HYDROLOGY - However, large deviations occur from this
general rule due to variation in topography
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
Hydrologic Cycle
The water cycle, or hydrologic cycle, is a
continuous process by which water is purified by
evaporation and transported from the earth's
surface (including the oceans) to the atmosphere
and back to the land and oceans
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE – INFILTRATION
Infiltration
- the process of water entry at the land
surface into a soil from a source such as
rainfall, irrigation, or snowmelt.
- Water infiltrates the soil by moving through
the surface
Percolation
- the movement of water through the soil
itself.
- Finally, as the water percolates into the
deeper layers of the soil, it reaches ground
water, which is water below the surface.
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE – ZONES
- Soil water is the water that is found
between the soil surface and the
groundwater table.
- This is called the soil water zone or the
unsaturated zone
- Below the groundwater table, the soil is
saturated with water, and hence it is called
the saturated zone.
- Some water that infiltrates will remain in
the shallow soil layer, where it will
gradually move vertically and horizontally
through the soil and subsurface material.
- In general, vertical transport processes
dominate in the unsaturated zone and
horizontal transport processes in the
saturated zone
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and complex geological material.
- The soil and geological structure determine
how quickly and what way the water will go
once it has infiltrated through the soil
surface
FACTORS AFFECTING INFILTRATION
Factors Affecting Infiltration
(according to Brakensiek and Rawls, 1988)
1. Soil
2. Surface
3. Management; and
4. Natural
FACTORS AFFECTING INFILTRATION – SOIL
- Soil factors encompass both soil physical
properties including:
o particle size
o morphological, and
o chemical properties
- And, soil water properties including:
o soil water content,
o water retention characteristic, and
o hydraulic conductivity
A. Soil Physical Properties
a. Soil Texture
- Soil texture is determined from the size
distribution of individual particles in a soil
sample.
- Soil particles smaller than 2 mm are
divided into three soil texture groups: sand,
silt, and clay.
- The soil texture groups which have the
greatest effect on infiltration are the
percentages of sand, silt, clay, fine sand,
coarse sand, very coarse sand, and coarse
fragments (0.2 cm)
b. Morphological Properties
- (shape, structure, pattern)
- The morphological properties having the
greatest effect on infiltration are bulk
density, organic matter, and clay type.
- As bulk density increases, soil porosity and
infiltration decrease.
- As organic matter increases,infiltration
increases
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c. Chemical Properties
- Chemical properties of the soil are
important because they affect the integrity
of the soil aggregates (group of soil
particles bound together).
- Also, chemistry of the infiltrating water can
have an effect on infiltration
B. Soil Water Properties
a. Soil Water Content
- The higher the water content the smaller
the infiltration rate
b. Water retention Characteristic
- The water retention characteristic of the
soil describes the soil's ability to store and
release water and is defined as the
relationship between the soil water content
and the soil suction or matric potential.
- Although it may seem counter-intuitive, the
small pore spaces of clay add up to more
total void space than the fewer number of
large pore spaces in sand.
- However, water drains from clay soil more
slowly than from sandy soils. So in
successive rain events, clay soils may
remain saturated between storms and
therefore produce more runoff in the later
rain events
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c. Hydraulic Conductivity
- a measure of how easily water can pass
through soil or rock
- The hydraulic conductivity is the ability of
the soil to transmit water and depends
upon both the properties of the soil and the
fluid.
- Total porosity, pore size distribution, and
pore continuity are the important soil
characteristics affecting hydraulic
conductivity
FACTORS AFFECTING
INFILTRATION – SURFACE
- The surface factors are the factors that
affect the movement of water through the
air-soil interface.
- Factors at the soil surface are associated
with materials that cover the surface,
modify the shape of the surface and
remove water by surface storage from its
cycle of movement into the soil.
- If water is unable to infiltrate the soil
surface, the characteristics of the soil
profile below become unimportant
1. Cover - Cover factors are materials that
protect the soil surface.
2. Configuration - Surface configurations or the
arrangement of elements in a particular form,
figure, or combination can be natural or man-
made.
3. Storages - Surface storage results from
interception and/or depressions. Interception is
caused by vegetation or other types of surface
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- Covering ground surfaces with
impermeable materials such as concrete
and asphalt means less water can infiltrate.
- In addition, as soil becomes more
compacted, the infiltration, percolation, and
soil moisture storage all decrease.
- In general, human activity results in less
infiltration, less storage, and greater
surface runoff.
- Deforestation can have an impact on
infiltration and runoff. Without plant matter
on the surface, water will move more
quickly. This means water will have less
time to infiltrate the soil
FACTORS AFFECTING
INFILTRATION – MANAGEMENT
- Management, as a factor affecting
infiltration, modifies the soil properties or
the soil surface condition.
1. Agriculture - Agricultural management
systems involve different types of tillage,
vegetation, and surface cover.
2. Irrigation - Many of the factors in previous
sections apply to infiltration under irrigation
practices. Sprinkler systems are similar to
rainfall infiltration processes.
3. Rangeland - The type of vegetation on
rangelands is an important factor determining
infiltration rates
FACTORS AFFECTING
INFILTRATION – NATURAL
- Natural factors include natural processes
such as precipitation, freezing, change of
seasons, temperature, and moisture which
vary with time and space and interact with
other factors in their effect on infiltration
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WHY IS INFILTRATION IMPORTANT?
- The speed at which water infiltrates
through the soil surface is vital because it
has considerable effect on surface water
occurrence and is thus strongly connected
to the local environment and ecology
HOW IS INFILTRATION MEASURED?
- Measurement of the infiltration speed of
ponded water (flooding conditions) can be
done using a ring infiltrometer
- The RING INFILTROMETER usually
consists of a 15 cm diameter steel cylinder
that is open at both ends.
- The infiltrometer is pushed into the soil to
about 10 cm depth. Thereafter, water is
ponded inside the cylinder to about 5 cm
water depth
- This level is kept constant by adding fresh
water continuously during the infiltration.
The amount of added water is measured
every minute and recorded as infiltration
capacity.
- Usually, a second larger cylinder is pushed
into the ground around the smaller one
with the same water level in order to avoid
errors due to horizontal flow.
- By definition, infiltration capacity concerns
vertical flow only. Infiltration is measured
only in the inner cylinder.
- Usually, the infiltration capacity is high at
the beginning of experiments due to dry
soil conditions.
- After some time, however, the infiltration
curve levels out and becomes almost
constant
- The starting and ending value of measured
infiltration is called initial and final
infiltration capacity respectively.
- The Horton infiltration equation can be
used to describe infiltration of ponded
water.
HOLTRON INFILTRATION EQUATION?
- To calculate the totally infiltrated amount of
water in mm, Horton’s Equation is
integrated from
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 HYDROLOGIC CYCLE – EVAPORATION
- Evaporation is the general term for
describing water release from ground and
water surfaces to the atmosphere.
- It is the process that changes liquid water
to gaseous water (water vapor).
- Water moves from the Earth’s surface to
the atmosphere via evaporation
- This includes evaporation from plants
(transpiration) and the direct evaporation
from soil and/or water surfaces
(evaporation).
- A summarizing name for both evaporation
and transpiration is evapotranspiration.
- However, under field conditions it is not
possible to separate evaporation from
transpiration totally, thus we are generally
concerned with the water loss or
evapotranspiration from a basin
- Evaporation and Transpiration are major
processes in the primary component of the
hydrologic cycle that returns precipitated
water to the earth's atmosphere as vapor.
- Most of the moisture in the atmosphere
(about 90%) came from water evaporating
from oceans, seas, lakes, and river
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE –
PHYSICS OF EVAPORATION
- Evaporation occurs when energy (heat)
forces the bonds that hold water molecules
together to break. The primary force driving
evaporation and transpiration is energy
input from the sun
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- For changing the aggregate state from
liquid to gaseous, it is necessary to provide
higher amount of energy (2450 J/g) and
then for the melting process (340 J/g).
- Water easily evaporates at its boiling point
(212° F, 100° C) but evaporates much
more slowly at its freezing point because of
the heat energy required to evaporate the
water.
- However, the key factor determining how
fast the liquid could evaporate is not the
temperature difference between the
surface and the liquid, but rather the
difference in pressure between the liquid
surface and the ambient vapor.
- Evapotranspiration from an area is
governed by the amount of energy that is
available to transform water from liquid to
gas
- The amount of water that can theoretically
evaporate is called potential evaporation.
(where water is not a limiting factor, e.g.,
water can evaporate from a free water
surface)
- The evaporation that takes place when
water is a limiting factor, e.g., when soil
surface is only partially saturated, is called
actual evaporation
- At a specific temperature, the atmosphere
over the ground or the water surface can
hold a specific amount of water vapour,
which is called saturated vapour pressure,
es
- The evaporation rate (E) will then be
proportional to the difference in actual
vapour pressure (ea) and saturated vapour
pressure (es).
- E = c (es - ea) ; where, c = constant
- If ( es > ea) > 0, condensation will take place
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 pan. The measurement day begins with the
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE – pan filled to exactly two inches (5 cm) from
FACTORS AFFECTING EVAPORATION the pan top.
- In general, two major factors govern the - At the end of 24 hours, the amount of
amount of water that can evaporate from a water to refill the pan to exactly two inches
surface: from its top is measured.
a. Wind; and
b. Temperature 3. Aerodynamic Method
- Aerodynamic methods are among the most
- While it is possible to assess accurately widely applied to determine evaporation
those parameters for open water and from lakes and large reservoirs
atmosphere, it is very difficult to quantify
forces in soil and vegetation cover. E = M (es – ez) uz
- In soil, for example, the forces depend on where:
radius in capillaries, and in vegetation this E = evaporation
process is regulated through small pores M = mass transfer coeffiecient
on the leaves (stomata). es = saturation vapor pressure at the surface water
temperature Ts (kPa)
HOW IS EVAPORATION MEASURED? ez = vapor pressure of the air level z (kPa)
wz = wind velocity at level z (m
Methods of Estimating Water Surface
Evaporation - The mass transfer coefficient, M , is a
1. Water Budget Procedure function of the measurement height of the
meteorological measurements, the
E = p + q + Qi + Gw + Di – Qo – Do – ΔS atmospheric stability, barometric pressure,
where: roughness of the water surface, size of
I = all inflow such as precipitation on the water lake, and the density and viscosity of the
surface, runoff from the land basin, major channel air.
inflow from outside the immediate drainage basin,
ground water inflow, and diversions into a free
water body (lake, reservoir, pond, etc.) from FORMULAS
outside its basin.
O = all outflow such of evaporation from the water
surface, major channel flow out of the water body,
diversions out of the water body, and ground water
flow from the water
- The actual evaporation is usually estimated
by establishing a water balance for the
area. The other components in the water
balance must be known.
- Often, other components of the water
balance are not known in which case
evaporation has to be calculated or
measured

2. Evaporation Pan
- In the United States, the National Weather
Service has standardized its
measurements on the Class A evaporation
pan, a cylindrical with a diameter of 47.5 in
(120.7 cm) has a depth of 10 in (25 cm).
- The pan rests on a carefully leveled,
wooden base and is often enclosed by a
chain link fence to prevent animals drinking
from it

- Evaporation is measured daily as the depth

of water (in inches) evaporates from the
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 SAMPLE PROBLEMS Problem 2: The Horton’s Infiltration equation for a
basin is given by 𝑓 = 6 + 16𝑒 −2𝑡, where f is in
Problem 1: A 15 mm rainfall is recorded over a
mm/h and t is in hours. If the storm occurs on this
small catchment according to the table below.
basin with an intensity of 23mm/h, determine:
Infiltration tests in the area have given the
a) the depth of infiltration for the first 45 minutes
following Horton equation parameters
and
b) the average infiltration rate for the first 75
minutes

a) Calculate the infiltration capacity as a function

of time. It is assumed that the soil surface is
always ponded with water.
b) If the area of the watershed is 10,000sq.m.,
what is the total excess volume of water after
the rainfall in cu.m.?

Solution:

Problem 3: The infiltration capacity of soil in a

small watershed was found to be 6 cm/hr before a
rainfall event and after 8 hours of storm, it was
found out to be 1.2cm/hr. If the total infiltration
during the 8 hours period of storm was 15cm,
estimate the value of the decay co-efficient, k, in
Horton’s infiltration capacity equation.

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