Hydrology: Cagayan State University-Carig Campus

Cagayan State University–Carig Campus
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
HYDROLOGY LECTURE MODULE 5
Example 1:
Given the drainage area of Figure 1 and the rainfall data displayed in Table 1, calculate the average
rainfall over the area using
a. Arithmetic method
b. Thiessen polygon weighting system
Figure 1
Table 1
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Solution:
a. Identify those gauges falling within the area boundary. They include gauges 1, 4 through 6, 8, and
9. Averaging the values for these 6 gauges yields an estimated mean rainfall of 3.20 inches.
b. Following the Thiessen method construct polygons using triangles to connect gauge points. These
polygons are shown in Figure 1. Calculate the % of the total area associated with each gauge and
record as in column 2 of Table 1. The Thiessen weighted average is obtained by multiplying the
values in column 2 by the values in column 3. The Thiessen average is computed as 3.45 inches of
rainfall.
Adequacy of Raingauge Stations
If there are already some raingauge stations in a catchment, the optimal number of stations that
should exist to have an assigned percentage of error in the estimation of mean rainfall is obtained
by statistical analysis as
𝐶𝑣 2
𝑁=( )
𝜀
where: 𝑁 = 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠
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𝜀 = 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙

𝐶𝑣 = 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 (𝑖𝑛 %).
If there are 𝑚 stations in the catchment each recording rainfall values 𝑃1 , 𝑃2 , 𝑃𝑖 , . . . , 𝑃𝑚 in a known
time, the coefficient of variation 𝐶𝑣 is calculated as:
100 × 𝜎𝑚−1
𝐶𝑣 =
𝑃̅
∑𝑚 ̅ 2
1 (𝑃𝑖 −𝑃)
Where: 𝜎𝑚−1 = √[ ] = 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑚−1
𝑃𝑖 = 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖 𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
1
𝑃̅ = (∑𝑚
1 𝑃𝑖 ) = 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑚
In calculating N it is usual to take 𝜀 = 10%. It is seen that if the value of 𝜀 is small, the number of raingauge
stations will be more.
Example 2:
A catchment has 6 raingauge stations. In a year, the annual rainfall recorded by the gauges are as
follows:
For a 10% error in the estimation of the mean rainfall, calculate the optimum number of stations in the
catchment.
Solution:
For this data,

𝑚=6 𝑃̅ = 118.6 𝜎𝑚−1 = 35.04 𝜀 = 10
100×35.04
𝐶𝑣 = = 29.54
118.6
29.54 2
𝑁= ( ) = 8.7, 𝑠𝑎𝑦 9 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠
10
The optimal number of stations for the catchment is 9. Hence, three more additional stations are needed.
Example 3:
A catchment area has 7 rain gauge stations. In a year the annual rainfall recorded by the gauges are as
follows
For a 5% error in the estimation of mean rain fall calculate the minimum number of additional stations
required to be established in the catchment.
Solution:
Existing no. of raingauges=7, 𝜀 = 5%

130.4 + 142.1 + 118.2 + 108.5 + 165.2 + 102.1 + 146.9
𝑃̅ =
7
= 130.428 𝑐𝑚
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∑𝑚 ̅ 2
1 (𝑃𝑖 − 𝑃 )
𝜎𝑚−1 = √[ ]
𝑚−1
(130 − 130.428)2 +. . . +(146.9 − 130.428)2

= √[ ]
7−1
= 22.545 𝑐𝑚
100 × 𝜎𝑚−1
𝐶𝑣 =
𝑃̅
100 × 22.545
=
130.428
= 17.285
Optimum no. of raingauges ,

𝐶𝑣 2 17.285 2
𝑁=( ) =( )
𝜀 5
= 11.95 ≅ 12
𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑢𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 = (𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑛𝑜. −𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑎𝑢𝑔𝑒𝑠)

= 12 − 7
=5
Estimation of Missing Data
Given the annual precipitation values 𝑃1 , 𝑃2 , 𝑃3 , . . . 𝑃𝑚 at neighboring M stations 1, 2, 3, . . .,M respectively,

it is required to find the missing annual precipitation 𝑃𝑥 at a station X not included in the above M stations.
Further, the normal annual precipitations 𝑁1 , 𝑁2 , . . . , 𝑁𝑖 at each of the above (M+1) stations including station
X are known.
If the normal annual precipitations at various stations are within about 10% of the normal annual
precipitation at station X, then a simple arithmetic average procedure is followed to estimate 𝑃𝑋 . Thus,
1
𝑃𝑋 = [𝑃1 +𝑃2 +. . . +𝑃𝑚 ]
𝑀
If the normal precipitations vary considerably, then 𝑃𝑋 is estimated by weighing the precipitation at the
various stations by the ratio of normal annual precipitations. This method known as the normal ratio
method fives 𝑃𝑋 as
𝑁𝑋 𝑃1 𝑃2 𝑃𝑚
𝑃𝑋 = [ + +. . . + ]
𝑀 𝑁1 𝑁2 𝑁𝑚
Example 4:
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
precipitations 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 more than 10%, the normal ratio method is adopted.
92.01 91.11 72.23 79.89
𝑃𝐷 = ×( + + ) = 99.48𝑐𝑚
3 80.79 67.59 76.28
Example 5:
The normal annual precipitation of five rain gauge stations P, Q, R, S and T are 125, 102, 76, 113 and 137
cm respectively. During a particular storm the precipitations recorded by stations P, Q, R and S are 13.2,
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9.2, 6.8 and 10.2 cm respectively. The instrument at station T was inoperative during that storm. Estimate
the rainfall at station T during the storm.
Solution:
𝑁𝑃 = 125 𝑐𝑚, 𝑃𝑃 = 13.2 𝑐𝑚

𝑁𝑄 = 102 𝑐𝑚, 𝑃𝑄 = 9.2 𝑐𝑚
𝑁𝑅 = 76 𝑐𝑚, 𝑃𝑅 = 6.8 𝑐𝑚
𝑁𝑆 = 113 𝑐𝑚, 𝑃𝑆 = 10.2 𝑐𝑚
𝑁𝑇 = 137 𝑐𝑚, 𝑃𝑇 =?
150.7 (𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡)

𝑁𝑇 ± 10%𝑁𝑇 {
125.3 (𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡)
𝑁𝑃 = 𝑁𝑄 = 𝑁𝑅 = 𝑁𝑆 ≠ 𝑁𝑇 ± 10%𝑁𝑇
Normal ratio method is used
𝑁𝑇 𝑃𝑃 𝑃𝑄 𝑃𝑅 𝑃𝑆
𝑃𝑇 = [ + + + ]
𝑚 𝑁𝑃 𝑁𝑄 𝑁𝑅 𝑁𝑆
137 13.2 9.2 6.8 10.2
= [ + + + ]
4 125 102 76 113
= 12.86 𝑐𝑚
Bedient, P.B., Huber W.C. and Vieux, B.E. (2010). Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis. (4th Edition). Pearson.
David Chin. (2013). Water Resources Engineering. (3rd Edition). Pearson.
McCuen, R.H. (1989). Hydrologic Analysis and Design. Prentice Hall.
Linsley, R.K., M.A. Kohler and J.L.H. Paulhus. (1988). Hydrology for Engineers. McGraw-Hill.
VenTe Chow, David Maidment and Larry Mays. (1988). Applied Hydrology. (Internation Edition). McGraw-
Hill.
ASCE. (1996). Hydrology Handbook. (2nd Edition).
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Cagayan State University–Carig Campus

HYDROLOGY LECTURE MODULE 5

HYDROLOGY LECTURE MODULE 5

Adequacy of Raingauge Stations

where: 𝑁 = 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

HYDROLOGY LECTURE MODULE 5

𝜀 = 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙

For this data,

Existing no. of raingauges=7, 𝜀 = 5%

HYDROLOGY LECTURE MODULE 5

(130 − 130.428)2 +. . . +(146.9 − 130.428)2

Optimum no. of raingauges ,

𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑢𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 = (𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑛𝑜. −𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑎𝑢𝑔𝑒𝑠)

Estimation of Missing Data

Given the annual precipitation values 𝑃1 , 𝑃2 , 𝑃3 , . . . 𝑃𝑚 at neighboring M stations 1, 2, 3, . . .,M respectively,

HYDROLOGY LECTURE MODULE 5

𝑁𝑃 = 125 𝑐𝑚, 𝑃𝑃 = 13.2 𝑐𝑚

150.7 (𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡)

David Chin. (2013). Water Resources Engineering. (3rd Edition). Pearson.

McCuen, R.H. (1989). Hydrologic Analysis and Design. Prentice Hall.

ASCE. (1996). Hydrology Handbook. (2nd Edition).

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