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LECTURE-2
Precipitation

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Precipitation
Lifting cools air masses
so moisture condenses
Condensation nuclei

Aerosols (suspension of particles in gas: a

suspension of solid or liquid particles in a gaseous
-3 10 m)
medium) (10
water molecules attach

Rising & growing

Critical size (~0.1 mm)

Gravity overcomes and
drop falls

Terminal Velocity
FB

FD

Three forces
Buoyancy, Friction, Gravity
Fvert 0 FB FD W
a g

V2

D Cd a D 2
w g D3
6
4
2
6

Accelerate until terminal velocity, Vt

Where forces balance

FD FB W
Cd a

2 Vt2

D
a g D3 w g D3
4
2
6
6

Stokes Law

Cd

24
Re

Re

Vt

4 gD w

1
3C d a

aVD
a

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Precipitation various forms

Rain (most important and devastating)

Snow (significant in cold countries - Canada, northern Europe and mountain areas)
Hail (pellets of ice: small balls of ice and hardened snow that fall like rain). (devastating but confined to short
periods of time)

CVG 3120

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Precipitation Mechanisms

Convective

Frontal (Cyclonic)

Heating of air at ground level leads to expansion and rise of air

Movement of large air mass systems (warm & cold fronts)

Orographic
Mechanical lifting of air masses over windward sides of mountain ranges

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Global Precipitation

http://geography.uoregon.edu/envchange/clim_animations/#Global%20Water%20Balance

Precipitation Variation
Influenced by
Distance from the sea: The sea affects the climate
of a place. Coastal areas are cooler and wetter
than inland areas.
Ocean currents:
Direction of prevailing winds: Winds that blow
from the sea often bring rain to the coast and dry
weather to inland areas.
Relief: Mountains receive more rainfall than low
lying areas

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Measurement of rainfall Required parameters

1.

Depth of precipitation (in, cm or mm)

2.

Duration (min, hrs)

3.

Rainfall intensity (in/hr, cm/hr)

4.

Space-time distribution of precipitation

Measurement of rainfall Types of Recordings

Point measurements (Localized)
Non-recording (standard) gages measure only (1)
Recording gages tipping bucket, weighing-type, float recording-type
- measure (1) to (4)
Area measurements (over a certain area)
Radar measurements (LIDAR, NEXRAD)
Gauge network

Tipping Bucket Rain Gage

1. Recording gage
2. Collector and Funnel
3. Bucket and Recorder
4. Accurate to .01 ft
5. Telemetry- computer

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Rainfall measurement - Radar

(Source: NationaL Wweather Service - US, 2000)

Rainfall measurement - Radar

1. Recent Innovation
2. Digital data is measured every 5
min over each grid cell as storm
advances (4 km x 4 km cells)
3. The radar data can be summed
over a storm to provide total
rainfall depths by sub-area
4.

Accurate to 150-250 km

5.

Provides spatial detail

better

than gages

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Raingauge network
Since the catching area of raingauge is very small
compared to areal extent of a storm, it is obvious
that to get a representative picture of a storm
over a catchment the number of raingauges
should be as large as possible
On the other hand, economic considerations to a
large extent and other considerations, such as
topography, accessibility, etc restrict the number
of gauges to be maintained.

Raingauge network
Hence one aims at the optimum density of
gauges from which reasonably accurate
information about the storms can be obtained
WMO recommends the following densities:
In flat regions of temperature, Mediterranean and tropical
zones: ideal -1 station for 600-900km2; acceptable: 1
station for 900 3000km2.
In mountainous regions of temperate, Mediterranean and
tropical zones: Ideal 1 station for 100-250km2;
acceptable: - 1 station for 25-1000km2

11

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Raingauge network
WMO recommends the following densities:
In arid and polar zones: 1 station for 1500
10,000km2 depending on the feasibility

Adequacy of raingauge stations:

If there are already some raingauge stations in a
catchment, the optimal number of stations should
exist to have an assigned percentage of error in
the estimation of mean rainfall.
C
N v

N = optimal number of stations, = allowable

degree of error in the estimate of mean rainfall
and Cv = coefficient of variation of the rainfall
values

Analysis of Temporal Distribution of Rainstorm Event

- Only feasible for data obtained from recording gauges.
- Rainfall Mass Curve : A plot showing the cumulative rainfall
depth over the storm duration

Time

- Rainfall Hyetogragh : A plot of rainfall depth or

intensity with respect to time

Time

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Graphical Representation of Rainfall Data

- Mass curves & rainfall hyetographs -

Example of Rainfall Analysis

13

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Double Mass Curve Analysis

Shifting

of a rain-gauge station to a new

location, exposure, instrumentation, or observational
error from a certain date may cause relative change
in the precipitation catch. This information is not
usually included in the published records.
Doublemass curve analysis tests the consistency of
the record at a gage by comparing its accumulated
annual or seasonal precipitation with the concurrent
cumulated values of mean precipitation for a group of
surrounding stations. This technique is based on the
principle that when each recorded data comes from
the same parent population, they are consistent .

Double Mass Curve Analysis

Abrupt changes or discontinuities in the resulting

mass curve reflect some changes at the target gage.
Gradual changes in the slope of the mass curve
reflect progressive changes in the vicinity of the
target gage, such as the growth of trees around a rain
gage.
The slopes of different portions of the mass curve
can be used as a basis for correcting the record of the
target gage.

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Operation of Double Mass Analysis

A change of slope should not be considered significant unless it persists for
at least 5 years.
Due to the fact that the data may have some scatter, an indicated change in
slope should be confirmed by other evidence unless the change in slope is
substantial (say, greater than 10%).
Px,t

S2

1916

Adjustment factor for data

after 1916 = S1 / S2 , i.e.,
Px, t = Px, t S1/S2 , t > 1916

S1
Pi,t or Pi,t / n

Example
Double Mass
Analysis

15

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Areal Precipitation Estimates:

Arithmetic Mean
When the area is physically and climatically
homogenous and the required accuracy is
small, the average rainfall P( ) for a basin
can be obtained as the arithmetic mean of
the Pi values recorded at various stations.

P P2 ..... Pi .....Pn
P 1

1
N

P
i 1

Areal Precipitation Estimates:

Arithmetic Mean
P

Station

1 J
Pj
J j 1
Observed Rainfall
mm

P2

20

P3

30

P4

40

P5

50
140

Ave. Rainfall = 140/4 = 35 mm

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Areal Precipitation Estimates:

Thiessen Polygon Method

Thiessen polygons .

17

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Thiessen polygons .
P7

P6

A7

A6

P2
A2

A1

A8

A5

P1

P8

P5
A4

A3
P3

P4

Thiessen polygons .

P1 A1 P2 A2 ..... Pm Am
P
A1 A2 ..... Am
Generally for M station
M

P
The ratio

PA
i 1

Atotal

i 1

Pi

Ai
A

Ai
is called the weightage factor of station i
A

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Areal Precipitation Estimates:

Thiessen Polygon Method
P

Station

1 J
A j Pj
A j 1

Observed
Rainfall

Area

Weighted
Rainfall

mm

km2

mm

P1

10

0.22

2.2

P2

20

4.02

80.4

P3

30

1.35

40.5

P4

40

1.60

64.0

P5

50

1.95

97.5

9.14

284.6

Ave. Rainfall = 284.6/9.14 = 31.1 mm

Areal Precipitation Estimates:

Thiessen Polygon Method

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Areal Precipitation Estimates:

Isohyetal Method

Isohyetal Method

An isohyet is a line joining points of equal rainfall

10.0
magnitude.
8

a5

C
9.2

12
a4

a3

7.0
7.2
A
a2

4.0

D
12

9.1

a1

10.0

F
8
4

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Isohyetal Method
P1, P2, P3, . , Pn the values of the isohytes
a1, a2, a3, ., a4 are the inter isohytes area respectively
A the total catchment area
P - the mean precipitation over the catchment

P P
P P P P
a1 1 2 a2 2 3 ... an1 n1 n
2 2
2
P
A
NOTE

The isohyet method is superior to the other two methods

especially when the stations are large in number.

Areal Precipitation Estimates:

Isohyetal Method

Isohyets

Area
km2
0.88

Average Rainfall
mm
5

Rainfall Volume
mm
4.4

1.59

15

23.9

2.24

25

56.0

3.01

35

105.4

1.22

45

54.9

0.20
9.14

53

10.6
255.2

10
20
30
40
50

Ave. Rainfall = 255.2/9.14 = 27.9 mm

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Distance-Weighted Mean Areal Precipitation

Distance-Weighted Mean Areal Precipitation

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Mean areal precipitation

1. Arithmetic Method
N

P
i 1

2. Thiessen Polygon
N
A
P Pi i
i 1
AT

3. Isohyetal Method
N
A
P Pi i
i 1
Aw

HIGHER ACCURACY

Areal Precipitation Estimates

Three Methods
Arithmetic Average
Gages must be uniformly distributed
Individual variations must not be far from mean rainfall
Not accurate for large area where rainfall distribution is variable

Thiessen Polygon
Areal weighting of rainfall from each gage
Does not capture orographic effects
Most widely used method

Isoheytal
Most accurate method
Extensive gage network required
Can include orographic effects and storm morphology

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Filling-in missing rainfall records

1.

Often, rainfall data are missing over various periods of time

2.

One has to estimate the missing data based on information

provided by surrounding gages
N

Px Pi ai

where

i 1

a
i 1

1. Arithmetic Average method

When normal precipitation of the surrounding gages is within 10 % of
the missing gage

ai

i
N

2. Normal Ratio method

When normal precipitation of the surrounding gages is more than 10 %
of the missing gage

Px

n N
N
N
1 Nx

P1 x P2 ... x Pi Pi x
n N1
N2
N i i 1 nN i

Ni is the normal precipitation (average value of a particular date, month or year over a specified long
period

3. Inverse Distance (Quadrant) method

Calculate the weights of the surrounding gages based on the distances
from the gage missing the rainfall data

ai

1 Di2
N

1 D
i 1

2
i

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Example

Station

Annual precipitation Monthly precipitation

(cm)
(cm)

114

11.5

95

9.0

122

12.4

102

??

Use: (1) Arithmetic Average Method and (2) Normal Ratio Method

http://geography.uoregon.edu/envchange/clim_animations/#Global%20Water%20Balance

25

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Intensity-Duration-Frequency
IDF curves
Various return periods &
durations
Used for drainage design
Used for floodplain designs

Characteristics of IDF Curves

IDF curves do not represent time
histories of real storms, intensities are
averages over indicated durations
A single curve represents data from
several storm events, likely from different
years
Duration is not the duration of an actual
storm (typically represents a shorter
period within a longer storm)
It is theoretically incorrect to obtain a
storm event volume because the duration
is arbitrarily assigned (or selected).

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Development of IDF Curves

Using a long-term rainfall record ( 20 25 years), for each specified
duration (common values 15 min., 30, 60, 120, up to 24 hours) the following
steps are used;
The annual maximum (or exceedences) rainfall depths are extracted from
the period of record. This results in one depth value for each year of record.
A frequency analysis is conducted on the annual series (or partial duration
series): The precipitation values are arranged in descending order and the
return period for each value is obtained using the formula: T=(n+1)/m
The intensity and duration points are plotted and smoothed for selected
frequencies
IDF curves provide the average intensity (depth) for a specified duration
and frequency and serve as the most common source for synthetic design
storms.

IDF curves are developed based on statistical analysis of rainfall records

The intensities are ranked in descending order and assigned a rank m
The return period (T) are calculated according to a plotting-position formula
such Weibull

n 1
T ( years)
m

where:
m = rank of data
n = number of observations

For each duration, series of intensities and return periods are plotted

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Example Dar Airport Data

YEAR
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986

15MIN
21.59
20.32
21.84
10.10
15.24
25.40
24.13
21.59
30.48
21.84
26.67
19.05
22.86
24.13
24.38
24.13
20.83
22.86
17.78
22.50
25.00
19.00
15.00
24.50
41.00
29.00
33.00
20.00
20.20
25.50
15.00
25.20

30MIN
30.48
30.48
30.48
16.26
28.70
46.74
36.07
22.35
40.64
28.19
37.34
27.94
36.10
40.64
32.00
34.29
22.35
31.50
35.56
36.00
50.00
25.00
19.00
33.50
53.00
41.00
43.50
31.00
24.00
32.70
16.80
26.00

1 HR
33.78
43.94
36.83
21.08
32.00
52.07
44.20
28.70
53.34
37.85
49.78
28.96
47.24
58.42
48.51
36.32
22.64
41.91
40.64
52.50
103.00
50.00
30.00
51.00
64.00
52.00
44.00
35.00
30.20
50.00
27.00
40.00

2 HRS
34.04
50.29
51.05
22.61
36.83
52.07
56.64
33.53
76.45
38.35
51.31
28.96
48.26
81.28
49.53
38.35
22.61
53.34
40.64
52.50
111.00
59.00
37.00
52.00
66.00
57.50
44.30
43.00
39.00
51.90
38.50
48.00

3 HRS
34.04
53.34
57.15
27.69
37.59
52.07
62.74
34.29
77.72
39.62
52.58
30.48
50.29
81.53
52.32
45.21
27.18
60.96
42.26
55.50
113.00
59.00
39.00
52.10
66.00
65.00
44.30
46.00
42.00
53.00
45.90
55.00

6 HRS
46.99
58.17
74.93
43.18
38.35
53.34
87.63
48.26
84.84
49.02
52.83
33.02
50.29
94.23
66.80
48.26
27.69
71.63
53.34
57.50
113.00
60.00
52.00
52.50
66.00
80.00
44.50
54.50
51.50
53.00
46.50
57.00

12 HRS
73.91
58.17
85.09
50.54
38.35
53.34
88.14
49.78
84.84
50.55
62.74
33.02
50.29
96.77
67.82
48.26
27.94
76.20
54.10
58.50
113.00
60.00
52.70
52.50
66.00
80.00
45.00
74.90
59.00
53.00
47.00
57.00

24 HRS
93.73
58.17
92.20
50.55
40.64
53.34
88.14
51.05
84.84
55.55
66.55
33.02
50.29
96.77
71.88
48.26
34.29
77.22
69.85
58.50
113.00
60.00
52.70
71.00
66.00
80.00
55.50
77.00
67.20
53.00
58.00
61.00

Data Dar Airport

15 MIN 30 MIN
2 YRS

1 HR

2 HRS

3 HRS

6 HRS 12 HRS 24 HRS

92.08

65.04

42.78

23.66

16.62

9.50

4.99

3.90

5 YRS 117.48

84.18

57.02

31.61

21.92

12.77

7.49

10 YRS 134.32

96.84

66.44

36.87

25.42

14.93

7.91

4.08

25 YRS 155.60 112.84

78.35

43.52

29.85

17.67

9.37

4.80

50 YRS 171.40 124.72

87.19

48.45

33.13

19.70

10.46

5.33

100 YRS 187.08 136.50

95.96

53.34

36.39

21.71

11.54

5.86

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IDF CURVE

200

Rainfall intensity (mm/hr)

180

T=2years

160

T=5 years

140

T=10years
T=25 years

120

T=50 years
100
T=100years
80
60
40
20
0
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Time (min)

IDF Curves

APPLICATIONS

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RATIONAL METHOD
Empirical method for small watersheds (less then 2000
acres)
For small ungaged watersheds

Imperial system
Q=CIA

where:
Q = peak runoff rate, cfs
C = runoff coefficient, non-dimensional
I = rainfall intensity, in/hr
A = area, acres

Metric system
Q = 0.278 C I A

where:
Q = peak runoff rate, m3/s
C = runoff coefficient, non-dimensional
I = rainfall intensity, mm/hr
A = area, km2

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The "rationale" of this method is: (1) Units agree: 1 cfs = 1 in/hr x 1 acre, and
(2) C (a dimensionless quantity) varies from 0 to 1 and can be thought of as the
percent of rainfall that becomes runoff.

Assumptions for the rational formula are related to the intensity term and to
quantifying C (the runoff coefficient):
Rainfall occurs uniformly over the entire watershed.
Rainfall occurs with a uniform intensity for a duration equal to the time of concentration
for the watershed.
The runoff coefficient, C, is dependent upon physical characteristics of the
watershed, e.g. soil type.
It is assumed that, when the duration of a storm equals the time of concentration, all
parts of watershed are contributing simultaneously to the discharge at the outlet..

Weaknesses of the Rational Method:

Estimation of tc. Especially critical on small watershed where tc is short and
changes in design intensities can occur quickly.
Reflects only the peak and gives no indication of the volume or the time
distribution of the runoff.
Lumps many watershed variables into one runoff coefficient.
Lends little insight into our understanding of runoff processes - Beware of cases
where watershed conditions vary greatly across the watershed.
This method is a great oversimplification of a complicated process; however, the
method is considered sufficiently accurate for runoff estimation in the design of
relatively inexpensive structures where the consequences of failure are limited.
Application of rational method is normally limited to watersheds of less than 2000
acres.

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Runoff Coefficient "C":

Because most watersheds contain more than one soil type with multiple land uses
and slopes, it is necessary to determine the runoff coefficient that represents this
total variability.
Average coefficients for composite areas may be calculated on an area weighted
basis using:

Ci Ai
Ai

where Ci is the coefficient applicable to the area Ai. In areas where large parts are
laid out in typical, repeating patterns such as sub-divisions, the weighting factors
and weighted C can be determined by considering a single, typical layout.
Typical values for C:
Downtown areas : 0.70-0.95
Neighborhood areas : 0.50 0.70
Lawns : 2 % slopes 0.05 0.10
Lawns : 7 % slopes 0.15 0.20

Concentration time tc":

The time needed for a water particle to travel from the most hydraulically distant
part of the watershed to the outlet.
For the rational method, it is the time at which the entire watershed will contribute
to the runoff at the outlet
The storm duration is assumed equal to tc

Kirpich method for small drainage basins

tc 0.0195 L0.77 S 0.385

where:
L = maximum length of flow (m)
S = Watershed gradient (m/m)
tc = concentration time (min)

Morgali Linsley method for small urban drainage areas

0.94nL
tc
I 0 .4 S 0 .3

0 .6

where:
L = length of flow, (ft)
I = rainfall intensity (in/hr)
n = Manning coefficient (dimensionless)
S = slope of flow (dimensionless)

CVG 3120

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Rainfall intensity I":

Chosen based on the concentration time, tc and the return period, Tr

Assume steady intensity for the entire duration of the rain overdesign!
Return period, Tr (pg. 758, Singh)
Can be calculated also based on the IDF curves drawn for the region for which
the calculation is made:

b
tc d e

where:
I = design rainfall intensity, (in/hr)
tc = time of concentration (min)
b, d, e = parameters(varying with location and return period)

Procedure

for use:
i) Select design return period. (Ex.,Tr = 10 years)
ii) Determine time of concentration for the watershed.
iii) Determine design intensity for Tr [return period] = selection for
design and duration
= tc.
iv) Determine weighted runoff coefficient.
v) Determine watershed area.
vi) Calculate peak flow.

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11/23/2015

Hydraulic Shapes
Mannings Equation used to
estimate flow rates

Q = k/n A R 2/3 S 1/2

Where

Q = flow rate
n = roughness
A = cross sect A
R=A/P
S = Slope
k = 1.49 imperial
k = 1 metric

34