Engineering Hydrology

Arshad Ansari
Assistant Professor – Civil Engineering

Introduction
Catchment Area

• The area of land draining into stream or water course

at a given location is known as catchment area.
• It is also called drainage area or drainage basin.
• In USA, it is known as watershed.
• It is the area which catches all the rainfall falling on it.

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 2

Catchment Area

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 3

Catchment area

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 4

Hydrological cycle

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 5

Hydrological cycle

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 6

Hydrological cycle

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 7

Hydrological Cycle

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 10

Component of Runoff

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 11

Initial Loss – Interception & Depression Storage

• These are the losses which need to be satisfied before the runoff starts.
Interception
• A part of rainfall that may be caught by vegetation and subsequently evaporated.
• It doesn’t include stemflow and throughfall.
• Interception loss is about 10-20% during plant growing season. It may be greater
than 25% in case of large no. of small storms.

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 15

Initial Loss – Interception & Depression Storage

Depression Storage
• Part of precipitation used up in filling up the depression before the runoff begins.
• Depends on type of soil, slope of catchment and antecedent precipitation.
• Values of 0.5 cm in sand, 0.4 cm in loam and 0.25 cm in clay.

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 16

Precipitation
Precipitation: It represents all the forms of water reaching to earth’s surface from the
atmosphere.
Forms of precipitation
a) Rain; b) Drizzle; c) Snow; d) Sleet; e) Glaze; f) Hail.
a) Rain
•Most dominating mode of precipitation.
•Water droplet of size  0.5 mm – 6mm

Intensity of rainfall (mm/hr) Type

0 – 2.5 Light

2.5 – 7.5 Moderate

˃7.5 Heavy

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 17

Precipitation
b) Snow
 Ice crystal having a density 0.1 g/cc.
c) Drizzle
 Water droplets having size < 0.5 mm.
 Intensity < 1 mm/hr.
d) Glaze
 Water droplets get converted into ice sheets when earth’s temperature is nearly
zero.
e) Hail
 Lump of ice whose size is > 8 mm.
g) Sleet
 Frozen transparent droplet of water is termed Sleet.

3/11/2024 Engineering Hydrology | Introduction 18

Measurement of precipitation
 Precipitation is measured by using rain-gauge, Radar and satellite.
 Precipitation is measured as depth of water equivalent in cm/mm or inch.

Rain gauge
 The instrument used for the measurement of precipitation
 It is also called as Pluviometer, Ombrometer, Hyetometer, and Udometer
 There are two types of rain gauge
1. Non-recording rain-gauge (only measure but does not record the
rainfall).
2. Recording rain-gauge (records as well as measure the rainfall)
Suitable Site for Rain gauge station
•The site should be in open place.
•It should be at least 30 m away from the obstruction.
•It should be in level ground.
•The fence of area 5.5m * 5.5m should be erected around
the station

Fig: Symons’ gauge

 Non recording rain gauge
•Non recording rain-gauge is read manually
using graduated measuring cylinder or
dipstick.
•The measurement of the collected rain water
is carried out at regular intervals.
•It does not provide the distribution of
precipitation over the time
• It has disadvantage over recording rain-
gauge as it does not provide information
regarding time, intensity, and duration of
rainfall. Fig: Symons’ gauge
•Extensively used non recording rain gauge is
Symons’ gauge • In case of snow, the funnel and bottle is
removed and the bottle is allowed to collect
in the outer metal container. When snow is
melted, the depth of resulting water is
Recording rain gauge
Recording gauges produce a continuous plot of rainfall against time and
provide valuable data of intensity and duration of rainfall
1. Tipping bucket
•Rain from the funnel fells onto one of the pair of small buckets
•Each of the two buckets have capacity of 0.25mm
•When 0.25mm of rainfall fall into one bucket, it tips and brings
the other one in position.
•The tipping of bucket is traced by electrically or mechanically
driven pen to measure intensity of the rainfall.
•The water from small bucket is collected in a storage vessel.
Which is measured in a regular intervals to check data and find
out total precipitation
•It records intensity of rainfall, but does not produce mass curve.
•Such gauge can be installed in hilly or inaccessible area from
where they can supply measurement directly to the control room
 Recording rain gauge
Disadvantage of Tipping bucket type rainfall recorder:

•For higher intensity, bucket tips rapidly and the record tends
to overlap.
•It takes 0.3 s to complete the tip; this makes the intensity of
rainfall recorded by the gauge less by some percentage for high
intensity.
Recording rain gauge
2. Weighing bucket rain gauge

 Rain failing on the receiving area is

collected by the funnel to the storage
bucket lies above the weighing
platform.
 Weight is calibrated in terms of depth
of rainfall.
 The weighing platform contentiously
records the amount of rainfall falling
into the bucket using a pen on a
rotating drum.
 The increasing weight of bucket helps
in recording accumulation rainfall over
the time period.
 This type of recoding gauge gives more
accurate results then tipping bucket
rain gauge.
 It will give mass curve.
 Recording rain gauge
3. Float type rain gauge(siphon type rain gauge)

 Rainwater is collected in a rectangular float chamber via funnel

 A float is provided at the bottom of the chamber and it rises up as the water level
rises in the container.
 The movement of float is recorded by a pen moving on a recording drum.
 After water level rises up to a certain level the siphon mechanism is activated to
empty the rainwater collected in the float chamber
Average Annual and Normal Rainfall
 The amount of rainfall collected by rain gauge in the last 24 hours is called daily
rainfall.
 The amount collected in 1 year is called annual rainfall.
 The average value of annual rainfall for the last 30 year (or any other suitable
time interval) is called average annual rainfall.
 The normal rainfall is the average value of rainfall at a particular date, month,
or year over a specified 30-year period.
e.g., normal rainfall of May month, normal annual rainfall, normal
rainfall for 18 May etc.

The average annual rainfall in Nepal is 1500 mm.

 Estimation of missing rainfall data
• Precipitation plays significant role in water resources engineering especially for solving
problems such as floods, droughts, landslides etc.
• The consistency and continuity of rainfall data are very important in statistical analysis
• Due to several reasons such as absence of the observer, instrument failure etc.
• In such conditions, the missing data is usually estimated from the available data of
neighboring station.

A. Arithmetic Average Method

• This method is only applied when the annual precipitation at the surrounding stations are
within 10% of the annual precipitation of the missing station.
• The missing rainfall data is estimated as the simple arithmetic average of the surrounding
rainfall stations
B. Normal Ratio Method
• If the annual normal rainfall at the surrounding gauges differ from the normal of
the station by more than 10% then, normal ratio method is used.
• The rainfall values at surrounding station are weighed by the ratio of the normal
annual rainfall.

Where Px =rainfall of missing station

Nx =normal annual rainfall at station X
N1, N2 ....=normal annual rainfall at surrounding stations
m= number of surrounding stations
P1, P2 ....= precipitation at the surrounding stations
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 this year 2020, the station D was inoperative
and the stations A, B, and C recorded annual precipitations of 91.11, 72.23 and
79.89 cm respectively. Estimate the rainfall at station D in that year.
Ans: 99.49 cm
2.7 Estimation of mean rainfall over an area
The mean monthly or mean yearly value of rainfall from the rain gauge station represents
the point value of rainfall.
These data must be converted into areal rainfall data to obtain average rainfall over the
catchment.
As the rainfall over a large area is not uniform, the average depth of rainfall over the area
is determined by one of the following three methods.

1. Arithmetic average method

In this method mean average rainfall is obtain simply by averaging amount of rainfall at
the individual rain-gauge stations in the area
Where Pav=average depth of rainfall over the area
∑Pi=sum of rainfall amount of each rainfall stations
n= number of rainfall stations

• This method is fast and simple and yields good results in flat country where rain
gauge stations are uniformly distributed.
• Rain gauges outside the catchment are not considered unlike in case of
Thiessen polygon and Isohyetal method.
 2. Thiessen Polygon Method
In this method, Perpendicular bisectors are constructed to the lines joining each
measuring station with those immediately surrounding it.
 These bisectors form a series of polygons called Thiessen polygon, each polygon
containing one station.
The value of precipitation measured at a station is assigned to the whole area
covered by the enclosing polygon.
If P1,P2,P3…………. Are the rainfalls at the individual stations, and A1, A2, A3………
are the areas of the polygons surrounding these stations, the average depth of
rainfall for the entire basin is given by.

• Suitable for plain areas as it does not consider elevation difference.

• Whole area is divided into number of smaller areas where we assume uniform rainfall distribution.
• It is more accurate than arithmetic method but less accurate than isohyetal method.
Question
 Calculate the average rainfall depth using i) arithmetic mean method, and
ii) Thiessen polygon method if stations 4, 6 and 8 are outside the
catchment. [Ans: 15.6 mm, 12.933 mm]
Station Rainfall (mm) Area (km2)
1 10 7
2 20 4
3 15 10
4 12 12
5 8 5
6 14 8
7 25 4
8 18 10
 3. Isohyetal method
The isohyetal method is used to estimate the mean precipitation across an area by drawing
lines of equal precipitation (Isohyets).
The method uses topographic and other data to yield reliable estimates.
 Isohyets are contours of equal precipitation analogous to contour lines on a topographic map.
In the isohyetal method, precipitation values are plotted at their respective stations on a
suitable base map, and isohyets are drawn to create an isohyetal map.
Isohyetal lines are based on interpolation between rain gauge stations. While constructing
isohyets, it is assumed that rainfall between two stations varies linearly.

Where,
Pi*=average of two successive isohyets
Ai=Area between two successive isohyets
At=Total area of watershed
Limitations:
• Requires dense gauge network.
• Isohyets need to be drawn for each storm.
2.6 Presentation of rainfall data
a. Mass curve
 The mass curve of rainfall is a plot of the accumulated precipitation against time,
plotted in chronological order.
 Records of float type and weighing-bucket type gauges are of this form.
 Mass curves of rainfall are very
useful in extracting the information
on the duration and magnitude of a
storm.
 Intensities at various time intervals
in a storm can be obtained by
the slope of the curve.
B. Hyetograph
 A hyetograph is a graphical representation of the distribution
of rainfall intensity over time.
 The hyetograph is usually represented as a bar chart
 It is a very convenient way to represent characteristics of a storm and is
particularly important in the development of a design storms to predict extreme
floods.
 The area under a hyetograph
represents the total precipitation
received in that period.
Double mass Analysis
Definition:
• The plot of accumulated annual rainfall of a particular station versus the accumulated
annual values of mean rainfall of surrounding stations is called double mass curve .
• Double mass analysis is used for checking consistency of the rain fall record of a
particular rain gauge station.
• If the condition at a particular rain gauge station change significantly during the period
of record, the rainfall data of that station is inconsistent.

Causes of inconsistency of records:

1. Shifting of the rain gauge station from one place to other.
2. Replacement of the old instrument with a new one.
3. Change of the observer or change in the method of observation.
4. Changes in the ecosystem near the station, such as forest fire, land slide, new
construction, etc.
Intensity-Duration-Frequency Curve
An intensity-duration-frequency curve (IDF curve) is a mathematical
function or graph that relates the rainfall intensity with
its duration and frequency of occurrence.
In IDF curve, Duration plotted as abscissa, intensity as ordinate and series of
curves one for each return period
These curves are commonly used in hydrology for flood forecasting and civil
engineering for urban drainage design, design of hydraulic structure.

IDF curves can be expressed as

equation in the exponential form

( Cm/hr)
given by:

Where, i=intensity
T=return period or frequency
D=Duration
K,x,a,n=constants
Depth-Area-Duration(DAD) curve
Rainfall rarely occurs uniformly over a large area
Variations in intensity and total depth of rainfall from the centers to peripheries
of storm causes average depth of rainfall decreases from the maximum as the area
considered increases.
If we plot depth of precipitation and area of its coverage for different duration of
storm the curve thus obtained is called DAD curve.
It is useful to analyze areal distribution of rainfall

• Duration Fixed
• Volume = area * depth
• For constant volume, if area increases depth
decreases.
• Area Fixed
• Intensity constant
• As duration increases, depth also increases.
Draw the depth area duration curve due to storm lasting for 12 hours,
assuming the storm centre to be located at the centre of area. The
isohytes for that storm and the are enclosed between different isohytes
are as follows.
Isohytes (mm) Area (km2)
20-22 543
19-21 1345
18-20 2030
17-19 2545
16-18 2955
15-17 3280
14-16 3535
13-15 3710
12 -14 3880
11 -13 3915
 Average cumulative Net area between Cumulative
Isohytes Volume Avg. depth
rainfall area isohytes Volume

20-22 543

19-21 1345

18-20 2030

17-19 2545

16-18 2955

15-17 3280

14-16 3535

13-15 3710

12 -14 3880

11 -13 3915
 Average cumulative Net area between Cumulative Avg.
Isohytes Volume
rainfall area isohytes Volume depth
20-22 21 543 543 11403 11403 21.00
19-21 20 1345 802 16040 27443 20.40
18-20 19 2030 685 13015 40458 19.93
17-19 18 2545 515 9270 49728 19.54
16-18 17 2955 410 6970 56698 19.19
15-17 16 3280 325 5200 61898 18.87
14-16 15 3535 255 3825 65723 18.59
13-15 14 3710 175 2450 68173 18.38
12 -14 13 3880 170 2210 70383 18.14
11 -13 12 3915 35 420 70803 18.09

DAD Curve
22.00
Average depth of rainfall (mm)

21.00
20.00
19.00
18.00
17.00
16.00
15.00
14.00
13.00
12.00
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Cumulative area Km2
INFILTRATION
• Infiltration is the process by which water enters the soil from the ground surface. Infiltration first
replenishes the soil moisture deficiency. The excess water then moves downwards by the force of
gravity. This downward movement under gravity is called percolation. Percolation is thus the
movement of water within the soil.
If ‘F’ is the infiltration volume which gets infiltrated during T hour then,
Average infiltration rate(f) = F/T
3.4.3 INFILTRATION INDICES

• Here, initial loss is also considered as an infiltration.

Note: Also give the concept of relation between infiltration capacity, infiltration rate
and rainfall intensity
Ф & W INDEX

𝑃𝑒 −𝑅
• Ф= ; 𝑃𝑒 is effective rainfall causing runoff. i.e., rainfall intensity (i) ≥ Ф; 𝑡𝑒 is effective
𝑡𝑒
duration of 𝑃𝑒
𝑃 −𝑅
• W= ;P is total rainfall; 𝑡𝑟 is total rainfall duration
𝑡𝑟
 3.2 EVAPORATION PROCESS

• The process by which liquid is converted to vapor is called evaporation. Evaporation occurs from
water bodies as well as from soil moisture.
WIND

• It is measured by anemometer.
3.2.3 METHODS OF ESTIMATION OF EVAPORATION
Note:

Pan coefficient: 0.6 to 0.8

3.3 EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
• The processes of evaporation from the land surface and the transpiration from the vegetation are
collectively termed evapotranspiration (ET).
Streamflow Measurement
1. Direct Determination
 Area-velocity method
 Dilution techniques
 Electromagnetic method
 Ultrasonic method
2. Indirect Determination
 Hydraulic structures such as weirs, flumes and gated structures.
 Slope-area method
Streamflow Measurement
 Direct measurement of discharge is a very time-consuming and costly
procedure.
 Hence, a two step procedure is followed.
 First the discharge in a given stream is linked to the elevation of the water
surface (stage) through a series of careful measurements.
 In the next step, the stage of the stream is observed routinely in a
relatively inexpensive manner and the discharge is estimated by using
previously determined stage-discharge relationship.
 The observation of the stage is easy, inexpensive and if desired continuous
readings can also be obtained.
Stream Gauging:
• It is a technique used to measure the discharge, or
the volume of water moving through a channel per
unit time, of a stream.
• The height of water in the stream channel, known
as a stage or gage height, can be used to determine
the discharge in a stream.
• Runoff from a catchment can be determined by
measuring the discharge of the stream draining it.
 Velocity area method

This involves the measurement of velocity at

the gauging site and the corresponding
discharge to obtain river discharge.
a. Mid section method of discharge measurement

Where ∆Qi=Discharge of each segment

∆Qi=Ai*vi
Ai=yi*(Wi+W(i+1))/2 for other than first and last segment (assuming rectangular section)
For first segment and last segment
Velocity Distribution in open
channel flow
• The velocity of flow at any channel section is not uniformly distributed due to
the presence of a free surface and the frictional resistance along the channel
boundary. The velocity is zero at the solid boundary and gradually increases
with the increase in distance from the boundary. The maximum velocity occurs
at some distance ((0.05-0.25) *times depth of flow) below the free surface. At
the free surface, the velocity is less than the maximum value due to the air
resistance.

Natural channel velocity distribution Rectangular channel velocity distribution

• In a macro-analysis, one is concerned only with the major
component, viz., the longitudinal component, Vx. The other
two components being small are ignored and Vx is
designated as v i.e. 1D analysis.

Fig: velocity profile

• Field observations in rivers and canals have
shown that the average velocity at any cross
section is computed as:
1.For shallow depth up to 3m
𝑣=ҧ velocity at 0.6m from free surface(𝑣0.6 ).
 2. For deep stream
𝑣0.2 +𝑣0.8
𝑣=
ҧ Two Point method
2
𝑣0.15 +𝑣0.5 +𝑣0.85
𝑣=
ҧ Three Point method
3

𝑣=0.1*(𝑣
ҧ 𝑠 + 2𝑣0.2 + 2𝑣0.4 + 2𝑣0.6 + 2𝑣0.8 +𝑣𝑏 ) Six Point method
𝑣𝑠 – velocity measured near water surface.
𝑣𝑏 -- velocity measured channel bed.
𝑣0.2 - velocity at a depth of 0.2*y0 from the free surface, and 𝑣0.8 = velocity at a depth of 0.8*y0 from the free surface.
Guidelines for selecting no. of segments
 The segment width should not be greater than 1/15 to 1/20 of the width of
the river.
 The discharge in each segment should be less than 10% of the total
discharge.
 The difference of velocities in adjacent segments should not be more than
20%.
Slope area method

-This is the application of open channel hydraulics to estimate the discharge

flowing through a channel section.

Applying energy equation

Through A and B

Where, hL=head loss in the

section=hf+he
hf= frictional loss
he=eddy loss
or,
Where, h1 and h2 are water surface elevation above
datum
or,
If L is the length between two sections.

K=conveyance of the channel

For non uniform flow the conveyance of the channel is calculated as

Eddy loss:

Ke=eddy loss coefficient

Stage discharge curve/rating curve
Stage discharge curve or rating curve is a plot of discharge, versus gauge
height, G.
In case of stable channel control this rating curve remains relatively stable
and may be obtained by fitting a curve through the measured points either
by inspection or using graphical or analytical methods.
The relationship between stage and discharge is expressed as:
Q=Cr(G-a)β
Where Q=Stream discharge
Cr and β=rating curve constant
a=a constant representing gauge
reading at zero discharge
The best values of Cr andβ for given range of stage are obtained by least square
error method.
Taking logarithmic
logQ= βlog(G-a)+logCr

y= βx+b Where y=logQ

x=log(G-a)
b=logCr

From regression analysis

Correlation coefficient:
r must lies between 0.6 to 1 for
good correlation
Finding Stage corresponding to zero discharge

a. Method-1
Step i)
In this method, plot of stage vs discharge is best fitted to obtain a stage discharge
curve.
The curve is than extrapolated backward by judgment. It intersects Y-axis at a
point(a) corresponding to zero discharge.
ii)
For ‘a ‘obtain from step 1, plot a graph of logQ vs log(G-a)
If the graph is straight line the value of a is acceptable
If graph is not straight line repeat above process.
 Method:2 Graphical method

In graphical method, Discharge vs stage

data are plotted to an arithmetic scale.
A smooth curve is fitted by plotting given
data.
Three points A,B,C on the curve are
selected such that their discharge are in
geometric progression

Point D and E are the intersection of horizontal line drawn at C and B and Vertical
line drawn at B and A respectively
Two straight lines joining point A and B, D and E are intersected at point F, whose
ordinate is the required value of a.
Method 3:

Plot Q vs G to an arithmetic scale and draw a smooth good fitting curve.

Select three discharges Q1,Q2,Q3 such that Q1/Q2=Q2/Q3 and note from the
curvethe corresponding values of gauge reading G1,G2 and G3
Permanent and Shifting Control
 If the stage-discharge relationship for a gauging section is constant and
does not change with time, the control is said to be Permanent Control.
 Permanent control is usually in non-alluvial river.
 If the relationship changes with the time then it is called Shifting
Control.
Causes of shifting control
 Vegetative growth
 Erosion and silting
 Backwater effect
 Unsteady flow effect. Unsteady Flow Effect

Backwater Effect
5.1 Hydrograph
 Hydrograph is a graphical plot of discharge (Q) of a river at a given location over time.
 It is the output or total response of a basin.
5.2 Direct runoff and base flow
 Direct runoff
It is the part of precipitation which appears quickly as flow in the river. (direct runoff = surface +subsurface)

 Base flow
The part of runoff which receives water from the groundwater storage is called base flow.
Base flow separation
EFFECTIVE RAINFALL/Excess rainfall
 It is that part of rainfall which becomes direct runoff at the outlet of the
catchment.
 It is obtained by deducting the abstractions such as infiltration, initial
losses etc. from total rainfall.
5.3 Unit Hydrograph
The best unit period of a unit hydrograph is calculated by dividing the basin lag by four. This is because the
peak of the unit hydrograph occurs at one-fourth of the basin lag duration. Therefore, the best unit period is
equal to basin lag divided by four.
Assumption in UH
Question1
 The peak of a flood hydrograph due to a storm is 470 m3/s. The mean
depth of a rainfall is 8 cm. Assuming an infiltration loss of 0.25 cm/hr and
a constant baseflow of 15 m3/s, estimate the peak discharge of a 6 hr unit
hydrograph for this catchment. [Ans: 70 m3/s]
Question2
 A 6hr-unit hydrograph for a catchment of area 1000 km2 is approximated
as a triangle with base of 69 hr, calculate the peak discharge of this UH.
[Ans: 80.5 m3/s]
S HYDROGRAPH

• It is a hydrograph produced by a continuous effective rainfall at a constant rate for an

infinite duration.
QUESTION3

• A 6hr-unit hydrograph for a catchment is approximated as a triangle with base of 64 hr

and a peak ordinate of 30 m3/s. Calculate the equilibrium discharge of an S-curve
obtained by using this 6hr-UH. [Ans: 160 m3/s]
USES OF UH

• To develop flood hydrograph for extreme rainfall event for use in design of hydraulic
structures.
• Extension of flood flow records based on rainfall records.
• Development of flood forecasting and warning system based on rainfall.
LIMITATIONS OF UH

• Assumptions of uniform rainfall distribution and constant rainfall intensity are never
practically possible. This impose upper limit (5000 km2) on catchment area for UH use.
So, in case of large basins, they are divided into sub-basins to obtain DRH for each
smaller sub-basins. Then, these DRH are routed to obtain hydrograph at the basin outlet.
• For catchment area less than 200 ha, UH is not applicable.
• Precipitation must be from rainfall only (No snowfall).
• No large storage within the catchment in the form of large lakes, dams etc.
INSTANTANEOUS UH (IUH)

• As the duration D approaches to 0 i.e., D 0 for 1 cm rainfall excess, the resulting

hydrograph is called IUH
SYNTHETIC UH

• An empirically derived UH is called synthetic UH.

• Snyder’s method is commonly used synthetic UH.
• The parameters used for deriving UH is taken from the meteorologically similar
catchment whose UH is known already.
• Formula used: (Discuss)
Return Period

• The return period of 100 years simply means that its probability of occurring in
any year is only 1/100 = 0.01 = 1%.
• It does not mean that if a flood with such a return period occurs this year then, the
next will occur in about 100 year time period. Instead, it means that in a given
year, there is 1% chance that it will happen regardless of when the last similar
event was.
• Simply, it is 10 times less likely to occur than a flood with a return period of 10
years whose probability of occurrence in any year is 10%.

10
3/11/2024 Estimating Flood Peak
8
FLOOD FREQUENCY STUDIES
RATIONAL METHOD

• Rational means logically justified.

• This method is used for computing peak discharge in small basin.
 Assumptions

• Rainfall intensity is constant throughout the storm duration.

min
Usually velocity is 10 times higher
in channel than in overland flow
resulting in high peak
corresponding to high DD.
Order of stream
Groundwater Hydrology

• About 30% of freshwater is available in the form of groundwater.

Groundwater Hydrology

• Saturated Zone
– All the pores are filled with water.
– Degree of saturation (S) = 1
– The water table forms its upper limit and marks a free surface, i.e. a surface
having atmospheric pressure
• Zone of aeration
– The soil pores are partially saturated with water.
– The space between the land surface and the water table marks the extent of
this zone.
– It has three sub-zones
Groundwater Hydrology
• Soil water zone
– Major root band of the vegetation.
– Here water is lost to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration
• Capillary Fringe
– Water is held by capillary action
– Extends from water table to the limit of capillary rise.
• Intermediate zone
– Lies between capillary fringe and soil water zone.

Notes: The soil moisture in zone of aeration is important for irrigation engineer.
Here, in hydrology, we will be concerned about saturated zone
Aquifer Property
• Porosity (n)
– Water holding capacity of the soil.
– Amount of pore space per unit volume of aquifer.
– n = volume of void * 100 / Total volume of porous medium.
– Porosity of fine grained (clay and silt) soil is greater than the porosity of coarse
grained soil (sand and gravel).
• Coefficient of Permeability or hydraulic conductivity (K)
– It is the ease with which water is allowed to flow through the soil medium.
– K of coarse grained soil is greater than the fine grained soil.
Notes:
For groundwater extraction, we need a medium which is both porous as well as
permeable (e.g., fine sand and coarse silt).
For e.g., clay is highly porous but impermeable. Gravel is highly permeable but less
porous.
Groundwater Hydrology
• Specific Yield (Sy) and Specific retention (Sr)
– Not all the water held in the pores is available for exraction by pumping or draining b
gravity.
– Some of the water is held by molecular attraction and surface tension.
– The actual volume of water that can be extracted by the force of gravity from a unit volum
of aquifer is called specific yield.
– The fraction of water held back in the aquifer is known as specific retention (Sr).
n = Sy + Sr
Different types of geological formation
• Aquifer
– This geological formation is highly porous and highly permeable, hence they give sufficient yields.
– For e.g., fine sand and coarse silt.
• Aquiclude
– This geological formation is highly porous (more porosity than aquifer) but they are impermeable,
hence no sufficient yield.
– For e.g., clay
• Aquitard
– Those geological formations which are porous (less than aquiclude) and less permeable (greater
than aquiclude).
– For e.g., Sandy clay
• Aquifuge
– Those geological formation which are neither permeable nor porous.
– For e.g., rock
Types of Aquifer

• Unconfined/ Non-artesian/ Water table aquifer

• Confined Aquifer
• Perched Aquifer
Types of Aquifer

• Confined aquifer
– It is a type of an aquifer in which aquicludes lie above and below it.
– The groundwater moves under the pressure.
– The water pressure depends on the difference in height between it and the recharge area.
– A region supplying water to the confined aquifer is called recharge area.
• Unconfined aquifer
– It is also called water table aquifer.
– The upper surface of water table is under atmospheric pressure.
– When tapped through a test well, the free water will rise to a level in the well equivalent to
the water table of the area.
Types of Aquifer

• Perched aquifer
– It is the term used for isolated water table in the aquifer held by a small extension of
impervious rocks within a large pervious tract.
– In such case, the main water table is located much below.
– Supplies from such isolated aquifer with perched water table are often unreliable.