Hydrologic losses

• In engineering hydrology, runoff is the main area of interest, so

evaporation and transpiration phases are treated as “losses .”
• If precipitation not available for surface runoff is considered as
“loss”, then the following processes are also “losses :”
• Interception
• Depression storage
• Infiltration
• In terms of groundwater (Hydrogeology), infiltration process is
a “gain .”
• Aspects of interseption, deprission storage and infiltration that
are important in engineering hydrology are defined briefly here:
Interception:
-Interception is the part of the rainfall that is intercepted by the
earth’s surface and which subsequently evaporates .
• The interception can take place by vegetal cover or depression
storage in puddles.
• Interception can amount up to 15-50% of precipitation, which is
a significant part of the water balance .
Depression storage:
• Depression storage is the natural depressions within a
catchment area which store runoff. Generally, after the
depression storage is filled, runoff starts .
• A paved surface will not detain much water .
Infiltration: The process by which water on the ground surface
enters the soil. The rate of infiltration is affected by soil
characteristics.
1- Evaporation:
Is the process by which water changes from its
liquid state to gaseous state. Water is transferred
from the surface to the atmosphere
through evaporation .
Evaporation is proportional to:
1- Vapor pressure
2-Temperature
3- Wind speed
4- Atmospheric pressure
5- Quality of water
6- Size of water body.
Factors affecting evaporation
1- Vapor pressure: The rate of evaporation is proportional to the
difference between the saturation vapour pressure at the water
temperature (ew( and the actual vapour pressure in the air (ea)

EL = C (ew – ea)
EL = rate of evaporation (mm/day(
C = constant
ew and ea are in mm of mercury;The above equation is known
as Dalton’s law of evaporation. Evaporation takes place till
ew >ea , condensation happen if ew < ea
2- Temperature: evaporation increase if the
water temperature is increased. The rate of
evaporation also increase with the air
temperature
3- Wind speed: The rate of evaporation
increase with increase of wind speed.
4- Atmospheric pressure: A decrease in
barometric pressure increase evaporation
- Quality of water: When a solute is dissolved
in water, the vapor pressure of the solution is
less than that of pure water and hence causes
reduction in the rate of evaporation.
• Types of Evaporation
1- Evaporation :Evaporation from water body or water
stored in the pores of the soil i.e., soil moisture .
2- Transpiration :Evaporation from plants.
3- Evapotranspiration: from a catchment or an area is
the summation of both water,soil and plants.
Measurement of evaporation
• The amount of water evaporated from a water surface
is estimated by the following methods :
1- Using evaporimeter
2- Empirical equations
3- Analytical methods

1- Evaporimeters : Water containing pans which are

exposed to the atmosphere and loss of water by
evaporation measured in them in the regular intervals.
a) Class A Evaporation Pan
b) ISI Standard pan (Indian Standards Institute )
c) Colorado sunken pan
d) USGS Floating pan
Evaporimeters:
Demerits of Evaporation pan:
1.Pan differs in the heat-storing capacity and heat
transfer from the sides and bottom which reduces the
efficiency.
2. The height of the rim in an evaporation pan affects
the wind action over the surface.
3.The heat-transfer characteristics of the pan material is
different from that of the reservoir.
Pan Coefficient (Cp) For accurate measurements
from evaporation pan a coefficient is introduce,
known as pan coefficient (Cp).

Lake evaporation = Cp x pan evaporation

 Empirical Evaporation Eqs
1- Dalton’s Formula:
EL = k f(u) (ew – ea)
K = Coefficient
F(u) = correct function for wind speed.

2- Meyer’s Formula (1915(

EL = Km (ew- ea) (1+ (u9/16))
EL = Lake evaporation in mm/day
ew = Saturated vapour pressure at the water surface temperature.
ea = actual vapour pressure of over lying air at a specified height.
u9 = monthly mean wind velocity in km/hr at about 9 m above the
ground.
Km =coefficient, 0.36 for large deep waters and 0.50 for small shallow
waters.
3-Rower's Formula
EL = 0.771 (1.465 – 0.000732 Pa) (0.44 + 0.0733 uo) (ew
– ea)
Pa = mean barometric reading in mm of mercury.
U = wind velocity in km/h at ground level, which can be
taken the velocity at 0.6 m height above ground.
Analytical method
1- Water Budget method:
2- Energy balance method:
3- Mass transfer method:
1- Waterb Budget method: It is the simplest analytical method

P + Vig + Vis = Vog + Vos + EL + ΔS + TL

EL = P + (Vis – Vso) + (Vig – vog) – TL – ΔS

P= daily precipitation.
Vis= daily surface inflow into the lake.
Vig= daily groundwater flow.
Vos= daily surface outflow from the lake.
Vog= daily seepage outflow.
EL= daily lake evaporation.
Δs= increase the lake storage in a day.
TL= daily transportation loss.
Evapotranspiration
• Transpiration + Evaporation
• This phenomenon describes transport of water into
the atmosphere from surfaces, including water and soil
evaporation, and vegetation (transpiration).
• Methods for measuring evapotranspiration:
1- Lysimeters: A lysimeter is a spatial watertight tank containing
a block of soil and set in a field of growing plants, the plants
growing in lysimeter are the same growing in surrounding
area . Evapotranspiration measured volumetrically
through an arrangement made in the lysimeter.
2-Penman Equation
AH n  E a Y
PET 
AY
PET = potential evapotranspiration in mm/day.
A= slope of the saturation vapor pressure vs
temperature.
Hn= net radiation in mm.
Ea= parameter including wind velocity and saturation
deficit.
Y = psychrometric constant=0.49 mm of mercury.
3- Blaney –Criddle Formulae:
This method is used throughout the world for the
consumptive use determinations and is given by:
ET = 2.54 K F
F = Σ Ph Tf / 100
ET= PET in crop season in cm
K= an empirical coefficient , depends on the type of
the crop.
F= sum of monthly consumptive use factors for the
period.
Ph= monthly percent of annual day – time hours
depends on the latitude of the space.
Tf = mean monthly temperature in F.
Value of k depend on the month and locality.