Precipitation

Introduction
• All forms of water that reach the earth from the
atmosphere is called Precipitation.
• The usual forms are rainfall, snowfall, frost, hail,
dew. Of all these, the first two contribute
significant amounts of water.
• Rainfall being the predominant form of
precipitation causing stream flow, especially the
flood flow in majority of rivers. Thus, in this
context, rainfall is used synonymously with
precipitation.
 Formation of
Precipitation
1. Source of moisture
2. Lifting mechanism (frontal, orographic,
convective)
3. Phase change from vapor to water -
Energy
4. Small nuclei or dust for droplet
formation
5. Droplets must grow as they fall to
earth From Bedient
Lifting Mechanisms

From Bedient
 Introduction….
• In nature water is present in three aggregation
states:
– solid: snow and ice;
– liquid: pure water and solutions;
– gaseous: vapors under different grades of pressure
and saturation

• The water exists in the atmosphere in these

three aggregation states.
 Introduction….
• Types of precipitation
– Rain, snow, hail, drizzle, glaze, sleet

• Rain:
– Is precipitation in the form of water drops of size
larger than 0.5 mm to 6mm
– The rainfall is classified in to
• Light rain – if intensity is trace to 2.5 mm/h
• Moderate – if intensity is 2.5 mm/hr to 7.5 mm/hr
• Heavy rain – above 7.5 mm/hr
 Introduction….
• Snow:
– Snow is formed from ice crystal masses, which usually
combine to form flakes
• Hail (violent thunderstorm)
– precipitation in the form of small balls or lumps
usually consisting of concentric layers of clear ice and
compact snow.
– Hail varies from 0.5 to 5 cm in diameter and can be
damaging crops and small buildings.
 Precipitation
• Single strongest variable driving hydrologic
processes
• Formed water vapor in the atmosphere
• As air cools its ability to ‘hold’ water
decreases and some turns to liquid or ice-i.e.
glass condensation (Figure 2.1)
Air Saturation
 Weather Patterns
• Weather (day to day) vs. climate (years-
decades and patterns)
• What are hydrologists most concerned with?
• Climate and geography result in biome
classification
Causes of Precipitation
 Measurement of Precipitation
• Terminology (2.3)
• Types of devices (2.4.2)
• Snowfall conversions (2.4.1)
• Location of devices (2.4)
• Interpretation of data (2.3.3, 2.6)
 Rainfall Terminology
• Type-hail, rain, snow, sleet
• Depth
• Storm Duration
• Average rate of precipitation-Intensity
• Return Period or Recurrence Interval
 2.3. Measurement of Rainfall

• Rainfall and other forms of precipitation are

measured in terms of depth, the values being
expressed in millimeters.
• One millimeter of precipitation represents the
quantity of water needed to cover the land with a
1mm layer of water, taking into account that nothing
is lost through drainage, evaporation or absorption.
• Instrument used to collect and measure the
precipitation is called raingauge.
 Rainfall measurement…

Precipitation gauge
1 - pole
2 - collector
3 - support- galvanized
metal sheet
4 – funnel
5 - steel ring

1. Non recording gauge

 2. Recording gauge / graphic raingauge

• The instrument records the graphical variation of

the fallen precipitation, the total fallen quantity
in a certain time interval and the intensity of the
rainfall (mm/hour).
• It allows continuous measurement of the rainfall.

The graphic rain gauge

1-receiver
2-floater
3-siphon
4-recording needle
5-drum with diagram
6-clock mechanism
 3. Tele-rain gauge with tilting baskets

• The tele-rain gauge is used to transmit

measurements of precipitation through electric
or radio signals.
• The sensor device consists of a system with two
tilting baskets, which fill alternatively with water
from the collecting funnel, establishing the
electric contact.
• The number of tilting is proportional to the
quantity of precipitation hp
 Tele-rain gauge ……

The tele-rain-gauge

1 - collecting funnel 2 -
tilting baskets
3 - electric signal
4 - evacuation
 4. Radar measurement of rainfall

• The meteorological radar is the powerful instrument for

measuring the area extent, location and movement of
rainstorm.
• The amount of rainfall overlarge area can be determined
through the radar with a good degree of accuracy
• The radar emits a regular succession of pulse of
electromagnetic radiation in a narrow beam so that
when the raindrops intercept a radar beam, its intensity
can easily be known.
 RADAR Rainfall Estimates

• NEXRAD provides real-time data

on a ~16 km2 (6 mi2) grid
• Each estimate represents an average
rainfall amount over the entire 4 x 4
km2 area
• NEXRAD rainfall estimates compare
well with point rain gage
measurements (r2 ~ 0.9)

From Bedient
 Raingauge Network

• Since the catching area of the raingauge is very

small as compared to the areal extent of the
storm, to get representative picture of a storm
over a catchment the number of raingauges
should be as large as possible, i.e. the
catchment area per gauge should be small.
• There are several factors to be considered to
restrict the number of gauge:
– Like economic considerations to a large extent
– Topographic & accessibility to some extent.
 Raingauge Network…..
• World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
recommendation:
– In flat regions of temperate, Mediterranean and tropical zones
• Ideal  1 station for 600 – 900 km2
• Acceptable 1 station for 900 – 3000 km2
– In mountainous regions of temperate , Mediterranean and
tropical zones
• Ideal  1 station for 100 – 250 km2
• Acceptable  1 station for 250 – 1000 km2
– In arid and polar zone
• 1 station for 1500 – 10,000 km2
• 10 % of the raingauges should be self recording to know
the intensity of the rainfall
Types of Rain Gages
 Snow Measurement
• Determine the water equivalent
• 5%-60% of snow depth may be water
equivalent-- “density”
• Snow pillows use antifreeze solution and
pressure measurement to measure water
equivalent
Shielded and Unshielded weighing Precip (Rain
and Snow Gages

Snow Pillow
 Location of Gages

• Gauges measure point rainfall

• True precipitation unaffected by surroundings-
winds, trees, buildings
• Clearance distance 2 times height of object
• For large areas multiple gauges are needed for
more accurate estimates
Table 2.3
Size of Watershed Number of Gage Sites
Acres
40 2
100 3
600 4

Square Miles
5 10
10 15
100 50
300 100
 Interpretation of Data
• Time distributions
• Area distributions
– Using point data to find average rainfall
– Thiessen method
 2.2 Temporal and Spatial Variation of Rainfall

• Rainfall varies greatly both in time

and space
– With respect to time – temporal variation
– With space – Spatial variation

• The temporal variation may be defined as

hourly, daily, monthly, seasonal variations
and annual variation (long-term variation of
precipitation)
 Temporal Variation of rainfall at a particular site

Total Rainfall amount = 6.17 cm

14
Rainfall Intensity, cm/hr

12
10

8
6
4

2
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time, min
 Long term Precipitation variation at Arba Minch

45
40
Annual rainfall, mm

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
Years
Annual Precipitation
average precipitation
Storm Patterns (Histograms)

Figure 2.14
 2.4 Preparation of Data
• Before using rainfall data, it is necessary to check the
data for continuing and consistency
– Missing data
– Record errors

Estimation of Missing Data

• Given annual precipitation values – P1, P2, P3,… Pm at neighboring
M stations of station X 1, 2, 3 & m respectively
• The normal annual precipitation given by N1, N2, N3,…, Nm, Ni…
(including station X)
• To find the missing precipitation, Px , of station X
Nx  P1 P2 Pm 
Px   N  N  ...  N 
M  1 2 m
 Test for consistency record
(Double mass curve techniques)
• Let a group of 5 to 10 base stations in the neighbourhood of the
problem station X is selected
• Arrange the data of X stn rainfall and the average of the
neighbouring stations in reverse chronological order (from recent
to old record)
• Accumulate the precipitation of station X  and
Px  the average
values of the group base stations starting  Pavg  the latest
from
record.
• Plot the   Pxagainst
   Pasavg shown on the next figure
• A decided break in the slope of the resulting plot is observed that
indicates a change in precipitation regime of station X, i.e
inconsistency.
• Therefore, is should be corrected by the factor shown on the next
slide
 Test for consistency record….

Double Mass Curve Analysis

accumulated annual rainf all of X stn in 10^3 mm 4.5

4
Mc c

3.5
a
3

2.5
c Ma a
2

1.5

0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Accumulated annual rainf all of neigbouring stns in 10^3 mm

Mc Pcx – corrected precipitation at any time period t1 at stationX

Pcx  Px Px – Original recorded precp. at time period t1 at station X
Ma Mc – corrected slope of the double mass curve
Ma – original slope of the mass curve
 2.5 Mean Precipitation over an area

• Raingauges rainfall represent only point sampling of the

areal distribution of a storm
• The important rainfall for hydrological analysis is a
rainfall over an area, such as over the catchment
• To convert the point rainfall values at various stations to
in to average value over a catchment, the following
methods are used:
– arithmetic mean
– the method of the Thiessen polygons
– the isohyets method
Arithmetic Mean Method

• When the area is physically and climatically

homogenous and the required accuracy is small, the
average rainfall ( ) forPa basin can be obtained as the
arithmetic mean of the hi values recorded at various
stations.
• Applicable rarely for practical purpose

P1  P2  .....  Pi  .....Pn 1 N
P 
N

N
P
i 1
i
Method of Thiessen polygons

• The method of Thiessen polygons consists of attributing

to each station an influence zone in which it is
considered that the rainfall is equivalent to that of the
station.
• The influence zones are represented by convex
polygons.
• These polygons are obtained using the mediators of the
segments which link each station to the closest
neighbouring stations
Thiessen polygons ……….
 Thiessen polygons ……….

P7
P6

A7
A6
P2

A2
A1
A8 A5
P1
P8 P5
A3 A4
P3

P4
 Thiessen polygons ……….

P1 A1  P2 A2  .....  Pm Am
P 
 A1  A2  .....  Am 
Generally for M station
M

 PA i i M
Ai
P  i 1
Atotal
 i 1
Pi
A

Ai
The ratio is called the weightage factor of station i
A
Isohyetal Method
• An isohyet is a line joining points of equal rainfall
magnitude. 10.0
8

D
6 C a5
12
9.2
12
a4
7.0 a3
4 B
7.2
A
a2 E 10.0
9.1
4.0 a1
F

6
4
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
• - the mean precipitation over the catchment
P

 P1  P2   P2  P3   Pn1  Pn 
a1   a2   ... an1 
 2   2   2 
P
A
NOTE
The isohyet method is superior to the other two methods
especially when the stations are large in number.
Rain-Gage Area Correction Factor

Storm duration
1
Fraction of Point Rainfall

24 hours
0.9
0.8 6 hours
3 hours
0.7
0.6 1 hour
30 min
0.5
0 500 1000
Area (Square km)
Technical Paper 40 NOAA
Hyetograph IDF ….

- is a plot of the accumulated precipitation against time, plotted in

chronological order

Total depth = 10.6 cm

Hyetograph of a storm Duration = 48 hr
0.5
Intensity, cm/hr

0.4

0.3
0.2

0.1
0
0–8 8 – 16 16 – 24 24 – 32 32 – 40 40 – 48
Time, hours
 IDF Curve ….

• In many design problems related to watershed such as runoff

disposal, erosion control, highway construction, culvert design, it
is necessary to know the rainfall intensities of different durations
and different return periods.
• The curve that shows the inter-dependency between i (cm/hr),
D (hour) and T (year) is called IDF curve.
• The relation can be expressed in general form as:

x
kT i – Intensity (cm/hr)

i  D – Duration (hours)

 D  a n K, x, a, n – are constant for a given

catchment
 IDF ….
Typical IDF Curve

14
T = 25 years
12
Intesity, cm/hr

T = 50 years
10 T = 100 years
8
6 k = 6.93
4 x = 0.189
2 a = 0.5
n = 0.878
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Duration, hr
Prediction-Frequency Distributions
• To plan and design projects must be able to
predict probability of rainfall events
• Duration, Intensity, Return Period
• Often must estimate Return Periods
• Use Hazen method to develop intensity-
duration-frequency curve (Example 2.5).
Table 2.6
Annual Precip. for LA, CA 1934-1953
Year Depth (in) Rank Depth (in) Year
1934 14.6 1 32.8 1941
1935 21.7 2 26.2 1952
1936 12.1 3 23.4 1938
1937 22.4 4 22.4 1937
1938 23.4 5 21.7 1935 You have determined that
1939 13.1 6 19.2 1940 more than 23.4” of annual
1940 19.2 7 19.2 1944 rainfall will result in a net
1941 32.8 8 18.2 1943 Economic loss for your
1942 11.2 9 14.6 1934 crop.
Now, you need to predict
1943 18.2 10 13.1 1939
1944 19.2 11 12.7 1947 How often this will occur .
1945 11.6 12 12.1 1936
1946 11.6 13 11.6 1945
1947 12.7 14 11.6 1946
1948 7.2 15 11.2 1942
1949 8 16 10.6 1950
1950 10.6 17 9.5 1953
1951 8.2 18 8.2 1951
1952 26.2 19 8 1949
1953 9.5 20 7.2 1948
Table 2.6
Annual Precip. for LA, CA 1934-1953
Year Depth (in) Rank Depth (in) Year
1934 14.6 1 32.8 1941
1935 21.7 2 26.2 1952
1936 12.1 3 23.4 1938
1937 22.4 4 22.4 1937
1938 23.4 5 21.7 1935
1939 13.1 6 19.2 1940
1940 19.2 7 19.2 1944
1941 32.8 8 18.2 1943
1942 11.2 9 14.6 1934
1943 18.2 10 13.1 1939
1944 19.2 11 12.7 1947
1945 11.6 12 12.1 1936
1946 11.6 13 11.6 1945
1947 12.7 14 11.6 1946
1948 7.2 15 11.2 1942
1949 8 16 10.6 1950
1950 10.6 17 9.5 1953
1951 8.2 18 8.2 1951
1952 26.2 19 8 1949
1953 9.5 20 7.2 1948
Equation 2.2, page 46

Probability of Occurrence, Fa (%)=

100 (2n-1)
n = the rank of each event
2y y = the total number of events

For Example:
Year 1938--23.4 in--Rank #3
100 (2*3-1) = 12.5
2*20
Table 2.6
Annual Precip. for LA, CA 1934-1953
Year Depth (in) Rank Depth (in) Year Prob. F a
1934 14.6 1 32.8 1941 2.5
1935 21.7 2 26.2 1952 7.5
1936 12.1 3 23.4 1938 12.5
1937 22.4 4 22.4 1937 17.5
1938 23.4 5 21.7 1935 22.5
1939 13.1 6 19.2 1940 27.5
1940 19.2 7 19.2 1944 32.5
1941 32.8 8 18.2 1943 37.5
1942 11.2 9 14.6 1934 42.5
1943 18.2 10 13.1 1939 47.5
1944 19.2 11 12.7 1947 52.5
1945 11.6 12 12.1 1936 57.5
1946 11.6 13 11.6 1945 62.5
1947 12.7 14 11.6 1946 67.5
1948 7.2 15 11.2 1942 72.5
1949 8 16 10.6 1950 77.5
1950 10.6 17 9.5 1953 82.5
1951 8.2 18 8.2 1951 87.5
1952 26.2 19 8 1949 92.5
1953 9.5 20 7.2 1948 97.5
 100
Return Period=
Fa

Fa= probability of occurrence (%)

For Example:
Year 1938-- Fa= 12.5
100 = 8 yrs
12.5
r LA, CA 1934-1953
Depth (in) Year Prob. F a Return Period
32.8 1941 2.5 40.0
26.2 1952 7.5 13.3
23.4 1938 12.5 8.0
22.4 1937 17.5 5.7
21.7 1935 22.5 4.4
19.2 1940 27.5 3.6
19.2 1944 32.5 3.1
18.2 1943 37.5 2.7
14.6 1934 42.5 2.4
13.1 1939 47.5 2.1
12.7 1947 52.5 1.9
12.1 1936 57.5 1.7
11.6 1945 62.5 1.6
11.6 1946 67.5 1.5
11.2 1942 72.5 1.4
10.6 1950 77.5 1.3
9.5 1953 82.5 1.2
8.2 1951 87.5 1.1
8 1949 92.5 1.1
7.2 1948 97.5 1.0
Frequency-Magnitude Graph
Predict probability of a given return period
storm occurring within a given number of years

What is the probability that the 8-year event will

happen in LA within the next 5 years? Or, what
The probability of an economic loss due to reduced
Harvest in the next 5 years?
P (T,n) = 1 - (1 - 1/T )n

P = 1 - ( 1 - 1/8 )5
= 49%
Another Ex. If T =100, n=10 then P=9.56%
if T=20, n=20 then P= 64%
Rainfall Intensity-Duration-Frequency Curves
Rainfall Rate-Duration-Frequency
Figure 2.19