CET 307

HYDROLOGY AND
WATER RESOURCES
ENGINEERING

WRE/KJG/MOD1 1
HWR SYLLABUS

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 HYDROLOGY

Science which deals with the

occurrence, distribution and movement
of water on the earth is Hydrology.

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 HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

The Earth’s water circulatory system is

known as hydrologic cycle. This involves
Evaporation, Transpiration, Precipitation,
Run Off etc

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HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

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 EXPRESSION FOR HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

PRECIPITATION = EVAPORATION + RUN OFF

PRECIPITATION = Fall of moisture from the atmosphere in all forms

EVAPORATION = Surface Evaporation, Water surface Evaporation
from River surface and Ocean surface, Atmospheric
Evaporation, Transpiration (Evaporation from plants
and Animals)
RUN OFF = Run off is that portion of moisture which is not evaporated.
The run off includes Surface runoff, Interflow or sub-
surface run off, Ground water flow or Base flow

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 PRECIPITATION
Precipitation is the general term for all
forms of moisture originating from the
clouds and falling to the ground. Types of
precipitation are:
1) Cyclonic Precipitation
2) Convective Precipitation
3) Orographic Precipitation
4) Precipitation due to turbulent ascent
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 PRECIPITATION MECHANISM
• Requirements for the precipitation to occur:
• 1) Air has to be cooled sufficiently
• 2) Condensation nuclei are necessary for
formation of droplets
• 3) A meteorological phenomenon of lifting of
air masses is essential to result in precipitation

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 FORMS OF PRECIPITATION
• 1) Drizzle
• 2) Rain
• 3) Glaze – Freezed Drizzle
• 4) Sleet – Frozen Rain Drops
• 5) Snow – Pptn in the form of ice crystals
• 6) Hail – Lumps of ice over 5mm formed by
alternate freezing or melting as they are carried
up or down in highly turbulent air currents

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 Cyclonic Precipitation
• Results from lifting of air masses converging into
low pressure area of cyclone.
• Divided into :
• 1) Frontal Pptn- A region between two adjacent
air masses having different characteristics such as
temperature and humidity are called a front.
When warm air meets the cold air, the warm air
lifts up and at higher altitudes the warm air cools
down to form precipitation
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 Cyclonic Precipitation(Contd.)
• 2) Non frontal Pptn. – In nonfrontal pptn., the
moist warm air is stationary and the moving
cold air meets it . Now the warm air is lifted
up and the warm air cools down at higher
altitudes to cause precipitation to occur.

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 CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION
• Convective precipitation is caused by natural
rising of warmer lighter air in colder, denser
surroundings. The difference in temperature
may result from unequal heating at the
surface, unequal cooling at the top of the air
layer or mechanical lifting when air is forced
to pass over a denser colder air mass.

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 OROGRAPHIC PRECIPITATION
• Orographic precipitation is due to the lifting of
warm moist air masses due to topographic
barriers such as mountains. Most of the rains
in Himalayan region are due to this. The zone
to the other side of mountain will be the zone
of rain shadow region.
• The rains in Kerala are also mostly orographic
type

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 PRECIPITATION DUE TO TURBULENT ASCENT

• Air mass is forced to rise up due to greater

friction of earth surfaces after it’s travel over
ocean. Ultimately this causes condensation
and thereby precipitation to occur.

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 RAINFALL IN INDIA
• Major Rainfall from June to October
• Four Weather periods of rainfall
– Monsoon rains
– Post monsoon rains
– Winter rainfall
– Summer Rainfall

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 MEASUREMENT OF RAINFALL
• The amount of precipitation is expressed as
the depth in centimeter which falls on a level
surface and is measured by rain-gauge. Types:
• Non-automatic type – Symon’s Rain-gauge
• Automatic Rain-gauges –
– Weighing bucket rain-gauge
– Tipping bucket rain-gauge
– Float type rain-gauge

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SYMON’S RAIN GAUGE

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 Symon’s Rain-gauge
• Consists of a Cylindrical vessel 127mm dia with
base 210mm. Funnel with brass rim 127mm.
Receiving bottle with a capacity of 75mm to
100mm of rainfall.
• A cylindrical graduated measuring glass is
furnished with each instrument, which reads
upto 0.2mm graduation markings. The rainfall
estimated to nearest 0.1mm
• Site for rain-gauge location should be suitably
selected.
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WEIGHING BUCKET TYPE

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 Weighing Bucket type RG details
• It consists of a receiver bucket supported by a
spring or any other weighing mechanism.
• The movement of the bucket due to it’s
increasing weight is transmitted to a pen
which traces the record on a clock driven
chart.

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TIPPING BUCKET TYPE RAIN - GAUGE

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 Tipping Bucket type RG details
• Steven’s tipping bucket type rain-gauge
consists of 300mm dia sharp edged receiver.
At the end of the receiver is provided with a
funnel. A pair of buckets are pivoted under
the funnel. When one bucket receives .25mm
of pptn., it tips, discharging it’s contents to a
container and bringing the other bucket under
the funnel. The electric pulses generated due
to tipping of the buckets are recorded in a
control room situated away.
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FLOAT(SYPHON) RAIN GAUGE

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 Float type RG details
• A funnel receives the rain water which is
collected in a rectangular container. A float is
provided at the bottom of the container. The
movement of the float is recorded by a pen
moving on a recording drum actuated by a
clock work.

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 MICROWAVE RADAR
• A microwave radar can be used to obtain the
information on rainfall distribution within it’s
scanning area. The amount of reflected energy
is dependent on the rain drop size and is
correlated from the transmitter data to obtain
an idea about the intensity of the rain.

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 TOTALISER
• A totaliser is used mainly for measuring the
rainfall for Hydrologic purposes. It consists of a
large container with a funnel like opening
which can hold the rain catch of large quantity
used for measurement of rainfall at a remote
place at a large interval of time. Since
precipitation is measured at intervals a thin
layer of oil is spread to prevent evaporation.

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OPTIMUM NUMBER OF RAIN GAUGES
• The rain gauge density or network density is
defined as the ratio of total area of catchment to
the total number of gauges in the catchment.
• The World Meteorological Organization norms
• Flat regions – 1 in 600 to 900 km2
• Mountainous areas – 1 in 100 to 250km2
• Arid & Polar Zones – 1 in 1500 to 10000 km2
• 10% preferred to be recording type

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IS Code Recommendation for
Optimum No. of Rain gauges
• N = (Cv/p)*2, where
• Cv = Coefft of variation of rainfall values
of existing stations = (Sx/x’)100, where
• Sx is the standard deviation and x’ is the
mean rainfall values of existing stations
• p = desired degree of error in estimating
mean rainfall

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 Raingauge No. Estimation
• A catchment has five annual rain gauge values
78.8cm, 90.2cm, 98.6cm, 102.4cm and 70.4cm
• For a 6% error in estimation, determine the
additional number of rain gauges required.
-- Find average x’
-- Find Standard deviation Sx
-- Find Cv as Sx/x’
-- Find N = (Cv/p)*2, Then round to the higher
value, If more than 5, provide the additional required.

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Rain gauge Qn., Answer

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 ESTIMATION OF MISSING PRECIPITATION

• 1) Arithmetic Mean Method

• 2) Normal Ratio Method
• 3) Inverse Distance Method
• 1) Arithmetic Mean Method: Find the average
of the other stations and take for the missing
– Sum of Pi / n
• 2) Normal Ratio Method: The rainfall of the
surrounding index stations are weighed by the
ratio of normal annual rainfalls.
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 Normal Ratio Method :
• Px = (1/n) {Sum of (P1(Nx /N1), (P2(Nx/N2),----
--Pn(Nx/Nn)}
• Where Nx = Normal Annual Rainfall of Missing
Station
• N1, N2 ---- Nn are normal rainfall of index stations
• n is the number of index stations

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 INVERSE DISTANCE METHOD
• The missing rainfall data are found giving due
weightage to the rectangular co-ordinate axes
and the rainfall of all the index stations.
• The weightage of each index station is
represented by the inverse of square of
distance from the missing station.
• Wi =1/Di*2 = 1/(Xi*2 + Yi*2)
• Px = Sum of Pi X Wi/Sum of Wi

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Questions on Missing Precipitation

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 COMPUTATION OF AVERAGE RAINFALL
OVER A BASIN(CATCHMENT)
• The data is taken from a network of rain
gauges forming a representative picture of the
basin or catchment area.
• The methods of computation of average
precipitation over a basin are:
– (1) Arithmetic Average method
– (2) Thiessen Polygon method
– (3) Isohyetal method
– (4) Grid Point Method
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COMPUTATION OF AVERAGE RAINFALL OVER A BASIN
(1) ARITHMETIC AVERAGE METHOD
If P1, P2, P3…….Pn etc are the precipitation
or rainfall values measured at n gauge stations,
we have,
Pav = (P1+P2………+Pn)/n

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COMPUTATION OF AVERAGE RAINFALL OVER A BASIN
• (2) THIESSEN POLYGON METHOD
Thiessen Polygon Method is a common method of
weighing the Rain Gauge observations according to the
area. Thiessen polygon method is also called weighted
mean method.
Pav = (A1P1+A2P2+…………..+AnPn)/(A1+A2+….An)
Join the adjacent Rain Gauge stations by Straight Lines.
Construct the perpendicular bisectors of each line. With
these a Thiessen network is constructed.
The area of each Thiessen Polygon is computed. With
these areas and with the corresponding precipitation,
the Weighted Average Precipitation is Computed.

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THEISSEN POLYGON METHOD (Contd.)

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 COMPUTATION OF AVERAGE RAINFALL OVER A BASIN
• (3) ISOHYETAL METHOD
• An isohyet is a line on a rainfall map of the basin,
joining places of equal rainfall readings.
• From the rainfall values recorded at various Rain
Gauge stations, prepare the isohyetal map for the
storm causing the rainfall over the area
• Measure the areas enclosed between successive
isohyetes
• Multiply each of these areas by the annual
average rainfall between the isohyets
• The average rainfall is given by:
Pav = Sum of A (P1+P2)/Sum A
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ISOHYETAL METHOD(Contd.)

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COMPUTATION OF AVERAGE RAINFALL OVER A BASIN
• (4) GRID POINT METHOD

• In this method all the grid stations are

marked on the map of the basin along
with the depth of precipitation.
• The average precipitation of the four grid
corners are then multiplied by the area
of the grid to give the average
precipitation volume of the grid.
• The sum of all such products divided by
the total area of the basin will give the
average precipitation for the basin. 41
 COMPUTATION OF MEAN ANNUAL RAINFALL
• MEAN ANNUAL RAINFALL
Mean Annual Rainfall is calculated by taking the
simple average of total rainfall of several
consecutive years. It has been found that 35 years
rainfall records are required for a reliable estimate
of the mean annual rainfall of any place.

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 DESIGN RAINFALL

• Design rainfall is an input to a hydrologic

model, which is used to estimate design
discharge that is needed in the planning and
design of many Hydrological Engineering
Infrastructure Projects. Design rainfall
estimation is made using recorded rainfall
data over many stations in a given region.

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 REPRESENTATION OF RAINFALL DATA
• The methods of presentation of rainfall data
collected through measurements at a given
station are:
– (1) Hyetograph method
– (2) Mass Curve of Rainfall method

(1) HYETOGRAPH METHOD

A hyetograph is bar graph showing the intensity of
rainfall with time. A hyetograph can be prepared
directly from the data obtained from the raingauges.

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HYETOGRAPH OF STORM

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 MASS CURVE OF RAINFALL
– A mass curve of rainfall is a plot of cumulative
depth of rainfall against time. The steepness of
the curve indicates the intensity of rainfall.
– The intensity of rainfall during any period is given
by
i = ^p/^t
A mass curve of rainfall is very useful in extracting
the information on the duration and magnitude of a
storm. The mass curve of a design storm can be
obtained by measuring the mass curves of the
severe storms in the basin.

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MASS CURVE OF RAINFALL

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 PROBABLE MAXIMUM RAINFALL(PMP)
The Probable Maximum Precipitation(PMP) for a
region is the precipitation resulting from the most
critical meteorological combinations that are
considered probable of occurrence. It can be
defined as that rainfall over a basin which would
produce the flood flow.

The PMP can be estimated by maximising the

different parameters like humidity, temperature,
wind velocity and other connected meteorological
factors of an observed severe storm over the basin.

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 PMP(Contd.)
• The two approaches for estimation of PMP are
(1) Meteorological Approach
(2) Statistical Approach
(1) Meteorological Approach
R = 106 x D*0.46, where R is in the rainfall in mm
and D is the duration in hours
(2) Statistical Approach
PMP = P’ + K x s , where,
P’ - is the Mean of Annual Max. rainfall series
s - is the standard deviation of the series
K - is the frequency factor, nearly 15
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 IMD EVAPORATION PAN
• Estimation of Evaporation from large water
bodies by IS : 5973-1970 recommended
Evaporation Pan.
• The Pan is 1.22m in diameter and 0.255m in
depth.
• Fitted with Thermometer
• Water Level measured by a point gauge
arrangement placed inside a stilling basin
• Evaporation measurement taken once in a day by
adding water to the pan by a calibrated cylindrical
jar.
• Lake evaporation = Pan Coefficient X Pan evaporation
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IMD EVAPORATION PAN

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 INFILTRATION
Infiltration is defined as the downward
movement of water from soil surface, into the soil
mass through the pores of the soil.
The term Infiltration was introduced by
Horton in 1935.
Factors affecting Infiltration are:
• (1) Type of Soil
• (2) Presence of Vegetative cover
• (3) Temperature
• (4) Quality of Water
• (5) Amount of Rainfall
The process of transmission of water in the
soil is known as percolation.
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 FIELD MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION RATE

• The field measurement of

Infiltration are by:

1) Single Tube Infiltrometer

2) Double Ring Infiltrometer

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 SINGLE TUBE INFILTROMETER
It consists of a hollow metal cylinder of 30cm diameter
and 60cm length with both ends open. The cylinder is
driven in the ground such that 10cm of it projects above
the ground. The cylinder is filled with water such that a
head of 7cm within the infiltrometer is maintained
above ground level. Due to infiltration of water, the
water level in the cylinder will go on decreasing. Water
is added to the cylinder by a graduated jar. The volume
of water added over a predetermined time interval gives
the infiltration rate for that time interval.
A plot of time against rate of water added in mm/h gives
the infiltration capacity curve.
The major drawback of the single tube infiltrometer is
that the infiltrated water percolates laterally at the
bottom of the ring as shown in the Figure.
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SINGLE TUBE INFILTROMETER

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 DOUBLE RING INFILTROMETER
The lateral percolation of water is rectified
in the Double Ring Infiltrometer. It consists of
two concentric hollow cylinders(rings) driven
into the soil uniformly to a depth of 15cm.
Water is applied in both inner and outer
rings to maintain a constant depth of 5cm. The
measurement of water added to the inner
compartment is taken. Observations are
continued till constant infiltration rate is
observed.
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DOUBLE RING INFILTROMETER

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 INFILTRATION CAPACITY CURVE
Infiltration Capacity curve for a given soil
formation graphically represents the variation of
infiltration capacity with time.
Horton gave the following equation for finding
the infiltration rate(ft) at any time period.
ft = fc +(fo - fc) e*(-kt), where
ft = Infiltration rate at any time ‘t’
fc = Infiltration rate in the beginning at t=T
fo = Infiltration rate in the beginning (t=0)
k = A constant which depends on soil and
vegetation characteristics 58
INFILTRATION CAPACITY CURVE

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 From HORTON’s MODEL
• Transposing and taking log on both sides a
straight line graph is obtained.
Log(ft-fc) = Log(fo – fc) - Loge
• The slope of the line is given as m and the
negative sign indicates that as t increases, ft
decreases and hence log (ft – fc) decreases.

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From HORTON’s MODEL

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CE 309, WRE, MODULE 1 – TEST PAPER
1) Define Hydrologic cycle. Draw a typical hydrological cycle.
(4)
2) Explain Symon’s Rain Gauge with a sketch (4)
3) Explain Mass curve of Rainfall representation (4)
4) What are the methods of computation of average
precipitation over a basin?. Explain Thiessen Polygon
method in detail (5)
5) The precipitation at four rain gauge stations out of the five
available rain gauge stations were recorded as 78mm,
69mm, 74mm and 82mm. The 5th station readings are
missing. Find out realistically the value for the 5th station and
mention the method used. (4)
6) State Horton’s model for Infiltration Capacity. Explain
Double Ring Infiltrometer method (4)
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