Department of Civil Engineering

UNIVERSITI TENAGA NASIONAL

Introduction
CEWB322 Hydrology
Department of Civil Engineering
UNITEN

Chapter 1
Introduction
Hydrologic Cycle
Systems Concept
Hydrologic System Model
 HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE
COURSE OUTCOMES
The role of water in the global ecosystem
Where the world’s water supply is stored
The pathways of moisture in the hydrologic
cycle
The fate of precipitation on the land
How groundwater moves in rocks beneath the
earth’s surface
Man’s impact on ground water: depletion and
pollution
 WHAT IS HYDROLOGY?

•From a Greek word “hydro” means

water and “logy” means study
•Hydrology is a discipline of water
•It covers a lot of scope:
Ground water, surface water and
water in atmosphere
Measure character, quantity, quality
and distribution
Hydrological cycle happen
continuously
•Hydrological study is important to
manage water resource
 Interesting Facts
• There are 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water on
earth.
• 3% of the earth’s water is fresh. ¾ of the fresh water
is frozen in glaciers and ice caps.
• A person takes 60,600L of water in his lifetime.
• An average person in US uses 260L of water/day
(Malaysian: 150L/day).
• Industry uses more water than any other material.
• Every glass of water you drink contains molecules of
water used countless times before.
 Hydrology

Hydrology is the science of water.

It is the study of the occurrence, character,

and movement of water within and between
the physical and biological components of
the environment.

The practical application of hydrology is

called Applied Hydrology.
 Applied Hydrology

Applied Hydrology are found in such tasks as

Design and operation of hydraulic

structures.
Water supply
Wastewater treatment and disposal
Irrigation
Drainage
Hydropower generation
Flood control
 Applied Hydrology

Navigation
Erosion and sediment control
Salinity control
Pollution abatement
Recreation use of water
Fish and wildlife protection
 Role of Applied Hydrology

The role of applied hydrology is

to help these tasks

to provide guidance for planning and
management of water resource
 Introduction
• Earth is called the blue planet. Why?
• Seventy percent (70%) of the earth’s
surface is oceans - the hydrosphere.
• The hydrosphere connects with the
three other spheres.
 The World’s Water Supply

•
Water Takes Three Different Forms

• Water = Liquid Form

• Ice = Solid Form
• Water Vapor = Gas Form
 The Hydrologic Cycle
• What is the driving force behind the
hydrologic cycle?
• - Solar Energy
• Gravity helps keep water moving.
• Water circulates between the:
– Hydrosphere
– Lithosphere
– Atmosphere
– Biosphere
 Hydrologic Cycle

15 km Hydrosphere
Water on earth exists :
1 km Lithosphere in a space called Hydrosphere
(15 km up into the atmosphere)
Earth in the crust of the earth (1 km
down into the Lithosphere)

Water circulates in the hydrosphere through the

maze of paths constituting the Hydrologic Cycle
 Hydrologic Cycle

The hydrologic cycle is the central focus

of hydrology.
The cycle has no beginning or end.
Its processes occur continuously.
 Hydrologic Cycle
Hydrologic
Hydrologic Cycle
cycle

Atmospheric Subsystem

Surface Subsystem

Groundwater Subsystem
 Hydrologic Cycle

96.5% of all the earth’s water is in the oceans.

1.7% of all the earth’s water is in

the groundwater.

1.7% of all the earth’s water is in

the polar ices.

0.1% of all the earth’s water is in the surface and

atmospheric water system.

Estimated world
water quantities
 Hydrologic Cycle
Hydrologic cycle with global annual average water balance.

Average Water Balance in 1978

 Hydrologic Cycle

Average Water Balance in 2005

 Hydrologic Cycle

100%

61%
Global annual
water balance
39%
Annual Rainfall
Climate : 3,000 mm
Temperature : 210C - 32 0c
Relative Humidity : 80 %
Open Water Evaporation : 1600 mm - 1800 mm
 Introduction
 Water is abundant Average Annual Rainfall (mm)
 Not well managed –
shortage during 4000
3500
drought and excess 3000

during wet season 2500

2000
 Johannesburg 2002 1500
1000
World Summit agree 500
to: 0
Peninsular Sarawak Sabah
 Develop IWRM and water
efficiency plan
 Reverse current trend in
water resources
degradation
 Monsoonal and Convective Rainfall Patterns
PERLIS
Kelantan
600
THAILAND
500
KEDAH
400
Monsoon

mm
300
200

KELANTAN 100
TERENGGANU0
PERAK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Month

PAHANG

SELANGOR
mm Selangor
600
500 NEGERI

400
Convective SEMBILAN

300 MELAKA

200
JOHOR
100
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Month
SINGAPORE
 Flood prone areas 29,720 km²
(9% nation’s land area)

KangarPERLIS
THAILAND
PULAU S.Kelantan
LANGKAWI KEDAH Kota Bharu
Alor Setar

S.Muda
George Town
PULAU S.Terengganu
PINANG Kuala Terengganu
KELANTAN

PERAK TERENGGANU
S.Dungun
Ipoh

S.Cukai
S.Perak
PAHANG
S.Bernam Kuantan
S.Kuantan
S.Pahang
LABUAN
SELANGOR
Shah AlamKuala
S.Klang Lumpur
NEGERI
SEMBILAN S.Rompin
S.Endau
Seremban
MELAKA
S.Linggi
S.Melaka
Melaka
S.Muar JOHOR
S.Batu Pahat
S.Benut Johor
Bahru
S.Johor
SINGAPORE
 Water Balance In Malaysia
•Rainfall intensity = 990 bil. m3
•360 bil m3 evoprate to atmosphere as a vapour
•566 bil m3 as a surface runoff
•64 bil m3 as a ground water
•Dam/catchments = 25 bil m3
 Climate Change Impact

Even if the world maintained the pace of the 1990s in water supply development,
it would not be enough to ensure that everyone had access to safe drinkning
water by 2025. (PICC, UNEP)
 Climate Change Impact

One study suggests that although global water conditions may

worsen by 2025 due to population pressure, climate change could
have a net positive impact on global water resources (PICC, UNEP)
Climate Change Impact Malaysia

(Source: Nahrim 2006)

More rainfall
More floods?
 Definition – Hydrologic Processes

• The physical processes responsible for

the movement of water through the
different phases of the hydrologic cycle.
• At small space and time scales, these
processes can be accurately represented
by mathematical-physical equations, but at
the scales of most interest in engineering
hydrology, a degree of simplification and
conceptualisation is always involved in their
description and modelling.
Hydrologic Processes - Precipitation
• Precipitation is the major input into most
hydrologic systems. It may be in the form of rain,
snow, hail, sleet, mist, dew or frost. For
Malaysia, the majority of the precipitation is in
the form of rain, and the term rainfall is thus
often used synonymously with precipitation.
Most rainfall results from distinct storms; these
are meteorological events that may last from
several minutes to several days.
• Channel Precipitation is that precipitation
falling directly on the water surface of streams
and lakes.
Hydrologic Processes - Interception

• Interception is that part of precipitation

that falls directly on trees, shrubs, grass,
or other objects and does not reach the
ground. It is temporarily retained in the
interception store and eventually
evaporated.
 Hydrologic Processes – Depression
storage
• Depression Storage (or Surface Retention) is the
water retained (ponded) in depressions on the
surface of the catchment.
• The depressions may range from small surface
features like hoof marks to puddles, ponds and
lakes.
• The larger depressions will not only store the
precipitation falling directly onto them, but also
some of the overland flow from areas located
above them.
• Some of the stored water infiltrates into the soil, the
remainder is gradually evaporated.
 Hydrologic Processes – Surface
Runoff
• Surface Runoff is the water that flows over the
ground surface into streams.
• It results from the excess of precipitation over
infiltration, the rainfall excess, which is initially
stored on the catchment surface and in
depression storage, then runs off as sheet or
overland flow, and eventually collects in small
drainage lines and streams to move to the
catchment outlet.
• Surface runoff contributes the major portion of
streamflow after a storm event and thus is the
component of principal interest in many
engineering studies.
 • Hydrologic Processes - Infiltration

• Infiltration is the water that soaks into the surface of the

soil.
• The infiltration capacity, the maximum rate at which water
can infiltrate into a given soil at a given time, depends on
the soil physical properties and the depth of water that has
already infiltrated.
• The actual rate of infiltration depends also on the rainfall
intensity or the depth of water ponded on the catchment
surface.
• For impervious catchment surfaces, such as paved areas,
the infiltration capacity is so small that it can be neglected,
but for highly pervious surfaces, such as sands or lateritic
soils, most of the precipitation on the land surface may be
lost to infiltration.
(A) Cover and Storage
of a Natural
Watershed

(B) Cover and Storage

of an Urbanized
Watershed

(C) Flood Frequency

Curves for Natural
and Urbanized
Watershed

(D) Hydrographs for

Natural and
Urbanized
Watershed
35
Changes in Hydrology and Runoff Due to 36
Hydrologic Processes – Soil Moisture
• Soil Moisture is the water contained in the soil above the water table. It
is depleted by evaporation from the ground surface and by transpiration
through vegetation.
• The availability of soil moisture plays a key role in supporting natural
vegetation and agricultural crops.
• The amount of useful soil water varies between the ‘wilting point’ (the
lowest soil moisture content beyond which plant roots can no longer
extract water from the soil) and ‘field capacity’ (the maximum amount of
water a soil can hold against the action of gravity).

• Interflow (or sub-surface storm flow) is water that percolates in a nearly

horizontal direction through the soil and seeps out into stream channels
relatively quickly during or shortly after a storm period, without having
reached the ground water reservoir.

• Percolation is the movement of water (particularly in the vertical

direction) under hydrostatic pressure through rock or soil, excluding
turbulent flow through large openings (macropores).
Hydrologic Processes -Groundwater
• Groundwater is the water contained in saturated soil
(i.e. below the water table). The total volume of
groundwater storage may be very large compared to
the other components of the water balance.
• Groundwater flow, in general terms, is the flow within,
between or from groundwater systems.
• Baseflow is a general term for that portion of the
streamflow that seeps into the stream channels from
below the ground surface.
• Mostly, it is taken to include both groundwater flow and
interflow, but sometimes is used to mean only
groundwater flow, i.e. the outflow from the groundwater
store to streams that may continue for several months
after a storm event, and that is thus responsible for the
dry-weather flow in streams.
 Hydrologic Processes - Evaporation
• Evaporation is the process whereby liquid water is vaporised and
diffuses into the atmosphere. The process of evaporation is driven by
heat energy and depends on the amount of net radiation from the sun. It
thus varies seasonally and with the temperature regime of a location.
The rate of evaporation also depends on the ability of the surrounding
air to absorb extra moisture, and aerodynamic factors (such as wind
speed) are important.
• The term potential evaporation describes the maximum rate of
evaporation that is possible given an unlimited supply of water (e.g. from
an open water surface); in many situations the available supply limits the
actual evaporation to a smaller amount.
• Transpiration is the process whereby vegetation extracts moisture from
the soil, passes it through the plant and evaporates it into the
atmosphere through the leaves. The rate of transpiration is determined
by similar factors as evaporation, plus vegetation characteristics, such
as wind resistance and total leaf area.
• Evapotranspiration is the total evaporative loss from soil and
vegetation to the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration. In
modern usage, the term "evaporation" is often applied to mean
evapotranspiration.
 Definition - Water Balance
• The fundamental law of hydrology, known in
other physical sciences as the continuity
equation or the principle of conservation of
mass.
• It states that, over a given time period, the total
inflows to a hydrologic system must equal the total
outflows from it, minus the change in volume of
water stored within the system.
• The water balance equation can be applied to
hydrologic systems of any scale and for time
periods ranging from seconds to many years.
 THE WATER BALANCE EQUATION
The term "water balance" implies a statement of the principle of
conservation of mass of water in a hydrologic system, e.g. a
catchment. Essentially, for a defined time period:
Inflow to catchment - outflow from catchment = increase of
storage on catchment
To apply this principle in a particular case, it is necessary to:
Step 1
1. Define the boundaries of the catchment system
• In plan, this is defined by the ridges and lines of steepest slope to
the catchment "outlet" (gauging station). Vertically the outer or upper
surfaces of the ground, vegetation, and buildings form a suitable
upper boundary, while the bedrock often defines a suitable lower
boundary. See Figure 2.4. This definition implies that the catchment
includes the groundwater system. The lower boundary of the soil
moisture zone (shown by a broken line) thus forms an internal
boundary within the system. In other cases, the lower boundary may
be taken such as to include the part of the soil moisture zone where
soil moisture is accessible to vegetation. The definition of the
catchment system boundaries determines which inflow and outflow
terms are relevant to the water balance of the catchment.
 Catchment system boundaries,
inputs and outputs

P P P P P P P P P

E
E E
E E
SS E Is E
Ssm D
Catchment Ig SG
Boundary Qg
Q
 Catchment system boundaries,
inputs and outputs
Step 2
2. Identify and evaluate all forms of water inflow
to and outflow from the defined catchment; for
example, for the system defined in Figure 2.4:
• Inflows - Rainfall P ; Surface inflow Is and
Subsurface inflow Ig
• Outflows - Evapotranspiration E ; Subsurface
outflow Qg ;Streamflow Q and Diversions D
 Catchment system boundaries,
inputs and outputs
Step 3
3. Identify all forms of storage in the catchment and estimate
the changes in their contents over the selected time
increment. For example:
• Surface storage Ss (e.g. lakes, channels, vegetation)
• Soil Moisture storage Ssm
• Groundwater storage Sg
For the above inputs, outputs, and storages, the water balance
equation for a time interval t is:

P + Is + Ig - Q - E - D - Qg = Ss + Ssm + Sg (2.1)

Inflow - Outflow = Increase in Storage

 Example 1

Estimate the residence time of global

atmospheric moisture.
Tr = Residence time (the average duration for a water
S molecule to pass through a subsystem of the
Tr 
Q hydrologic cycle).
S = Volume of water
Q = Flow rate

S  12,900 km3 Table km3

Q  458 ,800  119,000 Table
yr
km3
 577 ,000
yr
S 12,900 (km3 )
Tr    0.033 yr  8.2 days
Q 577 ,000 (km / yr)
3
 EXAMPLE 1.1
The storage in a river reach at a particular time is 20 x 103 m3.
At that time, the recorded inflow and outflow of the reach are 10.0 m3/s and 15.0 m3/s
respectively.
An hour later the inflow is 15.0 m3 /s and the outflow is 16.0 m3/s.
Calculate the change of storage and the new storage of the reach at the end of one hour.

Solution

11 = 10.0 m3/s ; 12 = 15.0 m3/s

01 = 15.0 m3/s ; 02 =16.0 m3/s
S1 = 20 x 103 m3 ; ∆t = 1 hour= 3600 s
Rearranging equation (1.2) gives;

∆S = { ( I1 + I2)/2 - (01 + 02)/2} ∆t

= {(10.0 + 15.0)/2 - (15.0 + 16.0)/2}3600

= 10,800 m3
The new storage, S2 = S1 + ∆S
= 20000 - 10800
= 9200 m3
 EXAMPLE 1.1
The storage in a river reach at a particular time is 20 x 103 m3.
At that time, the recorded inflow and outflow of the reach are 10.0 m3/s and 15.0 m3/s
respectively.
An hour later the inflow is 15.0 m3 /s and the outflow is 16.0 m3/s.
Calculate the change of storage and the new storage of the reach at the end of one hour.

Solution

11 = 10.0 m3/s ; 12 = 15.0 m3/s

01 = 15.0 m3/s ; 02 =16.0 m3/s
S1 = 20 x 103 m3 ; ∆t = 1 hour= 3600 s
Rearranging equation (1.2) gives;

∆S = { ( I1 + I2)/2 - (01 + 02)/2} ∆t

= {(10.0 + 15.0)/2 - (15.0 + 16.0)/2}3600

= 10,800 m3
The new storage, S2 = S1 + ∆S
= 20000 - 10800
= 9200 m3
 Example 1.2
A lake had a water surface elevation of 100.0 m above datum at a beginning of a certain month. In
that month, the lake received an average inflow of 5.0 m3/s from surface runoff sources. In the
same period, the outflow from the lake had an average value of 5.5 m3/s.
Further in that month, the lake received a rainfall of 135 mm and the evaporation from the lake
surface was estimated to be 60 mm.
The average surface area of the lake was 45 km2.
Write the water budget equation for the lake and calculate the new water surface elevation of the
lake at the end of the month.

Solution : _
In a time period, ∆t , the water budget equation of the lake is ;
∆S /∆t =I - O
where ∆t = 1 month = 1 x 30 x 24 x 3600 = 2.592 x 106 s
I=5.0 x2.592x106=12.96x 106 m3
0=5.5x2.592x106=14.26x 106 m3
Surface area of lake, A = 45 km2 = 45 x 106 m2
Inflow from precipitation (rainfall), P x A = 0.135 x 45 x 106
= 6.75 x 106 m3
Outflow from evaporation, E x A = 0.06 x 45 x 106 = 2.7 x 106 m3
Total Inflow = (12.96 + 6.75) x 106 m3 = 19.71 x 106 m3
Total Outflow = (14.26 + 2.7) x 106 m3 = 16.96 1 x 106 m3
Change in storage, ∆S = Total Inflow - Total Outflow
= (19.71-16.96) x 106 m3
= 2.75 x 106 m3
Change in elevation, ∆Z = ∆S / A = 2.75 x 106 / 45 x 106 = 0.061 m
Therefore, new water surface elevation at the end of the month is ;
= 100.000 + 0.061
= 100.061 m
Systems Concept

Global hydrologic cycle is

represented in a simplified
way by means of “The System
Concept”

Most hydrologic system is

inherently random, because
their major input is
precipitation, a highly variable
and unpredictable
phenomena.

The statistical analysis plays a

large role in hydrologic
analysis.

Block diagram
representation of the
global hydrologic system.
 Example 2

Represent the storm rainfall-runoff process on

a watershed as a hydrologic system.

Input A watershed is the area of

land draining into a stream
at a given location.

The watershed divide is a

line dividing land whose
drainage flows toward the
Output given stream from land
whose drainage flows away
from that stream.

A Watershed as a Hydrologic System

 Basic Equation of Hydrologic Cycle

Input Process Output

(Rainfall) (Basin) (Runoff)

Simple Hydrologic System Model

Unsteady Flow Equation ; I-Q=dS/dt

I = Input (volume/time)
O= Output (volume/time)
dS/dt = Time rate of change of storage
 Basic Equation of Hydrologic Cycle

P
Region A P=Precipitation
Earth’s surface E=Evaporation
R1 T=Transpiration
Rg Eg Tg
R2
R=Surface Runoff
G=Groundwater Flow
Es Ts

Rg=Subsurface Flow
I=Infiltration
G1
I
S=Storage
Sg G2

s=Land Surface
g=Groundwater

Level of plastic rock

 Basic Equation of Hydrologic Cycle

Water Budget in Land Surface

(P+R1+Rg)-(R2+Es+Ts+I)=Ss (1)

Water Budget in Groundwater

(I+G1)-(G2+Rg+Eg+Tg)=Sg (2)

P-(R2-R1)-(Es+Eg)-(Ts+Tg)-(G2-G1)= Ss+Sg *

R (Net Surface Flow)=R2-R1

E (Net Evaporation) =E2+E1
T (Net Transpiration)=Ts+Tg P-R-E-T-G=S
G (Net Groundwater Flow)=G2-G1
S= Ss+Sg