Module-2

INTRODUCTION
LOSSES FROM PRECIPITATION
The hydrological equation states that
Runoff = Rainfall – Losses.
Hence the runoff from a watershed resulting due to a storm is dependent on
the losses. Losses may occur due to the following reasons
1. Evaporation
2. Evapotranspiration
3. Infiltration
4. Interception
5. Watershed leakage
The first three contribute to the major amount of losses.
 INTRODUCTION
EVAPORATION
 It is the process by which a liquid changes to gaseous state at the free surface through
transferof heat energy.
 In an exposed water body like lakes or ponds, water molecules are in continuous motion
with arrange of velocities (faster at the top and slower at the bottom).
 Additional heat on water body increases the velocities. When some water molecules
posses sufficient kinetic energy they may cross over the water surface.

 Simultaneously the water molecules in

atmosphere surrounding the water body may
penetrate the water body due to condensation.
 If the number of molecules leaving the water
body is greater than the number of molecules
arriving or returning, difference in vapour
pressure occurs, leading to evaporation
FACTORS AFFECTING EVAPORATION
1. Temperature:
•On increasing the temperature the rate of evaporation also increases.
•At higher temperatures, the molecules are moving faster; therefore, it is more likely for a
molecule to have enough energy to break away from the liquid to become a gas.
2. Wind speed:
•Wind speed and rate of evaporation are directly proportional to each other.
•As the wind speed increases, the rate of evaporation also increases.
3. Surface area:
•As the surface area increases, the rate of evaporation also increases.
•The more area is exposed to air, allowing water molecules to acquire more heat energy from
the surroundings.
4. Humidity:
•Humidity and rate of evaporation are in inverse relation to each other.
•As the humidity decreases, the rate of evaporation increases.
FACTORS AFFECTING EVAPORATION

5. Quality of water:
The rate of evaporation of fresh water is greater than saline water. (Specific gravity of saline
water is greater than that of fresh water). It is established that saline water has lesser vapour
pressure and it is observed that evaporation from fresh water is 3 – 4% more than sea water.
6.Atmospheric pressure and Altitude: Evaporation decreases with increase in atmospheric
pressure as the rate of diffusion from water body into the air is suppressed. At higher altitude
the atmospheric pressure is usually lesser and there by evaporation rate is higher.
7. Depth of water body: Evaporation in shallow water bodies is greater when compared to
deep water bodies as the water at lower levels in deep water bodies is not heated much and
vapour pressure at lower levels is also reduced.
8. Radiation: Since the evaporation requires continuous supply of energy which is derived
mainly from solar radiation. The radiation will be a factor of considerable importance.
Evaporation increase and the radiation increases and vice versa.
 MEASUREMENT OF EVAPORATION

In order to ensure proper planning and operation of reservoirs and irrigation

systems estimation of evaporation is necessary. However exact measurement of
evaporation is not possible.

But the following methods are adopted as they give reliable results.
1. Pan measurement methods
2. Use of empirical formulae
3. Storage equation method
4. Energy budget method
1. PAN MEASUREMENT METHOD

 Any galvanized iron cylindrical vessel of 1.2 m to 1.8 m diameter, 300 mm depth
with opening at the top can be used as an evapometer or evaporation pan.

 During any interval of time evaporation is measured as the drop in water level in
the pan.

 Rainfall data, atmospheric pressure data, temperature etc., should also be

recorded. Class A evaporation pan
 It has been correlated that evaporation
from a pan is not exactly the same as that
taking place from a water body.

 Hence while using a pan measurement

data for measuring evaporation from a
lake or a water body, a correction factor
has to be applied or multiplied by a pan
co-efficient.
The popularly used evaporation pans are:
1. ISI standard pan or Class A pan
2. US Class A pan
3. Colorado sunken pan
4. US Geological Survey floating pan
PAN CO-EFFICCIENT
 Evaporation pans are not exact models of large reservoirs or lakes, because of the
exposure conditions which are not identical in both the cases.
 Specially the heat storing capacity and the heat transformed from the side & bottom of
pan are quite different from those of large lake are reservoir, also the height of the rim
above the water surface in the pan effects the wind action over the surface and creates
a shadow of variable magnitude over water surface which effects radiation incident to
the water surface.
 In view of the above evaporation measured from the pans has to be corrected to get
the evaporation from the lake under a similar climatic exposure condition.
 The evaporation pans adopted in practice have a pan coefficient of 0.7 to 0.8.
 Thus a co-efficient called pan co-efficient is introduced and is given by:

Pan Co-efficient (Cp) =

(Actual evaporation from the lakes or reservoirs/ Measured evaporation from the pan)
PAN CO-EFFICCIENT
The pan co-efficient for different types of pans are tabulated below:-

Type of Pan Range of Cp Average Cp

ISI Pan 0.65-1.0 0.80

Class A load pan 0.60-0.80 0.70

Colorado Sunken pan 0.75-0.86 0.78

Floating Pan 0.70-0.80 0.80

METHODS TO CONTROL EVAPORATION FROM LAKES
Following are some recommended measures to reduce evaporation from water surfaces.

 Storage reservoirs should have more depth and less surface area. The site for
construction of a dam should be so chosen that a deep reservoir with minimum surface
area exposed to atmosphere is formed.

 Tall trees on the wind ward side of the reservoir should be planted so that they act as
wind breakers.

 By spraying a chemical such as Acetyl Alcohol on water surface, a film of 0.15

microns thickness is produced on the surface. This film allows precipitation in but does
not allow evaporation. This is suitable when wind velocities are less and for small and
medium size reservoirs.

 In case of ponds and lakes entire water body can be covered by thin polythene sheets as
mechanical covering.
METHODS TO CONTROL EVAPORATION FROM LAKES

 In reservoirs outlet arrangements should be so done to let out warmer water at top
than cold water from bottom.
 De-weeding the reservoirs should be done such that water consumed by weeds is
reduced.
 The streams and channels to be straightened so that length and in turn exposed area
to atmosphere are reduced.
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
 Evapotranspiration: In agricultural fields apart from transpiration, water is also lost
due to evaporation from adjacent soil. The sum of these two losses is often termed as
evapotranspiration (Et) or consumptive use (Cu).
 Potential evapotranspiration: When sufficient moisture is freely available to
completely meet the needs of the vegetation fully covering an area, the resulting
evapotranspiration is called potential evapotranspiration.
 Actual evapotranspiration: The real evapotranspiration occurring in a specific
situation in the field is called actual evapotranspiration.
 The knowledge of evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration and actual
evapotranspiration are very much useful in designing irrigation systems (in deciding the
amount of water to be supplied for raising crops).
FACTORS AFFECTING EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
 Potential evapotranspiration is controlled by meteorological facts but actual
evapotranspiration is affected by plant and soil factors.
 In total the factors affecting evapotranspiration are:
1. Temperature
2. Humidity
3. Percentage sunshine hours
4. Wind speed
5. Type of crop
6. Season
7. Moisture holding capacity of soil
8. Irrigation Methods
9. Cropping patterns
lysimeter is a measuring device which can be used to measure the actual
evapotranspiration which is released by plants or crops. By recording the amount
of precipitation that an area receives and the amount lost through the soil, the
amount of water lost to evapotranspiration can be calculated.

Fig: lysimeter
Potometer is also known as transpirometer. It is used to measure
the transpiration rate of water-absorbing plants.
 It works on the principle that the amount of water absorbed by a plant shoot is
almost equal to water lost through transpiration
INFILTRATION
 The water entering the soil at the ground surface after overcoming resistance to flow is
called infiltration.
 Infiltration fills the voids in the soil. Excess water moves down by gravity and it is
known as percolation.
 Percolation takes place till water reaches ground water table.
 For continuous infiltration to occur, it is essential that percolation should also be
continuous, which is also dependent of ground water movement.

 Infiltration rate (f): It is actually the

prevailing rate at which the water is
entering the given soil at any given instant
of time. It is expressed in cm/hr (i.e. depth
of water entering soil per unit time).
 Infiltration Capacity (fp): It is the
maximum rate at which a soil in any given
condition is capable of absorbing water.
FACTORS AFFECTING INFILTRATION CAPACITY

1. Texture of Soil
 The texture of soil influence the rate of infiltration of water. Infiltration rate is high for
the coarse-grained texture of the soil. But for the fine-grained texture of the soil, the
water infiltration rate is very slow.
2. Groundwater Table
 Presence of the groundwater table is very close to the ground, reduces the rate of water
infiltration.
3. Rainfall Intensity
 If the rainfall intensity is heavy, the impact of water causes mechanical compaction
resulting in a decrease in the rate of infiltration.
 But if the same quantity rainfall occurs with low intensity, it increases the infiltration rate.
4.Temperature
 If the saturated soil temperature is very low, the soil mass becomes
impermeable so that the infiltration rate will be low.
 We know that the flow is related to viscosity, and viscosity of water
changes with temperature.
 If the temperature is high, the viscosity of water will be low, hence the
infiltration rate will be more and vice versa.
FACTORS AFFECTING INFILTRATION CAPACITY

5. Quality of Water
If the water contains salts and other impurities it reduces infiltration rate due to clogging of
soil pores.
6. Content of Soil Moisture
If the surface soil contains moisture, the infiltration rate will be low. But if the surface soil
is dry, the rate of infiltration will be more.
7. Agriculture
Intensive agriculture on the soil surface makes it permeable therefore the rate of infiltration
increase.
8. Human Activity
The construction of buildings, playgrounds, roads, railways result in a reduction in
infiltration capacity.
MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION
Infiltration rates are required in many hydrological problems such as runoff estimation,
soil moisture studies in agriculture, etc. The different methods of determination of
infiltration are
1. Use of Infiltro-meters
2. Hydrograph analysis method

Infiltro-meters adopted in practice are,

1. Simple (Tube Type) Infiltro-meters
2. Double ring Infiltro-meters
MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION

1.Simple (Tube Type) Infiltro-meters

 It is essentially a metal cylinder with openings at both ends. It has a diameter of 30 cm
and length of 60 cm.
 This is driven into the ground as shown and water is poured from the top till the pointer
level as shown.
 As infiltration continues the depleted volume of water is made up by adding water
from a burette or measuring jar to maintain constant water level.
 Knowing the volume of water added during different time intervals the infiltration
capacity curve is plotted. T
 The experiment is continued till a uniform rate of infiltration is obtained, which may
take 2 to 3 hours
MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION

1.Simple (Tube Type) Infiltro-meters

MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION

2. Double ring Infiltro-meters

 A tube infiltrometer has a drawback that infiltration in it does not represent or
simulate the actual field conditions because the water tends to disperse laterally after
coming out at the bottom.
 To overcome this draw back a Double ring Infiltro-meter is widely used.
 It consists of two consecutive rings driven into the ground as shown in the figure
below. The inner ring has a diameter of 30 cm and outer ring has a diameter of 60
cm.They are concentrically driven into the ground as shown in figure.
 A constant water depth of 5 cm is maintained in both the rings. The outer ring
provides a water jacket to the water infiltrating from the inner ring and thus simulates
the natural conditions.
MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION

2. Double ring Infiltro-meters

 The water depths in both the rings are
maintained constant during the
observation period.
 The measurement of water volume added
into the inner ring is only noted. The
experiment is carried out till constant
infiltration rate is obtained.
 To prevent any disturbance or accidental
fall of foreign matter the top of the
infiltrometer is covered with a perforated
disc
MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION

Infiltration capacity curve (Horton curve):

It is the graphical representation of variation of infiltration capacity with time, during
and a little after rain many factors affect infiltration capacity of a given soil. Typical
infiltration capacity curves for a soil are as follows.
 MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION
INFILTRATION EQUATIONS
 The data from Infiltro-meters can be used to plot an infiltration capacity curve.
 Infiltration capacity curve is a decaying curve which shows high infiltration capacity rate at
beginning and decreases exponentially and attains minimum or constant value over time.
 Many mathematical equations have been proposed to describe the shape of the curve. The
most commonly used equation is ―Horton‘s Equation
The infiltration rate (f) at any time ‘t‘ is given by Horton‘s equation

f= fc + (fo - fc) e-Kt

fo= initial rate of infiltration capacity
fc= final constant rate of infiltration at saturation
K= exponential decay constant depends upon soil charectristics and
vegetationcover
e=base of Napierian logarithm
t= time from beginning of storm
Fc= shaded area obtained as shown from the graph also known as field capacity is the amount of
rainfall which can be absorbed by soil.
 MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION
INFILTRATION INDICES
 The infiltration capacity curves which are developed either from infiltrometer tests or the
hydrograph analyses methods can be used to estimate the runoff from a given storm.
 The infiltration rate curve appropriate to the soil, vegetation and antecedent moisture
conditions existing at the time of occurrence of storm is superimposed on the rainfall
hyetograph with base lines coincident as shown in figure below.

The area of the rainfall hyetograph above the

infiltration curve would then represents the
runoff volume whose time distribution may
be obtained through the application of unit
hydrograph principle. The rainfall volume
below the infiltration curve represents the
total depth of infiltration during the storm
MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION
Φ-index
 The Φ index is the average rainfall above which the rainfall volume is equal to the
runoff volume.
 The Φ index is derived from the rainfall hyetograph with the knowledge of the resulting
runoff volume.
 The amount of rainfall in excess of the Φ index is called rainfall excess.

 The Φ -index thus accounts for the total abstraction and enables runoff magnitudes to
be estimated for a given rainfall hyetograph
MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION

W- Index
In an attempt to refine the Φ-index the initial losses are separated from the total abstraction
and an average value of infiltration rate called the W index is defined as

Where,
P is total precipitation (cm)
R is total storm runoff (cm)
Ia is initial losses (cm)
te is the duration of the rainfall excess, i.e. the total time in which the rainfall intensity is
greater than W (in hours) and W is the average rate of infiltration (cm/h).
Example:

A 3-hour storm on a small drainage basin produced rainfall intensities of 3.5

cm/hr, 4.2 cm/hr and 2.9 cm/hr in successive hours. If the surface runoff due to
the storm is 3 cm, then the value of ϕ−index will be
Solution
Total rainfall=3.5+4.2+2.9=10.6 cm
Effective rainfall/ runoff=3 cm
Infiltration =P-R
Infiltration=10.6−3=7.6 cm

Assuming infiltration to occur for three hours.

∴ te=3 hrs

ϕ−index =7.63/3=2.53 cm/hr

Example
Storm -1 of duration 5 hrs, gives direct run-off of 4 cm and has an average intensity of 2
cm/hr.
Storm -2 8 hr duration gives a run-off of 8.4 cm ( assume ϴ - index same for both the storms)
Calculate the value of ϴ - index in cm/hr and Intensity of storm -2 in cm/hr.
Solution:

ϴ - index = P – R /t

ϴ - index = 2X 5 – 4/5 = 1.2 cm/hr

Let intensity of of storm – 2 be P cm/hr

ϴ - index = P – R /t

1.2 cm/hr = P – 8.4 /8 = 2.25 cm/hr

Example:
Solution
 Example:
The parameter in Horton's infiltration equation [f(t)=fc+(f0−fc)e−kt] are given
as, f0=7.62 cm/hour , fc=1.34 cm/hour, and k=−4.182/hour. For assumed continuous
ponding the cumulative infiltration at the end of 2 hours is________________.
Solution
 Example:
The infiltration capacity in a basin is represented by Horton’s equation as
fp=3+e−2t Where fp is in cm/h and t is in hours. Assuming infiltration to take place
at capacity rate in as storm of 60 minutes duration, estimate the depth of filtration
in (i) the first 30 minutes and (ii) the second 30 minutes of the storm.

Answer
(i) = 1.816 cm
(ii) = 1.616 cm