Arba Mich University

Arba Mich Institute of Technology

Applied Hydrology (HE-612) Assignment one
Q #1. Explain the hydrologic cycle in nature and its various phases involved with the help of a neat sketch.
Answer: The movement of water on the earth's surface and through the atmosphere is known as the hydrologic cycle. OR i t is the
water transfer cycle, which occurs continuously in nature; the three important phases of the hydrologic cycle are: (a) Evaporation and
evapotranspiration (b) precipitation and (c) runoff and is shown in Fig. 1. The globe has one-third land and Two thirds Ocean.
Evaporation from the surfaces of ponds, lakes, reservoirs. Oceans, etc. and transpiration from surface vegetation i.e., from plant leaves
of cropped land and forests, etc. take place. These vapors rise to the sky and are condensed at higher altitudes by condensation nuclei
and form clouds, resulting in droplet growth. The clouds melt and sometimes burst resulting in precipitation of different forms like
rain, snow, hail, sleet, mist, dew and frost. A part of this precipitation flows over the land called runoff and part infiltrates into the soil
which builds up the ground water table. The surface runoff joins the streams and the water is stored in reservoirs. A portion of surface
runoff and ground water flows back to ocean. Again evaporation starts from the surfaces of lakes, reservoirs and ocean, and the cycle
repeats. Of these three phases of the hydrologic cycle, namely, evaporation, precipitation and. runoff, it is the runoff phase, which is
important to a civil engineer since he is concerned with the storage of surface runoff in tanks and reservoirs for the purposes of
irrigation, municipal water supply hydroelectric power etc.

Figure 1. Illustration of Hydrologic cycle

Q#2. Discuss the basic conditions necessary for the occurrence of precipitation.
There are four basic conditions required for the occurrence of precipitation;
Accumulation of moisture in the atmosphere (evaporation)
Cooling of air to the dew point temperature (saturation)
Condensation of water vapor in the atmosphere
Growth of small water droplets (clouds) to the required size

Answer: Precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that is deposited on the Earth's surface. It occurs
when the atmosphere, a large gaseous solution, becomes saturated with water vapour and the water condenses, falling out of solution
(i.e., precipitates). Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated: cooling the air or adding water vapour
to the air. Precipitation forms via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud.
Moisture overriding associated with weather fronts is an overall major method of precipitation production. If enough moisture and
upward motion is present, precipitation falls from convective clouds such as cumulonimbus and can organize into narrow rain bands.
Where relatively warm water bodies are present, for example due to water evaporation from lakes, lake-effect snowfall becomes a
concern downwind of the warm lakes within the cold cyclonic flow around the backside of extra tropical cyclones. Lake-effect
snowfall can be locally heavy. Thunder snow is possible within a cyclone's comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In

mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation.
On the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the
monsoon trough, or inter-tropical convergence zone, brings rainy seasons to savannah climes.
As summery; the following three conditions are required in order to produce precipitation:
1. A continuous supply of water vapour through evaporation and transpiration processes and the air movement to transport the water
vapour to the location of rainfall.
2. Nucleating particles such as dust, salt, pollen and various atmospheric ions for condensation must be present.
3. A cooling mechanism sufficient to cause condensation and growth of water droplets or ice crystals from water vapour.
Q#3. The hydrologic cycle is a phenomenon occurring continuously in the troposphere-ocean-lithosphere-cryposphere continuum. But
why the outputs of the hydrologic cycle (precipitation, stream flow, etc.) vary over time and space?
Answer: there are number of reasons such as global climate change (due to deforestation, relies of CO2 from industries and vehicles to
the atmosphere, population density increment, etc.), variation of topographic features and geographical location of the area.
Q#4. A lake surface has an area of 0.71 km 2. For the month of March, this lake had an inflow of 1.8 m 3/s and an outflow of 1.35 m3/s.
a storage change of +710,000m3 was recorded. If the total depth of rainfall recorded at the local rain gauge during the same period was
225 mm. Estimate the evaporation loss from the lake and state any assumption you use during your computation.
Answer: In a time period t, the water budget for the lake can be written as:
Input Volume Output Volume = Change in Storage
(It + P.A) (Qt + E.A) = S; Where, I = average inflow rate, Q = average outflow rate, P = precipitation, E = evaporation, A =
surface area of the lake and S = change in the lake storage volume.
Assumption: Assume that a lake had both inflow and outflow totally in one month (i.e. month of March having totally 31 days).
Hence, t = 1 month of March = 31 x 24 x 60 x 60 = 2.6784 Million seconds in a month of March.
S = 0.71Mm3 (given value)
Inflow volume = It = 1.8 x 2.6784 = 4.82112Mm3
Outflow volume = Qt = 1.35 x 2.6784 = 3.61584Mm3
Input due to precipitation = P.A = 225 mm x 0.71km2 = 0.15975Mm3

Output due to evaporation = E.A = E x 0.71km2 = E x 0.71Mm2

Hence, 0.71Mm3 = (4.82112Mm3 + 0.15975Mm3) (3.61584Mm3 + E x 0.71Mm2)
(0.71 4.9807) Mm3 = - 3.61584 Mm3 0.71EMm2.
Evaporation loss from a lake = 0.922338028 Mm OR Evaporation = 922338.028m = 922,338,028mm

Q#5. The following data are obtained in stream gauging operation. A current meter with a calibration equation v = (0.32N + 0.032)
m/s , where N is revolution per second was used to measure the velocity at 0.6*d. Using (a) Mid-section and (b) Mean- section
methods, calculate the discharge in the stream.
Distance from the
0
2
4
6
9
12
15
18
20
right bank (m)
Depth (m)
0
0.5
1.1
1.95
2.25
1.85
1.5
0.75
0
Number of
0
80
83
113
139
121
114
70
0
revolutions
Observation time (s)
0
180
120
120
120
120
120
150
0
Answer:
Distanc Avera Dept Revol Observa Ns = R/t Area,
Velocity, V
Discharge, Q
0.6V = Vi
0.2V and 0.8V =
Mid-section Mean-section
e from
ge
h
utions
tion
(m/s)
A
(Vi-1 +Vi+1)/2
method
method
the
width
(m) (N=m)
time
right
(m)
(t=s)
bank
(m)
0
0
0
0
0
0.00000 0.000 0.0000000
0.00000000
0
0
2
2.25
0.5
80
180
0.44444 1.125 0.174222
08
4
0.21377760
4
2.00
1.1
83
120
0.69166 2.200 0.253333
6
12
0.31733312
6
2.50
1.95
113
120
1.09166 4.875 0.381333
6
12
0.39199984
9
3.00
2.25
139
120
1.15833 6.750 0.402666
3
56
0.37866656
0.354666
0.34533328
12
3.00
1.85
121
120
1.00833 5.550

15

3.00

1.5

114

120

18

3.00

0.75

70

150

20

3
0.95000
0
0.46666
6
0.00000
0

4.500
2.250
0.000

56
0.336000
00
0.181333
12

0.0000000
0

0.25866656
0.09066656

0.00000000

Q#6. Solutions of Sodium Chromate of concentration 500g/l was injected at a constant rate of 4 L/s in a stream. At the end of mixing
length, equilibrium concentration of tracer was measured as 4 parts per million (ppm). The initial concentration of tracer in the river
was zero. Estimate the discharge in the river.
Solution:
C0 = 0
C1 = 500g/l = 500/1000 = 0.50
C2 = 4ppm = 4/10^6 = 4x10^-6
q = 4x10^-3 m3/s
Q = q (C1/C2-1) = 4x10^-3 (= 499.996m3/s)

Q#7. In the moving boat method of discharge measurement, the magnitude Vr, and the direction of the velocity of the stream relative
to the moving boat are measured simultaneously. Estimate the discharge in the river that gave the following boat data. Assume mean
velocity in a vertical to be 0.95 times the surface velocity measured by instruments. The sections are spaced at a constant distance of
75 m apart.
Answer: