Chapter 1-Basic Hydrology

HYDROLOGY:

 The name of the hydrology is formed by two Greek words: "hydro" and "logos" meaning
"water" and "science"

 Hydrology mean study of water. Hydrology addresses the occurrence, distribution,

movement, and chemistry of ALL waters of the earth.

 In general sense engineering hydrology deals with

o Estimation of water resources
o The study of processes such as precipitation, evapotranspiration, runoff and their
interaction
o The study of problems such as floods and droughts and strategies to combat them

Hydrologic Cycle

 The hydrologic cycle has importance influence in a variety of fields agriculture, forestry,
geography, economics, sociology, and political scene.

 Engineering application of the knowledge are found in the design and operation of the
projects dealing with water supply, hydropower, irrigation & drainage, flood control,

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navigation, coastal work, various hydraulic structure works, salinity control and recreational
use of water.

Process in Hydrologic Cycle

 The sun heat evaporates water, also creates differences in temperatures in air masses
vertically and horizontally creating wind which will evaporate water. Animals exhale water
vapor, plants exhale water vapor after sunset.

 The warm vapor cloud rises and moves with the wind. It hits a cool front, condensates into
small droplets, the droplets get bigger and heavier and fall as rain, snow, or hail, some will
evaporate while falling.

 Precipitation process will evaporate on the way down, air temperature is a factor.

 What is left will hit the ground, some will infiltrate, some will be trapped in puddles, and
some will runoff to streams and rivers. Is a lake a large puddle?

Element of Hydrologic Cyle

- Evaporation, E

- Transpiration, T

- Precipitation, P

- Surface runoff, R

- Groundwater flow, G, and,

- Infiltration, I

- Condensation

- Infiltration

- Deep percolation

- Interception

- Cloud formation

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Definitions:

• Evapotranspiration : the process of evaporation and transpiration combined.

• Evaporation : the process in which the water turns into a gaseous state from a liquid state.

• Transpiration : the discharge of water vapour into the atmosphere through plants.

• Condensation : the process by which water changes to a liquid state from a gaseous state.

• Infiltration : the movement of water downward into the earth’s surface.

• Percolation : the descending movement of liquid through the solid or rock.

• Runoff :the water that flows over the surface of the land towards rivers, lakes, oceans etc.

• Precipitation : when the water passes through the atmosphere to the earth’s surface. E.g.
rain, snow, etc.

• Base Flow: The water that seeps up into a stream from groundwater or water springs.
• Watershed or Basin: Is an area where the precipitation will shed into a stream.

Units of Measurement

• Precipitation:

mm/h (millimeter/hour), approximately 1 mm of water is equivalent to 10 mm of snow. How

about wet snow in April?

• Stream Flow:

m3/s (cubic meter/second). One m3= 1000 liters.

• Speed:

m/s (meter/second).

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Factors Affecting Water Movement in Soils

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THE EFFECT OF SOIL CHANGES TOWARDS THE

HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE

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Effect of Urbanisation towards Hydrological Cycle

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CLIMATE CHANGE

is a broader term that refers to long-term changes in climate, including average

temperature and precipitation.

GLOBAL WARMING

is the increase of the Earth’s average surface temperature due to a build-up of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere.

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Distribution of water on the Earth

Estimated World Water Quantitites
96%

2% 1% Ocean-saline
1% Land - saline
• Total = 326 million cubic miles Fresh - Liquid
Fresh - Frozen

Wold Water Budget

 Total quantity of water in the world is estimated as 1386 M km3

– 1337.5 M km3 of water is contained in oceans as saline water

– The rest 48.5 M km3 is land water

 13.8 M km3 is again saline

 34.7 M km3 is fresh water

– 10.6 M km3 is both liquid and fresh

– 24.1 M km3 is a frozen ice and glaciers in the polar regions and
mountain tops

Division of water on Earth (in greater detail)

 97.2% in oceans

 2.15% in glaciers (largest source of fresh (non-saline) water on Earth)

 0.62% in groundwater (underground aquifers)

 0.017% in lakes

 0.005% in soil moisture

 0.001% in atmosphere

 0.0001% in stream channels

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Chapter 1-Basic Hydrology

Water budget

• Of all the water that comes out as rain on land:

• 50% is evaporated and transpired by plants

• 30% goes into runoff, eventually reaching the ocean

• 20% goes into groundwater

Water budget Equation

Catchment area

 The area of land draining in to a stream or a water course at a given location is called
catchment area / drainage area / drainage basin / watershed.
 A catchment area is separated from its neighbouring areas by a ridge called divide /
watershed.

Watershed and watershed divide

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Hydrologic Budget
The hydrologist must be able to estimate components of hydrologic cycle in order to design
projects and, more importantly protect the public from excessive floods and draughts. This can be
accomplished by careful accounting technique that is not unlike keeping track of money in the bank.

Salary Bank Activity Statement

Cash in &
of account
Cash out

Precipitation Watershed outflow Inflow Change in Storage

In engineering hydrology, the hydrologic budget is a quantitative accounting technique linking the
components of hydrologic cycle. It is a form of a continuity equation that balances the gains and
losses of water with the amount stored in a region. The components of water budget are inflow,
outflow and storage.

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 INFLOWS -  OUTFLOWS =  STORAGES, Or in mathematical term,

I – O = ∂S / ∂t

Breaking system into individual component as shown in schematic figure:

P - R - G - E - T =  S / ∆t

Where:

P: Areal mean rate of precipitation (L/T)

E: Evaporation (L/T)

Rin, Gin: Inflow from surface and groundwater (L/T)

Rout, Gout: Outflow from surface and groundwater (L/T)

S: Storage (L) and,

T: Transpiration (evaporation from plants, L/T)

Balance Equation for Open Bodies with Short Duration:

And, for an open water bodies, short duration,

I - O =  S/ t

Where,

I = inflow volume per unit time

O = outflow per unit time

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Example:

In the six month, Lui watersheds are expected to receive rainfall of 350 mm. Evaporation
estimated at 100 mm and diffusion into the subsurface is estimated at 40 mm. Estimate volume
runoff directly in cubic meters to be stored in reservoirs that are available if the basin area is 85 km2.

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