Chapter : Two

Precipitation
Structure of Presentation
–Definition, Causes, forms and types of precipitation
–Measurement of rainfall (types and adequacy of rain gauges)
– Snow fall and its measurements
–Estimation of missing rainfall data
–Test for inconsistencies of rainfall data (Double Mass Curve)
–Presentation of rainfall data
–(Mass curve, Hyetograph, Average curve of annual rainfall)
–Estimation of mean rainfall over an area
–Development of Intensity - Duration - Frequency (IDF) curve
and equation
– Depth - Area - Duration (DAD) curve
 Definition of Precipitation
The various forms of water that reaches to the surface of
the earth is known as precipitation. The various forms of
precipitation are rain, snow, hail, frost, dew etc.
• However, major
parts of ppt are rain
& snow.
• Other forms of ppt
are all very small &
generally ignored in
the design of most
hydrological
structures &
therefore they are
not much importance
Definition of Precipitation
The magnitude of ppt varies with time & space. In Nepal,
75% of annual rainfall falls in 3 months (June-August)
 Mechanism of Precipitation
Evaporation/ Transfer of moisture from the earth surface to
Transpiration atmosphere

Precipitation only occur, only when water vapor reach

Upliftment higher in altitude which is achieve by convection,
and cooling downward movement of cold front, upward movement of
warm front etc.

Cooling of water vapor occurs in high altitude. In

condensation presence of microscopic dust particles, smoke etc.
condensation stats around them. Condensed water
molecules are so small that they remain suspended in air

Aggregation Small tiny water drops combine each other to form

larger diameter rain drop

When droplets are heavy enough the fall in the earth

Precipitation surface due to gravity as a precipitation
 Causes of Precipitation

• Water evaporates from water surfaces like streams, rivers,

oceans, ponds etc & also from the land & plants in the form of
water vapors.

• These water vapors get collected in the atmosphere & behave

like a gas. As the evaporation continues , the amount of
atmospheric vapor goes on increasing.

• since a space can hold only a fixed amount of water vapor in

the presence of a solid or a liquid surface, a stage is reached
when further addition of vapor will get condensed & falls in the
earth surface as rain, snow, hail or mist
Some of the common forms of pptn: Dew, mist, fog, rain, hail & snow
Forms of Precipitation
 Forms of precipitation
Snow
 Forms of precipitation
Mist/Drizzle : fine sprinkle of numerous water droplets of
size less than 0.5mm & intensity less than 1mm/hr
• The drops are so small that they appear to float in the air
 Forms of precipitation
Glaze : When rain or drizzle comes in contact with cold ground
at around 0⁰ C, the water drops freeze to form an ice coating
called glaze or freezing
 Forms of precipitation

Hail : These are the lumps of ice of size ≥ 8mm & falls along
with rains
 Forms of precipitation
Sleet
It is frozen raindrops of transparent grains which
forms when rain falls through air at subfreezing
temperature
 Forms of precipitation
Dew
It is the result of atmospheric vapor condensing on
the surface in the colder night air
Dew point is the temperature in which condensation
starts to take place or when dew is created
 Lifting mechanism to cool the air

Lifting mechanism gives 3 main types of precipitation

• Cyclonic Precipitation
• Convective precipitation
• Orographic Precipitation
Cyclonic or Frontal Precipitation
Frontal precipitation results when the leading edge front of a warm
air mass meets a cool air mass. The warmer air mass is forced up
over the cool air. As it rises the warm air cools, moisture in the air
condenses, clouds & precipitation results
Cyclonic or Frontal Precipitation
This is also caused by lifting of an air mass due to the pressure
difference. If low pressure occurs in an area, air will flow
horizontally from the surrounding area, causing the air in the
low pressure area to lift. The precipitation that results is called
cyclonic ppt
 Convective Precipitation

This type of precipitation results from the heating of the earth surface
that causes air to rise rapidly. As the air rises, it cools & moisture
condenses into clouds & precipitation
Orographic Precipitation
The moist air masses may get lifted up to higher altitudes, due
to the presence of mountain barriers and continuously cooling,
condensation and precipitation.
precipitation results on the windward side of the mountain
have heavy while the leeward side receives very little rainfall.
Measurement of precipitation Measurement methods of precipitation
• Amount of precipitation • Rain gauges
• Duration of precipitation • Snow gauges
• Intensity of precipitation • Radars
• Areal extent of ppt • Satellites
• Scratching of snow packs
• Water equivalent in snow packs
Criteria for Rain gauge
• Should be Accessible
• The land surface should be horizontal
• Should be fenced with minimum 5.5 m to 5.5 m
• Should be free from vertical obstacles
• Should be place above the ground level
 Measurement methods of precipitation
Types of Rain gauges
Mainly 2 types of rain gauges
• Non recording type & recording type
• Non recording rain gauges (Symon’s Type of Raingauge) measures
only the total amount of rainfall & not the intensity of rainfall from
time to time
 Measurement methods of precipitation

• Water enters into the receiver & goes into the

measuring tube through the funnel
• To measure the ppt, the funnel is removed & the
ppt measured with a measuring stick
• The overflow can is 10 times the size of the
measuring tube so as to collect excess water when
it is required

•It does not provide the distribution of precipitation

over the time
• it has disadvantage over recording rain-gauge as
it does not provide information regarding time,
intensity, and duration of rainfall.
 Recording type rain gauges
Tipping Bucket type rain gauges :
• The rain water is caught in a collector then
passed through a funnel.
• The funnel discharges the water into a two-
compartment bucket.
• When 0.25mm of rain water gets filled up in
one compartment, the bucket tips, emptying
into a reservoir & moving the 2nd
compartment into place beneath the funnel.
• The tipping of the bucket actuates an
electrically driven pen to mark on a revolving
drum.
• The water collected in the reservoir is
measured at regular intervals to provide total
rainfall. The tipping bucket gives the data of
intensity of rainfall
 Recording type rain gauges
Weighing Bucket type rain gauges :
• Rain failing on the receiving
area is collected by the funnel to
the storage bucket lies above the
weighing platform.
• The weighing platform
contentiously records the
amount of rainfall falling into
the bucket using a pen on a
rotating drum.
• The records shows
accumulation rainfall over the
time period.
• This type of recoding gauge
gives more accurate results then
tipping bucket rain gauge
 Recording type rain gauges
Float recording gauges (siphon
type rain gauge) :
• Rainwater is collected in a
rectangular float chamber via
funnel
• A float is provided at the bottom
of the chamber and it rises up as
the water level rises in the
container.
• The movement of float is recorded
by a pen moving on a recording
drum.
• After water level rises up to a
certain level the siphon
mechanism is activated to empty
the rainwater collected in the float
chamber
Precipitation measurement using radar
 Area Rain-gauge density
Rain gauge density
plains 1 in 520km2
Elevated regions 1 in 260-390 km2 Based on world meteorological
organization(WMO) guidelines, the
Hilly and very heavy 1 in 130 km2 number of rain gauges require for
rainfall areas (of which 10% self
recording RGS the different terrains are presented in
following table.
 Measurement of snow
In case of snow fall,
following two properties of
more interest are measured
1. Depth of snow at a
particular place in mm/inches
2. Equivalent amount of
water in mm
Depth of snow
Depth of snow at a
particular place can be
measured by the
following methods
a. Standard rain gauges
without collectors Snow gauges
b. Snow gauges
A snow gauge is a type of instrument used
c. By scratching snow
to measure the solid form of precipitation.
packs
Measurement of equivalent amount of water in a snow pack
The equivalent amount of water in a snow pack can be measured by
1. Heating
The equivalent amount in mm of water can be obtained by heating
the cylinder. It will melt the snow and the depth of the liquid water
can be measured with a measuring stick This approach is adjustable
because some water may get evaporated during the heating
2. Weighing
3. Adding measured amount
of hot water
4. By using weight relationship

Ww = Ws
rw*A*h = rs*A*H
h = rs*H
Rain gauge Network
• To get a representative picture of a storm over a catchment area, the
number of rain gauge should be as large as possible
• Catchment area per gauge should be small
• On the other hand economic considerations, topography &
accessibility also restrict the number of gauges to be maintained
• The minimum rain gauge density required for different types of
catchments as per the guideline of WMO.
Adequacy of Rain gauge stations (Optimum no. of stations)
• Statistics has been used in determining the optimum number of rain
gauges required to be installed in a given catchment.
• The basis behind such statistical calculations is that certain no. of
rain gauge stations are necessary to give average rainfall with a
2
 v
certain % of error.
C
• The optimum number of rain gauge (N) can be 
N 
obtained by the following equation E 
 Adequacy of Rain gauge stations (Optimum no. of stations)

Cv : Coefficient of variation of the rainfall values at the

existing m stations (in %)
E : Allowable % error in the estimate of mean rainfall
If there are m stations in the catchment each recording
rainfall values P1, P2, ……Pm in a known time

Cv 
100 m1
 m

  pi  p  
2

p where  m 1   1  = std. deviation

 m 1 
 

Pi = precipitation magnitude in the ith station

1 m 
p = m  1 pi  = mean precipitation
Q. For a basin, the normal annual rainfall depths recorded are shown in
table below. Determine the optimum number of rain gauge stations to
be established in the basin if it is desired to limit the error in the mean
value of rainfall to 10%. What is the percentage accuracy of the
existing network in the estimation of the average depth of rainfall over
the basin?

Station A B C D E
Normal annual rainfall(cm) 88 104 138 78 56
Q. For a basin, the normal annual rainfall depths recorded are shown in
table below. Determine the optimum number of rain gauge stations to
be established in the basin if it is desired to limit the error in the mean
value of rainfall to 10%. What is the percentage accuracy of the
existing network in the estimation of the average depth of rainfall over
the basin? Station A B C D E
Normal
annual
rainfall(c
m) 88 104 138 78 56
Station Normal annual rainfall,x(cm) x-x ̅ (x-x ̅)^2
Normal annual
Station x-x ̅ (x-x ̅)^2 A 88 -4.8 23.04
rainfall, x(cm) B 104 11.2 125.44
A 88 ? ? C 138 45.2 2043.04

B 104 ? ? D 78 -14.8 219.04

E 56 -36.8 1354.24
C 138 ? ? n=5 Σx= 464 ∑ 3764.8
D 78 ? ? x ̅= 92.8 σ= 30.67898
E 56 ? ? Cv 33.05925 %

n=5
N= 10.92914 = 11
Σx= ? ∑?
x ̅= ? σ=? b. =?
Cv? %
N=? ∴the percentage accuracy=85.2%
Presentation of rainfall data
a. Mass curve
• The mass curve of rainfall is a
plot of the accumulated
precipitation against time,
plotted in chronological order.
the order in which the events occurred, from first to last.
• Records of float type and
weighing-bucket type gauges
are of this form.
• Mass curves of rainfall are
very useful in extracting the
information on the duration
and magnitude of a storm.
• Also, intensities at various
time intervals in a storm can be
obtained by the slope of the
curve.
b. hyetograph
• A hyetograph is a graphical
representation of the distribution
of rainfall intensity over time.
• The hyetograph is usually
represented as a bar chart
• It is a very convenient way to
represent characteristics of a
storm and is particularly
important in the development of
a design storms to predict
extreme floods.
• The area under a hyetograph
represents the total precipitation
received in that period.
c. Point rainfall
Interpretation of precipitation data
1. Estimate missing precipitation data at a station
2. Checking inconsistency in a particular data at a station
3. Average precipitation over an area
Estimating missing precipitation data at a station
• Due to several reasons such as absence of the observer, instrument
failure etc
• Given the annual precipitation values P1, P2, P3…Pm at neighboring
m stations 1, 2, 3…m respectively, it is required to find the missing
annual precipitation Px at a station x not included in the above m
stations. Given the normal annual precipitations (30 years) N1, N2,
….Ni at each of the above (m+1) stations, including station x are
known.
• Missing precipitation data is estimated by two commonly used
methods
• Arithmetic mean method &
• Normal ratio method (NRM)
Arithmetic mean method
If the normal annual precipitation at various stations are within about
10% of the normal annual precipitation at station X, then a simple
arithmetic average procedure is followed to estimate Px thus

Px  P1  P2  ......  Pm 
1
m
Normal ratio method
If the normal annual precipitation at various stations exceeds 10% ,
then Px is estimated by weighing the precipitation at various stations
by the ratio of normal annual precipitation. This method is known as
normal ratio method

Nx  P1 P2 Pm 
Px     ........  
m  N1 N 2 Nm 
Q. The normal annual precipitation of five raingauge stations
P,Q,R,S,T are respectively 125, 102, 76, 113, and 137 cm. During a
particular storm the precipitation recorded by stations P,Q,R and S are
13.2, 9.2 , 6.8, and 10.2 cm respectively. The instrument at station T
was inoperative during that storm. Estimate the rainfall at station T
during that storm by both method.
Q. The normal annual precipitation of five raingauge stations
P,Q,R,S,T are respectively 125, 102, 76, 113, and 137 cm. During a
particular storm the precipitation recorded by stations P,Q,R and S are
13.2, 9.2 , 6.8, and 10.2 cm respectively. The instrument at station T
was inoperative during that storm. Estimate the rainfall at station T
during that storm by both method.

Arithmetic mean method = 9.85 cm

137 13.2 9.2 6.8 10.2 

PT    

4  125 102 76 113 
Normal ratio method = 12.86 cm
 Test for consistency of record
Common causes for inconsistency of rainfall records
• Shifting of a rain gauge station to a new location
• The neighborhood of the station under going a marked change
• Change in the ecosystem due to calamities, such as forest fires, land
slides etc
• Occurrence of observational error from a certain date
• The checking for inconsistency of a record is done by the double-
mass curve technique
The technique is based on the principle that when each recorded data
comes from the same parent population, they are consistent
 Test for consistency of record (Double mass curve techniques)

• Let a group of 5 to 10 base stations in the neighborhood of the

problem station X is selected
• Arrange the data of X stn rainfall and the average of the
neighboring stations in reverse chronological order (from recent to
old record)
• Accumulate the precipitation of station X  Px  and the average
values of the group base stations  Pavg  starting from the latest
record.
• Plot the  Px  a against  Pavg 
• A decided break in the slope of the resulting plot is observed that
indicates a change in precipitation regime of station X, i.e
inconsistency.
• Therefore, it should be corrected by a factor
 P7

P2
P6

P8
P1
P5

P3 P4
Mean Precipitation over an area
• Rain gauges represent only point sampling of the areal distribution of a
storm
• The important rainfall for hydrological analysis is a rainfall over an area,
such as over the catchment
• As the rainfall over a large area is not uniform, the average depth of
rainfall over the area is determined by one of the following three methods.
– Arithmetic mean method
– Thiessen Polygon method
– Isohyets method
Arithmetic Mean Method

• When the area is physically and climatically homogenous and the

required accuracy is small, the average rainfall ( P ) for a basin
can be obtained as the arithmetic mean of the station values
recorded at various stations. If P1, P2, Pi …..Pn are the rainfall
values in a given period in N stations within catchment, then the
mean precipitation P is given by
P1  P2  .....  Pi  .....Pn 1 N
P 
N
 
N i 1
Pi

• This method is fast and simple and yields good results in flat
country where rain gauge stations are uniformly distributed
• Applicable rarely for practical purpose
Thiessen polygons method
• This method consists of attributing to each station an influence
zone in which it is considered that the rainfall is equivalent to that
of the station.
• The influence zones are represented by polygons.
• These polygons are obtained using the mediators of the segments
which link each station to the closest neighboring stations
 Thiessen polygons ……….
P7
P6

A7

A6
P2

A2
A1

A8 A5
P1

P8 P5

A4
A3

P3

P4
 Thiessen polygons ……….

P1 A1  P2 A2  .....  Pm Am
P 
 A1  A2  .....  Am 
Generally for M station
M

PA i i M
Ai
P  i 1
Atotal
 
i 1
Pi
A

Ai
The ratio is called the weightage factor of station i
A
Q. Figure below shows a typical layout of a catchment area
ABCD. Fix rain gauge stations are established at A,B,C,and D
as shown in figure. The precipitation observed at these four
stations are as follows:
stations A B C D
Rainfall(cm) 10 12 15 11

10 km
A B

D 5 km
C

Determine the mean precipitation by Thiessen polygon method.

 P 1 A 1  P 2 A 2  .....  P m A m
P 
 A 1  A 2  .....  A m 
Q. Figure below shows a typical layout of a catchment area
ABCDF. Fix rain gauge stations are established at A,B,C,D,E
and F as shown in figure. The precipitation observed at these six
stations are as follows:

stations A B C D E F
Rainfall(cm) 10 12 13 18 12.5 15

Determine the mean precipitation by Thiessen polygon method.

Isohyetal Method
• An isohyet is a line joining points of equal rainfall
magnitude. 10.0

D
a5
6 C
12
9.2
12
a4
a3
7.0
B
4
7.2

A
E
a2 10.0
9.1
4.0 a1

6
4
Isohyetal Method

• P1, P2, P3, …. , Pn – the values of the isohytes

• a1, a2, a3, …., a4 – are the inter isohytes area respectively
• A – the total catchment area
• P - the mean precipitation over the catchment
 P1  P2   P2  P3   Pn1  Pn 
a1    a2    ...  a n1  
P   2   2   2 
A

NOTE

The isohyet method is superior to the other

two methods especially when the stations are
large in number.
Q. Estimate the average depth of precipitation over the drainage
basin with following data.

Isohyetals (intervals, cm) 15-12 12-9 9-6 6-3 3-1

Inter-isohyetals area km2 92 128 120 175 85
 P7

P2
P6

P8
P1
P5

P3 P4

CIA
Q 
360
Intensity-Duration-Frequency Curve
An intensity-duration-frequency curve (IDF curve) is a
mathematical function or graph that relates the rainfall intensity with
its duration and frequency of occurrence.
In IDF curve, Duration plotted as abscissa, intensity as ordinate
and series of curves one for each return period
These curves are commonly used in hydrology for flood
forecasting and civil engineering for urban drainage design, design
of hydraulic structure.
IDF curves can be expressed as
equation in the exponential form
given by:

Where, i=intensity
T=return period or frequency
D=Duration
K,x,a,n=constants
Depth-Area-Duration(DAD) curve
Rainfall rarely occurs uniformly over a large area
Variations in intensity and total depth of rainfall from the centers to
peripheries of storm causes average depth of rainfall decreases from
the maximum as the area considered increases.
If we plot depth of precipitation and area of its coverage for different
duration of storm the curve thus obtained is called DAD curve.
It is useful to analyze areal distribution of rainfall