Precipitation

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

K C PAT R A
Professor in Civil Engineering
Former Head and Dean (AR)
National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Orissa, India-769008,
kcpatra@nitrkl.ac.in

1
CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
 My Interests: Hydrologic
Elements and Analysis
P res e nt Pa s s i o n: Hydraulics of
Meandering and Straight
R i v e r s w iNtaht i oFn al loI o
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Rourkela
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Te c h n o l o g y ,

3
INTRODUCTION
• There is a great variation of precipitation in space and time.
• Some of the precipitation that might get intercepted while reaching the ground by trees
and buildings and evaporates back is called the initial loss.
• The other part meets requirements like depression storage and infiltrates into the ground.
The excess rainfall flows in streams to large water bodies.
• Factors like soil-type, vegetation, geology and topography of the area largely determine
the quantity of rainfall excess available as stream flow from the perceptible water.
• Nearly one-fourth of the total precipitation that falls on land reaches large water bodies
as direct runoff.
• The balance three-fourths of water returns back to the atmosphere at different times as
evaporation.
• Essential requirements for precipitation to occur are :
(i) moisture in the atmosphere,
(ii) presence of nuclei around which condensation of vapour takes place,
(iii) dynamic cooling responsible for condensation of water vapour and
(iv) precipitation product must reach the ground in some form.
• In the atmosphere, condensation nuclei are available in plenty from the dust particles and
smoke wastes.
• When such a nucleus collects freezing moisture from the cloud and grow to a size greater
than 1 mm, it forms a rain drop and falls.
• Years back, cloud seeding was attempted for making artificial rain in India using artificial
nuclei like portland cement, salt powder, carbon-dioxide powder, ice-powder, clay or silver
iodide powder etc by aircraft, balloon, rocket, projectile and others
FORMS OF PRECIPITATION
Any product of atmospheric water must reach the surface of earth after condensation. Some
common forms of precipitation explained below are :
(i) Rain : When precipitation reaches the surface of earth in the form of droplets of water, with
size of drops vary from 0.5 mm to 6 mm as drops larger than this size are found to breakup
during their fall in the air. Rain is considered as light if intensity of rainfall is up to 2.5 mm/h,
moderate from 2.5 to 7.5 mm/h and heavy over 7.5 mm/h.
ii) Snow : It is a precipitation in the form of ice-crystals, normally hexagonal in shape. Snow
reaches the earth's surface either separately or combines together to form flakes. The
density of snow is usually 0.10 gm/cm3, which means that 10 cm of snowfall is equivalent to
1.0 cm of rainfall.
(iii) Drizzle : Drizzle is defined as water droplets of size less than 0.5 mm. It reaches the ground
with intensity less than 1.00 mm/h. These water droplets are so light that they appear to be
floating in air.
(iv) Glaze : Drizzle, which freezes immediately in contact with cold objects at earth's surface.
(v) Sleet : Where rain falls through air of subfreezing temperature, the drops freeze to form
grains of ice, called sleet.
(vi) Hail : It is the precipitating rain in the form of any irregular form of ice with size ranging
from 5.0 mm to 50 mm or above. Cumulonimbus convective clouds with strong vertical
currents are responsible for the formation of hail. The density of hails are normally 0.8
gm/cm3. While falling they combine together to form bigger sizes.
(vii) Dew : During nights when surfaces on earth cools by radiation, the moisture present in
atmosphere condenses on the surface of these objects forming water droplets called dew.
TYPES OF PRECIPITATION
Classified according to the factors responsible for lifting the air mass is of following types :
(i)Convective : In summer days air in contact with surface of the earth gets heated up, expands
and rises due to lesser density. Surrounding air rushes to replace it and in turn gets heated
up and rises. In the process, increasing quantities of water vapour are taken up by the air.
When the air mass reaches to a great height, temperature falls below the dew point. At this
stage condensation releases latent heat of 539 cal/g of water. This heat is added to the air at
the height of condensation causing further heating to its upper air. This forces the air mass to
move up. As more moist air from the surrounding joins the system, more energy is added.
The vertical air currents develop tremendous velocities and dynamic cooling takes place.
Depending on the moisture content, cooling and other factors, the precipitation intensity
varies from light showers to cloud bursts amounting to 300 mm or more rainfall per hour.
Such type of precipitation covers limited aerial extent and is normally found near equatorial
zone. Sometimes strong upward wind currents exceeding 150 kmph freezes the rain drops to
form hail. Multiple rise and fall of hail due to very strong upward currents may add to its size.
Hail storms in India during summer are very common.
(ii) Orographic : Orographic or mountain-range barriers cause lifting of the air masses.
Dynamic cooling takes place causing precipitation on the side of the blowing wind.
Precipitation is normally heavier on the windward side and lighter on leeward side. In
India, heavy precipitation in Himalayan region and at the western coast are mainly due to
orographic features associated with the south west wind carrying sufficient quantity of
moisture, while passing over Arabian sea. Orographic precipitation gives medium to high
intensity rainfall and continues for longer duration.
(iii) Cyclonic: A cyclone is a low pressure area surrounded by a larger high pressure area. Air
from the surrounding rushes to the LP area causing the air to lift. Such a type of cyclone is
called Tropical cyclone or simply cyclone in India, Typhoon in south-east Asia and Hurricane in
America. The cyclone centre is called eye and is a calm area. Eye is surrounded by a very
strong wind zone with wind speed sometimes exceeding 300 km/h. Aerial extent of the
cyclone extends to a few hundred kilometers. Pressure distribution diagram for this zones in
the form of Isobars (lines joining equal pressure points with respect to mean sea level) are
closely spaced. There is steep decrease in pressure towards the eye.
Tropical cyclones originate near equator at 5 to 10 degree latitude and move towards
higher latitudes in a path guided by number of weather factors. Sea water temperature
between 25 to 27°C is the most favorable for formation of cyclones. The system derives its
energy from sea vapor and grows in size. Once the cyclone crosses over to land, the energy
source is cutoff, it becomes week and disappears gradually. Rainfall is normally heavy in the
entire zone travelled by a cyclone. In northern hemisphere, cyclones move in anti-clockwise
direction and in southern hemisphere they move clockwise. Cyclonic storms move at the
rate of about 30-50 km/h. A cyclone formed outside the tropical zone near the boundary
between warm and cold air is called extra-tropical cyclone. An anticyclone is an area of high
pressure in which winds tend to blow spirally outward in clockwise direction in the northern
hemisphere and anti-clockwise in southern hemisphere. Weather is normally calm and such
anticyclones are not associated with rain.
(iv) Thunder Storms: An air mass which moves from sea to land gets increased friction over
land. These air masses rise gradually as they move inland, giving rise to condensation and
precipitation over a limited area. Winter rainfall in southern part of India and Indonesia are
mainly due to this process. Sometimes thunder storms result in very intense rainfall.
RAINFALL IN INDIA
India gets more than 75% of its rainfall from June to October. The country experiences four
distinct weather periods.
1. Monsoon (June – October)
2. Post-Monsoon (October-November)
3. Winter Rainfall (December-February)
4. Summer Rainfall (March-May)
MEASUREMENT OF RAINFALL
Precipitation is measured as depth of water equivalent from all forms that would accumulate
on a horizontal surface if there are no losses. Rainfall is collected and measured in instruments
called rain gauges. A gauge in its simplest form is a horizontal circular opening aperture of
known cross sectional area in the form of a cylindrical vessel. The circular opening leads its
catch to a collecting and measuring jar. Three types of instruments generally used for
measurement of rainfall are :
(i) Non-Recording Gauge : Various types of non-recording rain gauges are available. A Symon’s
type or a Standard gauge is recommended by India Meteorological Department (IMD).
IS: 5225-1969 is followed for specification of a standard type of gauge.
IS:4986-1968 gives details of installation and measurements
The circular collector opening has an area of either 100 or 200 cm 2 from which rain enters
into the receiving vessel through a funnel. The collectors are interchangeable. Top of the
circular opening is placed at a standard height of 30 cm above ground level. The metal
container should be fixed to a concrete block of 60 cm × 60 cm × 60 cm as shown in the figure.
The rain catch collected in the bottle is taken out at 8.30 AM (India Standard Time) and
poured into a graduated measuring glass jar (chosen accordingly for 100 cm or 200 cm
collector), which gives directly the depth of rainfall for the day. Degree of accuracy of a
graduated jar is 0.1mm. If precipitation on a day is very heavy then more readings should be
taken and summed up to give the rainfall depth for the day alongwith its final observation
taken at 8.30 AM.

Recording Type Rain-Gauges : These rain gauges give a continuous record of rainfall at a place
over time. Such gauges give all the required information of a storm like the onset and cessation
of rain, i.e., duration of the storm, intensity and the cumulative rainfall.
(a) Tipping Bucket Type : A Stevens tipping bucket type of rain gauge consists of a 200 mm
collector that directs the rain water through a funnel into a two-compartmental bucket. The
size of each bucket is 0.25 mm of rain. Once rain water fills up a bucket, it over-balances and
the water tips down to the casing of the container bringing thereby the second bucket to its
measuring position beneath the funnel (Fg.3.6). Tipping of the buckets actuates an electric
circuit which records the number of tips during rain. Disadvantages of such a type of gauge
are (i) when tipping of buckets takes place, rainfall at that instant is not recorded, (ii) very
high intensity rainfall gives close signals, which can make it difficult to record the number of
tips and (iii) calibration of tips may change due to rusting and dirt accumulation.
(b) Weighing Bucket Type : Rain is collected in a receiver bucket supported on a spring
balance. A mechanical lever arm of the balance is connected with a pen which touches a
clock mounted drum with a graph paper. As it rains, the weight of the bucket gradually
increases. This changes the position of the pan of the balance. With time the pen marks a line
on the continuously moving graph paper (Fig 3.7). The record shows the accumulation of
precipitation over time. Recording can be for 24 h or 7 days . Such gauges are normally used
in USA .
(c) Syphon (Float) Type : Specifications IS : 5235-1969. Popular in India (Fig.3.8). Rain
entering the gauge is led to a float chamber through a funnel. With increase in rainwater in
the chamber, the float rises. A pen mounted on the float through a lever system touches a
graph chart warped around the circumference of the drum mounted on a mechanical clock.
By the time the pen reaches the top of the graph the float also reaches the top of the
chamber. At this point syphonic action takes place in the chamber and all the water in the
chamber below the float empties. The pen comes back to its original zero position. If there is
no rainfall the pen moves horizontally over the graph paper at that level. One syphonic
action means 10 mm of rainfall and the time taken to collect the depth of rain can be noted
from the horizontal axis of the graph paper. An used graph paper is shown in Fig. 3.9.
Disadvantages of such gauges are: (i) they are costlier than other non-recording type and (ii)
mechanical defects sometimes give erroneous results. The advantages are: The beginning and
end of the storm, its intensity, duration, distribution of rain and the depth of total storm
precipitation can easily be obtained from the plot of the graph.
NETWORK DESIGN
Ideally, a basin should have as many number of gauges possible to give a clear representative
picture of the aerial distribution of the precipitation. Factors like economy, topography,
accessibility and rainfall variability govern the number of stations for a basin. There is no
definite rule as to how many gauges are needed for a complete ungauged basin. To begin
with a few pilot gauges can be fixed and after a few years of data are available, statistical
analysis can be carried out to check the adequacy of the system. IS:4987-1968 recommends
different densities of gauges, sufficient from practical considerations for India. Table 3.1 gives
their recommendations.
If the allowable percent of error in estimating the mean rainfall is taken higher, than a basin
will require fewer numbers of gauges and vice-versa. The allowable percentage of error Ep is
normally taken as 10%. While computing the value of Cv, if its value comes less than 10%, we
can assume the existing stations to be sufficient for the basin. In case N > n, the additional
stations required for the basin can be found as (N – n). Annual rainfall values are normally
used in the above analysis. Additional stations are to be established at the appropriate
locations giving an even distribution over the basin.
Ideal Location for a Raingauge Station
While setting up any raingauge station the following points should be noted.
(i) Site should be on level ground, i.e., slopping ground, hill tops or hill slopes are not suitable.
(ii) The site should be an open space.
(iii) Distance between rain gauge and nearest objects should be twice the height of objects.
(iv) Site should be away from continuous wind forces.
(v) Other meteorological instruments and the fencing of the site should maintain the step (iii)
(vi) The site should be easily accessible.
(vii) The gauge should be truly vertical.
(viii) Ten percent of total number of rain gauge stations of any basin should be self-recording.
(ix) The observer must visit the site regularly to ensure its proper readiness for measurement.
Precipitation measurements are susceptible to the following errors, which can be
(a) in measurement,
(b) mistakes in recording,
(c) instrumental errors,
(d) initial loss in wetting the gauge (which is equal to 0.25 mm per precipitation or may be 25 mm/year),
(e) error due to rain drop splash,
(f) evaporation from the gauge and
(g) loss of 1.5% of rainfall if gauge is inclined 10 degree from its true vertical position.
For location of these additional 4 stations the principles laid down by IMD are to be
followed. The best way is to draw a Thiessen polygon for the area and find out the area
represented by each station. The density per station with 11 stations comes to 94 sq. km.
The orographic features and the density is to be kept in mind while locating these additional
4-stations, as there is large variation in the normal annual rainfalls from 32 cm to 94 cm in
the sub-basin. The term Thiessen-polygon will be discussed afterwards. It is not possible to
have zero percent error in the estimation of mean value as this will give the number of
gauges required for the basin as infinite. This is not practicable.
CONSISTENCY OF RAINFALL DATA
Rainfall data may not be consistent always. Over the period of observation, there could be
(i) unreported shifting of the gauge site by as much as 8 km aerially or 30 m in elevation,
(ii) significant construction work in the area might have changed the surroundings,
(iii) change in observational procedure incorporated from a certain period or
(iv) a heavy forest fire, earth-quake or land-slide might have taken place in that area.
Such changes at any station are likely to affect the consistency of data from a station.
Double mass-curve checks the consistency of record and helps to correct the station data. Accumulated annual rainfall of a
station is compared with the concurrent accumulated values of mean rainfall of groups of 5 to 8 surrounding base stations.
Procedure for double mass-curve analysis is discussed as follows:
(i) Doubtful station, say A, is marked and the group of stations surrounding it are identified.
(ii) A table is prepared in which the 1st column represents the year in decreasing order
(iii) Yearly precipitation values of station A are written in second column.
(iv) In the third column the cumulative rainfall of second column are entered.
(v) Mean yearly precipitation of the group of stations surrounding station A are computed and entered in the fourth
column against the year of col. 1.
(vi) In column 5, cumulative precipitation of group of stations of column four are computed.
(vii) A graph is plotted taking cumulative rainfall of group of station as abscissa and cumulative rainfall of the station A as
ordinate. Consecutive points are joined by straight line.
(viii) If the consistency of the station A has undergone changes from any year, then it can be noticed from the slope of the
plot. The line joining the initial points of the graph are extended by a dotted line and correction (c/c1 ) as shown in the
Fig. 3.10 is computed.
(ix) Rainfall of subsequent years from the year of deviation (marked x in the figure) are corrected by multiplying the
correction factor.
This exercise helps to bring the older rainfall data of station A to the new environment. Corrections are to be applied to the
data of station A only when the change of slope of the double mass-curve is observed for more than five years. As shown in
Fig. 3.10 corrections to the data from 1983 to 1977 are applied for station A. Unless the change is significant, i.e., exceeds
10% of the original slope, it should be confirmed whether the deviation of the line is not part of the usual scatter.
Correction should be applied for change in slope exceeding 10% of the original line.
EXAMPLE: Annual rainfall of station A and the average annual rainfall of five surrounding
stations from 1996 to 1977 are given below. Check the consistency of data of station A. If data
is found inconsistent, then correct the inconsistent data.
Normal Ratio Method : The method is used when normal annual precipitation of index
stations differ by more than 10% of the missing station. The rainfall of the surrounding
index stations are weighed by the ratio of normal annual rainfalls by using the following
equation.
Nx  P1 P P 
Px    2  ...  n 
n  N1 N 2 Nn 
where P1, P2, ..., Pn are the rainfall data of index stations, N1, N2, ... , Nn the normal annual
rainfall of index stations, Px and Nx the corresponding values for the missing station x in
question and n is the number of stations surrounding the station x. Comparing equations (3.7)
and (3.5), the weight coefficient ai for the ith station is given as
 N 
ai    x 
 nN i 
Regression Method: A multiple linear regression of the form
Px = a0 + a1P1 + a2P2 + a3P3 + ... + anPn

may be established. The coefficients a0 ,a1,... ,an can be calculated by least square method.
The equation can be used to compute rainfall Px of the missing station. A random error
component et´´ Syx may be added to the equation if large amount of missing data is to be
estimated, where et is the normal random number with zero mean and unit standard
deviation. It can be selected from random number tables given in any standard mathematical
book. Syx is the standard error of estimate. The nstandard 2 error of estimate can be estimated

S yx    Yi  Yei 
from the equation i 1
Inverse Distance (US Weather Service) Method
In this method a rectangular coordinate system is superimposed over the map marked with
rain gauge station in such a way that the origin (0, 0) represents the missing station as shown
in Fig. 3.11. The surrounding index stations lie within the quadrants to the point for which
rainfall is to be estimated. The distance of index stations from the missing station gives a
weight age of then station by which missing rainfall is estimated. The following relation may be
used.  Pi  Wi
Px  i 1
n

W
i 1
i

where Wi =1/D2, D2 = (DX2 +DY2) is the distance of the station i in X and Y coordinates taking
missing rainfall station at (0, 0) position. However, the limitation is that it estimates missing
rainfall between the highest and lowest values of the index stations.
Example 3.5 Normal rainfall of 6 rain gauge stations A1, A2, A3, A4, A5 and A6 are 122, 98, 72, 116, 135 and
110 cms respectively. During a particular storm station A2 was inoperative due to some mechanical
defect. The location of the stations on a map are given in Fig. 3.13 and bracket terms give the storm
rainfalls. Calculate the missing rainfall of station A2 by all the methods and compare the results.
Solution
From Fig. 3.13, coordinates of the points are read as A 1 (2, 12), A2(0, 0), A3(–4, –5), A4(–12, 2), A5(8, –8),
A6(10, 1). The sign of the coordinate system has no bearing as the square of DX and DY are taken for
calculation. The missing rainfall by various methods are discussed below.
(i) Arithmetic Mean Method
The normal annual rainfall of the missing station is 98 cm. The surrounding stations do not fall within 10 %
range, i.e., within 107.8 cm to 88.2 cm. We cannot apply the arithmetic mean method to this problem.
(ii) Normal Ratio Method
By normal ratio method the storm rainfall for the station is calculated as
PRESENTATION OF PRECIPITATION DATA
Rainfall is usually presented in the form of the following graphs.
Moving Average Curve
Mass Curve
When the cumulative rainfall taken as ordinate is plotted against time in abscissa the resulting
plot is a mass curve. Plot of a mass curve gives information about rainfall intensity, duration,
magnitude, onset and cessation of precipitation of any storm. All self recording raingauges
automatically record the mass curve of precipitation at a place over time. Therefore, all
information about the storm at the place is known from the graph record. A typical mass curve
is shown in Fig. 3.15.
Rainfall Hyetograph
Rainfall intensity means the ratio of rainfall
depth with time and is expressed in cm/hour
(cm/h) or mm/hour (mm/h). From the mass
curve, a plot between the intensity of rainfall
with time can be obtained. During a storm,
intensity always changes with time. On a mass
curve any two points can be marked and the
depth of rainfall (Dy) between these two points
are noted from the y-axis. Time between these
two points (Dt) are recorded from x-axis. The
depth divided by time, i.e., Dx/Dt is the intensity
of rainfall for the period under consideration.
Usually Dt selected is either 1, 2 or 3 hours. For
larger cyclonic storms spreading over a few days
Dt may be selected for 6 or 12 hours.
When the plot of rainfall intensity with time is
presented in the form of a bar graph then such a
graph is known as hyetograph (Fig 3.16). The
plot is very useful for flood studies and
calculation of rainfall loss indices.
Intensity-Duration-Frequency Curves
An intensity-duration and frequency curve is a three parameter curve in which duration is
taken on x-axis, intensity on y-axis and the return period or frequency as the third
parameter. By fixing the return period of say 10-, 50-, 100- years or any other period, a
particular curve between intensity and duration can be obtained for the area. Through such
a curve an exponential equation of the following order can be fit.
I = C Ta (D + b)-d
in which T is the frequency or the return period of the storm of intensity I cm/h and duration
D – hours. Other terms in the equation are constants. For Indian conditions a varies between
0.15 to 0.7, b from 0.10 to 1.05, c from 3 to 15 and d from 0.75 to 1.25. Plot of such a curve
is shown in Fig. 3.17.
Computation of mean aerial rainfall
A rain gauge records rainfall at a geographical point. In most of the hydrologic analysis,
average depth of precipitation over the area under consideration is required to be computed
on hourly, daily, storm period, ten-day, monthly or yearly basis. Depending on the accuracy
and objective of the analysis any of the followings methods can be used :
(i) Arithmetic average, (ii) Thiessen polygon, (iii) Isohyetal, (iv) Grid point, (v) Orographic or
(vi) Isopercental method.
Other methods available in the literature include the triangular mean weight, trend surface
analysis, reciprocal distance square, modified polygon, analysis of variance and the double
Fourier series. These methods are not extensively used in hydrology. The rigorous
mathematical calculations involved in these methods do not support the accuracy achieved
in arriving at the mean aerial rainfall over a basin.
Arithmetic Mean Method
This method is suitably applied for a basin where the gauges are uniformly distributed and
the individual gauge catches do not vary much from the mean. The basin should be a
reasonably flat area. The assumption made is that all gauges weigh equally
Pi  P2  ....  Pn 1 n
Pav    Pi
n n i 1
where P1, P2, ..., Pn are the precipitation recorded by n number of gauges located within the
basin. It does not account for the topographic and other influences. For use of this method,
no gauge station located outside the boundary of the watershed should be considered.
Thiessen Polygon Method
Weightage is given to all the measuring gauges on the basis of their aerial coverage on the map, thus eliminating the
discrepancies in their spacing over the basin. All the stations in and around the basin are considered and a linear
variation in the precipitation between two gauge stations is assumed.
(a) All the gauges in and around the basin are accurately marked on a map drawn to scale.
(b) Consecutive stations are joined by dotted straight lines, forming triangles.
(c) Perpendicular bisectors are drawn to these dotted lines such that the bisectors form a polygon around each station.
For a basin having large number of stations, the approach should be to start from one end of the map and traverse to
the other end gradually forming polygons. The boundary of the map and the perpendicular bisectors cutting them form
polygons for the periphery stations represented by abcc' for station A and cdec' for station B and so on as shown in
Fig.3.18, while for inner stations, the bisectors only form the polygons represented by stations G, F and K in the figure.
(d) Each station on the map is thus enclosed by a polygon. A polygon represents an area for which the station rainfall is
the representative.
(e) Area of each polygon is measured by planimetering. Sum of the areas of all the polygons must be equal to the total
area of the basin.
(f) Thiessen weights are computed by dividing the area of each polygon by the total area of the basin. Thus, sum of
Thiessen weights for all stations should be equal to unity. If there are seven stations in and around the basin then
seven thiessen polygons are drawn. Sum of all the seven theissen weights must be equal to unity.
(g) The average precipitation is computed from the relation

A1 P1  A2 P2  A3 P3  ....  An Pn
Pav 
A1  A2  A3  ....  An
or Pav= P1W1 + P2W2 + P3W3 + ..... + PnWn (3.16)
in which P1, P2, ... , Pn represents precipitation at stations 1, 2, 3,..., n, and A1,A2.,.., An, represents the area of polygons
representing the corresponding stations, A is the total area of the basin which is sum of all the polygons. W 1, W2 , ...,
Wn are the Thiessen weights computed as W1 = A1/A, W2 = A2/A, ..., Wn = An/A such that W1 + W2 + ...+ Wn = 1.00
This method suffers from the following limitations.
(i) If the network of a basin is changed, i.e., if there
is an addition or removal of a station from the
basin, then a new thiessen diagram is to be drawn.
(ii) Orographic features are not accounted for.
(iii) A linear variation of precipitation between two
stations is assumed, whereas the precipitation is
influenced by a large number of meteorological and
catchment characteristics.
(iv) Topographic influences and other barriers are
not considered.
However the advantage of this method is that, it is
much more accurate than the previous methods
and the procedure of computation becomes simple,
once the areas of the polygons are measured. This
method is popularly applied to most of the field
problems.
Isohyetal Method
This method gives more accurate results of the average rainfall of a basin. An experienced
analyst takes care of the orographic features and storm characteristics while drawing
contours of equal rainfall depths of a basin. The resulting map can represent the actual rainfall
pattern of the storm over the watershed. An Isohyet is a line joining points of equal rainfall
magnitude on a map. Steps in determining the average precipitation of an area are given
below.
(i) A map of the basin is drawn to scale.
(ii) All gauge stations in and around the basin are accurately located on the map.
(iii) Depth of precipitation recorded at each station are marked on the map.
(iv) Isohyets are drawn by eye approximation interpolating the distances between stations
on consideration of orographic, storm characteristics and other factors that affect the rainfall
variability at the place. They follow the principles of elevation contours drawn on a map.
Isohyets do not cross each other. Over a large area, all isohyets form closed contours. Closely
spaced isohyet contours indicate that the precipitation gradient is more. Area bounded by
the highest closed contour represents the eye of a cyclonic storm.
(v) Area between successive isohyets within the basin is measured. (planimetered).
(vi) Average precipitation between two successive isohyets multiplied by the area bounded
by them should be computed for all isohyets covering the area.
(vii) Sum of all such products over the entire basin divided by the total area of the basin gives
average precipitation. This can be computed using the following equation.
P1  P2 P  P3 P  Pn
A1  A2 2  ....  An1 n1
Pav  2 2 2
A1  A2  ....An 1
in which P1, P2, P3 ,..., Pn are the isohyetal values such that P1 and P2 bound the area A1; P2 and
P3 bound the area A2 and so on. Sum of all such sub-areas bounded by all isohyets, i.e., A1 + A2 +
... + An is the total area of the basin as shown in Fig. 3.19. If a linear interpolation between
stations is used while drawing isohyets, then the result of Thiessen - Polygon method and this
method will essentially be the same. Isohyetal method gives more accurate result.
Thorough knowledge of the topography of the basin helps to draw isohyets more accurately.

Orographic Method
Identical to isohyetal method except that lines of equal elevation above sea level are
considered as an additional parameter while drawing the isohyets. Procedure outlined in
method 3.10.3 remains the same.
Grid Point Method
(i) A map of the basin is drawn to scale and all gauging stations are marked accurately on it.
(ii) Depth of precipitation recorded at each station are marked on the map.
(iii) An uniform grid of desired spacing is superimposed on the map.
(iv) Precipitation at the corners of grid points are estimated suitably by considering the weather
and storm characteristics of the basin.
(iv) Average precipitation of the four grid corners multiplied by area of the grid gives average
precipitation volume for the grid.
(v) Sum of all products divided by total area of the basin gives the average aerial precipitation.
Isopercental Method
(1) Obtain a map of the basin to scale showing the positions of all raingauge stations.
(2) Collect storm/monthly rainfall data (Ri) and normal annual rainfall (Ni) for marked stations.
(3) Convert the storm or monthly rainfall values (Ri) as the percentage of the normal annual values (Ni) using the relation
Xi= 100Ri/Ni
(4) Draw the isopercental lines, i.e., lines joining the percentage of same rainfall over the basin as thick lines by selecting a
suitable interval of isopercentages. This can be drawn following the rules of drawing of the contours.
(5) On the same map draw isohyetal lines by considering the normal annual rainfalls over the basin. Let these lines be
shown as dotted lines.
(6) Locate the points where the isopercental lines cut the annual isohyets.
(7) Calculate rainfall at the points of intersection of step (6) by multiplying values of (Xnli /100) and (Ni) in the units of depth
of rainfall where Xnli is the value of Xi at paints of inter-section.
(8) Now draw the isohyetal patterns of the area on a separate map by considering these intersection points and their
depth of rainfall.
(9) Obtain the catchment rainfall over the basin by considering the isohyets as per the procedure outlined in the section
3.10.3.
The method though gives the most promising alternative of the calculation of average catchment rainfall in a
mountainous regions, the method lacks its popularity due to repetitive and difficult nature of computations involved.
Depth-Area-Duration (DAD) curve
DAD analysis is carried out to obtain a relationship between depth of precipitation (D), area of its
coverage (A) and duration of occurrence of the storm (D). A DAD curve is a graphical
representation of the gradual decrease of depth of precipitation with the progressive increase
of the area of the storm, away from the storm center, for a given duration taken as the third
parameter. The purpose of DAD analysis is to determine the maximum precipitating amounts
that have occurred over various sizes of drainage area during the passage of storm periods of
say 6 h, 12 h, 24 h or other durations. There are two methods available for carrying out DAD
analysis. The mass curve method is not popular but the incremental-isohyetal method is used
for DAD analysis
(i) All the major storms of the area are identified.
(ii) The duration for all the storms are noted (if duration chosen is say 1-day, then all storms
occurring for one day are selected. When a storm has occurred for 3 days, then the maximum
one day precipitation out of the 3 days is noted).
(iii) Isohyetal patterns for all 1 day storms are prepared on maps.
(iv) One 1 day storm is taken up and the area bounded within the highest isohyet is planimetered. This is
called the eye-area of the storm. Next the area bounded between the largest and the second largest
isohyet is planimetered. The depth of precipitation covering up to the second largest isohyet is obtained by
the relation d2=(Pm1A1+Pm2A2) / (A1+A2), where Pm1 is mean precipitation bounded by the highest isohyetal
area A1 and Pm2 is the mean precipitation between the first and second highest isohyets covering area A 2.
Similarly for the area covering up to the third isohyet, the progressive depth of precipitation can be
obtained by the relation d3= (Pm1A1+Pm2A2 +Pm3A3) / (A1+A2+A3) where Pm3 is the mean precipitation between
the second and third highest isohyet covering area A 3 between them. The procedure is repeated to cover
the remaining isohyets of the area.
(v) All the area-depth precipitations are recorded in a table.
(vi) The steps from (iv) to (v) are repeated for all other 1 day storm experiences of the area.
(vii) A graph is plotted between area as abscissa and maximum average depths of precipitation as ordinate
covering the depth-area data of all 1 day storms of step (vi).
(viii) Curves are plotted on the same paper as in step (vii) or separate plots may be made for each duration.
(ix) If a semi-log graph paper is used with area plotted on log scale than the curve will plot close to a
straight line.
The resulting plot is the DAD curve for the region. DAD curves for 12-h, 1 and 2-day storms are shown in
Fig. 3.20. Interesting points to note from the graph are (a) when the area of the storm increases, the depth
of precipitation decreases (b) when the duration of the storm increases for the given area the depth of
precipitation increases.
Example 3.8 : From the isohyetal map shown in Fig. 3.19 and the sub-areas between the isohyets given in
example 3.7, prepare a DAD curve for the basin if the rain depths are recorded from a 2-day storm.
Solution
On the assumption of the isohyetal patterns of Fig 3.19 resulting from a 2-day storm the following
informations are computed in the tabular form, which helps to draw the DAD curve.
Design storm
A storm is a period of heavy rainfall associated with high wind speed. All water resource projects must take
due care for such type of unprecedented precipitations. Design storm is a storm producing a critical depth
of rainfall, which is considered for design of a structure in terms of its potential of producing flood
acceptable for the safety of the structure. Three terms used in defining a design storm are :
(i) Statistical or Frequency Based Storm (FBS),
(ii) Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) and (iii) Standard Project Storm (SPS).
Statistical Storm
For design of small culverts, bridges and minor dams, the probability of occurrence of a storm of desired
return period is the interest of the engineer in-charge. Precipitation at a place is a random event and when
arranged in time, it constitutes a so called time-series. Annual maximum values of say 24 or 48 h rainfalls,
when arranged in time, gives an annual maximum series for the duration of 24 h or 48 h. Frequency
analysis is carried out to this series to compute probability of occurrence of the event. Annual maximum
series usually conform to Gumbel, Pearson type-III, Log-Pearson or Log-Normal distribution.

For annual maximum series, Gumbel's method of frequency analysis gives the most acceptable results.
Using Gumbel's table, the frequency factors are obtained.
for T = 50 Þ k50 = 3.076 and for T = 100 Þ k100 = 3.714
The storm rainfalls for 50 and 100 year return periods are calculated as follows.
X50 = 838.77+ 3.076 × 459.71 = 2252.8 mm
X = 838.77+ 3.714 × 459.71 = 2546.1 mm
Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP)
No risk can be taken in designing important structures and therefore no probability can be
realistically attached to the storm or flood events for such projects. To keep the probability
of failure virtually zero, the maximum possible precipitation that can reasonably be accepted
in the location is estimated. Probable maximum precipitation (PMP) is defined as the
estimate of the extreme maximum rainfall of a given duration that is physically possible over
the basin under critical hydrological and meteorological conditions. Using a suitable rainfall
runoff model this precipitation is used to compute flood (considered as design flood for the
project). Virtually no risk is taken due to such estimate of maximum precipitation. Two
available methods of PMP estimation are : (i) statistical procedure and (ii) meteorological
approach. The statistical approach of PMP uses the following Chow's equation PMP = + k s
in which is the P mean of annual maximum values, s the standard deviation and k the
frequency P factor which varies with rainfall duration and is found to vary between 5 and 30.
The approach should not be interpreted to imply that a specific probability is assigned to
PMP. This method gives a rough estimate of the magnitude of the event.
In meteorological approach, the storm experience of the basin is maximised by taking all the
storms of the basin and adjoining areas which are meteorologically homogeneous. Steps
involved in obtaining PMP are (i) depth-area-duration analysis of major storms of the region
which is considered transposable to the new basin of interest, (ii) maximisation of the storm
and (iii) enveloping the maximised values of all the storms to obtain Deapth-Area-Duration
(DAD) curve of PMP.
Procedure of Depth-Area-Duration DAD analysis is covered in Section 3.11. Storm
transposition and maximisation are discussed in this section.
Storm Transposition
Storm transposition is applied to those project areas which do not have adequate rainfall data, i.e., no
severe storm records over the project area. Storm transposition implies the application of outstanding or
major rain storms from one area to another to increase the storm experience of a basin by considering
not only the storms which have occurred over or near the basin in the past but also those which have
resulted in heavy rainfall on the adjoining areas that are hydro-meteorologically homogeneous. A
meteorologically homogeneous area defined as the one, which is affected by the same moisture source,
experiences the same type of storms, having similar topographic features and same orientation to
seasonal winds. Chief factors which affect homogeneity of an area are
(i) Distance from sea (ii) Direction of prevailing wind
(iii) Mean annual temperature (iv) Topography.
Various steps in storm transposition are
(1) Identify where and when the heaviest storms occurred in the meteorologically homogeneous regions
of the project catchment.
(2) Identify synoptic situations associated with the storms.
(3) Prepare isohyetal patterns of selected rain storms.
(4) Transfer the isohyetal maps of each transposable storm to transparent sheets.
(5) Superimpose each of the transparent sheets on the problem basin one by one in the most critical
manner. The pattern producing maximum depth of precipitation over the catchment is selected as
transposable.
This storm is considered for further adjustments to obtain the most representative rain depth of the
design storm. The following precautions are to be taken while transposing the storm.
(a) Both areas should be meteorologically homogeneous for the typical storm transposed.
(b) If the terrain is hilly then such rainstorms are not transposed to a far away place.
(c) Large latitudinal shift may involve considerable change in air mass characteristics of the storm.
Therefore, such large shifts should not be attempted.
(d) Axis of the storm should not be rotated more than 20°. The direction of rotation should be towards the
axis of normal storm isohyetal patterns.
Storm Maximisation
Storm maximisation is to ascertain by how-much the rainfall from a particular storm would
have increased by physically possible increase in the meteorological factors which produce the
storm. The factors are
(1) efficiency of mechanism which causes moisture present in the atmosphere to precipitate.
(2) moisture content of the air mass responsible for the storm in question.
The following maximisations are generally carried out to find PMP.
(1) Wind Maximisation
Storms in Indian subcontinent are caused due to cyclonic depressions in the Bay of Bengal and
Arabian sea. Therefore wind maximisation is not carried out as it is assumed that rain storms
are generally associated with high wind speed.
(2) Maximisation Due to Transposition, Barrier and Topography
If 'Ws' is the precipitable water associated with the storm in the original location and 'W m‘ the
precipitable water corresponding to maximum due point temperature in the new location, then
the moisture maximisation factor together with adjustment for relocation is taken as W m/Ws.
Barrier adjustment is applied to the storms if transposition is carried across mountainous
regions of lesser elevation (below 600 m). This accounts for loss in moisture in the ascending
air on windward slopes of the mountain. The adjustment factor is Wcrest/Wlow , where Wcrest and
Wlow represent precipitable water at the crest and at the foothill.
When storms are transposed from an area close to sea to the project basin far away from sea,
the moisture content in the air would be less due to the moisture source being far away. The
correction factor for this adjustment is Wml /Ws ,where Wml is the precipitable water at the new
location level .
For computation of PMP for the Indian region, corrections for wind speed, distance from coast,
Moisture Maximisation
Moisture adjustment of an observed storm is carried out to determine the rainfall which
would result if the moisture available to the storm is maximum over the project basin,
considering mechanical efficiency to be the same. Moisture adjustment factor (MAF) is
defined as the ratio of likely maximum total precipitable water (i.e., maximum total moisture
in a column of unit cross section of atmosphere extending from the surface of earth) in the
project region to the total precipitable water prevailing at the time of storm in its original
location and is expressed as Wmax
MAF 
W storm
where Wmax is the likely maximum precipitable water at the project location and W storm is the
precipitable water during the storm period. Moisture in the atmosphere is considered to be
limited from 1000 mb (at mean sea level) to a height of 300 mb level.
To find MAF, data of extreme persisting dew point in the project area and the maximum
persisting 12-h dew point at the time of storm are essential. Dew point is the temperature at
which air would become saturated, if cooled at constant atmospheric pressure. Without
transposition, MAF is taken as the ratio of precipitable water corresponding to maximum dew
point, to the precipitable water corresponding the dew point prevailing during the storm. Dew
to transposition, MAF is modified to the ratio between precipitable water corresponding to the
maximum dew point temperature in the new location of the project region W max and the
precipitable water corresponding to the storm dew point Wstorm. Steps involved in computing
MAF are
Computation of Storm Precipitable Water at Original Location
(1) Obtain the representative storm dew point temperature from meteorological data and
average elevation of the original area from toposheet.
(2) Reduce the dew point temperature from the elevation of original site to the mean sea
level by using Fig.3.29 or from pseudo-adiabatic lapse rate tables converted from such figs.
(3) Compute the depth of storm precipitable water between 1000 and 300 mb using Fig. 3.30
or from tables converted from such figures.
(4) Compute the depth of storm precipitable water between 1000 mb (zero elevation) and
the average elevation of the storm location from the same figure.
(5) Depth of storm precipitable water Wstorm from original storm area elevation to 300 mb
elevation is obtained by subtracting step (4) from (3).
Computation of Maximum Precipitable Water at Project Location
(6) Obtain the persisting extreme due point temperature of the project area from
meteorological records. Find out the average elevation of the project area.
(7) Repeat steps (2)-(5) for the location at project site with data of step (6) to compute Wmax.
(8) Compute MAF.
(9) PMP = catchment averaged storm depth after transposition ´ MAF ´ other adj. factors.
Example 3.13: Compute PMP at a project site from the following data.
1. Maximum dew point temperature persisting for a period of 12 h during the storm is 22°C.
2. Extreme persisting dew point temperature in the project area is 28°C.
2. Extreme persisting dew point temperature in the project area is 28°C.
3. Adjustment factors for distance from coast, barrier and topography is 1.00.
4. Maximum recorded rainfall averaged over the catchment after transposition is 230 mm.
5. Average elevation of the original storm site is 127.5 m and the average project area is also
at the same elevation.
Solution
At storm location
1. Maximum persisting representative storm dew point temperature = 22 °C
2. Representative storm dew point temp reduced to 1000 mb level, i.e., from 127.5 m
elevation to sea level = 22.5 0C.
3. Depth of storm precipitable water between 1000 and 300 mb = 64.5 mm.
4. Depth of storm precipitable water between 1000 mb and original storm location = 4 mm.
5. Depth of storm precipitable water between 300 mb level and original storm level Wstorm =
64.5 – 4.00 = 60.5 mm.
At project location
6. Persisting extreme dew point temperature in project area = 28 °C.
7. Extreme dew point temperature reduced to 1000 mb level = 28.3 °C.
8. Depth of extreme precipitable water between 1000 and 300 mb level = 103 mm.
9. Depth of extreme precipitable water between 1000 mb and av. project area level = 5 mm.
10. Depth of extreme precipitable water between 1000 mb level and average project area
level (Wmax) = 103 – 5 = 98 mm
11. Moisture adjustment factor (MAF) = Wmax / Wstorm = 98 / 60.5 = 1.62
Probable maximum precipitation (PMP) =average storm rainfall over catchment ×
MAF × other adjustment factors = 230 mm × 1.62 × 1.00 = 372.6 mm.
Standard Project Storm (SPS)
It is defined as the largest storm the region has experienced in the period of available rainfall
records. The procedure to find PMP may be applied to SPS except that maximisation of the
selected major transposable storms are not carried out.
SPS is often used to compute Standard Project Flood (SPF), where failure of the structure
would have somewhat less disastrous effect. Peak discharge computed from SPS is generally
40 to 60% of probable maximum flood calculated from PMP for the same drainage basin.
Thanks to all

Roorkee September 13 2009 47