Engineering Hydrology

(CENG-3603 )

Wondmyibza Tsegaye
Lecturer, HWRE, Arba Minch University
PhD Candidate, EIWR, Addis Ababa University
[Link]: 150461
Email: wond_tsege@[Link]
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
 Course outline
• Introduction to Hydrology
• Precipitation
• Evaporation
• Infiltration
• Stream flow/Runoff
• Hydrograph analysis
• Flood routing
• Flood frequency analysis
 References
• Chow, V.T. (1964), A Hand book of applied Hydrology. McGraw
Hill.
• Linsley R.K etal. (1982), Hydrology for Engineers. 3rd ed., McGraw
Hill.
• Maidment, D.R. (Ed.), (1993), Handbook of Hydrology, McGraw-
Hill.
• Shaw, E.M (1994), Hydrology in practice. 3rd ed., Champman &
Hall.
• Subramanya, K. (1994), Engineering Hydrology. 2nd Ed., Tata
McGraw Hill [Link]., New Delhi.
• Suresh, R. (1997), Water shed Hydrology. Standard publishers and
distributers, Nai sarak, Delhi.
• Yima Seleshi (2005), Engineering Hydrology,1st ed., AAU
Publication, Addis Ababa.
• References within references or any scientific books, manuals and
journals.
 Assessment [%-value for overall mark]
• Attendance and class activity--10%
• Assignment and Quiz---------------10%
• Mid-term examination -------------30%
• Final Examination --------------------50%
• Total -----------------------------------------100%
 Job Opportunities
 Studying Engineering hydrology widens job opportunities in the Civil
Engineering domain.
• Ministry of Water and Energy,
• Water Works Design and Supervision Enterprises,
• Water Works Construction Enterprise,
• Ministry of Agriculture,
• Water Supply and Sewerage Authorities,
• Environmental protection Agency,
• Roads Authority,
• City administration (Municipality),
• NGOS (working in rural roads, water supply, sanitation, irrigation, and
small hydropower developments)
• Flood protection works,
• EEPCO (Hydropower projects),
• Dam, water way and General WR contractors and consultants,
• Teaching and Research (Universities and Colleges).
 Chapter-I: Introduction
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Hydrologic Cycle & its component
1.2.1. Brief on Surface and Ground Water Components
1.3. Applications in Engineering
1.4. Water Budget Equation
 1.1 Introduction
• Water has always played an important role in the life
of humans. And it is constantly shaping the surface of
the earth.
• The development of hydrology as a science started
much later than man's attempt to control
the water.
• The first steps towards the development of hydrology
as a science were measurements of rainfall and water
levels.
 Some interesting developments were (Biswas,
1972, Rodda and Matalas, 1987):
• 5500 B.C the first irrigation in Khuzistan (present day Iran),
• 3200 B.C Reign of king Scorpion in Egypt (evidence of irrigation),
• 3000 B.C King Menes (ruler of upper Egypt) dammed the river Nile and
diverted its course,
• 750 B.C Marib and other dams in Wadi Adhanah in Yemen,
• 600 B.C dams in the Murghab River in Iran (destroyed in 1258 AD) are
among some important hydrological practices of ancient history,
• Major success of the nineteenth century was the firm establishment
of principles of conducting experimental investigations either to
establish a theory or to determine an empirical relationship. Some of
these are:
• In 1851 A.D Mulvaney described the concept of time of concentration,
Latter empirical formula by Kirpich,
• 1856 A.D Darcy’s investigation on motion of groundwater flow,
 Some interesting develop’ts……
• 1871 A.D St. Venant’s one dimensional surface water flow,
• 1891 A.D Manning’s open channel flow equations,
• 1911 A.D Green and Ampt infiltration model etc.,
• 1925 A.D Streeter and Philps developed DO sag curve for rivers,
• 1933 A.D Sherman’s UH, Horton’s infiltration theory,
• 1935 A.D Theis’s non-equilibrium equation in well hydraulics,
• 1958 A.D Gumbel proposed the use of extreme value distribution for
frequency analysis etc.
• Generally the development of hydrology as a science based on physical
and mathematical principles is of more recent and dates back to 1930.
Definition
• Hydrology: (from Greek: Yδωρ, hydor, "water"; and λόγος, logos,
"study") is the study of processes governing depletion and replenishment
of water resources within the hydrologic cycle. (Wikipedia)
 Definition
The following description of hydrology is given by UNESCO
(1964):
"Hydrology is the science which deals with terrestrial waters, their
occurrence, circulation and distribution on our planet, their
physical and chemical properties and their interaction with the
physical and biological environment, including the effect on them
of the activity of man".
Engineering hydrology is an applied science and deals with those
segments of the field pertinent to planning, design, and operation
of engineering projects for the control and use of water. In a
general sense, it deals with:
• Estimation of water resources,
• The study of processes such as precipitation, runoff,
evapotranspiration and their interaction,
• The study of problems such as floods and droughts and
strategies to combat them.
1.2 The hydrologic cycle and its components

Figure 1.1: The hydrologic cycle (USGS, 2006)

 Components of hydrological cycle
The major components of the Hydrologic cycle include:
•Evaporation: the process whereby liquid water changes into
gaseous form.
•Transpiration: the process of water, formed during photosynthesis
of plants, is released into the air.
•Precipitation: water that falls in the form of rain or snow from
saturated clouds.
•Interception: part of a rainfall or snowfall which is retained by
the plant leaves or buildings before it touches the ground.
•Depression storage/Surface detention: the excess rainfall which is
temporarily stored in surface depressions.
•Infiltration: the process whereby water inters a few depths into
the subsoil.
•Groundwater: the water resource which is found deep in the
ground and contained in saturated soil.
•Runoff: water which flows over or below the land surface from
excessive precipitation.
 Components of………..
Other components of the Hydrologic cycle:
•Channel storage: Pp’n on open water surfaces, lakes,
•Evapotranspiration: Water (evap’n) and Plants (Tra’n),
•Surface runoff: Residual of precipitation after losses,
•Soil moisture: Water contained in the unsaturated soil,
•Interflow: Water that infiltrate relatively quickly,
•Percolation: Downward movement of in filtered water,
•Stream flow: Discharge of water through organized river,
•Capillary rise: Water traveling vertically through fine capillary
pores.
 The hydrologic cycle
• Water occurs on the earth in all its three states, Solid,
liquid and gas.
• Is the cycle of water evaporated from the sea and land
surfaces, its transport through the atmosphere to the
land and its return to the sea via surface and
subsurface and atmospheric routes.
• The driving force of the circulation is derived from
the radiant energy received from the Sun.
 The hydrologic cycle
Storage

Flux Flux Flux

Storage

Storage Flux

Flux

Storage Storage

Flux Flux

Storage Flux

Storage Flux

Figure 1.2: Schematized processes of terrestrial part of the hydrologic cycle

 1.3 Application of Hydrology in Engineering
• In Civil and Water Resources Engineering projects such as water
supply, Irrigation, drainage, hydropower generation, waste water
treatment and disposal, flood control and navigation hydrological
investigations are crucial for:
• Determining the capacity of storage structures such as reservoirs
• Determining the magnitude of floods for safe disposal of excess flow
• Determining minimum flow and quantity of flow available at various
seasons
• Determining the water balance of a region, particular locality
• Design of hydraulic structures such as dams, levees, weirs and bridges
• Assessment of the interaction of flood wave and these hydraulic
structures
• Assessing impacts of natural and anthropogenic environmental changes
on water resources
• Predicting high flood for flood warning and flood forecasting
• Predicting erosion, sedimentation, flood and drought risks
Civil and Water Resources Engineering Projects

12/09/21
 Subjects inclusive in Hydrology
• Hydrology deals not only quantitative but also
qualitative aspects such as salinization and water
pollution, not only spatial but also temporal
distribution of water in all its forms.
• It includes a wide range of subjects, ranging from
different disciplines, e.g. geology, civil engineering
and agriculture. Sciences emphasizing hydrology
often use the prefix hydro (hydrogeology,
hydrobiology, hydrometeorology, etc.).
• Other allied sciences are for example soil science,
fluid mechanics (hydraulics), meteorology,
geography, chemistry, statistics and physics.
 1.4 Water Balance Equation
• WBE is a special case of general control volume equation.
• The basis of the continuity, momentum, and energy equations.
• This equation is called the Reynolds Transport Theorem (Ven te Chow
et al. 1988) that states:
“the total rate of change of an extensive property of a fluid dB/dt is
equal to the rate of change of an extensive property stored in the
control volume, plus the net outflow of extensive property through
the control volume".
dB/dt = d/dt ∫ ∫ ∫ βρ.dv+ ∫ ∫ βρ ([Link]) (1.1)
Where: B is the extensive property of the fluid whose values depend on
the amount of mass present (e.g. mass, momentum: B=m, B=mU),
β is quantity of B per unit of mass, the intensive property of
the fluid, whose values do not depend on mass: β =dB/dm.
B and β can be scalar or vector quantities.
ρ is the density of the fluid;
Triple integral signifies the integration over the volume, V,
U•dA is the vector dot product of the velocity vector of the
fluid U with length U, and the vector dA with length dA
perpendicular to the cross-section.
 Water Balance
• If θ is the angle between U and dA, then U•dA = U cos θ dA.

The first term of the right hand member is the rate of change of the extensive
property stored in the control volume; the second term is the net outflow of
extensive property through the control surface. In using the theorem, inflows
are considered negative and outflows positive.
• By the law of conservation of mass, dB/dt=dm/dt=0, because mass can
neither be created nor destroyed. Substituting this to Reynolds transport
theorem:
0= d/dt ∫ ∫ ∫ dv+ ∫ ∫ ([Link]) (1.2)
• The first term is the time rate of change of the storage [Link].
The second term the net outflow, can be split in to inflow, I(t) and
outflow, O(t).
The general equation for water balance can be written as;
dS
 O(t )  I (t )  0
dt
 Water Balance
There are several types of water balances distinguished,
• The water balance of the earth surface;
• The water balance of a drainage basin;
• The water balance of the water diversion cycle (human
interference);
• The water balance of a local area like a city, a forest, or a
polder.
 Table 1.1 Amount of water on earth according to the survey
conducted within the international geophysical year (Holy, 1982)
Water 103 Gm3 Amount of water Rate of exchange (Years)
occurrence % of water % of freshwater

World oceans 1300000 97 - 3000

Salt lakes/seas 100 0.008 - -
Polar ice 28500 2.14 77.6 8000
Atmospheric 12 0.001 0.035 0.027(10 days)
water
Water in 1 0.000 0.003 -
organisms
Fresh lakes 123 0.009 0.335 -
Water courses 1 0.000 0.003 0.031 (11 days)
Unsaturated 65 0.005 0.18 1
zone
Saturated zone 8000 0.60 21.8 500
(Groundwater)
Total fresh 36700 2.77 • Water
100 surface
- =71%
water
Total water 1337000 100
•
- Continents =29%
-
 Watershed and water divide

Watershed/ Watershed/
catchment/ catchment/
Drainage basin Drainage basin

Wa
ter
d ivid
e
 River Basin
Water Resources
Catchment’s Area Annual runoff Specific discharge
in Km 2
(BM )
3
(lit/sec/km2)
1 Abbay (Sudan) 199,812 52.60 7.8
2 Awash 112,700 4.60 1.4
3 Baro-Akobo (Sudan) 74,100
Mereb 23.60 9.7
Tekeze
4 Genale 171,050 5.80 1.2
Dawa(Somalia) Dankil
5 Mereb (Eritria) 5,700 0.26 3.2
6 Omo-Gibe (Lake Abbay 78,200 17.90 6.7
Turkana)
7 Rift Valley 52,740 5.60 3.4
8 Tekeze (Eritria) Awash 89,000 7.63
Ogaden 3.2
9 Baro-Akobo
Wabe Shebele Rift200,214
Valley 3.15 0.5
Somalia)
10 Afar – Danakil Omo-Gibe 74,000
Wabi-Shebelle 0.86 0.0
11 Ogaden 77,100 0.00 0.0
12 Aysha Genale-Dawa
2,200 0.00 0.0
Total 1,136,816 122.00
Source: Compiled from various river basin master plan studies and river basin survey
 Table 1.2 The water balance of a drainage basin
River Catchment Rainfall Evapo- Runoff Runoff
Size transpiration Coefficient

103 Mm2 Mm Gm3 mm Gm3 mm Gm3 %

Nile 2803 220 620 190 534 30 86 14
Mississippi 3924 800 3100 654 2540 142 558 18

Parana 975 1000 980 625 610 382 372 38

Orinoco 850 1330 1150 420 355 935 795 70
Mekong 646 1500 970 1000 645 382 325 34
Amur 1730 450 780 265 455 188 35 42
Lena 2430 350 850 140 335 212 514 60
Yenisei 2440 450 1100 220 540 230 561 51
Ob 2950 450 1350 325 965 131 385 29
 The water balance of a drainage basin
Precip
i t at i o n
Energ
y
Runof
f
ET

Figure 1.3: Schematic sketch of a catchment

Therefore, the water budget of a catchment for a time interval ∆t
is written as:
P – R – G – E – T = ∆S
P = Precipitation, R = Surface runoff, G = net ground water flow out of the
catchment, E = Evaporation, T = Transpiration, and ∆S = change in storage

The above equation is called the water budget equation for a catchment.
 Example1.1:
A lake has water surface elevation of 103.2 m above datum at
the beginning of certain month. In that month the lake
received an average inflow of 6 m3/s from surface runoff
sources. In the same time outflow from the lake had an
average value of 6.5 m3/s. Besides to that the lake received
145 mm of rainfall and estimated evaporation of 6.10 cm in
that month.
Write the water balance equation for the lake and calculate the
water surface elevation of the lake by taking surface area as
5000 ha. Assume that there is no contribution to or from the
ground water storage.
 Example1.2:
The average annual discharge at the outlet of a catchment is 0.5
m3/s. The catchment is situated in desert area with no
vegetation and having a size of 800 Mm2. The average annual
precipitation is 200 mm/yr. Compute average annual
evaporation from the catchment in mm/yr.
 1.5 Hydrological data
Hydrological data can be obtained from several sources.
Typical sources are (UNESCO/WMO, 1977)
• National and regional archives or libraries of agencies responsible for
meteorological data as well as their publications which usually take the form
of annual or monthly compilations and summaries. Original records are
sometimes available at these sources or in field offices. These records
include aerial photographs and information received via satellites.
• Private organizations such as power authorities or companies having an
interest in hydrological measurement e.g. agricultural product marketing
companies and oil drilling companies.
• Research papers and project reports
• Survey reports of research and development agencies
• Archives and established news papers
• Field observations
• Interviews of people living in that areas
• Maps of related topics
 Hydrological information systems
A hydrological information system consists:
• Observation network
• Hydrological data base
• Hydrological models
 Processing of data
To be able to make a good use of data, the data have
to be stored in such a way that all possible errors are
removed and that the data are accessible. Several
steps are required to get a good storage of data:
• Data screening,
• Data correction and completion,
• Data aggregation,
• Data storage,
• Publication.
 Hydrological data base system
• HYMOS, Hydrological Modeling Systems of Delft
Hydraulics
• HYDATA, Hydrological Database System of
Wallingford Institute of Hydrology
• REGIS, groundwater database system of TNO-NITG
• Spreadsheets such as EXCEL
 Questions:
1. Describe the hydrologic cycle. Explain briefly man’s
interference in various parts of the cycle.
2. Draw the terrestrial part of the hydrologic cycle in the
form of flow chart.
3. List major activities in which hydrological studies are
important.
4. Describe briefly the sources of hydrological data.
5. What is the significance of water balance studies?
 Chapter-II: Precipitation
2.1. Causes and Forms of precipitation
2.2. Measurements of Precipitation
2.2.1. Non-recording gauges
2.2.2. Recording gauges
2.2.3. Rain-gauge Network
2.3. Rainfall Data Process
2.3.1. Estimating missing data
2.3.2. Consistency Test
2.3.3. Mass curve of Rainfall
2.3.4. Areal Rainfall
[Link]. Arithmetic mean method
[Link]. Thiessen Polygon method
[Link]. Isohytal method
2.4. Intensity–Duration–Frequency Relationships
 2.1 Causes and Forms of Precipitation
• Water is present in the atmosphere in the form of gas (water
vapor), a liquid (water droplets), and a solid (ice crystal). The
complex process in the formation of precipitation begin with
water vapor, that resulted from evaporation from the earth’s
surface and various other processes.
• The maximum amount of evaporation is a function of an
increase in temperature. When air is cooled sufficiently and
reach to a dew point, excess water condenses as a droplet of
water. This mechanism can be observed in a steam produced
by a boiling kettle.
• The appearance of the droplets is determined by the presence
of aerosols.
• Precipitation is that part of the atmospheric moisture which
reaches the earths surface in different forms.
 Forms of Precipitation:
All forms of water that comes to the Earth have the following forms:
1. Drizzle: Precipitation occurs in the form of fine sprinkle of very small drops.
The diameter of the drops varies from 0.1-0.5 mm.
2. Rain: Most of the precipitation in Ethiopia is in the form of rain. The
diameter of the drops varies from 0.5-6 mm.
3. Snow: Precipitation in the form of solid ice crystal.
4. Hail: Precipitation in the form of balls or irregular solid ice of diameter ≥ 5
mm.
5. Glaze: Also called freezing rain. Precipitation in the form of freezes while
striking the ground. Generally clear and smooth.
6. Sleet: Is precipitation in the form of melting snow. It’s a mix of snow and
rain.
7. Frost: A form of precipitation which occurs in the form of scales, needles,
feathers, or fans.
8. Dew: A form of precipitation which does not occur because of condensation
in higher layer of atmosphere. But condensation is directly on the ground.
Essential requirement for precipitation to occur
• Supply of moisture in to the atmosphere,
• Cooling to below point of condensation and presence of nuclei
around vapor,
• Condensation of water vapor caused by dynamic cooling,
• Growth in particles of precipitation which fall in some form,
• The % of water in moist air is less than 4%.

Table 2.1 Composition of dry air

Mass % Volume %
Nitrogen, N2 75.5 78.1

Oxygen, O2 23.1 20.9

Argon, Ar 1.3 0.9

 Types of Precipitation
Precipitation formation is classified according to the factors
responsible for lifting the air mass:
• Convective
• Orographic
• Cyclonic/Hurricane
• Frontal
• Converging
[Link]: lifting of unstable air that is warmer than
surrounding air due to uneven surface heating
• Thunder storms in temperate climates
• Spotty and highly variable in intensity
• Common in tropical region
 CONVECTION Air meets air equally warm,
Solar radiation heats up stops rising, descends
ground surface

Condensation
level

Rising air expands, cools, Air warms by contact

relative humidity rises until with warm ground
condensation of water surface, becomes less
vapour occurs above dense and rises
condensation level.

[Link]: mountain range barriers cause lifting of the air

masses.
• Moist air is forced over mountain barriers by air flow & ppt
falls on wind side of mountain range while the leeward side
is warmer and drier,
• Medium to high intensity rainfall continuing for longer
duration,
• Usually as a result of orographic lifting rainfall is high in
mountainous parts.
 Cloud development stops when
Windward side
gets rainfall air is no longer forced up.

Condensation
level

Mountain

Winds blow humid air Air sinks down on leeside of high land, contracts
onshore from the Atlantic due to denser air, warms up, relative humidity falls
Ocean and rainfall diminishes. This results in an area of
lower rainfall, called a rain shadow.
3. Cyclonic: a cyclone is a low pressure area surrounded by a
larger high pressure area. When a low pressure occurs in an
area, especially over large water bodies
• It causes the air at the low pressure zone to lift
• The name of this cyclones vary in different places
• Tropical cyclone (in India)
• Typhoon (South East Asia)
• Hurricane (America)
4. Frontal: low pressure in an area causes to move the air in to
depressions displacing low pressure air upward w/c may be
cooled and create dew.
5. Converging: ITCZ, Air masses from north and south converge
and lift, In tropics ITCZ governs the main rain bringing
mechanisms.
 2.2 Measuring Precipitation
• Precipitation is measured as a vertical depth of water
that would accumulate on the horizontal surface.
• Units of measurement:
• mm, cm’s, inches, feet, etc.
• It is collected & measured by instrument called rain
gauge.

1 mm
Horizontal Ground
 Ideal Location for a Rain Gauge Station
While setting up any rain Gauge station the following points should be
noted.
• The site should be on a level ground, i.e., slopping ground, hill
tops or hill slopes are not suitable.
• The site should be an open space.
• Horizontal distance between the rain gauge and the nearest objects
should be twice the height of the objects.
• Site should be away from continuous wind forces.
• Other meteorological instruments and the fencing of the site
should maintain the step (iii) above.
• The site should be easily accessible. (vii) The gauge should be
truly vertical.
• Ten percent of total number of rain gauge stations of any basin
should be self-recording.
• The observer must visit the site regularly to ensure its proper
readiness for measurement.
 Measuring Precipitation
1. Non-recording
• Circular cylinder type (Simon's rain gauge)
2. Recording
• Weighing type
• Float type
• Tipping bucket type
3. Weather Radar (Radio detecting and ranging)
 Measuring Precipitation (cont’d)
1. Standard (Non-Recording)
•The rain catch collected in the

bottle is taken out at fixed interval

of time
•Poured into a graduated measuring

glass which gives directly the

rainfall depth
•Doesn’t record the rain but collects

• Needs regular attendance

 2. Recording tipping bucket gage
Gives a continuous record of rainfall at a place over time
Tipping Bucket Recording & Weighing Bucket Type
Tipping Bucket recording:

Tipping Bucket Recording

• 200 mm collector directs the water
through a funnel into a two compartment
bucket
• The size of each bucket=0.25mm rain
• once the rain fills up the bucket, it over
balances and the water tips into the a jar
• This brings the second bucket to a
measuring position
• Tipping of the bucket actuates an electric
circuit recording the no. of tips in a rain
• Good for inaccessible area
• High intensity rainfall gives close signals
Weighing Bucket Type
• For both rainfall & snow recording

Weighing Bucket Type

• Rain is collected in a bucket supported
on a spring balance
• A mechanical Lever arm of the spring
is connected with a pen which touches
a clock mounted drum with a graph
paper
• As it rains, the weight of the bucket
increase and moves the pen
• The record shows the accumulation of
precipitation over time
• Can be used for 24 hrs or 7 days
depending on clock & drum size
• When heavy ppt. occurs, the bucket
may overflow
• costly
 3. Weather Radar
• Measurement of rainfall by a weather radar based on
principle that the amount of power returned from
raindrop is related to rainfall intensity.

• NEXRAD provides real-time data

on a ~16 km2 (6 mi2) grid
• Each estimate represents an average
rainfall amount over the entire 4 x 4 km2
area
• NEXRAD rainfall estimates compare
well with point rain gage measurements
(r2 ~ 0.9)
Weather Equipment
 2.3 Rainfall Data Processing
Precipitation data errors
•The most significant cause of error in rain data
• observations is usually turbulent airflow around the
gauge.
• The dependence of rain gauge catch on wind speed
• evaporation from within the measuring cylinder
• adhesion of water to funnel, (water then evaporates)
• gauge leaks, blockages or overflows in storms
• error in observation or transcription
• splash in or out
Testing & Adjusting of Precipitation Records
1. Consistency of rainfall data
• Lack of consistency may be due to
• Unreported shifting the rain gauge (by as much
as 8 km aerially & 3m in elevation)
• Significant construction work might have
changed the surrounding
• change of observational procedure
• Use of double mass-curve checks the consistency of
the record
• The accumulated rainfall of a particular station is
compared with the concurrent accumulated values
of mean rainfall groups of 5 to 8 surrounding base
stations.
 Procedures of Double-mass Curve
• The doubtful station, say A, is marked and the group of
stations surrounding it are identified.
• A table is prepared in which the first column represents the
year in decreasing order, i.e., it starts with the latest year of
station A.
• Yearly precipitation values of station A are written in second
column.
• In the third column the cumulative rainfall of second column
are entered (St. A)
• Mean yearly precipitation of the group of stations
surrounding station A are computed and entered in the fourth
column against the year of col. 1.
• In column five, cumulative precipitation of the group of
stations of column four are computed
 Procedure of Double-mass Curve
• A graph is plotted taking the cumulative rainfall of the group of
station as abscissa and cumulative rainfall of the station A as
ordinate.
• Consecutive points are joined by straight line. .
• If the consistency of the station A has undergone changes from
any year, then it can be noticed from the slope of the plot. The
line joining the initial points of the graph are extended by a
dotted line and correction (C/Cl) as shown in the Fig. 3.10 is
computed.
• Rainfall of subsequent years from the year of deviation
(marked x in the figure) are corrected by multiplying the
correction factor
Example 2.1 of double mass analysis
Example double mass analysis
 What are the major parameters of RF?
• Rainfall amount: is the depth to which rain water would
stand on a horizontal surface under conditions of no
infiltration, no runoff and no evaporation. It is expressed in
units of depth, viz. mm or cm.
• Duration: is the period during which the rainfall occurs. It has
the units of time, viz. seconds, minutes, and hours.
• Intensity: is the rate at which rainfall takes place, that is the
amount of rainfall occurring per unit time. It is usually
expressed in units of mm/hr or cm/hr.
• Frequency: is the period in years during which a storm of a
given duration and intensity can be expected to happen again.
It is also called as the return period or recurrence interval.
 How do we present a rain fall data?
 - Rainfall Mass Curve: A plot showing the cumulative rainfall depth over
the storm duration

Depth
 
Time

-Rainfall Hyetogragh: A plot of rainfall depth or intensity with respect to

time

Depth or
Intensity
Time
- Instantaneous Rainfall Intensity, (slope of the mass curve)
dP(t)
i(t) 
dt P P(t  t )  P (t )
- Average Intensity in (t, t + t) is it  
t t
 Mass Curve of Rainfall
Accumulated precipitation (cm)

142
4th Storm
1 Storm
st
2 Storm
nd
3 Storm
rd

10

1 2 3 4 5
Days
 Hyetograph of a Storm
0.6

0.5
Rainfall Intensity, cm/h

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0
8 16 24 32 40 48 56
Time, hours
2.3.4 Estimating Areal Precipitation from Point Values

• It is precipitation over an area

• Arithmetic mean method
• Thiesson polygon method
• Isohyetal method
• Distance Weighing
• MAPX mapping of radar data
• Index Stations
[Link] Arithmetic Mean

0.55  0.87  2.33  5.40  1.89

 2.21 in.
5

•Simplest method
•Satisfactory method if gages are
uniformly distributed and if individual
variations are not great
[Link] Thiessen Polygon Method
 Procedures in Thiessen Polygon Method
• Construct polygons by connecting stations with lines.
• Bisect the polygon sides
• Estimate the area of each stations polygon
• Sum the areas
• Determine the stations weights by dividing the station
area by the total area
• Determine areal precipitation by summing weighted
precipitation for each station
 Thiessen Polygon Method
Calculated
Rainfall Area of Station Areal
Station (in.) Station Weights Precipitation
A 0.55 15.00
B 0.87 33.00
C 2.33 28.80
D 5.40 16.40
E 1.89 24.30

Sum of Areas = 117.5 Precipitation =

 Thiessen Polygon Method

Calculated
Rainfall Area of Areal
Station (in.) Station Station Weights Precipitation
A 0.55 15.00 =15.00/117.5 = 0.13
B 0.87 33.00 = 33.00/117.5 =0.28
C 2.33 28.80 = 29.80/117.5 = 0.25
D 5.40 16.40 = 16.40/117.5 = 0.14
E 1.89 24.30 = 24.30/117.5 = 0.24

Sum of Areas = 117.5 Precipitation =

 Thiessen Polygon Method

Calculated
Rainfall Area of Station
Station (in.) Station Weights Areal Precipitation
A 0.55 15.00 0.13 =0.13*0.55 = 0.07
B 0.87 33.00 0.28 = 0.28*0.87 = 0.24
C 2.33 28.80 0.25 0.57
D 5.40 16.40 0.14 0.75
E 1.89 24.30 0.21 0.39
Precipitation =
Sum of Areas = 117.5 SUM(E2:E6) = 2.03
Example2.1: The followings are lists of rainfall
records for several rain gauges within a catchment along
with their weights respectively. 10, 20, 22, 24, 18 mm
and 0.09, 0.31, 0.05, 0.21, 0.34 %. Estimate the average
rainfall of this event using Thiessen polygon method
for the catchment area.
 Thiessen Polygon Method
• Unique for each gauge network
• Allows for areal weighing of precipitation data
• Does not allow for orographic effects (those due to
elevation changes)
• Most widely used method
[Link] Isohyetal Method

(From: WW 2010 Project

University of Illinois, Point
Precipitation Measurements,
Areal Estimates and Relationships
to Hydrologic Modeling, via
ABRFC Home Page -
[Link]
 Procedures in Isohyetal Method
• Draw lines of equal precipitation
• Estimate precipitation in each grid area within the
basin
• Sum the values in each grid area
• Divide the sum by the number of grid areas to obtain
a watershed areal estimate of precipitation
 Isohyetal Method

Calculated
Rainfall Area of Station Areal
Station (in.) Isohyet (in.) Station Weights Precipitation
A 0.55 0.50 7.25
B 0.87 1.00 24.00
C 2.33 2.00 11.90
D 5.40 3.00 44.85
E 1.89 4.00 10.10
5.00 7.70
6.00 2.20
2.00 8.60
sum of areas = 116.60
 Isohyetal Method
Calculated
Rainfall Area of Areal
Station (in.) Isohyet (in.) Station Station Weights Precipitation
A 0.55 0.50 7.25 = 7.25/116.6 = 0.05
B 0.87 1.00 24.00 = 24.0/116.6 = 0.18
C 2.33 2.00 11.90 11.90/116.6 = 0.09
D 5.40 3.00 44.85 0.33
E 1.89 4.00 10.10 0.08
5.00 7.70 0.06
6.00 2.20 0.02
2.00 8.60 0.06
sum of areas = 116.60
 Isohyetal Method
Calculated
Rainfall Area of Station
Station (in.) Isohyet (in.) Station Weights Areal Precipitation
A 0.55 0.50 7.25 0.05 = 0.5* 0.05 = 0.3
B 0.87 1.00 24.00 0.18 = 1.0*0.18 = 0.18
C 2.33 2.00 11.90 0.09 = 2.0*0.09 = 0.18
D 5.40 3.00 44.85 0.33 = 3.00*0.33 = 1.0
E 1.89 4.00 10.10 0.08 0.30
5.00 7.70 0.06 0.29
6.00 2.20 0.02 0.10
2.00 8.60 0.06 0.13
precipitation =
sum of areas = 116.60 = sum(f2:f9) = 2.20

Watershed precipitation = 2.20 in.

 Isohyetal Method
Calculated
Rainfall Area of Station Areal
Station (in.) Isohyet (in.) Station Weights Precipitation
A 0.55 0.50 7.25 0.05 0.03
B 0.87 1.00 24.00 0.18 0.18
C 2.33 2.00 11.90 0.09 0.18
D 5.40 3.00 44.85 0.33 1.00
E 1.89 4.00 10.10 0.08 0.30
5.00 7.70 0.06 0.29
6.00 2.20 0.02 0.10
2.00 8.60 0.06 0.13
sum of areas = 116.60 2.20

Watershed precipitation = 2.20 in.

 Isohyetal Method
• Magnitude and extent of resultant rainfall areas are
calculated
• One of most accurate methods
• Difficult to draw accurately
• Can overlay topographical maps to take into account
orographic effects and storm morphology
 [Link] Distance Weighting
n

w *P i i
Px  i 1
n

w
i 1
i

1
where, wi  ( 2 )
d
and d 2  (x) 2  (y ) 2

(From: WW 2010 Project

University of Illinois, Point
Precipitation Measurements,
Areal Estimates and Relationships
to Hydrologic Modeling, via
ABRFC Home Page
-[Link]
 Adequacy of Rain Gauge Stations
• How do we determine the number of rain
gauge station in a catchments?
N – Optimal number of rain gauge stations
2
 Cv  E – Allowable degree of error in the
N   estimate of the mean rainfall
 Cv– coefficient of variation of the rainfall
values at the existing m stations (in
percent)
 Adequacy……….

 m 1
Cv   100   P  P
m
2
i
p  m1  1
m 1

1m 
P   Pi 
m 1   – Standard deviation
Pi – Precipitation magnitude in
the ith station
 Example 2.2
A catchment’s has six rain gauge stations. In a year, the annual
rainfall recorded by the gauges are as follows:

Station A B C D E F
Rainfall (cm) 82.6 102.9 180.3 110.3 98.8 136.7

For a 10% error in the estimation of the mean rainfall,

calculate the optimum number of stations in the catchment’s.
 Rainfall Network Design
• Ideally a basin should have as many rain gauges as
possible to give a clear picture of the Arial rainfall.
• However, the following factors govern the density of
station in a country
• Economy
• Topography
• Accessibility
• No definite rule as how many gauges are adequate
• Various countries have different stations density
– Israel has the highest density (1station/[Link]) and
Vietnam has the lowest (1staion/2600 [Link])
Typical Network
Intensity-Duration-Frequency Relationships
• Intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves summarize
conditional probability (frequency)of rainfall depths or
average intensities.
• IDF curves are graphical representations of the probability that
a certain average rainfall intensity will occur, given a duration.
• IDF curves are used in many hydrological design projects
involving urban drainage, bridge sizing, spillway sizing, etc.
where there is a need to determine design storm magnitude for
a given return period.
2.4 Intensity-Duration-Frequency Relationships
 Questions
1. Describe in detail the different types of precipitations and
the formation of precipitation.
2. Describe the different types of rain gauges ; give attention
to and explain about recording types of rain gauges.
3. What are the procedures to estimate a double mass curve?
4. What are the different methods to determine the areal rain
fall out of point rain fall?