May PEACE be upon you!

O Allah!

Teach us that which benefits us and

benefit us with that which You teach us and
increase us in knowledge.
Hydrologic Cycle
Surface Water / Ocean
Energy from the Sun
Wind
Evaporation
Condensation
Precipitation
Evaporation – Transpiration – Evapotranspiration
Infiltration – Percolation - Groundwater
Overland Flow – Runoff – Streamflow
Back to the Sea
World Water Balance

• Water exist on 70% of Earth Surface

• 97.5 % salt water
• 2.5 % fresh water
• Out of 2.5 % fresh water,
– 70 % in icecaps,
– <1 % of world’s fresh water is
accessible for direct human use.
Hydro-Meteorological Components

• Solar Radiation
• Temperature
• Humidity
• Wind
• Precipitation
Watershed Concept

• Definition: divide/boundary, outlet point

• 4 main watershed characteristics:
– Area
– Length
– Slope
– Shape
Precipitation
The term precipitation denotes …
all forms of water
that reach the earth from the atmosphere
 For precipitation to form …

1. The atmosphere
must have moisture.

2. There must be
sufficient nuclei present
to aid condensation.
3. Weather conditions
must be good
for condensation of
water to take place.

4. The products of
condensation
must reach the Earth.
 Types of Precipiation
For precipitation to occur,
the moist air should condense.

This occur when the air is cooled

so that it is saturated
with the same amount of moisture.

This is accomplished by
lifting of the air mass to higher altitude.
 There are three methods
by which air mass gets lifted up
resulting in precipitation.

Therefore, there are three types of precipitation:

1) Cyclonic Precipitation
2) Orographic Precipitation
3) Convective Precipitation
 Cyclonic Precipitation
• It is caused by the lifting of air mass due to pressure
difference. A cyclone is a large low pressure region
with circular wind motion.

• There are 2 types of cyclones:

– tropical cyclones
(called cyclone in India,
hurricane in the USA and
typhoon in SE Asia) &

– extratropical cyclones
(outside the tropical zone).
 Orographic Precipitation

It is caused by moist air masses that strike natural

topographic barriers like mountains, causing them rise
upwards, causing cooling, condensation and precipitation.
The leeward side receives very little precipitation whereas
the windward side receives good rain.
 Convective Precipitation
• It is caused by the upward movement of air that is
warmer than the surrounding air due to localised
heating.
• This generally occurs
in the tropics on hot days
resulting in vertical air
currents of large velocity.
• Precipitation occurs in the
form of intense showers
of short duration.
• The areal extent of such rains is small
(generally less than 10 km in diameter).
 Forms of Precipitation
• Dew
• Mist
• Fog
• Snow
• Hail
• Sleet
• Rain
• Drizzle
• Glaze
Dew (embun)
During nights when surface
of the objects on earth cools
by radiation, the moisture
present in atmosphere
condenses on the surface of
these objects forming water
droplets called dew.
Mist (kabus)
Fog (kabus)
Difference between mist and fog
• The only difference between mist and fog is
density and its effect on visibility.

• Fog is denser so contains more water droplets

than mist.

• A cloud that reduces visibility to less than 1 km

(about 1,094 yards or 0.62 miles) is called fog,
whereas it is called mist if visibility range
is between 1 and 2 km.
Snow (salji)

• Snow consists of ice crystals

which usually combine to form
flakes.
• When fresh, snow has an initial
density varying from 0.06 to 0.15
g/cm3 and it is usual to assume
an average density of 0.1 g/cm3.
 Hail (hujan batu)
• It is the precipitating rain in the form of
any irregular form of ice with size ranging
from 5.0 mm to 50 mm or above.

• Cumulonimbus connective clouds with

strong vertical currents are responsible
for the formation of hail.

• The density of hails are normally

0.8 g/cm3.

• While falling they combine together to

form bigger sizes.
Effect of hail …
 Sleet (salji yg cair semasa turun)

• Where rain falls through

air of subfreezing
temperature, the drop
freeze to form grains of
ice, called sleet.
• Sometimes snow and rain
precipitates
simultaneously.
• The rain drops under this
circumstance are half
frozen.
 Rain (hujan)
• The term rainfall is used
to describe precipitations
in the form of water
drops of sizes larger than
0.5 mm.
• The maximum size of a
raindrop is about 6 mm.
• Any drop larger in size
than this tends to break
up into drops of smaller
sizes during its fall from
the clouds.
Drizzle (hujan renyai-renyai)
• A fine sprinkle of
numerous droplets of
sixe less than 0.5 mm
and intensity less than
1 mm/hr is known as
drizzle.

• In this the drops are so

small that they appear
to float in the air.
Difference between drizzle and rain …
Glaze or Freezing Rain

When rain or
drizzle comes in
contact with cold
ground at around
0C, the water
drops freeze to
form an ice
coating called
glaze or freezing
rain.
Measurement of Rainfall

• Rainfall amount
• Rainfall intensity

• Rain drop size distribution

• Time of beginning and ending of rainfall event
 Rain Gauges

A rain gauge (also known as an udometer,

pluviometer, or an ombrometer)
is a type of instrument used by
meteorologist and hydrologists
to gather and measure
the amount of liquid precipitation
over a set period of time.
Rain gauges can be
broadly classified into
two categories:

1. Non-recording
Rain Gauge

2. Recording Rain
Gauge
 Non-Recording Rain Gauge

Non-recording rain
gauge generally consists
of open receptacles with
vertical sides, in which
the depth of
precipitation is
measured by a
graduated measuring
cylinder or dipstick.
Example: Standard Gauge

• Standard gauges are

ordinarily used for daily
rainfall readings and consist
of a collector above a funnel
leading into a reservoir.

• Rain gauges for locations

where only weekly or
monthly readings are used
are similar in design to daily
type but have larger
capacity.
 Recording Rain Gauges

• Recording rain gauges produce a continuous plot of

rainfall against time and provide valuable data of
intensity and duration of rainfall for hydrological
analysis of storms.

• Therefore, it provides not only a measure of rainfall

depth accumulation but also rainfall intensity.
 Examples: Recording Rain Gauges

• Commonly used recording rain gauge are :

– Tipping-Bucket Gauge
– Weighing-Bucket Gauge
– Natural-Syphone or Float Gauge

• Other recording rain gauge are such as:

– Tele-Metering Rain Gauges
– Radar Measurement of Rainfall
 Tipping-Bucket Gauge

In the tipping-bucket gauge, the

water caught in the collector is
funneled into a two-
compartment bucket; 0.25mm,
0.1mm, or some other
designed quantity of rain will
fill one compartment and
overbalance the bucket so that
it tips, emptying into a reservoir
and moving the second
compartment into place
beneath the funnel. As the
bucket is tipped, it actuates an
electric circuit.
 Weighing Gauge
• The weighing-type gauge weighs
the rain which falls into a bucket
mounted on a weighing scale.

• The increasing weight of the

bucket and its contents is
recorded on a clock-work-driven
chart. The clock work mechanism
has the capacity to run for as
long as one week.

• This instrument gives a plot of

the accumulated rainfall against
the elapsed time, i.e. the mass
curve of rainfall.
 Natural-Syphone / Float Gauge
• Natural-Syphone rain gauge is also known as float-type gauge.
• In float recording gauges, rainfall collected by a funnel-shaped
collector is led into a float chamber causing a float to rise.
• As the float rises, a pen attached to the float through a lever system
records the elevation of the float on a rotating drum driven by a
clock-work mechanism.
• A syphon arrangement
empties the float
chamber when
the float has
reached a pre-set
maximum level.
• This chart shows a rainfall of 53.8 mm in 30 h.
• The vertical lines in the pen-trace correspond to the sudden
emptying of the float chamber by syphon action which resets
the pen to zero level.
• It is obvious that the natural syphon-type recording rain gauge
gives a plot of the mass curve of rainfall too.
Tele-Metering
Radar
Ideal Location for Rain Gauges Setting
1. The site should be on a level ground.
2. The site should be an open space.
3. The horizontal distance between the rain gauge and
nearest objects should be twice the height of the
objects.
4. The site should be away from continuous wind
forces.
5. Other meteorological instruments and the fencing of
the site should maintain (Step 3) above.
6. The site should be easily accessible.
7. The gauge should be truly vertical.
 Rain Gauge Network
• Since the catching area of a rain gauge is very small
compared to the areal extent of a storm, it is obvious
that to get a representative picture of a storm over a
catchment the number of rain gauges should be as
large as possible, i.e. the catchment area per gauge
should be small.

• On the other hand, economic considerations to a

large extent and other considerations, such as
topography, accessibility, etc. to some extent restrict
the number of gauges to be maintained.
 Rain Gauge Density
• Hence one aims at an optimum density of gauges from
which reasonably accurate information about the storms
can be obtained.
• Towards this, the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO) recommends the following density:
• Flat region of temperate, Mediterranean and tropical
zones: 1 station for 600 – 900 km2 (ideal),
1 station for 900 – 3000 km2 (acceptable)
• Mountainous region of temperate, Mediterranean and
tropical zones: 1 station for 100 – 250 km2 (ideal),
1 station for 25 – 1000 km2 (acceptable)
• Arid and polar zones: 1 station for 1500 – 10,000 km2
depending on the feasibility
Rainfall Station Density for Sarawak
(2008)
 Note:

Ten percent of rain gauge stations should be

equipped with self-recording gauges known the
intensities of rainfall.
 Preparation of Data

Before using the rainfall records of a station,

it is necessary to first check the data for:

– Continuity and
– Consistency
 Checking Continuity
• Sometimes a gauge in a network of gauges
malfunctions or become temporarily inoperative
during a storm.
• Whatever the case may be, it is important to be able
to estimate the missing record for the particular
storm or rainfall event so that a complete set of
records is maintained for each rainfall gauge.
• The missing data can be estimated by using the
data of the neighboring stations.
• The normal rainfall is used as a standard of
comparison.

• The normal rainfall is the average value of rainfall at

a particular date, month or year over a specified
30-year period.

• The 30-year normals are recomputed every decade.

• Thus, the term normal annual precipitation at

station A means the average annual precipitation at
A based on a specified 30-years of record.
The method mostly used in hydrology for
filling the missing data are:

– Arithmetic Mean Method

– Normal Ratio Method
– Inverse Distance Method
 (i) - Normal Ratio Method

• Suppose that the network of gauges consists of n

stations. These gauge stations are referred to as the
index stations.

• The estimated rainfall for the gauge x with missing

data is:
Nx  P1 P2 P3 Pn 
Px      ...  
n  1
N N 2 N 3 N n 
• In practice, it is sufficient to consider three closest index stations.
Therefore:

N  P1 P2 P3 
Px  x    
3  1
N N 2 N 3

Where:
Ni = Annual rainfall amount for gauge station i
(in the network of gauges)
Pi = Precipitation amount recorded for the missing rainfall event
for gauge i
Px = Missing rainfall amount to be estimated (that is, for gauge x)
n = The number of index station (in this case n=3)
 (ii) - Arithmetic Mean Method
• If N x  Ni  0.10 N x for all three closest stations, then the normal ratio
method simplifies to an arithmetic mean.
1
Px   P1  P2  ...  Pn 
n
where:
P1, P2,…,Pn are the precipitation of index station
Px is precipitation of missing station
n is the number of index station
• i.e.
– If the normal annual precipitation 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.
– The arithmetic mean method averages the values of the precipitation of the
surrounding gauges within 10% of the missing gauge.
 (iii) – Inverse Distance Method

• This method is also known as U.S. National Weather Service

Method.

• In this method, the four closest index stations in a network of

gauges, with one in each of the four quadrants (North-East,
South-East, South-West, and North-West) are required.

North

West East

South
• A weight equal to the reciprocal (bertimbal balik) of the
square of the distance of each index station is used to
determine the estimate of the missing rainfall record.

W1P1  W2 P2  W3 P3  W4 P4
Px 
W1  W2  W3  W4
• Where:
Wi = 1/(Li2)
Li = Distance of the index station i from station x
X = Index for the station having missing rainfall record
Pi = Precipitation amount for station i for the missing record
 i n

 ( pi / Li )
2

Px  i 1
i n

 (1 / Li )
2

i 1

Where:
P = precipitation;
L = distance between index stations and station x;
i - refers to each one of the index stations; and
n - number of index stations
(normally, n is taken not more than 5).
 Question 1
• The normal annual rainfall at Station A, B, C and D
in a basin are 80.97 cm, 67.59 cm, 76.28 cm and
92.01 cm respectively.

• In year 1975, Station D was inoperative and

Station A, B and C recorded annual precipitations
of 91.11 cm, 72.23 cm and 79.89 cm respectively.

• Estimate the rainfall at Station D in that year.

 Question 2
The precipitation gauge for Station X was inoperative for a certain day
in April, 2008. During that day, the rainfall record at six nearby index
stations are collected and are given in the table below.

(i) Determine the estimated rainfall amount for Station X

using the Normal-Ratio Method.
(ii) Estimate the missing rainfall record for Station X using
the Inverse Distance Method.
 Be content with what your Lord has
given you, and you will be among the
richest of people!
May PEACE be upon you!