Hydrology Class 01 31 2023

HYDROLOGY CLASS
01/31/2023
Solar radiation- the earth’s chief source of energy, determines weather and climate.
Both earth and the sun radiate essentially as block bodies, they emit for every wavelength almost the
theoretical maximum amount of radiation for their temperatures.
SOLAR CONSTANT- the rate at which solar radiation reaches the upper limits of the earth’s atmosphere
on a surface normal to the incident radiation and at the earth’s mean distance from the sun.
MEASUREMENT OF RADIATION
ACTINOMETER and RADIOMETER are general names for instruments to measure the intensity of radiant
energy.
Five (5) types of Radiometers:

1. PYRHELIOMETER- measuring the intensity of direct solar radiation
2. PYRANOMETER- measuring hemispherical shortwave radiation., i.e. the combined intensity of
direct solar radiation and diffuse sky radiation.
3. PYRGEOMETER- measuring hemispherical longwave radiation, used face up to measure
atmospheric radiation or inverted to measure terrestrial and reflected atmospheric radiation.
4. PYRRADIOMETER or TOTAL HEMISPHERICAL RADIOMETER- measuring all-wave radiation flux,
used face up to measure hemispherical longwave radiation plus global radiation or inverted to
measure terrestrial and reflected atmospheric radiation plus reflected solar radiation.
5. NET PYRRADIOMETER or NET RADIOMETER- measuring net all-wave radiation flux.
THE GENERAL CIRCULATION
THERMAL CIRCULATION:
If the earth were a non-rotating sphere, a purely thermal circulation would result. The equator receives
more solar radiation from the earth’s rotation in higher latitudes. The equatorial air, being warmer, is
lighter and tends to rise. As it rises, it is replaced by cooler air from higher latitudes. The only way the air
from the higher latitudes can be replaced is from above by the poleward flow of air rising from the
equator. The true circulation differs forms because of the earth’s rotation and the effects of land and sea
distribution and the landforms.
EFFECTS OF EARTH’S ROTATION
The earth rotates from west to east, and a point at the equator moves at about 1670km/hr. while one at
60 degrees latitude moves at one-half this speed. From the principle of conservation of angular
momentum, it follows that a parcel of air at rest relative to the earth’s surface at the equator would
attain a theoretical eastward velocity of 2505 km/hr., relative to the earth’s surface, if moved northward
to 60 degrees latitude, it would reach a theoretical westward velocity of 835 km/hr. however, wind
speeds of this magnitude are never observed in nature because of friction.
The direction of movement of a parcel of air is reflected by the CORIOLESS FORCE, which is an apparent
force arising from the earth’s rotation. The apparent force acts as a deflecting force normal to the
velocity of the parcel and has no effect on speed.
JET STREAMS- are prominent features of the general circulation. They are caused by the air masses
being brought into motion by strong pressure gradient forces resulting from deep meridional gradients
and by angular momentum imparted by the rotation of the earth’s surface. JET STREAMS are quasi-
horizontal, sinuous, undulating currents of air traveling near the tropopause at speeds ranging from
about 30m/s to over 135m/s.
The TROPOPAUSE is the boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere, ranging in height from
about 8km at the poles to about 16km at the equator. The TROPOSPHERE, which extends from the
earth’s surface to the tropopause, is characterized by generally decreasing temperature with height,
considerable vertical win motion, most of the water vapor in the atmosphere, and weather. The
STRATOSPHERE is a relatively isothermal layer extending from the tropopause to about 20 to 25km,
where the temperature begins to increase with height.
MIGRATORY SYSTEMS
The semipermanent features of the general, or mean, circulation is statistical at any time and may be
distorted or displaced by transitory migratory systems. Both semipermanent and transitory features are
classified as CYCLONES or ANTICYCLONES.
CYCLONES is a more or less circular area of low atmospheric pressure in which the winds blow counter-
clockwise in the northern hemisphere.
TROPICAL CYCLONE form at low latitudes and may develop into HURRICANES or TYPHOONS, with winds
exceeding 333mm/s over areas as large as 300km in diameter.
EXTRATROPICAL CYCLONES usually form along the boundaries between warm and cold air masses.
ANTICYCLONES is an area of relatively high pressure in which the winds tend to blow spirally outward in
a clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere.
FRONTS
FRONTAL SURFACE- the boundary between two adjacent air masses of different temperatures and
moisture content. They are actually layers of zones of transition. Their thickness, however, is small wet
dimensions of air masses. The line of intersection of a frontal surface with the earth is SURFACE FRONT.
UPPER AIR FRONT- is formed by the intersection of two frontal surfaces aloft and hence marks the
boundary between three air masses.
WARM FRONT- moving air masses so that warm air displaces cold air.
COLD FRONT- cold air displaces the warmer air.
STATIONARY FRONT- front not moving
OCCLUSION- the process where cold fronts move faster than warm fronts.
OCCLUDED FRONT- the resulting surface front during occlusion.
ANALYSIS OF PRECIPITATION DATA- rainfall data are of interest both in a specific locality and over
considerable areas. Since the rain gauge gives the precipitation at a given point, it is easier to make a
point rainfall analysis to study rainfall over the area.
INTENSITY, DURATION, AND FREQUENCY OF RAINFALL:
x
KT
i= n
t
Where:
i = intensity of rainfall
K, x, and n = constants for a given geographic location
T= return period in years
Eqn. (1) not been widely adopted because of the difficulty in evaluating the constants

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HYDROLOGY CLASS

Five (5) types of Radiometers:

THE GENERAL CIRCULATION

EFFECTS OF EARTH’S ROTATION

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