PRECIPITATION TRIVIA

The greatest 24-hour rainfall amount in the

world is nearly 72 inches
11,873mm (467 in) of rain per annum
The official highest recorded temperature is
now 56.7 C (134 F)
The lowest natural temperature ever directly
recorded at ground level on Earth is −89.2 °C
(−128.6 °F; 184.0 K)
The lowest temperature ever recorded in a
habitat centre is −71.2 °C (−96 °F)
• EVAPOTRASPIRATION (ET) – is the sum of evaporation and plan
transpiration from the earth’s land and ocean surface to the
atmosphere.
• Evaporation is a process of turning liquid into vapor and the
transpiration is the exhalation of water vapor to stomata.
• Evaporation is defined as net of vapor transfer in hydraulic
practice.
• The opportunity of evaporation is 100% in open bodies water.
• METHODS APLLICABLE FOR ESTIMATING EVAPORATION
- Water budget
- Energy budget
- Mass transfer technique
- Pan
• Instrument for energy budget is expensive.
• Es = P + R1 – R2 + Rg – Ts – I – ∆Ss

• WHEREIN
• Es = EVAPORATION
• R = RUNOFF
• T = TRANSPIRATION
• I = INFILTRATION
• S = STORAGE
• Qo= Qs + Qr + Qa – Qar + Qv + Qbs – Qe – Qh –Qw
• WHEREIN

• Calories per square centimeter per day (cal/𝑐𝑚2 − 𝑑𝑎𝑦)

• Based primarily on concept of turbulent transfer of water vapor
from an evaporating surface to the atmosphere.
• Eddy motion
• Four equations
• Dalton’s
• Sutton’s equation
• Meyer’s equation
• Dunne’s equation
• Dalton’s equation
• Sutton’s equation
• Meyer’s equation

• Ordinary lake C= 0.36

• Wet soils, small puddles and shallow pans C=0.5
• Dunne’s equation
• An evaporation pan is used to hold water during
observations for the determination of the quantity
of evaporation at a given location. Such pans are of
varying sizes and shapes, the most commonly used
being circular or square. The best known of the pans are
the "Class A" evaporation pan and the "Sunken
Colorado Pan".
Use of Evaporation Pan
● Most widely used method of finding reservoir
evaporation.
● The Standard Class A Pan is unpainted and built with
galvanized iron.
– It is 4 ft in diameter, 10 in deep and mounted 12in
above the ground in wooden frame.
● Pan Coefficient (0.7-0.75)
● Ratios of annual reservoir evaporation to pan evaporation
are consistent from year to year and region to region.
Where:
● Daily pan evaporation is given in millimeters per day.
● up is the wind movement 150mm above the rim of the
pan in kilometers per day
● (eo-ea) is the vapor pressure difference measured in
millibars
Penman derived the above equation
for daily evaporation.
• Evaporation losses can be greatly significant at
any location.

• Evaporation losses from soils can be controlled

by employing various types of mulch or by
chemical reaction.
Evaporation Losses can be controlled in
open waters by:
(1) storing water in covered reservoirs
(2) making increased use of underground
storage
(3) controlling aquatic growths
(4) building storage reservoirs with minimal
surface areas
(5) use of chemicals
(6) conveying in closed conduits rather than
open channels
Transpiration

The flow of water through the soil–

plant– atmosphere system is
analogous to the flow of electrical
current in an electrical circuit.
Transpiration
Stomatal transpiration - when root systems absorb water
and transmitted through the plant and escapes through the
pores in the leaf system.

Transpiration is also affected by the character of the plant

and the plant density.

As long as soil moisture lies between the limits of wilting

point and field capacity, transpiration is not materially
affected.
Transpiration

● The weighing type measures the

weight change in a volume of earth.

● The zero–tension type collects soil

water that is naturally percolating
downward through soils, in other
words, water that is influenced by
gravity.

● The tension type has a vacuum

applied to gently pull soil water
through a porous material.
Transpiration

● Tent Method
● a plant is enclosed with plastic sheeting, and the rate
and the moisture content of air entering and leaving the
tent are monitored

● Triple-inlet evaporation tent (from Mace and

Thompson,1969).1,inlet; 2, squirrel-cage blower; 3, inlet
humidity thermometer; 4, perforated polyvinyl curtain; 5,
outlet; and 6, outlet humidity thermometer
Transpiration
● Other Methods
● Quick Weighing – leaf or small branch is cut off, weighed
immediately, then reweighed after a short period.

● Porometry – temporarily encloses transpiring leaves or

shoots in a small chamber within which changes in humidity
are measured (Shuttleworth, 2008).
• Theoretical
• Analytical
• Empirical

POTENTIAL EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
-Thorntwaite
ESTIMATING EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Transpiration
Precipitation
Penman Method
INTERCEPTION
Amount of water intercepted is a function of
-storm character
-species, age and density of prevailing plants and
trees
-season of the year

Factors that serve to determine Interception Losses

-Precipitation type
-Rainfall Intensity and Duration
-wind
-Atmospheric Conditions affecting evaporation
DEPRESSION STORAGE
Depression’s nature and size are functions of;
-Original Landform
-Local land use practice

In general, depressions may be looked upon as miniature

reservoirs.