Team taligsik

PRECIPITATION

GROUP MEMBERS
NIÑO LOUIENO M. GIVA
JARIIR M. ALIM JHON DAVE A.YOCA
DJEE B. TOLENTINO
JERAME F. BAAL
ANDONY CALINOG
ELLARANE G. BUSTILLO
Formation of Precipitation

 Any type of water, whether liquid or solid, that

descends from the atmosphere and touches the
surface of the Earth is referred to as precipitation.

 Precipitation
occurs when water vapor
condenses into droplets or ice crystals and
becomes heavy enough to fall under gravity.
 TYPES OF PRECIPITATION

1.CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION
- The air above the land area gets
heated up due to some cause. Most of
this warmer air rises up, cools, and
precipitates. Convective precipitation is
showery by nature. This type of
precipitation occurs in varying intensities.
2. CYCLONIC PRECIPITATION

 - A cyclone is a region in the

atmosphere that has a large low
pressure having circular wind
motion. The cyclonic
precipitation is caused due to the
movement of moist air mass to
this region by the difference in
pressure. Cyclonic precipitation
is two types: frontal and non-
frontal precipitation.
TWO PARTS OF CYCLONIC
PRECIPITATION
* Frontal Precipitation
- A frontal is known as the hot moist air mass boundary. This
precipitation is caused due to the expansion of air near the
frontal surface.

* Non-Frontal Precipitation
- This is a cold moist air mass boundary that moves and
results in precipitation.
3. OROGRAPHIC PRECIPITATION

 - Moving air masses have a

chance to strike barriers such as
mountains. Once they strike,
they rise up causing
condensation and precipitation.
The precipitation that occurs is
greater on the windward side of
the barrier when compared to the
leeward side of the barrier.
FOG
 - Warm air, moist air blows
in from the south and if
there is snow or cool
moisture on the ground it
will come in contact with the
warm, moist winds. This
contact between the air and
ground will cause the air
blowing in to become cool.
RAINFALL CHARACTERISTICS

 SIZE AND SHAPE

 RAINDROPS HAVE SIZES RANGING FROM 0.1 TO 9mm MEAN
DIAMETER BUT DEVELOP A TENDENCY TO BREAK UP AT
LARGER SIZES. SMALLER DROPS ARE CALLED CLOUD
DROPLETS, AND THEIR SHAPE IS SPHERICAL.

 INTENSITY(i):
 AMOUNT OF RAIN IN A CERTAIN TIME (mm/hr.)
 INTENSITY IS HOW MUCH RAIN FALLS AT ANY GIVEN
MOMENT.
 DURATION(d):
 TIME AT WHICH RAIN OCCURS (hr.)
 THE AMOUNT OF TIME FROM THE START TO THE END OF
A RAINFALL EVENT.
 DEPTH(t):
 VOLUME OF RAIN OVER AN AREA (d= Vol./A)
 FREQUENCY
 THE FREQUENCY OF RAINFALL OCCURRED.
 REPEATFOR THE RAIN AND HOW OFTEN WE WILL
EXPECT TO SEE RAIN THAT IS AT LEAST THIS INTENSE.
 DIFFERENT
TYPES OF
RAIN GAUGES
What Is Rain Gauge?

• A rain gauge is an artifact used in

meteorological stations to help measure and
collect precipitations that fall in a certain
place.

• There are two types of rain

gauges, non-recording type and
recording type.
 Non-Recording Type Rain Gauge
• It gives only total rainfall occurred
during particular time period.

• Most commonly used type is Symon's

rain-gauge
SYMON'S RAIN GAUGE
• It gives the total rainfall that has occurred at a particular
period.

• It essentially consists of a circular collecting area 127

mm in diameter connected to a funnel.

• The funnel discharges the rainfall into a receiving vessel.

• The funnel and the receiving vessel are housed in a

metallic container.
 Recording Type Rain Gauges
• These are rain gauges which can give a permanent, automatic
rainfall record in the form of a pen mounted on a clock driven
chart.

• From the chart intensity or rate of rainfall in cm per hour or 6

hrs, 12 hrs and total amount of rainfall can be obtained.

• There are three types of recording rain gauges

1.)Weighing bucket type
2.)Tipping bucket type
3.)Floating or natural syphon type rain gauge
 WEIGHING BUCKET TYPE RAIN GAUGE
• It is most common self-recording rain gauge.
• It consists of a receiver bucket supported by a spring or
lever balance or some other weighing mechanism.
• The movement of bucket due to its increasing weight is
transmitted to a pen which traces record or some marking
on a clock driven chart.
• The instrument gives a plot of the accumulated rainfall
values against the elapsed time and the curve so formed
is called the mass curve.
 TIPPING BUCKET TYPE RAIN GAUGE
•It is a 30cm sized circular rain gauge adopted for use
by US weather bureau.

•It has 30cm diameter sharp edged receiver and at the

end of the receiver is provided a funnel.

•Pair of buckets are pivoted under this funnel in such a

manner that when one bucket receives 0.25mm of
precipitation it tips discharging its rainfall into the
container, bringing the other bucket under the funnel.
•Tipping of bucket completes an electric circuit causing
the movement of pen to mark on clock driven receiving
drum which carries a recorded sheet.

• These electric pulses generated are recorded at the

control room far away from the rain gauge station.

• This instrument is further suited for digitalizing the

output signal.
 FLOATING OR NATURAL SYPHON TYPE RAIN
GAUGE
• The working of this type of rain gauge is similar to
weighing bucket rain gauge.
• A funnel receives the water which is collected in a
rectangular container.
• A float is provided at the bottom of container, and this
float raises as the water level rises in the container.
• Its movement being recorded by a pen moving on a
recording drum actuated by a clock work.
• When water rises, syphon releases the water
outwards through the connecting pipe, thus all
water in box is drained out.
• This rain gauge is adopted as the standard
recording rain gauge in India.
• Curve drawn using this data is known as mass
curve of rain fall.
Estimation of
Missing Rainfall
Data
 Necessity of Estimation
of Missing Data:
• Sometimes a rainfall amount of certain rain gauge
station for a certain days may be missing due to
absence of observer or instrumental failure.
• In such cases, it might be needed to estimate the
missing rainfall amount by approximating the value
from the data of the nearby rain gauge stations.
Methods of Estimation of Missing Data

 1.Arithmetic Mean
Method - if the normal
precipitation at various
stations are within 10%
of the normal
precipitation at station
"x".
 2. Normal Ratio Method -
if the normal
precipitations vary more
than 10%, then Px is
estimated by weighing
the precipitation at
various stations by the
ratios of normal annual
precipitation
EXAMPLE
The normal annual rainfall at stations A,
B, C, and D are 60,75,80,&100 cm,
respectively. In 1994, station C was not
working & stations A, B, & D were
recorded annual precipitation of 90,60,&
70 cm, respectively. Estimate the annual
rainfall at station C.
SOLUTION
EXAMPLE

The normal annual rainfall at stations A,

B, C, and D are 60,75,80,&100 cm,
respectively. In 1994, station C was not
working & stations A, B, & D were
recorded annual precipitation of 90,60,&
70 cm, respectively. Estimate the annual
rainfall at station C.
SOLUTION
 Precipitation
Conversion of Point Rainfall to Areal
Rainfall
Conversion of Point Precipitation to Areal
Precipitation

The representative precipitation over a

defined area is required in engineering
applications, whereas the gaged
observation pertains to point
precipitation.

The areal precipitation is computed

from the record of a group of rain
gages within the area by the following
methods.
Conversion of Point Rainfall to Areal Rainfall

1. Arithmetic or station average method

2. Weighted average method
• Thiessen polygon method
• Isohyetal method
Arithmetic Average Method
The arithmetic-mean method is the
simplest method of determining areal
average rainfall. It involves averaging
the rainfall depths recorded at a number
of gages. This method is satisfactory if
the gages are uniformly distributed over
the area and the individual gage
measurements do not vary greatly about
the mean.
Example:
Given with the following data.
Calculate the mean areal depth
of rainfall using Arithmetic
Average Method.
Solution:
Weighted average method
Thiessen Polygon Method

If some gages are considered more

representative of the area in question than
others, then relative weights may be assigned
to the gages in computing the areal average.
The Thiessen method assumes that at any
point in the watershed the rainfall is the same
as that at the nearest gage so the depth
recorded at a given gage is applied out to a
distance halfway to the next station in any
direction.
Weighted average method
Thiessen Polygon Method

The relative weights for each gage are

determined from the corresponding areas of
application in a Thiessen polygon network, the
boundaries of the polygons being formed by
the perpendicular bisectors of the lines joining
adjacent gages.
Weighted average method
These polygons are formed as follows:

• The stations are plotted on a map of the area drawn to a scale.

• The adjoining stations are connected by dashed lines.
• Perpendicular bisectors are constructed on each of these dashed lines, as
shown by the solid lines.
• These bisectors form polygons around each station. Each polygon is
representative of the effective area for the station within the polygon. For
stations close to the boundary, the boundary forms the closing limit of the
polygons.
• The area of each polygon is determined* and then multiplied by the rainfall
value for the station within the polygon.
• The sum of item 5 divided by the total drainage area provides the weighted
average precipitation.
Weighted average method

Thiessen Polygon Method

This is done by a graphic tool like

AutoCAD or a planimeter or,
alternatively, by drawing the figure to a
scale on graph paper, counting the
total number of squares covered by
the polygon, and multiplying by the
square of the map scale.
Weighted average method

Thiessen Polygon Method

If there are / gauges, and the area

within the watershed assigned to each is
Aj and Pj is the rainfall recorded at the 7th
gage, the areal average precipitation for
the watershed is
Weighted average method
Thiessen Polygon Method

The Thiessen method is generally more

accurate than the arithmetic mean
method, but it is inflexible, because a new
Thiessen network must be constructed
each time there is a change in the gage
network, such as when data is missing
from one of the gages. Also, the Thiessen
method does not directly account for
orographic influences on rainfall.
Example: Estimate the mean aerial rainfall using the
Thiessen Polygon Method.
Solution:
Weighted average method

Isohyetal Method

The isohyetal method overcomes some of

these difficulties by constructing isohyets,
using observed depths at rain gages and
interpolation between adjacent gages. Where
there is a dense network of rain gages,
isohyetal maps can be constructed using
computer programs for automated contouring.
This is the most accurate of the three methods
and provides a means of considering the
orographic (mountains) effect.
Weighted average method
The procedure is as follows:

• The stations and rainfall values are plotted on a map to a suitable scale.
• The contours of equal precipitation (isohyets) are drawn. The accuracy
depends on the construction of the isohyets and their intervals.
• The area between successive isohyets is computed and multiplied by the
numerical average of the two contour (isohyets) values.
• The sum of item 3 divided by the drainage area provides the weighted
average precipitation.
Isohyetal Method
The average precipitation is
then computed using the
formula:
Example:
The isohyets due to a storm in a
catchment together with the area
of the catchment bounded by the
isohyets are given below.
Estimate the mean precipitation
due to the storm using Isohyetal
Method.
Solution:
 DOUBLE MASS ANALYSIS

 Double mass analysis, also known as double mass

curve analysis, is a graphical method used in
hydrology to assess the consistency and accuracy
of hydrological data, typically precipitation and
runoff data. It involves plotting cumulative values of
one variable against cumulative values of another
variable to detect trends, identify inconsistencies,
and evaluate data reliability.
DOUBLE MASS CURVE
Here's how the double mass
analysis is typically conducted:
➢ Data Preparation: Gather the data sets for the variables you want to
analyze, such as precipitation and runoff. Ensure that the data
cover the same time period and spatial domain.

➢ Cumulative Calculation: Calculate the cumulative values for each

variable. For example, for precipitation and runoff, sum up the
values for each time step to obtain cumulative totals.

➢ Plotting: Plot the cumulative values of one variable against the

cumulative values of the other variable on a scatter plot. Typically,
the cumulative precipitation is plotted on the x-axis, while the
cumulative runoff is plotted on the y-axis.
➢ Interpretation: Examine the resulting plot. In an ideal scenario where
the data are consistent and accurate, the points on the graph
should fall closely along a 45-degree line, known as the line of
equality. This line represents a proportional relationship between the
two variables. Deviations from the line of equality indicate
discrepancies or errors in the data.
➢ Analysis: Identify any patterns or trends in the data plot. Significant
deviations from the line of equality may suggest issues such as
measurement errors, data gaps, or inconsistencies in the data sets.
These discrepancies can then be further investigated and
addressed
➢ Data Preparation: Gather the data sets for the variables you want to
analyze, such as precipitation and runoff. Ensure that the data
cover the same time period and spatial domain.
➢ Correction or Adjustment: If inconsistencies are identified,
appropriate corrections or adjustments to the data may be
necessary. This could involve removing outliers, interpolating
missing values, or adjusting data to account for known factors
affecting the measurements.
➢ Validation: After making any necessary adjustments,
reevaluate the data using the double mass analysis to ensure
that the discrepancies have been addressed and that the
data sets are now consistent and reliable.

Double mass analysis provides a valuable tool for hydrologists to quality-

check their data and ensure the accuracy and reliability of their
hydrological analyses and models.