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Precipitation Presentation
Precipitation Presentation
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METHOD OF THIESSEN POLYGONS
This involves determining the area of influence for each
station, rather than assuming a straight-line variation. It is
easier than the isohyetal method but less accurate
Thiessen polygons .
Locate all rainfall stations on a base map and record the rainfall amount.
Connect each station by straight lines with the several nearest stations to form
a series of triangles.
Erect perpendicular bisectors on each of these lines and extend them to the
intersect with other bisectors, thus forming a series of irregular polygons
Thiessen polygons .
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( )
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total
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Thiessen polygons .
Generally for M station
The ratio is called the weightage factor of station i
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ISOHYETAL METHOD
The most basic method of representing the
spatial distribution. This is generally the most
accurate method but is also the most laborious.
An isohyet is a line joining points of equal rainfall
magnitude.
Isohyetal Method
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Locate all rainfall
stations on a base
map and record the
rainfall amount.
Draw isohyets (lines
of equal rainfall) by
proportioning the
distances between
adjacent gauges
according to
differences in catch.
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the values of the isohytes
a
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, a
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, a
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, ., a
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are the inter isohytes area respectively
A the total catchment area
- the mean precipitation over the catchment
Isohyetal Method
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The isohyet method is superior to the other two methods
especially when the stations are large in number.
NOTE
Computer Mapping Methods
Other mapping programs such as SURFER or GIS program
ARCVIEW can be used to map rainfall at the different
measurement locations.
Maps of rainfall can be produced by using the statistical
analysis packages that come with the program. Statistical
methods include nearest neighbour, inverse distance weighting
or kriging (which uses variogram analysis).
The statistical methods produce a grid over the specified area
of a specific size. The influence of the actual rainfall
measurement is determined for each grid node to produce a
rainfall amount at each node.