Principles of

Hydrogeology
 Introduction
Hydrology
 It is the study of water.

 In broadest sense, it addresses the occurrence, distribution, chemistry, and

movement of water upon and beneath the land areas of the globe.
 Hydrology includes both Surface Water Hydrology and Groundwater
Hydrology.
Surface Water Hydrology: the study of sub-aerial waters (in contact with the
atmosphere), excluding oceans.

Groundwater hydrology: refers the subsoil and the hydraulics of groundwater flow.
It more properly describes an engineering field dealing with subsurface hydrology.
Hydrogeology: can be defined as the study of groundwater with particular
emphasis given to its chemistry, mode of migration and relation to the geological
environment.
 …Introduction
 Hydrogeology is directly or indirectly related to the Basic Sciences such as

mathematics, chemistry and physics including geology.

 Other disciplines related to Hydrogeology includes:

o Hydrography: deals with the survey of rivers, data on discharge and stages.

o Hydrometery: deals with the measurement of stream flow.

o Meteorology: deals with the changes of atmospheric conditions and the

causes.
o Climatology: deals with the data on air temperature, humidity, precipitation

and evaporation.
o Soil Science: deals with the effect of the soil on the runoff process (infiltration).

o Geophysics: application of the principle of physics for the study of the earth.

o Fluid mechanics: physical laws describing the movement of water in simple

and well defined systems.

Hydrological
cycle and its
components
 Hydrologic Cycle
 The circulation of water evaporated from the sea through
the atmosphere to the land and then via surface and
subsurface routes back to the sea.

 It represents the sequence of events when water drops

from the atmosphere to the earth and hydrosphere
(water bodies such as rivers, lakes, seas and oceans)
and then goes back to the atmosphere

 River flow to the sea shows the existence of this cycle.

No resulting rising of sea level occurs and the rivers do
receive water again and again.
…Hydrologic Cycle
 …Hydrologic Cycle
Major processes involved in hydrologic cycle
 Precipitation - any form of water which falls on the surface of the earth.
 Interception – water intercepted/trapped by the vegetation cover.
 Evaporation - the transfer of water into the atmosphere from a free water
surface, a bare soil or interception on a vegetal cover.
 Transpiration - the process by which water in plants is transferred to the
atmosphere as water vapor.
 Infiltration - the process of water entry into a soil from rainfall snow melt,
or irrigation.
 Percolation - the process of water entry into the saturated zone or the
groundwater table.
 Surface runoff - the flow of water over the land surface.
 Groundwater flow - The movement of water in the subsurface.
 …Hydrologic Cycle
Green and Blue Water Cycle
 "Blue water" is the amount of rainfall that enters lakes, rivers and groundwater.

 "Green water" is the

amount of rainfall that
is either intercepted by
the vegetation, or
enters the soil and is
picked up by plants
and evapotranspired
back into the
atmosphere.
 … Distribution of water on Earth

Lakes, soil moisture,

atmosphere, rivers
Water on land Deep groundwater <1%
2.7% (750-4000 m)

Shallow groundwater 12.8%

(<750 m)

11%

77.2%
97.3%
Ice caps and glaciers
Oceans

Groundwater represents over 90% of the world’s readily available

freshwater resource and has a vital role in supporting the life of mankind.
 Precipitation
 Is any form of water, which falls on the surface of the earth by the
process of condensation and sublimation.
Forms of Precipitation
Precipitation
Frozen precipitation Liquid precipitation
Snow Rainfall
Hail
Sleet
Glaze
Dew
Precipitation Measurement
Why do we need to measure rainfall?
Agriculture – what to plant in certain areas, where
and when to plant, when to harvest

Engineers - to design structures for runoff control

i.e. storm-water drains, bridges, dams etc.

Scientists - hydrological modelling of catchments

Hydrogeologists: Recharge
 …Precipitation Measurement
 Precipitation is measured as a vertical depth of water that would
accumulate on the horizontal surface
 Units of measurement: mm, cms, inches, feet, etc.
 …Precipitation Measurement
Measurement of Precipitation
 Is measured by Rain gauges on the basis of the vertical depth of water
which would accumulate on a level surface.
 There are two types of gauges:

I. Station based
Non recording gauges
 Any open receptacle with vertical sides. It does not record the variation
of rainfall with time.
 It gives information on the total precipitation of the time under
consideration.
 Some are ordinary rain gauges, ground-level rain gauges, British rain
gauges, and totalizer or stand pipe rain gauges.
…Precipitation Measurement
Rain gauges

Weather Station
 …Precipitation

http://www.ethiomet.gov.et/stations/regional_information/1#Synoptic
 …Precipitation Measurement
Recording gauges
 Record both the total amount and intensity or rate of rainfall.
 Provides a continuous record of precipitation.
 Operate over extended periods without attention.
 Example are Tipping bucket, Float gauges, and Weighing gauges

II. Satellite based /Radar / Telemetric

 Ground-based radar equipment can be used to determine how much rain
is falling and where it is the heaviest.
 Transmits information to the laboratory and operate 24 hours.
 The fantastic ones, we do not need to go to field.
 Can be used for flood forecasting
 Can forecast time of onset, cession, and rainfall intensity
 Dangerous meteorological phenomena can be detected
 Precipitation types
 Precipitation formation is classified according to the factors responsible for

lifting the air mass.

 There are three types of precipitation.

1. Convective precipitation
 Caused by the upward movement of air warmer than the surrounding air.

 It varies from light to heavy cloudbursts and strictly dependent on daily

heating.
 Frequently fall down in the afternoon and the source is not far away

2. Oro-graphic precipitation
 Lifting of air over mountain barriers. Precipitation falls on the windward

direction, no or light rain on the leeward side.

 The source is not far away.
…Precipitation types
3

2
 …Precipitation types
3. Cyclonic precipitation
 Is caused by the 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.
 It is very strong and identified by storms, lightening, and tenders
 Highly dependent on global warming
Factors affecting the amount and distribution
The distribution of precipitation is not uniform in a particular region.

Factors affecting the amount and distribution of Precipitation

 Climatic factors - temperature, humidity, wind speed, sunshine, etc.
affect the precipitation in various ways
 Geographical position with respect to the general air and moisture
circulation pattern.
 Oro-graphic influence - rainfall increases strongly with altitude.
Amounts and frequency are usually greater on the windward side of
the Oro-graphic or mountain barriers.
 Distance from moisture source - in small areas along coasts
generally less rainfall precipitates than further land inwards.
 Latitude - precipitation is heavier near the equator and decreases
towards higher latitudes.
 …Precipitation Measurement
Determination of aerial depth of precipitation
 A rainfall measurement is a point observation and may not be used as a
representative value for the area under consideration (e.g., Basin).
 The point measurements have to be averaged over the area.

 There are three different methods.

i) Arithmetic average - it is computed as the arithmetic mean of the

amounts measured by the gauges within the area.
n

P i
PA  i 1
n

PA : Average rainfall for the total area

Pi : Measured precipitation at a given station and time
n : Number of rain gauges
 …Precipitation Measurement
 This method is unreliable when the topography is steep and the
stations are widely spaced.
 It should be used only when the stations are closely and evenly
spaced and in a relatively flat area.
ii) Isohyetal method
 Isohyetal are the contours of equal rainfall.
 An Isohyetal map showing contours of equal rainfall represent a more
accurate picture of the rainfall distribution over the basin.
 When the rainfall is unevenly distributed over the area, for instance
due to Oro-graphic effects. 𝑃1 + 𝑃2
σ ቂ𝐴𝑖 ∗ ቀ ቁቃ
𝑃𝑎𝑣𝑒 = 2
σ 𝐴𝑡
 …Precipitation Measurement
Thiessen Polygons Isohyetal method

Rainfall A B A*B Isohyets A B A*B

Station Thiessen Constant Rainfall in Each Polygon Weighted average
(Fractional Area)
Upper Lower Mean Area Weighted Mean
A 0.144 33.4 4.81 Rainfall Between Rainfall
B 0.110 34.2 3.76 On Area Isohyets (ha)
C 0.104 33.3 3.46
D 0.133 34.5 4.59
38 37 37.5 130 4875
E 0.132 35.0 4.62 37 36 36.5 150 5475
F 0.113 37.0 4.18 36 35 35.5 300 10650
G 0.064 37.3 2.39 35 34 34.5 450 15525
H 0.105 35.5 3.73
I 0.103 35.0 3.60 34 33 33.5 200 6700
Sum Total 1.00 35.14 Total 1230 43225

Mean Rainfall = 35.14 i.e. from (43225/1230)

 …Precipitation Measurement
ii) Thiessen Polygons
 This method gives good results when the rain gauges are not evenly
distributed over the area in both flat and hilly terrain.
Procedure
 Join the adjacent rain gauge stations A, B, C, D etc. by straight
lines, forming triangles.
 Construct the perpendicular bisectors of each of these sides of
triangles.
 A Thiessen network is thus created.
 Let P1, P2, P3, ……Pn are the details of rainfall
 A1, A2, A3, ……An area represented by various rain gauge stations.
n

PA i i
PA  i 1
At
 …Precipitation Measurement
Thiessen and Isohyetal map : spatial variations of depth of precipitation
 Estimating Missing Rainfall Data
The prediction of the missing data can be made with the help of
available data of nearby measuring stations:
Arithmetic average/Station year method
The records of two or more rain gauge stations record are independent
and areas of stations are climatologically the same.
The missing record at a certain station in a particular year may be found
out by the ratio of the average or by graphical comparison.

Normal ratio method

 Get observed rainfall at surrounding stations.
These are weighted by the ratio of the normal annual rainfall at station X
and normal annual rainfall at that station.
where
1 n
Nx 
Px    Pi
Px = estimation of ppt at station x,

n  i 1 N i  Pi = ppt at Nx = normal ppt at station X
Ni is ppt at the ith surrounding st
…Estimating Missing Rainfall Data
 …Estimating Missing Rainfall Data
 Quadrant method/Inverse distance squared- The closer a station is to station

X the greater the weight assigned to that station's precipitation. The inverse of

the squared distance between a station and station X is used as a weighting

factor in determining the rainfall at station X.

d2
d1
d3 X
d4
 Transpiration
Transpiration
 Is the process where the moisture that has circulated through the plant
structure returns to the atmosphere in the form of water vapor.
 Is influenced by a number of meteorological and physical factors.

 Metrological factors are:

Þ Temperature, Wind, Humidity, and Solar radiation

 Physical factors: condition of the plants

Þ Density of stomata,

Þ Extent and character of protective coverings,

Þ Leave structures and plant diseases,

Þ Availability of moisture
 Measurement of Transpiration
 It is not possible to measure transpiration from a large area under natural
conditions.
 Its evaluation is limited to laboratory study of small samples.

 Using apparatus called Phytometers.

 It consists of a closed water tight tank with sufficient soil for plant growth with
only the plant exposed; water is applied artificially till the plant growth is complete.

 The equipment is weighed in the beginning (W1) and at the end of the experiment

(W2). Water applied during the growth (w) is measured and the water consumed

by transpiration (Wt) is obtained as

Wt = (W1 + w) – W2.

 The experimental values (from the protected growth of the plant in the laboratory)
have to be multiplied by a coefficient to obtain the possible field results).
 Evaporation
Evaporation
 Is the transfer of water into the atmosphere from a free water surface,
a bare soil or interception on a vegetal cover.
 The most important form of evaporation is takes place from the seas
and oceans.

Measurement of evaporation
 The rate of evaporation from large water surfaces can be determined
by following methods :
1. Pan Measurement method
2. Water budget method
3. Empirical formula
 …Evaporation
Pan measurement method
 The most reliable method for the estimating of evaporation from large
water bodies.
 Different shapes of pans have been designed by different designers,
and different values of pan coefficient have been suggested.

LE= Kp*Epan
 LE---Lake Evaporation
 Kp---Pan coefficient (Typically
taken as 70% of pan
evaporation
 …Evaporation
WATER BUDGET METHOD
• m ,.,?.?/
 …Evaporation
• Lake water where river is flowing in/out to it
 …Evaporation
Empirical formula
Mayer formula
o Based on Dalton’s law: Rate of evaporation is directly proportional
to the difference between saturation vapor pressure at water
temperature and actual vapor pressure in the air
o It states that

Where, E = evaporation (mm/day)

es = Saturation vapour pressure
ea = Actual vapour pressure
V9 = Mean wind velocity at 9 m above ground level
km = Coefficient (0.36 for large deep waters and
0.50 for small, shallow waters)
 …Evaporation

Rohwer’s Formula
• It states that

Where, E = Evaporation (mm/day)

es = Saturation vapour pressure

ea = Actual vapour pressure

Pa = Mean atmospheric Pressure

V0.6 = Mean wind velocity

 Evapo-transpiration
 Over land areas, it is difficult to separate the effects of evaporation and
transpiration. As result, the two processes are usually treated as interrelated
process called Evapo-transpiration (Et).
 Evapo-transpiration is a natural process where water vapor is transferred
from both the land surface and vegetation surface by evaporation and
transpiration processes.
 There are two types of Evapo-transpiration:
Potential Evapo-transpiration (PET)
 Evapo-transpiration from a vegetal cover if sufficient water is supplied to obtain
optimum growth or the maximum amount of vapor which might be transferred
under the existing meteorological conditions (water is not the limiting factor).
Actual Evapo-transpiration (AET)
 Evapo-transpiration from a vegetal cover under the natural or given conditions
of supply of moisture
 Depends also on the availability of water to meet the atmospheric demand.
…Evapo-transpiration
…Evapo-transpiration

Fig. 4.1
 Relationship of PCP, AET, and PET
 Two extreme cases
– In arid case, PCP <<PET, Water limited
AET = PCP
– In humid case, PCP >>PET
AET = PET, Energy limited
…Relationship of PCP, AET and PET
Soil Moisture

SD

SS
SS
 …Evapo-transpiration
Factors affecting rate of Evapotranspiration (ET)
Crop Transpiration
 Weather parameters (Radiation, air temperature,
humidity and wind speed).
 Crop characteristics (Crop type, development stage…)
 Management and environmental factors (Soil salinity,
poor land fertility, limited application of fertilizers Soil
cover, soil water content)

Soil Evaporation
 Weather parameters (Radiation, air temperature, humidity, and wind speed).
 Crop characteristics (Canopy cover)
 Management and environmental factors (Soil cover, soil water content)
 Weather parameters, Crop characteristics, and Management and environmental factors
 Estimation of PET and AET
Estimating AET and PET

Potential
Potential ET
ET
Actual ET

 Thornthwaite
 Lysimeter
 Penman combination
 Turc  Penman Montieth
 Blaney-Criddle  Pan evaporation
 Water balance  Hargreaves
 Selection of estimation method:
 Soil water balance - Purpose of study
(Thornthwaite and Mather, 1957) - Available data
- Time period of interest
 Estimation of AET

Lysimeter
 Lysimeters contain representative
samples of soil and crop/vegetation.
 Suppose the water balance component
of a Lysimeter is precipitation (P),
irrigation (I), the quantity of water
drained of through the bottom of the
Lysimeter (D) and change in storage
(+S), the evapotranspiration can be
determined from the following water
balance equation.
P+I=D+E+S
…Estimation of AET
 Infiltration
Definitions
 Infiltration: is the downward movement of water from soil surface,

into the soil mass through the pores of the soil.

 Percolation: is the movement of water within soil, once water

enters

into the soil.

 Infiltration capacity (fp): is the maximum rate at which water can

enter the soil at a particular under a given set conditions.

 Infiltration rate (f): the actual rate of infiltration (< fp).

 …Infiltration
Horton’s equation:
 Represent the decay of infiltration capacity with time as an exponential decay.
 The maximum rate at which the soil in any given condition is capable of
absorbing water is called infiltration capacity.
 Infiltration often begins at a high rate and decreases to a fairly steady state
rate as the rain continues, called ultimate fc.
 …Infiltration
The infiltration rate (f) at any time t is given by Horton’s
equation as,
𝒇 = 𝒇𝒄 + ሺ𝒇𝟎 − 𝒇𝒄 ሻ𝒆−𝒌𝒕
Where,
𝑓0 = Initial rate of infiltration capacity
𝑓𝑐 = Final constant rate of infiltration at saturation
𝑓0 −𝑓𝑐
𝑘 = A constant depending upon soil =
𝐹𝑐
𝐹𝑐 = Shaded area below infiltration curve
𝑒 = Base of the Napierian logarithm
𝑡 = Time from beginning of the storm
 …Infiltration
Mechanisms of Infiltration
 When the rate of rainfall is less than the rate of infiltration, all
water will enter the soil profile.
 When the intensity of rainfall is great than the rate of infiltration,
surface runoff occurs.
Infiltration is responsible for:
 Reducing the magnitude of floods and soil erosion
 Furnishing stream flow in periods of dry weather
 Providing water for the plants
 Recharging the groundwater reservoir
 …Infiltration

Factors affecting Infiltration

 Rainfall characteristics (intensity and duration)
 Surface condition of soil
 Soil characteristics (texture, structure, organic content...)
 The activities of burrowing animals
 Human activities
 Climatic condition

Measurement of infiltration
 Infiltration can be measured using Infiltrometers.
 …Infiltration

Infiltrometers
Single Ring Double Ring

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infiltrometer
 Runoff

 In the hydrologic cycle, moisture comes from the atmosphere to the surface as
precipitation.
 A considerable portion of this water that moves in well defined channel (stream/river)
and/or all the water that moves over the land surface in undefined channel is termed
as Runoff.

 Surface runoff occurs whenever the rate of water application to the ground surface exceeds the
rate of infiltration.

 When water is initially applied to a dry soil the infiltration rate is usually very high.

 However, it will decrease as the soil becomes wetter. When the application rates is higher than the
infiltration rate, surface depressions begins to fill.

 If the application rate continues to be higher than the infiltration rate once all surface depressions
have filled, surface runoff will commence.

 Therefore, the runoff process is strongly influenced by Rainfall intensity and Infiltration
...Runoff

River discharge
 Runoff measurment

Runoff estimation methods

Indirect Methods
)Equations( Direct Methods
)Measurements(
 ...Runoff measurment

Indirect measurement

Indirect Discharge Methods

o CN (SCS)
o Rationale

Direct measurement

Direct Discharge Methods Velocity -Area Methods

o Bucket o Float method
o Weirs o Tracer
o Orifices/Flumes o Current meter
 Indirect method

SCS (CN) method

 In this method the surface runoff (Q) resulting from a given rainfall storm (P)
is calculated using the following formula.

( P  Ia ) 2
Qsurf 
( P  Ia  S )
( P  0 .2 S ) 2 S
25400
 254
Qsurf 
P  0 .8 S CN
Where
Þ Qsurf is Surface runoff, P is the rainfall depth, Ia is the initial abstraction which
includes surface storage, interception and infiltration prior to runoff and S is the
retention parameter.
Þ The retention parameter varies spatially due to change in soils, land-use, and
slope.
 CN is a function of the soil permeability, lands use, slope, and antecedent
moisture condition.
 ...Indirect method

Rational Method
 The rational method uses existing rainfall data and land use in estimating
peak runoff from small drainage areas.

Where; Qsurf = Runoff; C= Runoff coefficient; I= Rain fall intensity; A = Area

Runoff Coefficients for the Rational Method

Type Of Drainage Area Runoff Coefficient, C

Steep, bare rock 0.90

Rock, steep but wooded 0.80
Plateaus lightly covered, ordinary ground bare 0.70
Densely built up areas of cities with metal led roads & paths 0.70-0.90
Residential areas not densely built up, with metal led roads 0.50-0.70
Residential areas not densely built up, with unmetalled roads 0.20-0.50
Clayey soils, stiff and bare 0.60
Clayey soils lightly covered 0.50
Loam, lightly cultivated or covered 0.40
Loam, lightly, largely cultivated 0.30
Suburbs with gardens, lawns and macadamized roads 0.30
Sandy soil, light growth 0.20
 ...Indirect method

Runoff Coefficient - rural

 ...Indirect method
Runoff Coefficient - urban
 ...Indirect method
Runoff Coefficient
 Represents the fraction of rainfall that becomes
runoff
 It depends on:
Character of soil
Antecedent moisture conditions
Slope of watershed
Amount of impervious soil
Land use
Duration of rainfall
Intensity of rainfall
 River discharge-Direct method
River discharge
 Is defined as the movement of water under the force of gravity through well-defined

channels.

 It has Four components

1. Overland flow:

 Is that water which travels over the ground surface to a channel and occurs only

when the precipitation rate exceeds the infiltration rate.

2. Interflow:

 Some of the water which infiltrates the soil surface may move laterally through the

upper soil layers until it enters a stream channel.

 This water moves more slowly than the surface runoff and reaches the stream later.

 Occur when the lateral conductivity in the surface horizons of the soil is substantially
 …River discharge
3. Groundwater flow (Base flow):

 Parts of the precipitation may percolate downward until it reaches the water table.

This groundwater accretion may eventually discharge into the streams as

groundwater flow if the water table intersects the stream channels of the basin.

4. Channel precipitation:

 The contribution of direct precipitation on to the water surface is normally small simply

because the river channel occupies only a small percentage of catchment area.

Direct runoff and Base flow.

 The distinction drawn between the three components of flow are arbitrary.

 For convenience, it has been customary to consider the total flow to be divided into

only two parts; Direct runoff and Base flow.

 Direct runoff is presumed to consist of surface runoff and a substantial portion of

the interflow, where as base flow is considered to be largely groundwater.

Components of Runoff

Ove
rlan
d flo
w Channel
Precipitation

I nt
erf
low

G ro u n d w
a t e r F lo w
River
 River discharge Measurment

 River discharge (Q) is the rate at which water flows through a cross-
section. It is expressed as volume per unit time (m3/se).
 It is obtained from the summation of the product of mean velocities in
the vertical (V) and related segments (A) of the total cross sectional
area.
 ...River discharge Measurment
 Mid section method of dischareg measurement

Q= V*(W*H)
 Low river discharge measurment
Bucket method
Q= The volume of the bucket / time required to fill
 ...Low river discharge measurment
Float method
 The simplest method for determining a velocity, by timing the
movement of the floating object over a known distance
Velocity = Distance (S)/Time (t)

Use float object, then

Q = Vav*A
Where, A = cross-sectional area
Vav = (s//t) average velocity
 ...Low river discharge measurment

Weir
 Weir is a small dam with a
spillway opening of specific
shape.
 It is usually used to measure the
discharge of small streams.
...Low river discharge measurment
 High river discharge measurment

 Measuring discharge with current meter for large rivers.

 ...High river discharge measurment
Current meter
 Is a reasonably precise instrument that can give a nearly instantaneous constant
response to velocity changes.
 A propeller counts the revolution generated by the moving water in a given time.
 The reading is converted to velocity value using calibration curve or table.

Velocity
measurement
 ...High river discharge measurment
Velocity Distribution
in a stream bed Velocity profile with depth
...High river discharge measurment
...High river discharge measurment

mean velocity and depth

measured at a
subdivision point are
multiplied by the segment
width measured between
the mid-points of
neighboring segments

In the mid-section
calculation, some flow is
omitted at the edges of
the cross-section, and
therefore the first and last
verticals should be sited
as near to the banks as
possible
...High river discharge measurment

In the mean section

method, averages of the
mean velocities in the
verticals and of the
depths at the
boundaries of a section
sub-division are taken
and multiplied by the
width of the subdivision,
or segment:
...High river discharge measurment
 Stage–Discharge Relations
 The establishment of a reliable relationship between stage and the
corresponding discharge is essential when continuous flow data are
required from the continuous stage record.
 The relationship can be represented in three ways:

i) The rating curve

 All discharge measurements are
plotted against the
corresponding mean stage on a
suitable arithmetic scale.
 The relation is parabolic.
 For any stage recorded, the
corresponding discharge can be
obtained from the curve.
 Stage–Discharge Relations
Rating table
ii) The rating table
 When satisfactory rating curve is established,
values of stage (H) and discharge (Q) may be
read from the curve at convenient intervals
and from these rating table can be
constructed by interpolation.

iii) Rating equation

 The rating curve can often be represented
approximately by an equation of the form:

Q  aH b
a and b are constants which are found by a
least-square fit using the measured data.
 Discharge Recording
 The flow volume can be determined from a known stage sequence at
the site. Gauges measure the stage of streams.
 The most common gauges are:
i) Staff gauges - permanent graduated staff generally fitted vertically to the
river bank at a stable point. It could be attached to the upstream side of
a bridge buttress or fixed firmly to pills set in concrete. All should be
made of durable materials. The meter graduations should extend from
the datum or lowest stage to the highest stage expected.
ii) Crest gauges - It is a steel tube 50 mm in diameter perforated near the
bottom and closed at the top with one or two holes under a lid inside
the tube a removable rod that retains the highest flood mark from
floating granular cork supplied near the base. The crest gauge is
levelled into a normal staff gauge. It is used mostly to mark the peak
flood level.
iii) Automatic recorders - These measure the water level continuously by a
float operated chart recorder. By means of the continuous stage record,
the volume of water that flows through the channel at the measuring
 ...Discharge Recording
Staff gauge/Stage can be defined as the water level above some
arbitrary datum at a gauging station.
 ...Discharge Recording
Automatic River gauge
 Hydrograph
 Hydrograph represents the discharge (Q) of a river as function of time (t).
 It is a composite flow curve of Surface runoff (Direct precipitation, Overland
flow, and Interflow) and Groundwater flow (Base flow).
 Hydrograph separation methods
Techniques of Hydrograph separation

I. Graphical Method
1. Simple method
Surface
 The lower part of the hydrograph has runoff

Discharge
to be connected so that an undulating
curve will be created at which the
higher peaks will be considered.
 The area under the curve is an
approximation of the volume of the Base flow
base flow. Time

Connecting local minima

 …Hydrograph separation methods
2. Extended method
 Point A is minimum Q gradient is
determined from recession rate
N*
 Point B is maximum Q
 Point C is Q at time N* after the

Discharge
peak:
N* = An
N: time in days from peak to end of C
A
surface runoff B

A: Drainage area
Time
If A is in km , n = 0.14
2

If A is in mile2, n = 0.20
…Hydrograph separation methods
…Hydrograph separation methods