ Am )
Generally for M station
M
PA i i M
Ai
P = i=1
Atotal
=
i =1
Pi
A
Thiessen Polygon Method:- (Weighted Mean Method)
1) Rainfall recorded by each raingauge station are weighted
according to area. Thus it take care of non-uniform distribution
of raingauges.
2) More accurate than arithmetic mean method.
3) Also consider the rain gauge outside catchment area.
4) Suitable for plain area
5) This method accounts for the position of the rain gauge but
does not account for the variation of the topography
Isohyetal Method
• An isohyet is a line joining points of equal rainfall magnitude.
• Topographic influence are taken into account
Steps for Isohyetal Method:-
1) Prepare isohyetal map of the area from the rainfall values recorded at different stations.
2) Measure the areas enclosed between successive isohyets by using planimeter or graph
paper.
3) Multiply each of these areas by averagerainfall intensity between two successive isohyets.
4) Compute average rainfall.
P1 + P 2 P2 + P3 P n − 1 + Pn
a1 + a2 + ....... + a n − 1
P = 2 2 2
A
Where, P1, P2,…., Pn = the rainfalls recorded at rain gauge station
a1, a2,……an = area between successiveisohyets.
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GATE 2017
A catchment is idealized as a 25 km × 25 km square. It has five rain gauges, one at each corner and one at the
center, as shown in the figure.
During a month, the precipitation at these Gauges is measured as G1= 300mm, G2= 285mm, G3=272mm,
G4=290 mm and G5= 288 mm. Calculate the average precipitation ( in mm up to one decimal place) over a
catchment during this month using Thiessen Polygon Method.
The isohyets for annual rainfall over a catchment basin indicates the
following(isohyet, area): (45-55cm , 500 km2); (55-65, 1000 km2) and (65-75, 2000
km2). What is the approximate average annual precipitation depth (in cm) over
the catchment area ?
44