ES 402 - Hydrology p.

3 - 1

Lab. Exercise 3

CALCULATION OF AREAL PRECIPITATION USING THE THIESSEN METHOD

PURPOSE: intr o d u c e th e st u d e n t to th e us e of th e Thi e s s e n m e t h o d of an al y z i n g pr e c i p i t a t i o n da t a . INTRODUCTION Precipita tio n is me a s u r e d on an hourly basis in the U. S. at abou t 300 prim ary station s oper a t e d by train e d pers o n n el and overs e e n by the Nation al Weath e r Service. (Ding m a n 1994). Thes e sta tion s, often at major airports , mak e hourly me a s u r e m e n t s of tem p e r a t u r e , solar radia tion, wind, and precipita tio n (liquid + melt e d solid). Upst a t e New York Stat es prim ary wea t h e r stations are Albany, Bingh a m t o n , Buffalo, Roche s t e r, and Syrac u s e (NRCC 1996). There are also over 8000 coop e r a tin g stations acros s the country, typically oper a t e d by em ploy e e s of sm aller airport s, municip al drinking wate r or wast e w a t e r plant s, or oth er gover n m e n t em ploy e e s . Thes e station s usu ally record only daily maxi m u m and minim u m te m p e r a t u r e and precipit a tio n. The tim e of obs erv a tio n differs amo n g station s but is often 7 am. Data from wea t h e r station s repr e s e n t precipit a tio n at single points widely scatt e r e d acros s the landsc a p e , but hydrologist s almo s t always want to know the total or aver a g e am o u n t of precipit a tio n rec eive d by a region, such as a stre a m s drain a g e basin. How can such ar e a l pr e c i p i t a t i o n be estim a t e d from a network of precipit a tion gag e s ? At least a doze n met h o d s of making such are al estim a t e s are in use (Ding m a n 1994); we will review thre e of the simpler met h o d s briefly. 1. Arit h m e t i c av e r a g e : this met h o d simply aver a g e s the value s for all station s within or adjac e n t to the region of inter e s t . It will over e m p h a s iz e are a s with ma n y station s and und e r- repr e s e n t are a s with few sta tion s. 2. Isoh y e t a l con t o u r s : Isohy e t s are conto ur lines surrou n di n g are a s within a region which receiv e similar amo u n t s of precipit a tion (com p a r e to topogr a p hic contour s , which encircle are a s of equ al elev a tio n). Mean are al precipit a tio n is the n calculat e d by multiplying the are a within eac h isohye t tim e s the am o u n t of precipita tio n. This met h o d is of particular value whe n precipit a tion differs consist e n tly within a region, perh a p s beca u s e of orogr a p hic (moun t ai n) or lake effects. 3. Thi e s s e n pol y g o n s : the Thiess e n met h o d divide s the region cont ainin g the gag e s into straig h t- edg e d polygon s , such that every point within the basin is assign e d to the precipita tio n station which it is

ES 402 - Hydrology p. 3 - 2

Lab. Exercise 3

close s t to. Constr uction of the polygo n s occurs in four step s , illustra t e d below:

ES 402 - Hydrology p. 3 - 3

Lab. Exercise 3

St e p 1 : plot the location s of the sta tion s and station s the boun d a r y of the region on a ma p:

St e p 2 : conn e c t adjac e n t with straigh t lines:

St e p 3 : constru c t perp e n dic ul ar bisect or s St e p 4 : conn e c t the bisect or s to acros s the lines conn e c tin g station s: outline the polygo n belonging to each sta tion:

ES 402 - Hydrology p. 3 - 4

Lab. Exercise 3

Thi e s s e n pol y g o n s : (cont.) The Thiess e n met h o d the n calculat e s aver a g e precipit a tion acros s the region by multiplying eac h stations value by the are a of its polygon and dividing by the total are a (or, equivale n tly, by forming a weighting factor for each station equ al to the are a of its polygo n divide d by the tot al are a of the region). In this labora t or y exercis e you will calculat e me a n are al precipit a tion for the drain a g e basin of the Allegh e n y River abov e Sala m a n c a NY, using both the arith m e tic aver a g e and the Thiess e n met h o d . In addition to comp a ri n g the two met h o d s , you will also evalu a t e the ade q u a c y of the regions precipit a tio n gag e netw ork.

A. CONSTRUCTION OF THIESSEN POLYGONS: 1. You were given an EXCEL file for the first weeks lab that cont ain s a mont hs worth of daily precipit a tion dat a for 10 station s in the Allegh e n y River basin. You should hav e cons tru c t e d , as a part of that weeks exercis e, a colum n Daily ave. which calculat e s aver a g e daily value s for all 10 station s. The botto m cell in the colum n should give the aver a g e mont hly precipit a tio n. Congra t ul a tion s: youve alre a d y done the arith m e tic aver a g e estim a t e . 2. You will be given a ma p on which the draina g e basin of the Allegh e n y River upstr e a m of Sala m a n c a NY is outline d. The location s of the 10 coop e r a ti n g wea t h e r station s within the basin are circled. Using a straigh t e d g e , conn e c t adjac e n t station s with a das h e d line. Warning : ther e are a LOT of ways to conn e c t all 10 points. I found the task a bit confusing at first, but settl e d on this appro a c h : start by conn e c tin g the station s arou n d the periph e r y (Little Valley - Franklinville, Franklinville Bolivar, etc.). Then conn e c t Olea n to the surrou n din g sta tion s, like spoke s from the hub of a whe el. Do not, how ev e r, conn e c t Olean to Coud er s p o r t - they are too far apart to have the boun d a r y of a polygo n fall betw e e n the m . You may want later to conn e c t an addition al pair or two, but nothing is har m e d by omitting the m now. 3. Now divide eac h station conn e c t or with a perp e n dic ul ar bisect or. First, mark the middle of each conn e c t o r. I found it easi e s t to do this by marking the endp oin t s of the line on a pap e r strip, folding the strip in half, and marking the cent e r on the conn e c tin g line. Secon d, carefully draw a solid line perp e n dic ul ar to eac h conn e c t o r throu g h its midpoint. Thes e bisect ors dont hav e to ext e n d acros s the entire ma p: continu e the m out to the draina g e basin boun d a r y on one end and into the cent e r until they cross a nea r by bisect or. This last point will be uncle a r until youve draw n a few bisect or s, but no har m is don e if you draw the m too

ES 402 - Hydrology p. 3 - 5

Lab. Exercise 3

far (asid e from making the map hard e r to rea d). 4. Once you hav e bisect e d the conn e c t o r s , tap e two she e t s of plastic film, side- by- side withou t overla p pin g , so they cover the ma p. For each wea t h e r station, trac e the adjac e n t basin boun d a r y and the portions of the bisect or s (NOT the conn e c t o r s !) whic h are clo s e r to th a t st a t i o n th a n to an y oth e r s . This ma tt e r of deciding which station an are a on the ma p is clos es t to is the crucial step in the proc e d u r e , and it may leav e you scra tc hin g your hea d a bit. In gen e r al, the polygo n s you cre a t e should be conv e x (bulging outw ar d) and shouldnt cont ain narrow necks or protu b e r a n c e s . If you find that you are missing one or more conn e c t or s which are ess e n ti al to allocat e an are a to a sta tion, carefully lift the plastic she e t and go back to (2). 5. Each station should now be surrou n d e d by a solid polygon enclosing its Thiess e n are a. (Note: ther es an odd piec e of the basin sout h of Bradford - does it belon g to Bradford or Sme t h p o r t ? To decide, look at which side of the Bradford - Sme t h p o r t bisec tor its on.) Mark each polygon with a code for its station, the n lift the plas tic she e t s off the ma p and cut out each polygo n. 6. Constr uct a squ ar e on the plastic she e t with a known size, using the scale. Weigh it and the station polygo n s to the nea r e s t 0.01 g (0.001 g if possible). Station Little Valley, NY Sala m a n c a , NY Olean, NY Franklinville, NY Bolivar, NY Oswayo, PA Couder s p o r t, PA Port Allegan y, PA Smet h p o r t , PA Bradford, PA -- squ ar e -Polygon wt. (g) Polygon are a (units = )
Calculat e in EXCEL:

7. At the com p u t e r : Creat e a row with the polygon weight s for each station, and a row total. Calculat e the are a of eac h polygo n using the equ a tio n:

ES 402 - Hydrology p. 3 - 6

Lab. Exercise 3

Polygon are a =

polygon weight weight of squ a r e

x are a of squ a r e

The results will have the sa m e units you chos e for the squ a r e . 8. Finally, calculat e the station weighing factors as the are a of the station polygon divide d by the total are a of the basin. Put the weighing factors in an em p t y row below the station totals and use the m to calculat e daily and tot al precipit a tion for the region, in colum n M. Do the arith m e tic and Thiess e n esti m a t e s differ for daily value s ? How do any differe nc e s betw e e n daily estim a t e s comp a r e to the differe nc e betw e e n the mont hly totals by the two met h o d s ? What stor m (s ) gen e r a t e d the large s t differe nc e s betw e e n the two estim a t e s ? Why? B. ADEQUACY OF THE UPPER ALLEGHENY RIVER PRECIPITATION NETWORK 1. Ward and Trimble (2004, p. 38) give the following guide for the num b e r of station s in a precipit a tion gag e network: Size of wate r s h e d Numb e r of gag e sites 40 acre s 2 100 acre s 3 600 acre s 4 5 mi 2 10 10 mi 2 15 2 100 mi 50 300 mi 2 100 According to the s e guideline s , is the density of precipit a tion station s in the upp e r Allegh e n y River basin ade q u a t e ? 2. Singh (1992, p. 174) gives a formula for det er mi nin g the optim al num b e r of station s in a gag e network bas e d on the variability of rainfall amo n g station s. In this way, an are a with little topo gr a p hic com ple xity or one tha t exp e rie n c e s large front al stor m s would ne e d fewer station s tha n a mou n t ai n o u s are a or one pron e to conve c tiv e stor m s . The formul a is: N = Cv2 / e , gag e s , C v = the coefficient of variation of dat a from existing gag e s in region, e = the tolera bl e perc e n t a g e of error in estim a tin g me a n are al precipit a tion wher e: N = the optim u m num b e r of

ES 402 - Hydrology p. 3 - 7

Lab. Exercise 3

The coefficient of variation is the stan d a r d deviation of gag e dat a divide d by the me a n , and expr e s s e d as a perc e n t a g e (e.g., x 100). Stan d a r d deviation, in turn, can be calculat e d using a built- in EXCEL function (STDEV). Calculat e the sta n d a r d deviation of the sta tion s for mont hly tot als (eithe r inche s or cm does nt mat t e r) in the next em p t y cell (N42??). In the next colum n, calculat e the C v , as a perc e n t a g e . Use the C v calculat e d abov e to progr a m Singhs formul a into an em p t y part of the spre a d s h e e t so that you can exp eri m e n t with differe n t value s of e . Fill out the table below and not e how N incre a s e s as the allowa bl e error decre a s e s from 200% to less tha n 10%. Numb e r of sta tion s require d:
Tolera bl e error (e, %) Num b e r station s (N) Tolera bl e error (e, %) Num b e r station s (N)

200

ES 402 - Hydrology p. 3 - 8

Lab. Exercise 3

LITERATURE CITED Ding m a n , S. L. 1994. Physical hydrolog y . Prentice Hall, Englewoo d Cliffs, NJ. NRCC 1996. North e a s t Region al Climat e Cent e r, Cornell University, Ithac a NY. Http://m e t- www.cit.corn ell.e d u Singh, V. P. 1992. Elem e n t ar y hydrolog y . Prentice Hall, Englewoo d Cliffs, NJ. Ward, A. D. and S. W. Trimble. 2004. Environ m e n t al hydrolog y . 2 nd ed. Lewis Publis er s , !"ca #at"n, $L.