Precipitation

Civil Engineering Department / 4th Class Water Resources
Engineering
Lecturer:
Precipitation (P)
Precipitation could be defined as the fall of moisture from the atmosphere to the earth surface in
any form. Precipitation may be in two forms:
i) Liquid precipitation as rainfall,
ii) Frozen precipitation as snow, hail, sleet, and freezing rain.
1.1 Measurement of Precipitation

One of the most crucial components of the global hydrologic cycle is the precipitation that is
the basic data required to estimate any hydrologic quantity (such as runoff, flood discharge
etc.). Therefore, measurement of precipitation is an important component of all hydrologic
studies. Weather and water-balance studies too require information on precipitation.
Precipitation (of all kinds) is measured in terms of depth of water (in millimeters) that would
accumulate on a level surface if the precipitation remained where it fell. A variety of
instruments have been developed for measuring precipitation (or precipitation rate) and are
known as precipitation gauges or, simply, rain gauges that are classified as either recording or
nonrecording rain gauges.
1.2 Analysis of Precipitation Records

A recording gauge provides a record of the precipitation depth as a function of time.
Precipitation depth – time curve is called the mass curve. (Fig. 1.3)
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Engineering
Lecturer:
Figure 1.3 Precipitation Mass Curve
Precipitation depth in unit time is called precipitation intensity.
The curve showing the variation of precipitation intensity with time is called hyetograph and is
usually drawn in steps. (Fig. 1.4). The time interval Δt is chosen with respect to the size of the
region and usually in the range 1-6 hours. Precipitation with intensity less than 2.5 mm/hr is
called light precipitation, 2.5-7.5 mm/hr as medium, and more than 7.5 mm/hr as heavy rain.
Usually average intensity reduces as the duration increases.
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Engineering
Lecturer:
Figure 1.4 Hyetograph of rainfall
1.3 Average Depth of Precipitation

The information on the average depth of precipitation (or rainfall) over a specified area on
either the storm basis on seasonal basis or annual basis is often required in several types of
hydrologic problems. The depth of rainfall measured by a rain gauge is valid for that rain gauge
station and in its immediate vicinity. Over a large area like watershed (or catchment) of a
stream, there will be several stations and the average depth of rainfall over the entire area can
be estimated by one of the following methods:
1.3.1 Arithmetic Mean Method

This is the simplest method in which average depth of rainfall is obtained by obtaining the sum
of the depths of rainfall (say P1, P2, P3, P4 .... Pn) measured at stations 1, 2, 3,..... n and dividing
the sum by the total number of stations as shown in equation below
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Engineering
Lecturer:
This method is used in regions smaller than 500 km 2 when the gauges are rather uniformly
distributed.
1.3.2. Theissen Polygon Method

Theissen polygon method takes into account the non-uniform distribution of the gauges by
assigning a weightage factor for each rain gauge. This method is more accurate than the
arithmetic average method. The procedure to be followed in computing the average rainfall
depth is;
i) Join the adjacent rain-gauge stations A, B, C, D,….. (Figure 1.5) by straight lines.
ii) Draw the perpendicular bisectors of each of these lines.
iii) A Thiessen Polygon is thus constructed. The polygon formed by the perpendicular bisectors
around a station encloses an area, which is everywhere closer to that station than any other
station. Find the area of each of these polygons.
Figure 1.5 Thiessen Polygon

iv) Multiply the area of each Thiessen polygon by the rainfall value of the enclosed station.
v) Find the total area (ΣA) of the basin.
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Engineering
Lecturer:
vi) Compute the average precipitation depth from the equation
Thiessen polygon does not change in time, and is drawn only once. This method can be used in
regions 500-5000 km2 size. It considers the non-uniformity of the areal distribution of gauges.
1.3.3. Isohyetal Method

The basic assumption in the Thiessen polygon method is that a rain-gauge station best
represents the area, which is close to it. However, this may not be always valid, when the
rainfall is controlled by topography or results from intense convection. The Isohyetal method is
the most elaborate and accurate in such conditions. An isohyet is a line, on a rainfall map of the
basin, joining places of equal rainfall readings. An isohyetal map showing contours of equal
rainfall represents a more accurate picture of the rainfall distribution over the basin. The
computation steps to be followed for the application of this method are;
i) From the rainfall values recorded at various rain-gauge stations, the isohyetal map is prepared
for the storm causing the rainfall over the area.
ii) Measure the areas enclosed between successive isohyets with the help of planimeter.
iii) Multiply each of these areas by the average rainfall between the isohyets.
iv) The average rainfall is then computed from the expression.
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Engineering
Lecturer:
Since this method considers actual spatial variation of rainfall, it is considered as the best
method for computing average depth of rainfall.
Example 1: The average depth of annual precipitation as obtained at the rain gauge stations for
a specified area are as shown in Figure below. The values are in cms. Determine the average
depth of annual precipitation using (i) the arithmetic mean method, (ii) Theissen polygon
method, and (iii) isohyetal method.
Solution:
(i) Arithmetic mean method :
The average depth of annual precipitation can be determined using the eq.
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Engineering
Lecturer:
(ii) Theissen polygons for the given problem have been shown in Figure below and the
computations for the average depth of annual precipitation are shown in the following Table
below:
(iii) Isohyetal method: Isohyets are shown in Figure below:
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Engineering
Lecturer:
The computations for the average depth of annual precipitation are shown in the following
Table below:
1- Evapotranspiration (Es)
Evapotranspiration include evaporation and transpiration. Evaporation can be defined as the
water evaporate from the surfaces of ocean, rivers, and lakes and from the moist soil
evaporates. The vapors are carried over the land by air in the form of clouds. While the
transpiration is the process of water being lost from the leaves of the plants. Generally, the
evapotranspiration consists of
i) Surface evaporation,
ii) Water surface evaporation from river surface and oceans,
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Engineering
Lecturer:
iii) Evaporation from plants and leaves (transpiration), and
iv) Atmospheric evaporation.
The rate of evapotranspiration is difficult to quantify, since it can vary considerably from one
area to another. An approach to estimate the evapotranspiration over an area is attained by using
an evapotranspirometer, which is a container of soil and vegetation from which the water loss is
measured by weighting all water inflow from the surface and outflow from the bottom of the
container. However, as it is also more convenient for desert regions, the estimation is simplified
sometimes by considering losses due to evaporation only. Equation of continuity may also be
used to calculate the evaporation from a water body such as lakes and reservoirs.
E = P + X −Y − F − ΔS
Thus the evaporation rate E in a certain time interval can be computed using the information
about precipitation P, inflow X, outflow Y, infiltration F, and the variation of the volume of
water ΔS in the same interval.

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Civil Engineering Department / 4th Class Water Resources

1.1 Measurement of Precipitation

1.2 Analysis of Precipitation Records

Figure 1.3 Precipitation Mass Curve

Precipitation depth in unit time is called precipitation intensity.

Figure 1.4 Hyetograph of rainfall

1.3 Average Depth of Precipitation

1.3.1 Arithmetic Mean Method

1.3.2. Theissen Polygon Method

Figure 1.5 Thiessen Polygon

1.3.3. Isohyetal Method

(iii) Isohyetal method: Isohyets are shown in Figure below:

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