Meteorological Data
Ref: [Link], 1983, Engineering Hydrology
Weather and climate
The hydrology of a region depends primarily on its
climate, secondly on its topography and its geology.
Climate is largely dependent on the geographical position
on the earth’s surface. Climatic factors of importance are
precipitation and its mode of occurrence, humidity,
temperature and wind, all of which directly affect
evaporation and transpiration.
Topography is important in its effect on precipitation and
the occurrence of lakes, marshland and high and low rates
of runoff. Geology is important because it influences
topography and because the underlying rock of an area is
the groundwater zone where the water that has infiltrated
moves slowly through aquifers to the rivers and the sea.
The pattern of circulation in the atmosphere is complex. If
the earth were a stationary uniform sphere, then there
would be a simple circulation of atmosphere on that side
of it nearest the sun. Warmed air would moved in across
the surface to replace it. The high warm air would cool
and sink as it moved away from the equator, until it
returned to the surface layers when it would move back to
the equator. The side of the earth remote from the sun
would be uniformly dark and cold.
This simple pattern is upset by the earth’s daily rotation,
on its own axis, which gives alternate 12-hour heating and
cooling and also produces the Coriolis force acting on
airstreams moving towards or away from the equator. It is
further upset by the tilt of the earth’s axis to the plane of
its rotation around the sun, which gives rise to seasonal
differences. Further effects are due to the different
reflectivity and specific heats of land and water surfaces.
The result of these circumstances on the weather is to
make it generally complex and difficult to predict in the
short term. By observations of data over a period of time,
however, long-term predictions may be made on a
statistical basis.
Humidity
Air easily absorbs moisture in the form of water vapour.
The amount absorbed depends on the temperatures of the
air and of the water. The greater the temperature of the air,
the more water vapour it can contain. The water vapour
exerts a partial pressure usually measured in either bars
(1 bar = 100 kN/m2; 1 millibar = 102N/m2) or mm height
of a column of mercury (Hg) (1 mm Hg=1.33 mbar).
Suppose an evaporating surface of water is in a closed
system and enveloped in air. If a source of heat energy is
available to the system, evaporation of the water into the
air will take place until a state of equilibrium is reached
when the air is saturated with vapour and can absorb no
more. The molecules of water vapour will then exert a
pressure that is known as saturation vapour pressure, or es,
for the particular temperature of the system.
The value of es
changes with
temperature as
indicated in table 2.1.
These values are also plotted as a curve connecting es and
temperature (oC) in figure 2.1. Referring to figure 2.1, consider
what can happen to a mass of atmospheric air P whose
temperature is t and whose vapour pressure is e.
Since P lies below the saturation vapour pressure curve, it
is clear that the air mass could absorb more water vapour
and that if it did so while its temperature remained
constant, then the position of P would move vertically up
dashed line ① until the air was saturated. The
corresponding vapour pressure of P in this new position
would be es. The increase (es -e) is known as the
saturation deficit.
Alternatively, if no change were to take place in the
humidity of the air while it was cooled, then P would
move horizontally to the left along line ② until the
saturation line was intersected again. At this point P
would be saturated, at a new temperature td, the dew-point.
Cooling of the air beyond this point would result in
condensation or mist being formed.
If water is allowed to evaporate freely into the air mass, neither
of the above two possibilities occurs. This is because the
evaporation requires heat, which is withdrawn from the air
itself. This heat, called the latent heat of evaporation, hr, is
given by the equation
hr = 606.5 – 0.695t cal/g
So, as the humidity and vapour pressure rise, the temperature
of the air falls and the point P moves diagonally along line ③
until saturation vapour pressure is reached at the point defined
by ew and tw. This temperature tw is called the wet-bulb
temperature and is the temperature to which the original air can
be cooled by evaporating water into it. This is the temperature
found by a wet-bulb thermometer.
The relative humidity is now driven as
h = e / es
or as a percentage,
h = 100 e / es percent
and is a measure of the air’s capacity, at its existing
temperature, to absorb further moisture. It is measured by
blowing air over two thermometers, one with its bulb wrapped
in wet muslin and one dry. The air flow past the bulb has an
influence on the wet-bulb reading and the two thermometers
can either be whirled around on a string or more conveniently
have the air current provided by a clockwork fan. In this latter
case the instrument is called a psychrometer.
Psychrometer (Wet-and-dry-bulb
thermometer) (ref: wikipedia)
A psychrometer, or wet-and-dry-bulb
thermometer, consists of two thermometers,
one that is dry and one that is kept moist
with distilled water on a sock or wick. At
temperatures above the freezing point of
water, evaporation of water from the wick
lowers the temperature, so that the wet-
bulb thermometer usually shows a lower
temperature than that of the dry-bulb
thermometer. When the air temperature is
below freezing, however, the wet-bulb is
covered with a thin coating of ice and may
be warmer than the dry bulb.
The value of e for air temperature t may be obtained from
the equation
(ew-e) = γ (t - tw)
Where tw = wet-bulb temperature
t = dry-bulb temperature
ew = the corresponding partial pressures for tw
(from table 2.1)
γ = psychrometer constant (assuming the air
speed past the bulbs exceeds 3 m/s and t is measured in oC,
then: for e in mbar, γ = 0.660; for e in mm Hg, γ = 0.485)
Homework 2.1
An air mass is at a temperature of 28 ℃ with relative
humidity of 70 percent. Determine:
(a) saturation vapor pressure,
(b) saturation deficit
(c) actual vapor pressure in mbar and mm Hg,
(d) dew-point,
(e) wet-bulb temperature
Temperature
Air temperature is recorded by thermometers housed in
open louvred boxes, about 1.25m above ground.
Protection is necessary from precipitation and the direct
rays of the sun.
Many temperature observations are made using maximum
and minimum thermometers. These record, by indices, the
maximum and minimum temperatures experienced since
the instrument was last set.
The daily variation in temperature varies from a minimum
around sunrise, to a maximum from 1/2 to 3 hours after the sun
has reached its zenith, after which there is a continual fall
through the night to sunrise again. Accordingly, maximum and
minimum observations are best made in the period from 8 a.m.
to 9 a.m. after the minimum has occurred.
The mean daily temperature is the average of the maximum
and minimum and is normally within a degree of the true
average as continuously recorded.
Temperature is measured in degrees Celsius, commonly,
though erroneously, called centigrade. The Fahrenheit scale is
still also in common use.
Vertical temperature gradient
The rate of change of temperature in the atmosphere with
height is called the lapse rate. Its mean value is 6.5 oC per
1000 m height increase. This rate is subject to variation,
particularly near the surface, which can become very
warm by day, giving a higher lapse rate, and cool by night,
giving a lower lapse rate. The cooling of the earth, by
outward radiation, on clear nights can be such that a
temperature inversion occurs, with warmer air overlying
the surface layer.
As altitude increases, barometric pressure decreases so
that a unit mass of air occupies greater volume the higher
it rises. The temperature change due to this decompression
is about 10 oC per 1000 m if the air is dry. This the dry-
adiabatic lapse rate. If the air is moist, then as it is lifted,
expanding and cooling, its water vapour content
condenses. This releases latent heat of condensation,
which prevents the air mass cooling as fast as dry air. The
resulting saturated-adiabatic lapse rate is therefore lower,
at about 5.6 oC per 1000 m in the lower altitudes.
Distribution of temperature
Generally, the nearer to the equator a place is, the warmer
that place is.
The effects of the different specific heats of earth and
water, the patterns of oceanic and atmospheric currents,
the seasons of the year, the topography, vegetation and
altitude all tend to vary this general rule, and all need
consideration.
Radiation
Most meteorological recording stations are equipped with
radiometers to measure both incoming short-wave
radiation from sun and sky, and net radiation, which is the
algebraic sum of all incoming radiation and the reflected
short-wave and long-wave radiation from the earth’s
surface.
The net radiation is of great importance in evaporation
studies, as will be shown later.
Radiometer (ref: wikipedia)
A radiometer or
roentgenometer is a device
for measuring the radiant flux
(power) of electromagnetic
radiation. Generally, a
radiometer is an infrared
radiation detector or
ultraviolet detector.
An example of a Crookes radiometer. The vanes rotate when exposed to
light, with faster rotation for more intense light, providing a quantitative
measurement of electromagnetic radiation intensity.
Wind
Wind speed and direction are measured by anemometer and
wind vane respectively. The conventional anemometer is the
cup anemometer formed by a circlet of three (sometimes four)
cups rotating around a vertical axis. The speed of rotation
measures the wind speed and the total revolutions around the
axis gives a measure of wind run, the distance a particular
parcel of air travels in a specified time.
Because of the frictional effects of the ground or water
surface over which the wind is blowing, it is important to
specify in any observation of wind, the height above
ground at which it was taken. An empirical relationship
between wind speed and height has been commonly used
u / u0 = (z / z0)0.15
where u0 = wind speed at anemometer at height z0
u = Wind speed at some higher level z