PRECIPITATION

 IS ANY LIQUID OR FROZEN WATER THAT FORMS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

AND FALLS BACK TO THE EARTH.
 IT COMES IN MANY FORMS, LIKE RAIN, SLEET, AND SNOW.
 IS ONE OF THE THREE MAJOR PARTS OF THE GLOBAL WATER CYCLE
ALONG WITH EVAPORATION AND CONDENSATION.

ACID RAIN
PRECIPITATION IS ALWAYS FRESH WATER, EVEN WHEN THE WATER
ORIGINATED FROM THE OCEAN. THIS IS BECAUSE SEA SALT DOES NOT
EVAPORATE WITH WATER. HOWEVER, IN SOME CASES, POLLUTANTS IN THE
ATMOSPHERE CAN CONTAMINATE WATER DROPLETS BEFORE THEY FALL TO
THE EARTH.

THE PRECIPITATION THAT RESULTS FROM THIS IS CALLED ACID RAIN.

ACID RAIN DOES NOT HARM HUMANS DIRECTLY, BUT IT CAN MAKE LAKES AND
STREAMS MORE ACIDIC. THIS HARMS AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS BECAUSE PLANTS
AND ANIMALS OFTEN CANNOT ADAPT TO THE ACIDITY.

FORMATION OF PRECIPITATION

PRECIPITATION FORMS IN THE CLOUDS WHEN WATER

VAPOR CONDENSES INTO BIGGER AND BIGGER DROPLETS OF WATER. WHEN THE
DROPS ARE HEAVY ENOUGH, THEY FALL TO THE EARTH.
IF A CLOUD IS COLDER, LIKE IT WOULD BE AT HIGHER ALTITUDES, THE
WATER DROPLETS MAY FREEZE TO FORM ICE. THESE ICE CRYSTALS THEN FALL
TO THE EARTH AS SNOW, HAIL, OR RAIN, DEPENDING ON THE TEMPERATURE
WITHIN THE CLOUD AND AT THE EARTH’S SURFACE.
MOST RAIN ACTUALLY BEGINS AS SNOW HIGH IN THE CLOUDS. AS THE
SNOWFLAKES FALL THROUGH WARMER AIR, THEY BECOME RAINDROPS. 

CONDENSATION NUCLEI

PARTICLES OF DUST OR SMOKE IN THE ATMOSPHERE ARE ESSENTIAL

FOR PRECIPITATION. THESE PARTICLES, CALLED “CONDENSATION NUCLEI,”
PROVIDE A SURFACE FOR WATER VAPOR TO CONDENSE UPON. THIS HELPS
WATER DROPLETS GATHER TOGETHER AND BECOME LARGE ENOUGH TO FALL
TO THE EARTH.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF RAINFALL
IT DISCUSS THE AMOUNT, THE INTENSITY, THE DURATION, THE
FREQUENCY OR RETURN PERIOD, AND THE SEASONAL DISTRIBUTION.

THE STATISTICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH-INTENSITY, SHORT-

DURATION, CONVECTIVE RAINFALL ARE ESSENTIALLY INDEPENDENT OF
LOCATIONS WITHIN A REGION AND ARE SIMILAR IN MANY PARTS OF THE
WORLD

DEPTH
THE PRECIPITATION DEPTH INDICATES TO WHAT DEPTH LIQUID
PRECIPITATION WOULD COVER A HORIZONTAL SURFACE IN AN OBSERVATION
PERIOD IF NOTHING COULD DRAIN, EVAPORATE OR PERCOLATE FROM THIS
SURFACE. THE PRECIPITATION DEPTH OF 1 MM CORRESPONDS TO A LIQUID
QUANTITY OF 1 LITRE TO 1 M² OF GROUND AREA.

AMOUNT
IT IS IMPORTANT TO THE OVERALL HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND
REPLENISHMENT OF THE SOIL WATER, AND THE AMOUNT IS AN ACCUMULATION
OR PRODUCT OF THE INTENSITY TIMES THE DURATION.

INTENSITY
RAINFALL INTENSITY IS DEFINED AS THE RATIO OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT
OF RAIN (RAINFALL DEPTH) FALLING DURING A GIVEN PERIOD TO THE
DURATION OF THE PERIOD.

INTENSITY AND DURATION CAN HAVE A LARGE INFLUENCE ON

WHETHER THE RAINFALL INFILTRATES OR BECOMES SURFACE RUNOFF.

HIGHER RAINFALL INTENSITY PRODUCES LARGER SIZE RAINDROPS

WHICH HAVE MORE IMPACT ENERGY, AND THUS HIGHER INTENSITY STORMS
CAN DAMAGE DELICATE VEGETATION AND BARE SOIL.

DURATION
IT REFERS TO THE LENGTH OF TIME RAINFALL OCCURS.

A HIGH INTENSITY RAINFALL FOR A SHORT DURATION MAY AFFECT

TENDER SEEDLINGS, BUT IT WILL NOT LIKELY HAVE MUCH EFFECT ON SOIL
EROSION AND RUNOFF.

FREQUENCY
FREQUENCY OR THE RETURN PERIOD REFERS TO HOW OFTEN RAINFALL
OCCURS AT A PARTICULAR AMOUNT OR INTENSITY AND DURATION.
HYETOGRAPH
IS A GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE DISTRIBUTION
OF RAINFALL INTENSITY OVER TIME.

RAINFALL INTENSITY PROGRESSIVELY INCREASES UNTIL IT REACHES A

MAXIMUM AND THEN GRADUALLY DECREASES. WHERE THIS MAXIMUM
OCCURS AND HOW FAST THE MAXIMUM IS REACHED IS WHAT DIFFERENTIATES
ONE DISTRIBUTION FROM ANOTHER.

ONE IMPORTANT ASPECT TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT THE DISTRIBUTIONS

ARE FOR DESIGN STORMS, NOT NECESSARILY ACTUAL STORMS. IN OTHER
WORDS, A REAL STORM MAY NOT BEHAVE IN THIS SAME FASHION. THE
MAXIMUM INTENSITY MAY NOT BE REACHED AS UNIFORMLY AS SHOWN IN THE
SCS HYETOGRAPHS.

POINT RAINFALL MEASUREMENT

THE RAINFALL DURING A GIVEN TIME INTERVAL (OR OFTEN ONE STORM) ME
ASURED IN A RAIN GAGE, OR AN ESTIMATE OF THE AMOUNT WHICH MIGHT HAV
E BEEN MEASURED AT A GIVEN POINT.

RAINGAUGE
IS AN INSTRUMENT USED BY METEOROLOGISTS AND HYDROLOGISTS TO
GATHER AND MEASURE THE AMOUNT OF LIQUID PRECIPITATION OVER AN AREA
IN A PREDEFINED AREA, OVER A PERIOD OF TIME.[1] IT IS USED FOR
DETERMINING THE DEPTH OF PRECIPITATION (USUALLY IN MM) THAT OCCURS
OVER A UNIT AREA AND THUS MEASURING RAINFALL AMOUNT.

WHO MEASURE FORECAST RAIN?

HYDROLOGIST

A HYDROLOGIST IS A SCIENTIST WHO STUDIES WATER AND ITS

MOVEMENT AROUND THE PLANET. HYDROLOGISTS ALSO STUDY HOW WATER
AFFECTS ITS SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT AND HOW ENVIRONMENTAL
FACTORS AFFECT THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF AVAILABLE WATER. ONE
CRUCIAL CONCEPT IN HYDROLOGY IS THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE.

METEOROLOGIST

A METEOROLOGIST IS AN INDIVIDUAL WITH SPECIALIZED EDUCATION

WHO USES SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES TO EXPLAIN, UNDERSTAND, OBSERVE OR
FORECAST THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA AND/OR HOW THE
ATMOSPHERE AFFECTS THE EARTH AND LIFE ON THE PLANET.
 TYPES OF RAIN GAUGES

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF RAIN GAUGES AS CLASSIFIED BELOW.

• NON-RECORDING TYPE RAIN GAUGE

• RECORDING TYPE RAIN GAUGES

NON-RECORDING TYPE RAIN GAUGE

NON-RECORDING TYPE RAIN GAUGE IS THE MOST COMMON TYPE OF

RAIN GAUGE USED BY THE METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT.

RECORDING TYPE RAIN GAUGES

THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF RECORDING RAIN GAUGES AS FOLLOWS

(I) WEIGHING BUCKET TYPE

- IS MOST COMMON SELF-RECORDING RAIN GAUGE. IT CONSISTS OF A
RECEIVER BUCKET SUPPORTED BY A SPRING OR LEVER BALANCE OR SOME
OTHER WEIGHING MECHANISM.

(II) TIPPING BUCKET TYPE

- REFERS TO THE MECHANISM THAT CERTAIN RAIN GAUGES DEPLOY TO
MEASURE PRECIPITATION AT ANY GIVEN TIME.

(III) FLOATING OR NATURAL SYPHON TYPE RAIN GAUGE

- THE WORKING OF THIS TYPE OF RAIN GAUGE IS SIMILAR TO WEIGHING
BUCKET RAIN GAUGE. A FUNNEL RECEIVES THE WATER WHICH IS COLLECTED
IN A RECTANGULAR CONTAINER. A FLOAT IS PROVIDED AT THE BOTTOM OF
CONTAINER, AND THIS FLOAT RAISES AS THE WATER LEVEL RISES IN THE
CONTAINER.
 ESTIMATION OF MISSING RAINFALL DATA
THE POINT OBSERVATION FROM A PRECIPITATION GAGE MAY HAVE A
SHORT BREAK IN THE RECORD BECAUSE OF INSTRUMENT FAILURE OR ABSENCE
OF THE OBSERVER. THUS, IT IS OFTEN NECESSARY TO ESTIMATE THE MISSING
RECORD USING DATA FROM THE NEIGHBORING STATION. THE FOLLOWING
METHODS ARE MOST COMMONLY USED FOR ESTIMATING THE MISSING
RECORDS.

NORMAL PRECIPITATION

- IT IS THE AVERAGE VALUE OF PRECIPITATION AT A PARTICULAR DATE,

MONTH OR YEAR OVER A SPECIFIED 30 YEAR PERIOD.  THUS, THE TERM NORMAL
ANNUAL PRECIPITATION AT STATION A MEANS THE AVERAGE ANNUAL
PRECIPITATION AT A BASED ON A SPECIFIED 30 YEAR OF RECORD.

DIFFERENT METHODS

1. SIMPLE ARITHMETIC AVERAGE

- THE MISSING PRECIPITATION PX CAN BE DETERMINED USING SIMPLE

ARITHMETIC AVERAGE, IF THE NORMAL ANNUAL PRECIPITATION AT VARIOUS
STATIONS ARE WITHIN 10% OF THE NORMAL PRECIPITATION AT STATION, X, AS
FOLLOWS:

                                                                  

2. NORMAL RATIO METHOD

- IF THE NORMAL PRECIPITATIONS VARY CONSIDERABLY THEN PX IS

ESTIMATED BY WEIGHTING THE PRECIPITATION AT VARIOUS STATIONS BY THE
RATIOS OF NORMAL ANNUAL PRECIPITATION.  THE NORMAL RATION METHOD
GIVES PX AS:

                                                         

- THIS METHOD IS BASED SELECTING M (M IS USUALLY 3) STATIONS THAT

ARE NEAR AND APPROXIMATELY EVENLY SPACED AROUND THE STATION WITH
THE MISSING RECORD.

 
EXAMPLE
THE NORMAL ANNUAL RAINFALL AT STATIONS A, B, C AND D IN A BASIN ARE
80.97, 67.59, 76.28, AND 92.01 CM, RESPECTIVELY.  IN THE YEAR 1975, THE STATION
D WAS INOPERATIVE AND THE STATIONS A, B, AND C RECORDED ANNUAL
RAINFALL OF 91.11, 72.23, AND 79.89 CM, RESPECTIVELY.  ESTIMATE THE
RAINFALL AT STATION D IN THAT YEAR.

SOLUTION:  AS THE NORMAL RAINFALL VALUES VARY BY MORE THAN 10%, THE
RATION METHOD IS ADOPTED.

3. MODIFIED NORMAL RATIO METHOD

- NORMAL RATIO METHOD IS MODIFIED TO INCORPORATE THE EFFECT OF

DISTANCE IN THE ESTIMATION OF MISSING RAINFALL.

  

WHERE  IS NORMAL RAINFALL,  IS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE INDEX
STATION I AND THE GAUGE STATION WITH MISSING DATA OR UNGAGED
STATION, N IS THE NUMBER OF INDEX STATIONS AND B IS THE CONSTANT BY
WHICH THE DISTANCE IS WEIGHTED (NORMALLY 1.5-2.0) COMMONLY USED D 0.5

4. INVERSE DISTANCE METHOD

- THE INVERSE DISTANCE METHOD HAS BEEN ADVOCATED TO BE THE

MOST ACCURATE METHOD AS COMPARE TO OTHER TWO METHODS DISCUSSED
ABOVE.

AMOUNT OF RAINFALL TO BE ESTIMATED AT A LOCATION IS A FUNCTION OF;

1. RAINFALL MEASURED AT THE SURROUNDING INDEX STATIONS

2. DISTANCE TO EACH INDEX STATION FROM THE UNGAUGED LOCATION

 
RAINFALL RX AT STATION X IS GIVEN BY;

B = 2 IS COMMONLY USED.

AS IN INVERSE DISTANCE METHOD THE WEIGHTING IS STRICTLY BASED

ON DISTANCE, HENCE THIS METHOD IS NOT SATISFACTORY FOR HILLY REGIONS.

5. LINEAR PROGRAMMING METHOD

LINEAR PROGRAMMING (LP) METHOD SELECTS A BASE STATION AND

SEVERAL SURROUNDING INDEX STATIONS AND DETERMINES OPTIMAL
WEIGHTING FACTOR BY MINIMIZING THE DEVIATION BETWEEN OBSERVED AND
COMPUTED RAINFALL AT A BASE STATION FOR A NUMBER OF RAINFALL
EVENTS.

THUS IT DETERMINES OPTIMAL WEIGHTING FACTORS FOR THE BASE

STATION AND ASSOCIATED INDEX STATIONS.

THIS METHOD CAN BE FORMULATED AS, OBJECTIVE IS TO MINIMIZE SUM OF

DEVIATION FOR K EVENTS I.E., MINIMIZE 

SUBJECTED TO     

                              

(NON-NEGATIVITY CONSTRAINTS)

WHERE, I = INDEX FOR “INDEX STATION”

J = INDEX FOR RAINFALL EVENTS

= OBSERVED RAINFALL AT BASE STATION ‘B’ FOR EVENT ‘J’

            = COMPUTED RAINFALL AT BASE STATION FOR EVENT ‘J’

 

FOR ANY EVENT, COMPUTED RAIN – OBSERVED RAIN = DEVIATION

DEVIATION COULD BE EITHER POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE VALUE

(UNRESTRICTED IN SIGN), SUCH VARIABLES ARE REPLACED BY THE DIFFERENCE
OF TWO NON-NEGATIVE VARIABLES (LP REQUIREMENT) I.E., U.

CONVERSION OF POINT RAINFALLTO AREAL RAINFALL

A GENERAL METHODOLOGY IS DEVELOPED FOR THE
TRANSFORMATION OF POINT RAINFALL TO AREAL RAINFALL.
THE REDUCTION FACTOR IS SHOWN TO DEPEND SOLELY ON THE
EXPECTED CORRELATION COEFFICIENT BETWEEN THE POINT RAINFALL AT TWO
RANDOMLY CHOSEN POINTS IN THE AREA IN CONSIDERATION.
THE METHODOLOGY CAN BE USED TO CHARACTERIZE THE INPUT TO
RAINFALL-RUNOFF MODELS, AND IT INCLUDES THE CASE IN WHICH MULTIPLE
INPUTS ARE USED IN THE MODEL IN THE FORM OF A SUBDIVISION IN MODULES
OF THE WHOLE CATCHMENT.
AN EXAMPLE IS WORKED OUT DISCUSSING THE DIFFERENT
METHODOLOGIES FOR THE ESTIMATION OF TOTAL MEAN VOLUME OF RAINFALL
OVER AN AREA.
ESTIMATION OF AREAL PRECIPITATION
A SINGLE POINT PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENT IS QUITE OFTEN NOT
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE VOLUME OF PRECIPITATION FALLING OVER A GIVEN
CATCHMENT AREA. A DENSE NETWORK OF POINT MEASUREMENTS AND/OR
RADAR ESTIMATES CAN PROVIDE A BETTER REPRESENTATION OF THE TRUE
VOLUME OVER A GIVEN AREA. A NETWORK OF PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENTS
CAN BE CONVERTED TO AREAL ESTIMATES USING ANY OF A NUMBER OF
TECHNIQUES WHICH INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

1. ARITHMETIC MEAN
- THIS TECHNIQUE CALCULATES AREAL PRECIPITATION USING THE
ARITHMETIC MEAN OF ALL THE POINT OR AREAL MEASUREMENTS CONSIDERED
IN THE ANALYSIS.

2. ISOHYETAL ANALYSIS
- THIS IS A GRAPHICAL TECHNIQUE WHICH INVOLVES DRAWING
ESTIMATED LINES OF EQUAL RAINFALL OVER AN AREA BASED ON POINT
MEASUREMENTS. THE MAGNITUDE AND EXTENT OF THE RESULTANT RAINFALL
AREAS OF COVERAGE ARE THEN CONSIDERED VERSUS THE AREA IN QUESTION
IN ORDER TO ESTIMATE THE AREAL PRECIPITATION VALUE.
3. THIESSEN POLYGON
- THIS IS ANOTHER GRAPHICAL TECHNIQUE WHICH CALCULATES
STATION WEIGHTS BASED ON THE RELATIVE AREAS OF EACH MEASUREMENT
STATION IN THE THIESSEN POLYGON NETWORK. THE INDIVIDUAL WEIGHTS ARE
MULTIPLIED BY THE STATION OBSERVATION AND THE VALUES ARE SUMMED TO
OBTAIN THE AREAL AVERAGE PRECIPITATION.

4. DISTANCE WEIGHTING/GRIDDED
- THIS IS ANOTHER STATION WEIGHTING TECHNIQUE. A GRID OF POINT
ESTIMATES IS MADE BASED ON A DISTANCE WEIGHTING SCHEME. EACH
OBSERVED POINT VALUE IS GIVEN A UNIQUE WEIGHT FOR EACH GRID POINT
BASED ON THE DISTANCE FROM THE GRID POINT IN QUESTION. THE GRID POINT
PRECIPITATION VALUE IS CALCULATED BASED ON THE SUM OF THE INDIVIDUAL
STATION WEIGHT MULTIPLIED BY OBSERVED STATION VALUE. ONCE THE GRID
POINTS HAVE ALL BEEN ESTIMATED THEY ARE SUMMED AND THE SUM IS
DIVIDED BY THE NUMBER OF GRID POINTS TO OBTAIN THE AREAL AVERAGE
PRECIPITATION.

5. MAPX
- THIS IS A NWS-SPECIFIC GRIDDED TECHNIQUE. AREAL RUNOFF ZONE
PRECIPITATION ESTIMATES ARE MADE USING THE 4 X 4 KM WSR-88D 1-HOURLY
GRIDDED PRECIPITATION ESTIMATES. THE ARITHMETIC MEAN CALCULATION
TECHNIQUE IS USED TO AVERAGE THE GRID POINT ESTIMATES.

6. INDEX STATIONS
- IN SOME AREAS OF THE COUNTRY (PRIMARILY MOUNTAINOUS AREAS),
PRE-DETERMINED STATION WEIGHTS BASED ON CLIMATOLOGY ARE USED TO
COMPUTE BASIN AVERAGE PRECIPITATION.

AREAL PRECIPITATION TERMINOLOGY AS USED IN ABRFC HYDROLOGIC

MODELING

MAP
- MEAN AREAL PRECIPITATION
- AREAL RUNOFF ZONE PRECIPITATION ESTIMATE NORMALLY BASED ON
POINT PRECIPITATION OBSERVATIONS. THE DISTANCE WEIGHTING
CALCULATION TECHNIQUE IS USED. MAP IS USED AS INPUT TO THE RIVER
FORECAST MODEL ON A ROUTINE BASIS.
MAPX
- RADAR BASED MEAN AREAL PRECIPITATION - AREAL RUNOFF ZONE
PRECIPITATION ESTIMATE BASED ON THE 4 X 4 KM WSR-88D 1-HOURLY GRIDDED
PRECIPITATION ESTIMATES. THE ARITHMETIC MEAN CALCULATION TECHNIQUE
IS USED TO AVERAGE THE GRID POINT ESTIMATES. MAPX IS USED AS INPUT TO
THE RIVER FORECAST MODEL ON A ROUTINE BASIS.

FMAP
- FUTURE MEAN AREAL PRECIPITATION - FUTURE OR FORECAST AREAL
RUNOFF ZONE PRECIPITATION ESTIMATE.

DOUBLE MASS ANALYSIS

IT IS A SIMPLE GRAPHICAL METHOD TO EVALUATE THE CONSISTENCY OF
HYDROLOGICAL DATA.

IT IS A COMMONLY USED DATA ANALYSIS APPROACH FOR

INVESTIGATING THE BEHAVIOUR OF RECORDS MADE OF HYDROLOGICAL OR
METEOROLOGICAL DATA AT A NUMBER OF LOCATIONS.

IT IS USED TO DETERMINE WHETHER THERE IS A NEED FOR

CORRECTIONS TO THE DATA - TO ACCOUNT FOR CHANGES IN DATA
COLLECTION PROCEDURES OR OTHER LOCAL CONDITIONS. SUCH CHANGES MAY
RESULT FROM A VARIETY OF THINGS INCLUDING CHANGES IN
INSTRUMENTATION, CHANGES IN OBSERVATION PROCEDURES, OR CHANGES IN
GAUGE LOCATION OR SURROUNDING CONDITIONS.

DOUBLE MASS ANALYSIS IS USED FOR CHECKING CONSISTENCY OF A

HYDROLOGICAL OR METEOROLOGICAL RECORD IS CONSIDERED TO BE AN
ESSENTIAL TOOL BEFORE TAKING IT FOR ANALYSIS PURPOSE
AN EXAMPLE OF A DOUBLE MASS ANALYSIS IS A “DOUBLE MASS PLOT”, OR
“DOUBLE MASS CURVE”.

COMMON CAUSES OF INCONSISTENCY

 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
 OCCURRENCE OF OBSERVATIONAL ERROR FROM A CERTAIN DATE
APPLICABILITY OF DOUBLE MASS ANALYSIS
BASE STATIONS SHOULD BE LOCATED RELATIVELY CLOSE TO
STATION BEING TESTED.

METHOD SHOULD NOT BE USED IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS WHERE

PRECIPITATION CAN DEVIATE SIGNIFICANTLY FOR NEARBY STATIONS.

METHOD SHOULD ONLY BE USED FOR LONG TERM ADJUSTMENT OF

PRECIPITATION DATA BUT NOT FOR ADJUSTING DAILY OR STORM
PRECIPITATION.
THE DOUBLE MASS CURVE IS OBTAINED BY PLOTTING:

X-AXIS
– AVERAGE ACCUMULATED PRECIPITATION OF NEARBY STATIONS /
CUMULATIVE VALUE AT SURROUNDING STATIONS STARTING FROM THE LATEST
YEAR.

Y-AXIS
– ACCUMULATED PRECIPITATION OF THE STATION UNDER
CONSIDERATION / CUMULATIVE RAINFALL AT TEST STATION STARTING FROM
THE LATEST YEAR