Hydrology

Unit 2:
Meteorological Data
 Instructional Objectives
• On completion of this lesson, the students shall learn
about the analysis and hydrological impacts of the
following meteorological parameters:
– Weather and climate
– Humidity
– Temperature
– Radiation
– Wind
– Precipitation
 Weather and Climate
• The hydrology of a region depends primarily on:
– Climate: depends on the geographical position on the
earth’s surface. Examples of climatic factors: Precipitation,
humidity, temperature and wind
– Topography: effects precipitation, the occurrence of lakes,
marshland and rates of runoff.
– Geology: influences topography and groundwater flow.
• Atmospheric circulation: Complex process,
influenced by the earth’s daily rotation, which gives
alternating 12-h heating and cooling.
• Seasonal variation: The tilt of the earth’s axis to the
plane of it’s rotation around the sun.
 Humidity
• Amount of water vapour in the air
• Depends on temp of water and air
• Saturation vapour pressure (es)–
This is the pressure of a vapour
phase of a material that is in
equilibrium with the liquid phase
of the same material and therefore
the water molecules exert pressure.
• Saturation deficit (es-e)– The amount by which more
water vapour is absorbed and atm pressure increases
until the air is saturated – condenses to form clouds.
 Humidity
• Dew point temp (td)– temp at which a parcel of air must be
cooled down for water vapour to condense into H2O.
• Wet bulb temp – temp to which the original air can be cooled
by evaporating water into it.
• Relative humidity –Measures how much more moisture the air
can absorb at existing temp. Measured by blowing air over two
thermometers, wet-bulb
and dry-bulb thermometers.
• Latent heat of evaporation
(hr): Free evaporation of
water into an air mass due
to the heat available in the
air itself.
 Saturation vapor pressure of water in air

1 = X moved vertically with ts,es

constant temp
2 = X moved horizontally
with decreasing temp but A
constant humidity tw,ew
3 = X moved diagonally with
both temp and humidity 1
are decreasing 3
A = Saturation deficit = es-e
B = dew point temperature td,ed
C = wet-bulb temperature 2

B C X (e,t)
Table 2.1:
Saturation vapour pressure
as a function of temperature
 Humidity-example
• Example 2.1: An air mass is at a temperature of 28°C
with a relative humidity of 70%. Determine:
– Saturation vapour pressure
es = 28.32 mmHg (Table 2.1)

– Saturation deficit (30% to 100% humidity)

es-e = 8.496 mmHg

– Actual vapour pressure in mbar & mmHg

h = e/es
e = 19.824mmHg/ 26.366mbar
– Dew-point temperature
e = 19.824mmHg, then td= 22°C (Table 2.1)
 Humidity-example
– Wet-bulb temperature (use trial and error method to find ew
and tw until both sides of the following equation is balanced):
(ew-e) =  (t-tw)
Assume ew = 21.860mmHg & tw= 23.754°C; = 0.485

• Example 2.2: An air mass is at a temperature of 27.3°C with a

relative humidity of 75%. Determine:
– Saturation vapour pressure
es = 27.210mmHg (Table 2.1)
– Actual vapour pressure in mbar & mmHg
h = e/es
e = 20.408mmHg/ 27.142mbar
– Saturation deficit
 Humidity-example
– Dew-point
e = 20.408mmHg, then td = 22.483°C (Table 2.1)
– Wet-bulb temperature
(ew-e) =  (t-tw)
(ew-20.408) = 0.485 (27.3-tw)
Assume ew = 22.108mmHg & tw = 23.810°C;  = 0.485
• Example 2.3: An air mass is at a temperature of 23.6°C, wet-bulb
temperature of 19.6°C, saturated vapour pressure of
21.84mmHg, ew = 17.1mmHg. Determine the relative humidity.
– Solution:
(ew-e) =  (t-tw)
(17.1-e)e = 0.485 (23.6- 19.6); e = 15.160mmHg
– h es = = 69.414%
 Temperature
• Recorded by thermometer (housed in
Stevenson screen to protect them against
direct sun rays and precipitation)
• Height is 1.25m above ground
• In degrees Celsius (°C)
• Vertical temperature gradient: Rate of
change in temperature with height is
called the lapse rate. Increase in
altitude = decrease in barometric
pressure, thus an increase in the vol. of unit mass of air.
• Dry-adiabatic lapse rate: Temperature change due to
decompression is about 10°C/ 1000m in dry air.
 Temperature
• Saturated-adiabatic lapse rate: Moist air rises, expands, cools and
the water vapour content condenses, releasing the latent heat of
condensation, which prevents the air mass cooling as fast as dry air,
about 5- 6°C/ 1000m.
• Example 2.4: Using the information below and calculate the mean
daily temperature and the true average temperature.
Temperature (°C) 6 5 5 12 21 20 14 11
Time ( hour) 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21
Median daily temperature:
= (Middle of data set) = 11.50°C

Mean temperature:
= Average ( Readings) = 11.75°C
 Radiation
• Measured by radiometer which measures both
incoming short-wave radiation and net long-wave
radiation.
 Wind
• Measured by anemometer which measures both wind
speed and direction at a standard height of 2m.

–u = Wind speed at level z

– uo = Wind speed at zo (2m)
• Example 2.5: An Anemometer is
situated on a tower 15m above the
ground measures a wind speed of 12.4 m/s.
Determine the wind speed at the standardized height of 2m.
uo = 9.221 m/s.
 Wind

• Example 2.6: A wind speed of 5.2 m/s was recorded

at standard height. Use the exponent = 0.010 and
calculate the wind speed at 8m-height.
–u = 5.273 m/s

• Example 2.7: An Anemometer recorded wind speeds

of 9m/s and 6m/s at 25m and 10m, respectively.
Determine the exponent for that location.
–n = 0.443
 Wind
• Example 2.8: The long term wind speed record is
available for heights at 10m (9.14m/s) and 15m
(9.66m/s), respectively. For certain calculations of
evaporation the wind speed is required at 2m, so it is
required to extend the long-term record to the 2m
level. Determine the exponent value which relates the
two speeds and elevations.
–n = 0.1364

– Predict the speed for the 2m level

– uo = 7.339m/s
 Precipitation
• Covers all forms of water being released by the atmosphere,
including snow, hail, sleet and rainfall.
• The major input of water to a river catchment area and as such
needs careful assessment in any hydrological study.
• Although rainfall is relatively straightforward to measure (other
forms of precipitation are more difficult):
– it is difficult to measure accurately and,
– also extremely variable within a catchment area.
• The ability of air to hold water vapour is temperature
dependent: the cooler the air the less water vapour is retained.
 Precipitation
• Two processes that are capable to support the growth of
droplets to sufficient mass to overcome air resistance and
eventually fall to the earth as precipitation:
– Coalescence (collision) process
– Ice crystal process
• Collision (coalescence) process: small suspended
water droplets collide and form heavier droplets
that’s big enough to overcome resistance imposed
by rising air and fall to the surface of the earth.
• Crystal process: Ice crystals and water exist together at sub-
freezing temperature of -40°C where certain particles of clay
minerals, organic- and ocean salts serve as freezing nuclei so
that ice crystals are formed.
 Precipitation
• Mean Annual Precipitation (MAP): the average values of the
yearly precipitation, which are calculated from observed data
over a period of time. The MAP of South Africa is summarized
in the form of isohyetal maps.
• Types of precipitation
– Convective precipitation
– Orographic precipitation
– Cyclonic precipitation
– Frontal
• Warm front
• Cold front
• Stationary front
– Non-frontal
 Convective Precipitation
This process typically occurs during the summer season when
air layers (closest to the earth surface) saturated with water
vapour are heated and subsequently tend to rise and cool
down to result in cloud formation and rainfall
 Orographic Precipitation
This process usually occurs near coast lines and typically
develops when wind blows over the open sea towards land
carrying air saturated with water vapour until it reaches a
mountain range. At these geographical barriers, the saturated
air is forced upwards to result in condensation and rainfall.
 Cyclonic Precipitation
This rare process typically occurs over the open sea and is
formed when cyclones (large circular patterns) are growing in
size, allowing moist air to be drawn into the cyclone vortex,
allowing mist to be lifted up into the centre to result in very
strong winds and extremely high rainfall intensities
 Measurement of
Precipitation
• For hydrological analysis it is important to know how
much precipitation has fallen and when this occurred.
• Measured in terms of depth, the values being
expressed in millimeters.
• One millimeter of precipitation represents the quantity
of water needed to cover the land with a 1mm layer of
water, taking into account that nothing is lost through
drainage, evaporation or absorption.
– Thus 1 mm of rainfall over a catchment area of 1 km2
represents a volume of water equal to 1000 m3.
 Measurement of
Precipitation
• The precipitation is collected and measured in a rain
gauge.
• The rain gauge consists of a hollow cylindrical vessel.
• Rain (or other form of precipitation) falls into the vessel
and its depth is measured.
• The evaporation process can influence the
measurements if the time interval is too long.
• The rain gauge needs frequent recording and emptying
if it does not have an automatic device.
• Wetting the sides of the gauge or the measuring tube
when the quantity of the precipitation is very small may
cause loss of some of the precipitation.
 Measurement of
Precipitation
• To know the intensity of rainfall (which is important in
the maximum flow capacity calculation) the hourly
measurements are performed for the station.
• To enable the catch of rain gauge to accurately
represent the rainfall in the area surrounding the rain
gauge, standard sitings are adopted. For siting a rain
gauge properly, the following considerations are
important:
– The ground must be level and open and the instrument must
have a horizontal catch surface.
 Measurement of
Precipitation
– The gauge must be set as near the ground as possible to
reduce wind effects but it must be sufficiently high to prevent
splashing, flooding etc.
– The instrument must be surrounded by open-fenced area.
– No object/obstruction should be nearer to the instrument
than 30m or twice the height of the obstruction.

• Rain gauge can be broadly classified into two

categories:
– non-recording and
– recoding
 Measurement of
Precipitation
1. Non-recording gauges
– Consists of a circular
collecting area connected to
a funnel.
– The rim of the collector is
set in a horizontal plane.
– The funnel discharges the
rainfall catch into a
collecting bottle.
– Water contained in the
collecting bottle is measured
by a suitably graduated
measuring glass.
 Measurement of
Precipitation
• The rainfall is measured every day at a specific time
and is recorded as the rainfall of that day.
• The receiving bottle normally has a maximum holding
capacity of rain:
– in the case of heavy rainfall the measurements must be
done more frequently and entered.
– However, the last reading must be taken at the normal
recording time and the sum of the previous readings in the
past 24 h entered as total of that day.
• This rain gauge can also be used to measure snowfall.
 Measurement of
Precipitation
2. Recording Gauges
– Recording gauges produce a continuous plot of rainfall
against time and provide valuable data of intensity and
duration of rainfall for hydrological analysis of storms.
– The following are some of the commonly used recording rain
gauges.
2.1. Tipping-bucket type
– The catch from the funnel falls onto one of a pair of small
buckets.
– These buckets are so balanced that when 0.25 mm of
rainfall is collected in one bucket, it tips and brings the other
one in position.
 Measurement of
Precipitation
• The water from the tipped bucket
is collected in a storage can.
• When the bucket tips, it triggers a
sensor, sending a message to the
display or weather station.
• The water collected in the storage
can is measured at regular
intervals to provide the total
rainfall and also serve as a check
• It may be noted that the record
Tipping-bucket
from the tipping bucket gives data 1 - collecting funnel,
2- tilting baskets;
on the intensity of rainfall. 3- electric signal;
4 -evacuation
 Measurement of
Precipitation
2.2. Weighing-bucket type
– In this rain gauge, the catch from the funnel empties into a
bucket mounted on a weighing scale.
– The weight of the bucket and its contents are recorded on a
clock-work-driven chart.
– The clockwork mechanism has the capacity to run for as
long as one week.
– This instrument gives a plot of the accumulated rainfall
against the elapsed time, i.e. the mass curve of rainfall.
 Measurement of
Precipitation
2.3. Floating-type gauge
– Here the rainfall collected by a funnel-shaped collector is led
into a floating chamber causing a float to rise (Figure 2.3).
– As the float rises, a pen attached to the float through a lever
system records the elevation of the float on a rotating drum
driven by a clockwork mechanism.
– A syphon arrangement empties the
float chamber when the float has
reached a preset maximum level.
 Measurement of
Precipitation

– The vertical lines in the pen-trace correspond to the

sudden emptying of the float chamber by syphon
action which resets the pen to zero level.
– It is obvious that the floating-type recording rain
gauge gives a plot of the mass curve of rainfall.
 Measurement of
Precipitation
• The general principle of the graphic floating-type rain
gauge:
– the water is collected in a funnel and is directed to a
reservoir;
– the water level in the reservoir is controlled through a floater
coupled with a recording arm;
– the recording arm rests on a diagram, which is wrapped
around a clock-driven drum, this cylinder performs a
complete rotation in 24 hours;
– when the reservoir is full the value is recorded on the
diagram, the reservoir is emptied through a syphon device
and the recording arm comes to the initial position and
continues to record if rain still falls.
 Measurement of
Precipitation
2.4. Radar Measurement
– The measurement of precipitation can be done using the
theory of the electromagnetic wave propagation.
– A wave of electromagnetic energy is emitted from a unit on the
ground and the amount of wave reflected and return time are
recorded.
– The more water there is in a cloud the more electromagnetic
energy is reflected back to the ground and detected by the
radar unit.
– It is a powerful instrument for measuring the areal extent,
location and movement of rain storms.
– the amount of rainfall over large areas can be determined with
a good degree of accuracy.
 Measurement of
Precipitation
2.5. Satellite remote sensing
– Play a major role in precipitation monitoring, particularly in remote areas
which lack adequate conventional weather stations.
– These are the characteristics that can be observed from space by a
satellite sensor.
 Measurement of
Precipitation
2.5. Satellite remote sensing
– Precipitation is not measured directly, but based on relationship between
brightness of cloud photographs and precipitation intensities.
– It is well established that a cloud most likely to produce rain has an
extremely bright and cold top.
– Thus, distinctions can be made between precipitation clouds and non-
precipitation clouds on the basis of differences in their radiation reflection
characteristics.
– Relationship between brightness and precipitation intensity is calibrated
with gauge instruments and radar estimates.
 Errors in Precipitation
• Observation & instrument errors: Scale reading errors
(non-recording gauges), instrumental errors
(cumulative), frictional effects in the weighing
mechanisms, float guides and recorder-pen, and
leakages. Observer misses a reading and changes the
data to fit a feeling.
• Wind: Blowing air imparts a force to precipitation about
to enter the gauge and results in a deficient catch, thus
the underestimation of precipitation.
• Hail: blocks the collecting funnel so that it overflows.
• Precipitation network: Spatial variability, areal extent
and intended use of precipitation data determine the
density of a precipitation network.
 END
Session 1
(Meteorological Data)
 Rain Gauge Network
• To get a representative picture of a storm
• The number of rain gauges should be as large as
possible,
– i.e. the catchment area per gauge should be small.
• but, economic and other considerations, such as
topography, accessibility, etc. restrict the maximum
number of gauges to be maintained.
• Hence, one should aim at an optimum density of
gauges from which reasonably accurate information
about the storms can be obtained.
 Rain Gauge Network
• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recommends
the following densities:
– In flat regions of temperate, Mediterranean and tropical zones:
• Ideal – 1 station for 600 – 900 km2,
• Acceptable – 1 station for 900 – 3000 km2;
– In mountainous regions of temperate, Mediterranean and topical zones:
• Ideal – 1 station for 100 – 250 km2
• Acceptable – 1 station for 250 – 1,000 km2;
– In arid and polar zones:
• 1 station for 1,500 – 10,000 km2 depending on the feasibility

• Ten percent of rain gauge stations should be equipped with

self-recording gauges to know the intensities of rainfall.
 Rain Gauge Network
Adequacy of Rain gauge Stations
• The optimum number of stations that should exist to have an
assigned percentage of error in the estimation of mean rainfall
is obtained by statistical analysis:
2
C
 
N  v 
  
– Where:
N = optimum number of stations,
 = allowable degree of error in the estimate of the mean
rainfall (usually  = 10% - the lower the % the higher number
of stations are required), and
Cv = coefficient of variation of the rainfall values at the existing m stations
(in per cent).
 Rain Gauge Network
• If there are m stations in the catchment each recording
rainfall values P1, P2,…, Pi,…, Pm in a known time, the
coefficient of variation, Cv, is calculated as:
100  m  1
Cv 
P
– Where:
m
 2 
 i P  P  
 m 1   1

 m  1  = standard deviation
 

Pi = precipitation magnitude in the ith station

1 m 
P    Pi  = mean precipitation
m 1 
 Rain Gauge Network
• Example 2.9: A catchment has six rain gauge stations. In one
year, the annual rainfall depths recorded by the gauges are as
follows:
Station A B C D E F
Rainfall (mm) 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.
– Solution: For this data:
m = 6; P= 118.6;  m  =1 35.04;  = 10

100 35.04  29.54 

2
Cv  29.54 N   8.7  say 9 stations
118 .6  10 
Therefore, three more additional stations are needed in the catchment.
 Extension and Interpretation
of precipitation Data
• Intensity (I): Measure of the quantity of rainfall in a
given time (mm/h).
• Duration: Period of time during which rain falls (h).
• Depth-time-area relationship: The highest intensity
occurs over a smaller area due to the non-uniformity
of precipitation over an area.
– The bigger the geographical area under consideration, the
smaller the depth-time relationship (mm/h) will be.
• Intensity-duration relationship: The greater the
intensity of precipitation, the shorter the period in
which it occurs.
 Extension and Interpretation
of precipitation Data
– note that a high intensity of precipitation in a short time span
will not necessarily generate a higher volume of surface
runoff than a low intensity over a long period.
• Depth-duration-frequency relationship: For a given
depth of precipitation to occur in a given period, we
would be most interested in it’s frequency of
occurrence.
– Frequency (T): The expectation that a given depth of
precipitation will fall in a given time the amount of which may
be equalled or exceeded once in a given number of days or
years.
– Also known as the recurrence interval with units in years.
 Extension and Interpretation
of precipitation Data
– The recurrence interval of an event is inversely proportional to the
probability of the occurrence of that event (T  1/PT);
– The probability (PT) of an event occurring in the specified recurrence
interval (T), can be calculated as follows:
n
 1
PT 1   1   (n= Expected design life in years)
 T

• Areal extent: Area over which a point precipitation can be held

to apply.
• Preparation of rainfall data consists of checking the data for:
– continuity = whether there are missing data in the record
– consistency = whether there are changes in the rainfall records over
time;
 Missing Precipitation Data
• Can be due to absence of observers and/or
instrumental errors;
• The missing data can be estimated by using the data
of the neighboring stations.
– normal rainfall is used as a standard of comparison.
– the normal rainfall is the average value of rainfall at a
particular date, month or year over a specified 30-year
period.
– the term normal annual precipitation at station A means the
average annual precipitation at A based on a specified 30-
years of record,
 Missing Precipitation Data
• The following two procedures are used to fill in the missing
rainfall data:
1. Simple arithmetic mean (SAM) method: May not be used when the annual
ppt at any of the neighboring station differ from the annual ppt value at the
point of interest by more than 10% of average annual precipitations
1
Px  P1  P2  ... Station Annual P (mm) Storm Event P (mm)
M A 425 24

Only when N  N x  10% 

B 421 36
i C 460 29
D 440 ?
– Where:
P1, P2, P3, ..., Pm are annual precipitation values at neighboring M
stations 1, 2, 3, ..., M, respectively,
Px is the missing precipitation value at a station X
Check if the method of SAM is applicable to find the missing data in the above table
 Missing Precipitation Data
2. The normal ratio method: This method is used to
estimate the missing data, Px, at station X if the normal
precipitations vary considerably (>10%):
N  P1 P2 Pm 
Px  x    ...  
M N
 1 N 2 Nm 

– Where,
N1, N2, …, Nm are the normal annual precipitations at each of
the above stations.
Nx is the normal annual precipitation at station X
other parameters are as defined above
 Missing Precipitation Data
• Example 2.10: The normal annual rainfall at stations
A, B, C, and D in a basin are 80.97, 67.59, 76.28 and
92.01 mm, respectively. In the year 1975, the station
D was not functional and the stations A, B and C
recorded annual precipitations of 91.11, 72.23 and
79.89 mm, respectively. Estimate the rainfall at station
D in that year.
• Solution: As the normal rainfall values vary by more
than 10% (check), the normal ratio method is adopted.
92.01  91.11 72.23 79.89 
PD      99.41 mm
3  80.79 67.59 76.28 
 Test for Consistency of
Records
• Some of the common causes for inconsistency of
records are:
– shifting of a rain gauge station to a new location,
– the neighborhood of the station undergoing a marked
change,
 change in the ecosystem due to calamities, such as forest fires, land
slides, ect
– occurrence of observational error from a certain date,
• This inconsistency would be felt from the time the
significant change took place.
 Test for Consistency of
Records
• Checking for inconsistency of a record is done by the
double-mass curve technique.
– based on the principle that when each recorded data comes
from the same parent population, they are consistent,
– select a group of 5 to 10 base stations in the neighborhood
of the problem station X;
– Arrange rainfall data of the station X (problem station) and
also the average rainfall of the group of base stations in the
reverse chronological order (i.e. from the newest to oldest
records).
 Test for Consistency of
Records
– calculate the accumulated precipitation values for the station X (i.e. Px)
and for the average of the group of base stations (i.e. Pav) starting from
the newest record;
– plot the values of Px against Pav for the recorded time period,
– a break in the slope of the resulting plot, if any, indicates a change in the
precipitation regime of the station X.
– The precipitation values at station X beyond the period of change of
regime (point 63 in the Figure) is corrected by using the relation:
Mc Mc and Ma are corrected & original
Pcx  Px
Ma slopes, respectively, of the curve

– Pcx & Px are corrected & recorded precipitations, respectively, at the time
periods & station X
 Depth-Area-Duration
Analysis
• In designing structures for water resources, one has to
know the areal spread of rainfall within a watershed.
• However, it is often required to know the amount of
high rainfall that may be expected over the catchment.
• It may be observed that usually a storm event would
start with a heavy downpour and may gradually
reduce as time passes.
• Therefore, the rainfall depth is not proportional to the
time duration of rainfall observation.
 Depth-Area-Duration
Analysis
• Similarly, rainfall over a small area may be more or
less uniform (more uniform that larger areas).
• But if the area is large, then due to the variation of rain
falling in different parts, the average rainfall would be
less than that recorded over a small portion below the
high rainfall occurring within the area.
• Due to these facts, a Depth-Area-Duration (DAD)
analysis is carried out based on records of several
storms on an area and, the maximum areal
precipitation for different durations corresponding to
different areal extents.
Depth-Area-Duration
Analysis
 Probable Maximum
Precipitation (PMP)
• This is the amount of rainfall over a region which
cannot be exceeded over at that place.
• Very important in estimating the maximum probable
flood in the safe design of flood control structures,
spillways for dams, etc.
• Can be estimated by maximizing the different
parameters like wind velocity, humidity etc. of an
observed severe storm over the basin.
• When sufficient data of storms for a given basin is not
available, PMP can be estimated from a severe storm
on the adjacent basin and storm transposition.
 Effective Precipitation
• The part of precipitation which remains on branches and leaves
of plants is known as intercepted water, which is considered
only as water being lost by evaporation and not water which
may eventually trickle down the stalk.
• A relatively large quantity of water is therefore subtracted from
the measured precipitation as losses and depends mainly on
the following:
– Density of foliage: Trees and shrubs intercept more water for the same
area than strawberries or onions.

– Leaf area: Leafy crops intercept more water than stalky crops, e.g.
potatoes as opposed to wheat.
 Effective Precipitation
– Precipitation duration: A short shower will have a higher percentage of
interception than a long shower.

– Precipitation intensity: High intensity showers have a lower percentage

of interception and vice versa, for the same time.

• Interception statistics in South Africa:

– For plants, interception is in the range of 10 - 15% of annual
precipitation.

– For forests, the loss may be as high as 25% of total annual precipitation.

• There are varied opinions on the hydrological

significance of interception.
 Effective Precipitation
• The monthly and daily effective precipitation can be
determined as follows, using long-term average
precipitation figures:
Pe  monthly 
P
avg  20 
2
Pe  daily P  1.5 Eo
– Where:
Pe = Effective precipitation (mm/month or mm/day)
Pavg = Long-term average monthly rainfall (mm/month)
P = Precipitation (mm/day)
Eo = pan A evaporation (mm/day)
 Presentation of
Precipitation Data
1. Mass Curve of Rainfall
• A plot of the accumulated precipitation against time, plotted in
chronological order,
• Records of float type and weighing bucket type gauges are of
this form,
• Mass curves of rainfall are very useful in:
– extracting the information on the duration and magnitude of a
storm,
– obtaining intensities of a storm at various time intervals from the
slope of the curve
• For non-recording rain gauges, mass curves are prepared from
knowledge of the approximate beginning and end of a storm
and by using the mass curves of adjacent recording gauge
stations as a guide.
 Presentation of
Precipitation Data
Event 2

Event 1

How many precipitation events are there in this storm?

 Presentation of
Precipitation Data
2. Hyetograph
– A plot of the intensity of rainfall against the time interval,
– Derived from the mass curve and is usually represented
as a bar chart,
– A very convenient way of representing the
characteristics of storm,
– Is particularly important in the development of design
storms to predict extreme floods,
– Area under a hyetograph represents the total depth
(mm) of precipitation received in the period,
 Presentation of
Precipitation Data
• The time interval used depends on the purpose:
– in urban-drainage problems, shorter durations are used
– in flood-flow computations in larger catchments the intervals
are of about 6 – 8 hrs,
 Point Rainfall
• Known as station rainfall
• Refers to the rainfall data of a particular station,
• Depending upon the need, data can be listed as:
– daily,
– weekly,
– monthly,
– seasonal or
– annual values for various periods,
• Graphically, these data are represented as plots of
magnitude vs time in the form of a bar diagram.
 Average/Areal
Precipitation
• The reliability of precipitation measured at one station
in representing the average depth over a surrounding
area is a function of:
– Distance from station to the center of the representative area
– Size of the area and topography
– Nature of the precipitation (single storm event vs. mean
monthly)
– Local storm patterns
• To convert the point rainfall values at various stations
into an average value over a catchment, the following
three methods may be used:
 Average/Areal
Precipitation
1. Arithmetical-mean method:
– the sum of all the point precipitation data divided by the number of
precipitation stations and used only when:
• Precipitation stations are distributed evenly
• Topography is relatively flat
• Spatial variation is small
P1  P2  ...  Pn 1 N
P   Pi
N N i 1
– Where:
P1, P2, … , Pi, ... Pn are the point rainfall values in a given period within a
catchment,
N is the number of stations in the catchment
P is the mean precipitation over the catchment
 Average/Areal
Precipitation
16.5 Arithmetic Mean

Pi
P= N
37.1 48.8 i
16.5 =(37.1+48.8+68.3+114.3+75.7+127)/6
= 78.533mm

68.3

39.1

114.3

75.7
127

49.5

44.5
 Average/Areal
Precipitation
2. Thiessen-polygon method
– The rainfall recorded at each station is given a weight on the basis of an
area closest to the station
– The catchment is sub-divided into polygonal sub-areas using the
precipitation gauges as centres.
1. Each precipitation station is connected with a straight line.
2. These lines are then subdivided by perpendicular bisectors in order to form
polygons.
3. The areas of the polygons are determined either with a planimeter, overlay
grid or software
4. These polygons (sub-areas) are used as weights to determine the
catchment’s average precipitation.
– Not suitable for mountainous areas because of orographic influences.
 Average/Areal
Precipitation
16.5 Thiessen Method
P (mm) A (km²) P.A (mm.km²)

37.1 48.8 16.5 18 297

71.6
37.1 311 11538.1
39.1 52 2033.2
68.3 48.8 282 13761.6
39.1
68.3 311 21241.3
114.3
71.6 2 143.2
75.7 238 18016.6
75.7
127
114.3 197 22517.1
127 212 26924
49.5
Total 1623 116472.1

44.5
P =  AiPi / Ai

= 71.764mm
 Average/Areal
Precipitation
3. Isohyetal Method
– Isohyet is a line joining points of equal rainfall magnitude,
– In this method, the catchment area is drawn to scale and the
rain gauge stations are marked,
– The recorded values for which areal average to be
determined are then marked on the plot at appropriate
stations.
– Neighboring stations outside the catchment are also
considered.
– The isohyets of various values are then drawn by
considering point rainfalls as guides and interpolating
between them by eye.
• The procedure is similar to the drawing of elevation contours based
on spot levels.
 Average/Areal
Precipitation
– The area between two adjacent isohyets are then
determined with a planimeter.
– If the isohyets go out of catchment, the catchment boundary
is used as the bounding line.
– The average value of the rainfall bounded by two isohyets is
assumed to be acting over the inter-isohyet area.
– This method is superior to the other two methods especially
when the stations are large in number.
– If P1, P2, ..., Pn are the values of isohyets and if a1, a2, … , an-
1 are the inter-isohyet areas, respectively, then the mean
precipitation over the catchment of area A is given by:
 P  P2   P2  P3   Pn  1  Pn 
a1  1   a 2   ...  a n 1  
2 2 2
P      
A
Average/Areal
Precipitation

Isohyet Area Ave. Ave

(mm) enclosed iso iso*A
(km2)
<10 0.88 5 4.40
10-20 1.59 15 23.85
20-30 2.24 25 56.00
30-40 3.01 35 105.35
40-50 1.22 45 54.90
>50 0.2 55 11.00
Total 9.14 255.50
P 27.95
 Average/Areal
Precipitation
• Example 2.11: Four precipitation stations are situated on a
catchment. Compute the average precipitation over the
catchment using the arithmetic mean and Thiessen polygon
methods. All the relevant data are tabulated below.
Station Polygon area Precipitation (mm)
(km²)
1 12 80
2 18 115
3 14 90
4 6 125
– Solution: P  Pi
 Ni

– Arithmetic mean: = 102.500mm

 Average/Areal
Precipitation
– Thiessen method:

P
 PA
i i
= 100.800mm
A i

• Example 2.12: In a catchment area, approximated by a circle

of diameter 100 km, four rainfall stations are situated inside the
catchment and one station is outside in its neighborhood. The
coordinates of the center of the catchment (100,100) and the
five stations are given below. Also given are the annual
precipitation recorded by the five stations in 1980. Determine
the average annual precipitation by the Thiessen-mean
method. Station 1 2 3 4 5
Coordinate (30, 80) (70, 100) (100, 140) (130, 100) (100, 70)
Ppt (mm) 85.0 135.2 95.3 146.4 102.2
Average/Areal
Precipitation
 Average/Areal
Precipitation
• Solution: The catchment area is drawn to scale and
the stations are marked on it. The stations are joined
to form a set of triangles and the perpendicular
bisector of each side is then drawn. The Thiessen-
polygon area enclosing each station is then identified.
It may be noted that stations 1 in this problem does
not have any area of influence in the catchment. The
areas of various Thiessen polygons are determined
either by a planimeter or by placing an overlay grid.
 Average/Areal
Precipitation

Station Boundary Area Fraction of Rainfall Weighted P

1 of area (km2) total area (mm) (mm)
2 3 4 5 (col. 4  col. 5)
1 ---- ---- ---- 85.0 ----
2 abcd 2141 0.2726 135.2 36.86
3 dce 1609 0.2049 95.3 19.53
4 ecbf 2141 0.2726 146.4 39.91
5 fba 1963 0.2499 102.2 25.54
Total 7854 1.0000 121.84
 Average/Areal
Precipitation
• Example 2.13: The isohyets due to a storm in a catchment
were drawn (Figure 2.8) and the area of the catchment
bounded by isohyets were tabulated as below.
Isohyets (mm) Area (km2)
Station – 12.0 30
12.0 – 10.0 140
10.0 – 8.0 80
8.0 – 6.0 180
6.0 – 4.0 20
• Estimate the average precipitation due to the storm.
• Solution: For the first area consisting of a station surrounded
by a closed isohyet, a precipitation value of 12.0 mm is taken.
For all other areas, the mean of two bounding isohyets are
taken.
 Average/Areal
Precipitation

Isohyets Average Area Fraction of Weighted P

value of P (km2) total area (cm)
(cm) (col.3/450) (col.2  col.4)
1 2 3 4 5
12.0 12.0 30 0.0667 0.800
12.0 – 10.0 11.0 140 0.3111 3.422
10.0 – 8.0 9.0 80 0.1778 1.600
8.0 – 6.0 7.0 180 0.4000 2.800
6.0 – 4.0 5.0 20 0.0444 0.222
450 1.0000 8.844
 END
Session 2
(Meteorological Data)