RAINFALL DATA

PROCESSING USING
STATISTICAL
METHOD
● Rainfall is a major hydrologic process that affects
drainage design.
● It is a major consideration not only in civil engineering
and agriculture but have been integrated into plumbing
consideration as well
● Obtaining a proper rainfall data interpretation will lead
to an effective storm drainage management.
● Since rainfall is a highly random event, the only way to
quantify or determine the rainfall is by statistical
quantification
● Recording of rainfall has been done in the Philippines
since 1865.
● Though much of the record was lost in 1945, these
were gradually replaced starting in 1950 and
continued into the present day
●
Rainfall record are primarily kept at PAGASA where it
operates several rainfall stations and radar as well.
● The Philippines climate classifications in use:

Modified Corona Climate Classification

The Corona climate classification was developed for

Philippine setting in 1920 by Fr. Jose Corona SJ. and
it is based on the amount of rainfall.
●
According to the Corona climate classification method,
a month is considered a dry month if it has 50mm or
less of rainfall for the whole month.
●
Likewise, even if a month has seen a total of 100mm
of rainfall but it was preceded by three or more dry
months then it is still considered dry.
●
Type 1
Two defined season, dry from November
to May and rainy during the rest of the
year
● Type 2
No dry season
● Type 3
Similar to Type 1 except that the dry
season lasts for about three to four
months only
●
Type 4
Similar to type 2 except that the amount
of rainfall is generally less than that of
Type 2
MEASUREMENT OF
RAINFALL DATA
● Rainfall is measured using
– Rain Gauges
– Radars
●
Rain Gauges can be:
– Recording
– Non-Recording
PAGASA has installed at least sixteen Doppler weather radars
in the country, currently operational stations are as follows:

• Luzon: Basco (in Batanes, currently under repair), Aparri

(Cagayan), Baguio, Subic (Zambales), Baler, (Aurora),
Tagaytay (Cavite), Busuanga and Quezon (both in
Palawan), Daet (Camarines Norte), Virac (in Catanduanes,
the country's most modern radar facility);
• Visayas: Mactan (Cebu), Iloilo, Alburquerque (Bohol),
Guiuan (Eastern Samar);
• Mindanao: Zamboanga City, Tampakan (South Cotabato),
Hinatuan (Surigao del Sur).
https://philsensors.asti.dost.gov.ph/
Radar measurement can measure rainfall amount in
real time.
The reliability depends on the quality of the radar and
the power of the radar itself.
Radar and Satellite data are use for forecasting
rainfall.
For observed rainfall, rain gauges will give the data.
These will be calibrated together in order to develop
and enhance the global precipitation model.
● In the Philippines rain gauge stations are classified as
follows:
– Synoptic Station

– Agromet Station
● Synoptic stations measures not only rainfall but also
other meteorological parameters such as temperature,
humidity and wind speed. It measures rainfall on a
three hour basis https://bagong.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/automated-
weather-station/
Agrometeorological Station (Agro-Met)
The device was developed to reduce vulnerability of
the agriculture specifically resource-poor upland
farmers and communities to the impacts of climate
change and related natural disasters through timely
and accurate data monitoring
https://bagong.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/agri-weather
There are instances in which rainfall data are lost or
got missing due to the following:
– Theft, Storm Damage

There are three methods that can be done to

determine the missing rainfall
 Arithmetic mean
 Normal Ratio
 Inverse Distance Method
●
Arithmetic mean method is the simplest but it is also
demanding with respect to the constraint it impose.
● The following conditions must be satisfied for
Arithmetic mean to be use
 There must be at least three surrounding stations
 The data of the surrounding stations must be at
least 30 years.
 The annual average of the surrounding stations
and that of the station with the missing data must
not be more than ±10%
P A= 67+72+68 =69 mm
3
●
The Normal Ratio Method is also quite simple but it
is less rigid than the arithmetic mean.

● The working equation for Normal Ratio Method is

given to be
●
The Inverse Distance Method is a semi graphical
method for determining the missing rainfall.
●
This is done by plotting the location of the missing
station and the surrounding rain gauges on a map.
●
With the missing station at the center of the cartesian
coordinate system and then plotting the distance of the
surrounding stations.
 Method Advantages Disadvantages
Arithmetic Mean Simple to calculate Doesn't consider distance,
may not be accurate for
unevenly distributed rainfall

Normal Ratio Method Considers long-term rainfall Doesn't consider distance,

patterns may not be accurate for
short-term events

Inverse Distance Method Considers both distance and Can be more complex to
rainfall values, generally more calculate compared to the
accurate. Stations closer to the
other two methods
missing point have a greater
weight in the calculation,
leading to a more realistic
estimate.
●
Rainfall data as measured by Rain Gauges are point
rainfall data.
●
To determine the area basin rainfall, there are three
processes that can be done.
– Arithmetic Mean
– Thiessen Polygon
– Isohyetal Method
●
Arithmetic mean is simply the average of the rain
gauge data located inside a basin.
●
It is the simplest method for determining areal rainfall
but it can only be applied on small drainage basins
 Thiessen Polygon is another graphical technique
● which calculates station weights based on the relative
areas of each measurement station.
The individual weights are multiplied by the station
● observation and the values are summed to obtain the
areal average precipitation.
 3

2 4

6
5
 Isohyetal method is a graphical technique which
●
involves drawing estimated lines of equal rainfall over
an area based on point measurements.
The magnitude and extent of the resultant rainfall
●
areas of coverage are then considered versus the
area in question in order to estimate the areal
precipitation value.

●
If done correctly, Isohyetal method will accurately take
into account the effect of terrain with respect to the
rainfall
AREAL AVERAGE
● The working equation for this method is given to be:
FREQUENCY
ANALYSIS
●
There are several equations that can be use for
frequency analysis:
– Normal Distribution
– Pearson Type 3
– Log Pearson Type 3
– Gumbel Extreme Value type II
●
The most common among these are Log Pearson T3
and Gumbel Method.
FREQUENCY ANALYSIS
●
The output of these frequency equations are graphs
called Intensity Duration Frequency Curve and Depth
Duration Frequency Curve.
THANKYOU