CE2202

Water Resources Engineering

Note Prepared by
D.Sravani


HYDROLOGY
1.1 Introduction
Hydrology is an earth science. It encompasses the occurrence, distribution,
movement, and properties of the water on the earth and their environmental relations.
Hydrology has both applied and pure science aspects. On the one hand, it is an important
science that studies how the water flows on the Earth. On the other hand, understanding of
fundamental hydrologic processes is necessary for proper use and protection of water
resources. Water is also an agent for many other processes (weathering, transport of
chemicals, erosion, and deposition).
Hydrology is the study of several physical processes;
Atmospheric processes: cloud condensation, precipitation.
Surface processes: snow accumulation, overland flow, river flow, lake storage.
Subsurface processes: infiltration, soil-water storage, groundwater flow.
Interfacial processes: evaporation, transpiration, sediment water exchange.
Hydrologists are traditionally concerned with the supply of water for domestic and
agricultural use and the prevention of flood disasters. However, their field of interest also
includes hydropower generation, navigation, water quality control, thermal pollution,
recreation and the protection and conservation of nature. In fact, any intervention in the
hydrological regime to fulfill the needs of the society belongs to the domain of the
hydrologist. This does not include the design of structures (dams, sluices, weirs, etc.) for
water management.
Hydrologists contribute however, to a functional design (e.g. location and height of the dam)
by developing design criteria and to water resources management by establishing the
hydrological boundary conditions to planning (inflow sequences, water resources
assessment). Both contributions require an analysis of the hydrological phenomena, the
collection of data, the development of models and the calculation of frequencies of
occurrence.

1.2 History of Hydrology
Water is the prime necessity for all forms of life. Human civilization has progressed
from early era with utilization of available water resources. Civilization flourished wherever
water was available, and it collapsed wherever water resources depleted. It is learnt from
Vedic literature that ground water was abundantly utilized for use. Archaeological
excavations at Mohan Jodaro reveal that people of Indus valley (3000 B.C.) had good
knowledge of ground water development through wells. Later, surface water resources
available through rivers, lakes, ponds were developed. People of Vedic period had knowledge
of the hydrologic cycle. As more and more water was needed, people learnt the principles of
hydrology by experience and consequently, reservoirs were built to store rain water for use in
the period of dry season. Indus valley and Nile valley also had the knowledge of hydrology.
Until 1950, pragmatic considerations dominated hydrology. Theoretical approaches in
hydrology have been increasingly developed due to the development of digital computers
since 1950. The focus now is on how best to optimize the use of existing surface-water
projects and ground-water resources.
Challenge for the 21st century in hydrology will still be maintaining water quantity
and quality against to the increasing stress on water resources by the increasing world
population, contamination, human induced climate-hydrology change, and extreme events
(flood and drought).
In India, the period of empiricism may be taken to have started sometime in the
middle of nineteenth century and continued up to first quarter of twentieth century. During
this period, development of empirical formulae, tables, and curves took place through
investigators like Binnie, Ryves, Dickens, Inglis, Lacey etc.
1.3 Application Fields
Hydrological science has both pure and applied aspects. Understanding the
engineering hydrology science is essential for
Sustainable agriculture (foods for the growing population)
Environmental protection and management
Water resources development and management
Prevention and control of natural disasters
Control problems of tidal rivers and estuaries
Soil erosion and sediment transport and deposition
Mitigation of the negative impacts of climatic change
Water supply and
Flood and drought control
Traditional water management has focused on providing freshwater resources to the needs of
humans, livestock, commercial enterprises, agriculture, mining, industry, and electric power.
1.4 Scope of Hydrology
The study of hydrology helps us to know
(i) The maximum probable flood that may occur at a given site and its frequency; this is
required for the safe design of drains and culverts, dams and reservoirs, channels and other
flood control structures.
(ii) The water yield from a basin - its occurrence, quantity and frequency, etc; this is
necessary for the design of dams, municipal water supply, water power, river navigation, etc.
(iii) The ground water development for which a knowledge of the hydrogeology of the area,
i.e., of the formation soil, recharge facilities like streams and reservoirs, rainfall pattern,
climate, cropping pattern, etc. are required.
(iv) The maximum intensity of storm and its frequency for the design of a drainage project in
the area
1.5 Worlds Water Resources
Water resources engineering uses hydrologic principles in the solution of engineering
problems arising from human exploitation of water resources of the earth. The engineering
hydrologist, or water resources engineer, is involved in the planning, analysis, design,
construction and operation of projects for the control, utilization and management of water
resources. Hydrologic calculations are estimates because mostly the empirical and
approximate methods are used to describe various hydrological processes.
The Worlds total water resources are estimated as 1.36 108 ha-m. Of these
global water resources, about 97.2% is salt water mainly in oceans, and only 2.8% is
available as fresh water at any time on the planet earth. Out of this 2.8% of fresh water, about
2.2% is available as surface water and 0.6% as ground water. Even out of this 2.2% of
surface water, 2.15% is fresh water in glaciers and icecaps and only of the order of 0.01% is
available in lakes and streams, the remaining 0.04% being in other forms. Out of 0.6% of
stored ground water, only about 0.25% can be economically extracted with the present
drilling technology (the remaining being at greater depths). It can be said that the ground
water potential of the Ganga Basin is roughly about forty times the flow of water in the river
Ganga.
1.6 Water resources of India
The important rivers of India are shown in Fig. 1.1 and their approximate water potentials are
given below:
Sl.no. River basin Water potential (M ha-m)
1 West flowing rivers like Narmada and Tapti 30.55
2 East flowing rivers like Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna,
Cauvery and Pennar
35.56

3 The Ganges and its tributaries 55.01
4 Indus and its tributaries 7.95
5 The River Brahmaputra 59.07
Total 188.14

The rivers of north India are perennial (i.e., the water in sufficient quantity flows in
them throughout the year) since they receive the snow melt runoff in summer. Rivers of
peninsular India (south India) receive only runoff due to rainfall and have a good flow only
during monsoons; many of them are either dry or have negligible flow during most of the
remaining part of the year. The average annual rainfall of India is around 114 cm.


Figure 1.1 River basins of India
1.7 Uses of Water resources engineering
Engineering Hydrology or water resources engineering helps in the following ways
Hydrology is used to find out maximum probable flood at proposed sites e.g. Dams.
The variation of water production from catchments can be calculated and described by
hydrology.
Engineering hydrology enables us to find out the relationship between a catchments
surface water and groundwater resources
The expected flood flows over a spillway, at a highway culvert, or in an urban storm
drainage system can be known by this very subject.
It helps us to know the required reservoir capacity to assure adequate water for
irrigation or municipal water supply in droughts condition.
It tells us what hydrologic hardware (e.g. rain gauges, stream gauges etc) and software
(computer models) are needed for real-time flood forecasting.
1.8 Hydrologic cycle
Water in our planet is available in the atmosphere, the oceans, on land and within the soil and
fractured rock of the earths crust. Water molecules from one location to another are driven
by the solar energy. Moisture circulates from the earth into the atmosphere through
evaporation and then back into the earth as precipitation. In going through this process, called
the Hydrologic Cycle. Water is conserved that is, it is neither created nor destroyed.
It would perhaps be interesting to note that the knowledge of the hydrologic cycle was
known at least by about 1000 BC by the people of the Indian Subcontinent. This is reflected
by the fact that one verse of Chhandogya Upanishad (the Philosophical reflections of the
Vedas) points to the following:
The rivers all discharge their waters into the sea. They lead from sea to sea, the clouds
raise them to the sky as vapor and release them in the form of rain The earths total water
content in the hydrologic cycle is not equally distributed (figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2 Total global water content and global fresh water distribution

The oceans are the largest reservoirs of water, but since it is saline it is not readily usable for
requirements of human survival. The freshwater content is just a fraction of the total water
available. Again, the fresh water distribution is highly uneven, with most of the water locked
in frozen polar ice caps.
The hydrologic cycle or water cycle consists of four key components
1. Precipitation
2. Runoff
3. Storage
4. Evapotranspiration
Figure 1.3 shows a schematic representation of the hydrologic cycle.

Figure 1.3 The hydrologic cycle
A convenient starting point to describe the cycle is in the oceans. Water in the oceans
evaporates due to the heat energy provided by solar radiation. The water vapour moves
upwards and forms clouds. While much of the clouds condense and fall back to oceans as
rain there they condense and precipitate onto the land mass as rain, snow, hail, sleet etc. A
part of precipitation may evaporate back to the atmosphere even while falling. Another part
may be intercepted by vegetation, structures and some part move down to the ground surface.
A portion of the water that reaches the ground enters the earths surface through infiltration.
Vegetation sends a portion of the water from under the ground surface back to the
atmosphere through the process of transpiration. The ground water may come to the surface
through springs and other outlets after spending a considerably longer time than the surface
flow. The portion of the precipitation which by a variety of paths above and below the
surface of the earth reaches the stream channel is called runoff. Once it enters into the stream
channel, runoff becomes stream flow.
The main components of the hydrologic cycle can be broadly classified as transportation
components (precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, infiltration and runoff) and storage
components (storage on land surface like depressions, ponds, lakes, reservoirs etc., soil
moisture storage and ground water storage). Schematically, the interdependency of the
transportation components can be represented as in figure 1.3.

Figure 1.4 Transportation components of the hydrologic cycle
It is important to note that the total water resources of the earth are constant and the sun is the
source of energy source of energy for hydrologic cycle. Recognition of the various processes
such as evaporation, precipitation and ground water flow helps one to study the science of
hydrology in a schematic way.
1.9 Precipitation
The term precipitation denotes all forms of water that reach that reach the earth from the
atmosphere. The usual forms of precipitation are rainfall, snowfall, hail, frost and dew. Of all
these, first two contributes significant amount of water. Rainfall being predominant form of
precipitation causing stream flow, especially the flood flow in a majority of rivers in India,
unless otherwise stated the term rainfall is used synonymously with precipitation. The
magnitude of precipitation varies with time and space.
Uses of precipitation data includes
Runoff estimation analysis
Groundwater recharge analysis
Water balance studies of catchments
Flood analysis for design of hydraulic structures
Real-time flood forecasting
1.10 Forms of Precipitation
Drizzle a light steady rain in fine drops (0.5 mm) and intensity <1 mm/hr
Rain the condensed water vapour of the atmosphere falling in drops (>0.5 mm, maximum
size 6 mm) from the clouds.
Glaze freezing of drizzle or rain when they come in contact with cold objects.
Sleet frozen rain drops while falling through air at subfreezing temperature.
Snow ice crystals resulting from sublimation (i.e., water vapour condenses to ice)
Snowflakes ice crystals fused together.
Hail small lumps of ice (>5 mm in diameter) formed by alternate freezing and melting,
when they are carried up and down in highly turbulent air currents.
Dew moisture condensed from the atmosphere in small drops upon cool surfaces.
Frost a feathery deposit of ice formed on the ground or on the surface of exposed objects
by dew or water vapour that has frozen
Fog a thin cloud of varying size formed at the surface of the earth by condensation of
atmospheric vapour (interfering with visibility)
Mist a very thin fog

.1.11 Types of precipitation
Frontal precipitation
A front is the interface between two distinct air masses. It results from the lifting of warm and
moist air on one side of a frontal surface over colder, denser air on the other side. A front
may be warm front or cold front depending upon whether there is active or passive accent of
warm air mass over cold air mass.

Figure 1.5 Frontal precipitation
Convective Precipitation
Convective precipitation is caused by natural rising of warmer, lighter air in colder, denser
surroundings. Generally, this kind of precipitation occurs in tropics, where on a hot day, the
ground surface gets heated unequally, causing the warmer air to lift up as the colder air
comes to take its place. The vertical air currents develop tremendous velocities. Convective
precipitation occurs in the form of showers of high intensity and short duration.

Figure 1.6 Convectional lifting
Orographic Precipitation
Orographic precipitation is caused by air masses which strike some natural topographic
barriers like mountains, and cannot move forward and hence rise up, causing condensation
and precipitation. All the precipitation we have in Himalayan region is because of this nature.
It is rich in moisture because of their long travel over oceans.

Figure 1.7 Orographic precipitation
Cyclonic Precipitation
Cyclone is a large low pressure region with circular wind motion. This type of precipitation is
due to lifting of moist air converging into a low pressure belt, i.e., due to pressure differences
created by the unequal heating of the earths surface. Here the winds blow spirally inward
counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
There are two main types of cyclones - tropical cyclone (also called hurricane or typhoon) of
comparatively small diameter of 300-1500 km causing high wind velocity and heavy
precipitation, and the extra-tropical cyclone of large diameter up to 3000 km causing wide
spread frontal type precipitation.
1.12 Measurement of Precipitation
Measurement of precipitation is an important component of all hydrologic studies.
Precipitation is expressed in terms of depth to which rainfall water would stand on an area if
all the rain were collected on it. Thus 1 cm of rainfall over a catchment area of 1

represents a volume of water equal to

. The precipitation is collected and measured in

a raingauge. Raingauges are classified as
1. Non Recording type
a. Symons gauge
2. Recording type
a. Tipping-bucket type
b. Weighing bucket type
c. Natural-Syphon type
The non-recording rain gauge used in India is the Symons rain gauge (Fig. 1.8). It consists
of a funnel with a circular rim of 12.7 cm diameter and a glass bottle as a receiver. The
cylindrical metal casing is fixed vertically to the masonry foundation with the level rim 30.5
cm above the ground surface. The rain falling into the funnel is collected in the receiver and
is measured in a special measuring glass graduated in mm of rainfall; when full it can
measure 1.25 cm of rain. The rainfall is measured every day at 08.30 hours IST. During
heavy rains, it must be measured three or four times in the day, lest the receiver fill and
overflow, but the last measurement should be at 08.30 hours IST and the sum total of all the
measurements during the previous 24 hours entered as the rainfall of the day in the register.
Usually, rainfall measurements are made at 08.30 hr IST and sometimes at 17.30 hr IST also.
Thus the non recording or the Symons rain gauge gives only the total depth of rainfall for the
previous 24 hours (i.e., daily rainfall) and does not give the intensity and duration of rainfall
during different time intervals of the day.
It is often desirable to protect the gauge from being damaged by cattle and for this
purpose a barbed wire fence may be erected around it.

Figure 1.8 Symons rain gauge
Recording Rain Gauge
This is also called self-recording, automatic or integrating rain gauge. This type of
rain gauge figures. 1.9, 1.10 and 1.11, has an automatic mechanical arrangement consisting of
clockwork, a drum with a graph paper fixed around it and a pencil point, which draws the
mass curve of rainfall Fig. 1.12. From this mass curve, the depth of rainfall in a given time,
the rate or intensity of rainfall at any instant during a storm, time of onset and cessation of
rainfall, can be determined. The gauge is installed on a concrete or masonry platform 45 cm
square in the observatory enclosure by the side of the ordinary rain gauge at a distance of 2-3
m from it. The gauge is so installed that the rim of the funnel is horizontal and at a height of
exactly 75 cm above ground surface. The self-recording rain gauge is generally used in
conjunction with an ordinary rain gauge exposed close by, for use as standard, by means of
which the readings of the recording rain gauge can be checked and if necessary adjusted.
There are three types of recording rain gauges - tipping bucket gauge, weighing gauge
and float gauge.
Tipping bucket rain gauge- This consists of a cylindrical receiver 30 cm diameter with a
funnel inside (Fig. 1.9). Just below the funnel a pair of tipping buckets is pivoted such that
when one of the bucket receives a rainfall of 0.25 mm it tips and empties into a tank below,
while the other bucket takes its position and the process is repeated. The tipping of the bucket
actuates on electric circuit which causes a pen to move on a chart wrapped round a drum
which revolves by a clock mechanism. This type cannot record snow.
Weighing type rain gauge- In this type of rain-gauge, when a certain weight of rainfall is
collected in a tank, which rests on a spring-lever balance, it makes a pen to move on a chart
wrapped round a clockdriven drum (Fig. 1.10). The rotation of the drum sets the time scale
while the vertical motion of the pen records the cumulative precipitation.
Float type rain gauge - In this type, as the rain is collected in a float chamber, the float
moves up which makes a pen to move on a chart wrapped round a clock driven drum (Fig.
1.11). When the float chamber fills up, the water siphons out automatically through a siphon
tube kept in an interconnected siphon chamber. The clockwork revolves the drum once in 24
hours. The clock mechanism needs rewinding once in a week when the chart wrapped round
the drum is also replaced. This type of gauge is used by IMD (Indian Meteorological
Department).
The weighing and float type rain gauges can store a moderate snow fall which the
operator can weigh or melt and record the equivalent depth of rain. The snow can be melted
in the gauge itself (as it gets collected there) by a heating system fitted to it or by placing in
the gauge certain chemicals such as Calcium Chloride, ethylene glycol, etc.

Figure 1.9 Tipping bucket gauge Figure 1.10 Weighing bucket type

Figure 1.11 Float type rain gauge

Figure 1.12 Mass curve of rainfall
1.13 Graphical representation of rainfall
The variation of rainfall with respect to time may be shown graphically by (i) a hyetograph,
and (ii) a mass curve.
A hyetograph is a bar graph showing the intensity of rainfall with respect to time (Fig. 1.13)
and is useful in determining the maximum intensities of rainfall during a particular storm as
is required in land drainage and design of culverts.

Figure 1.13 Hyetograph
A mass curve of rainfall (or precipitation) is a plot of cumulative depth of rainfall against
time (Fig. 1.14). From the mass curve, the total depth of rainfall and intensity of rainfall at
any instant of time can be found. The amount of rainfall for any increment of time is the
difference between the ordinates at the beginning and end of the time increments, and the
intensity of rainfall at any time is the slope of the mass curve (i.e., i = P/t) at that time. A
mass curve of rainfall is always a rising curve and may have some horizontal sections which
indicate periods of no rainfall. The mass curve for the design storm is generally obtained by
maximizing the mass curves of the severe storms in the basin.

Figure 1.14 Mass curve of rainfall
1.14 Rain-gauge network
The following figures give a guideline as to the number of rain-gauges to be erected in a
given area or what is termed as rain-gauge density
Area Rain-gauge density
Plains 1 in 520 k

Elevated regions 1 in 260-390 k

Hilly and very heavy rainfall areas 1 in 130 Km2 preferably with 10%
of the rain-gauge stations equipped
with the self recording type
In India, on an average, there is 1 rain-gauge station for every 500 k

, while in more
developed countries, it is 1 station for 100 k

.
The aim of the optimum rain-gauge network design is to obtain all quantitative data averages
and extremes that define the statistical distribution of the hydro meteorological elements,
with sufficient accuracy for practical purposes. When the mean areal depth of rainfall is
calculated by the simple arithmetic average, the optimum number of rain-gauge stations to be
established in a given basin is given by the equation (IS, 1968)
2
v
c
N
p
(
=
(


Where, N = optimum number of raingauge stations to be established in the basin
C
v
= Coefficient of variation of the rainfall of the existing rain gauge stations (say, n)
p = desired degree of percentage error in the estimate of the average depth of
rainfall over the basin
The number of additional rain-gauge stations (Nn) should be distributed in the different
zones (caused by isohyets) in proportion to their areas, i.e., depending upon the spatial
distribution of the existing raingauge stations and the variability of the rainfall over the basin.
Saturated Network Design
If the project is very important, the rainfall has to be estimated with great accuracy; then a
network of rain-gauge stations should be so set up that any addition of rain-gauge stations
will not appreciably alter the average depth of rainfall estimated. Such a network is referred
to as a saturated network.
Example: The normal annual rainfalls of a basin are 88cm, 104cm, 138cm, 78cm and 56cm.
Determine the optimum number of rain-gauge stations to be established in the basin if it is
desired to limit the error in the mean value of rainfall to 10%.
Solution:
Arithmetic mean, x =

= 92.8cm
Standard deviation,
( )
2
1
x x
n
o

=

= 30.7cm
station Normal annual rainfall, x (cm) difference ( x x ) Difference ( x x )
2
A 88 -4.8 23
B 104 11.2 125
C 138 45.2 2043
D 78 -14.8 219
E 56 -36.8 1354
464
( x x )
2
=3767.4
C
v
=

x
=

100 = 33.1%
The optimum number of rain-gauge stations to limit the error in the mean value of rainfall to
p=10%.
2
v
c
N
p
(
=
(

=
2
33.1
10
(
(

= 11

Additional rain-gauge stations to be established = N n = 11 5 = 6
1.15 Estimation of missing rainfall data
Many precipitation stations have short breaks in their records because of absence of
the observer or because of instrumental failures. It is often necessary to estimate this missing
record. In the procedure used by the U.S. Environmental Data Service, precipitation amounts
are estimated from observations at three stations as close to and as evenly spaced around the
station with the missing record as possible. If the normal annual precipitation at each of the
index stations is within 10% of that for the station with the missing record, a simple
arithmetic average of the precipitation at the index stations provides the estimated amount.
Normal ratio method- If the normal annual precipitation at any of the index stations differs
from that at the station in question by more than 10%, the normal-ratio method is used. In this
method, the amounts at the index stations are weighted by the ratios of the normal-annual-
precipitation values. That is, precipitation P
x
at station X is:
1 2
1 2
1 2 1 2
1
... ...
x x x x n
x n
n n
N N N N P P P
p P P P
n N N N n N N N
( (
= + + = + +
( (


Where N
1,
N
2
N
n
= normal annual rainfall of index stations
N
x
= normal annual rainfall of missing station
n = number of index stations
Example: A precipitation station X was inoperative for some time during which a storm
occurred. The storm totals at three stations A, B and C surrounding X, were respectively 6.60,
4.80 and 3.70 cm. the normal annual precipitation amounts at stations X, A, B and C are
respectively 65.6, 72.6, 51.8 and 38.2 cm. Estimate the storm precipitation for station X.
Solution: If N
x
, N
A
, N
B
and N
C
are the average annual precipitation amounts at X, A, B and
C and P
A
, P
B
and P
C
are the storm totals of stations A, B and C surrounding X, the storm
precipitation P at station X is given by
1
3
x x x
x A B C
A B C
N N N
p P P P
N N N
(
= + +
(


1 65.6 65.6 65.6
6.6 4.8 3.7
3 72.6 51.8 38.2
x
p
(
= + +
(

= 6.11cm

Arithmetic mean method- If the normal annual precipitation at various stations is within
about 10% of the normal annual precipitation at station X, then a simple arithmetic average
procedure is followed to estimate Px. Thus
( )
1 2
1
...
x m
p P P P
M
= + +
1.16 Double mass curve
The trend of the rainfall records at a station may slightly change after some years due
to a change in the environment (or exposure) of a station either due to coming of a new
building, fence, planting of trees or cutting of forest nearby, which affect the catch of the
gauge due to change in the wind pattern or exposure.
The checking for inconsistency of a record is done by the double-mass curve
technique. This technique is based on the principle that when each recorded data comes from
the same parent population, they are consistent. The consistency of records at the station in
question (say, X) is tested by a double mass curve by plottting the cumulative annual (or
seasonal) rainfall at station X against the concurrent cumulative values of mean annual (or
seasonal) rainfall for a group of surrounding stations, for the number of years of record.

Figure 1.15 Double mass curve
Since the past response is to be related to the present conditions, the data
(accumulated precipitation of the station x, i.e., P
x
and the accumulated values of the
average of the group of the base stations, i.e., P
av
) are usually assembled in reverse
chronological order. Values of P
x
are plotted against P
av
for the concurrent time periods,
Fig. 1.15. A definite break in the slope of the resulting plot points to the inconsistency of the
data indicating a change in the precipitation regime of the station x. The precipitation values
at station x at and beyond the period of change is corrected using the relation,
c
cx x
a
S
p P
S
=
where, P
cx
= corrected value of precipitation at station x at any time t
P
x
= original recorded value of precipitation at station x at time t.
S
c
= corrected slope of the double-mass curve
S
a
= original slope of the curve.
Thus the older records of station x, have been corrected so as to be consistent with the new
precipitation regime of the station x.
1.17 Calculating Average Rainfall
The time of rainfall record can vary and may typically range from one minute to one day for
non recording gauges, recording gauges, on the other hand, continuously record the rainfall
and may do so from one day one week, depending on the make of instrument. For any time
duration, the average depth of rainfall falling over a catchment can be found by the following
three methods.
The Arithmetic Mean Method
The Thiessen Polygon Method
The Isohyetal Method
1. The arithmetic-mean method
The arithmetic-mean method is the simplest method of determining areal average
rainfall. It involves averaging the rainfall depths recorded at a number of gages. This
method is satisfactory if the gages are uniformly distributed over the area and the
individual gage measurements do not vary greatly about the mean.
ave
P
p
n
=


Where, P
ave
= average depth of rainfall over the area
P

= sum of rainfall amounts at individual raingauge stations

n = number of rain gauge stations in the area


Figure 1.16 Representation of the rainfall recorded in the four rain gauges in mm
Average rainfall as the arithmetic mean of all the records of the four rain gauges, as shown
below

= 10 mm
This method is fast and simple and yields good estimates in flat country if the gauges are
uniformly distributed and the rainfall at different stations do not vary very widely from the
mean. These limitations can be partially overcome if topographic influences and aerial
representativity are considered in the selection of gauge sites.

2. The Thiessen polygon method
This method attempts to allow for non-uniform distribution of gauges by providing a
weighting factor for each gauge. The stations are plotted on a base map and are connected by
straight lines. Perpendicular bisectors are drawn to the straight lines, joining adjacent stations
to form polygons, known as Thiessen polygons (Fig. 1.17). Each polygon area is assumed to
be influenced by the raingauge station inside it, i.e., if P
1
, P
2
, P
3
, ...P
i
are the rainfalls at the
individual stations, and A
1
, A
2
, A
3
,...A
i
. are the areas of the polygons surrounding these
stations, (influence areas) respectively, the average depth of rainfall for the entire basin is
given by
( )
i i
ave
i
AP
p
A
=

Where,
i
A

= Total area of the basin

The results obtained are usually more accurate than those obtained by simple arithmetic
averaging. The gauges should be properly located over the catchment to get regular shaped
polygons. However, one of the serious limitations of the Thiessen method is its non-
flexibility since a new Thiessen diagram has to be constructed every time if there is a change
in the raingauge network.
Figure 1.17 Thiessen polygon method (a) Rainfall recorded (b) Areas of influences
For the given example, the weighted average rainfall over the catchment is determined as,

= 10.40 mm
3. The isohyetal method
In this method, the point rainfalls are plotted on a suitable base map and the lines of
equal rainfall (isohyets) are drawn giving consideration to orographic effects and storm
morphology, Fig. 1.18. The areas may be measured with a planimeter if the catchment map is
drawn to a scale. The average rainfall between the succesive isohyets taken as the average
of the two isohyetal values are weighted with the area between the isohyets, added up and
divided by the total area which gives the average depth of rainfall over the entire basin, i.e.,
P
ave
=

(Area between two adjacent isohyets) (mean of the two adjacent isohyets
values)

Figure 1.18 Isohyetal method (a) recorded rainfall (b) Isohyets and areas enclosed
between two consecutive isohyets
For the problem shown in Figure 1.18, the following may be assumed to be the areas
enclosed between two consecutive isohyets and are calculated as under:
Area I = 40 km
2

Area II = 80 km
2

Area III = 70 km
2

Area IV = 50 km
2

Total catchment area = 240 km
2

The areas II and III fall between two isohyets each. Hence, these areas may be thought of
as corresponding to the following rainfall depths:
Area II : Corresponds to (10 + 15)/2 = 12.5 mm rainfall depth
Area III : Corresponds to (5 + 10)/2 = 7.5 mm rainfall depth
For Area I, we would expect rainfall to be more than 15mm but since there is no record, a
rainfall depth of 15mm is accepted. Similarly, for Area IV, a rainfall depth of 5mm has to be
taken.
Hence, the average precipitation by the isohyetal method is calculated to be

=9.89 mm
1.18 Depth-Area-Duration curves
In designing structures for water resources, one has to know the areal spread of rainfall
within 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. Hence, the rainfall depth is
not proportional to the time duration of rainfall observation. Similarly, rainfall over a small
area may be more or less uniform. 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 rain fall 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.
The result of a DAD analysis is the DAD curves which would look as shown in Figure 1.19

Figure 1.19 A typical Depth-Area-Duration (DAD) Curve.
For a rainfall of a given duration, the average depth decreases with the area in an exponential
fashion given by
0
n
KA
P Pe

=

Where P = average depth in cm over an area A km
2


0
P = highest amount of rainfall in cm at the storm centre and k and n are constants for
a given region
1.19 Intensity-Duration-Frequency curves
For many engineering problems such as run off disposal and erosion control, it is
necessary to know the rainfall intensities of different durations and different recurrence
intervals. The relationship between intensity, storm duration and frequency at any location
can be obtained from the analysis of rainfall records available at that location. First of all, the
rainfall intensity record of selected rainfall duration, say 10 minutes, is collected for a
location and the frequency analysis is carried out to obtain the rainfall intensity for different
frequencies. The process is then repeated for other durations, and one can obtain a plot as
shown in figure 1.20.
It has been found that intensity-duration-frequency curve can be represented by the
following mathematical expression
( )
b
n
KT
t
D a
=
+

In which i = the intensity of rainfall (cm/hr)
T = the recurrence interval and
D = the duration of rainfall
Constants K, b, a and n do not have fixed value

Figure 1.20 A typical Rainfall Intensity Duration frequency (IDF) curve
Two new concepts are introduced here, which are:
Rainfall intensity
This is the amount of rainfall for a given rainfall event recorded at a station
divided by the time of record, counted from the beginning of the event.
Return period
This is the time interval after which a storm of given magnitude is likely to recur.
This is determined by analyzing past rainfalls from several events recorded at a
station. A related term, the frequency of the rainfall event (also called the storm
event) is the inverse of the return period. Often this amount is multiplied by 100
and expressed as a percentage. Frequency (expressed as percentage) of a rainfall
of a given magnitude means the number of times the given event may be expected
to be equaled or exceeded in 100 years.


1.20 Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP)
The values of extreme rainfall events are important from the water resources
engineering point of view. This is the amount of rainfall over a region which cannot be
exceeded over at that place. The PMP is obtained by studying all the storms that have
occurred over the region and maximizing them for the most critical atmospheric conditions.
The PMP will of course vary over the Earths surface according to the local climatic factors.
Naturally, it would be expected to be much higher in the hot humid equatorial regions than in
the colder regions of the mid-latitudes when the atmospheric is not able to hold as much
moisture. PMP also varies within India, between the extremes of the dry deserts of Rajasthan
to the ever humid regions of South Meghalaya plateau.
From the statistical studies, PMP can be estimated from the following equation
PMP P Ko = +

Where
P
= mean of annual maximum rainfall series

o
= standard deviation of the series
K = frequency factor, which is usually in the neighbourhood of 15