CE 101-SECTION 3CEA

CHAPTER I

HYDROLOGY

Hydrology – is the major discipline used to understand and design water management systems
that are directly and indirectly related to the occurrence of water on, above, and below the
earth’s surface.

Social Importance and Engineering Relevance

a. Economic Availability and Acceptable Quality of Water

b. There would be no life
c. Water-related jobs on Water Projects
d. Helps Plan, design and build canals for transportation

Water Budget or Mass Balance

-is an accounting of the volume or flow rate of water in all possible locations. Thus, it is a Mass
Balance. One has to focus interest on a region and determine how the quantity of water in the
region can be changed. The regional boundaries have to be determined across which water
may move or be confined. Also, a time period must be specified.

Rainfall Excess – all precipitation remains on the surface and is routed to a control point.

- the volume of water from rainfall that remains on the surface and is available
for runoff

Runoff – the rate at which rainfall excess appears over time at a discharge (control) point.

A Water Budget can be written in volume terms (mass balance):

Inputs – Outputs ± Accumulation = 0

If water is not stored on the surface, the accumulation term is zero with input equal to
precipitation and output equal to rainfall excess, or :

Rainfall Excess = Volume of Precipitation

If precipitation is abstracted by depression storage in the particular area, then the water budget
is altered;

Rainfall Excess = Volume of Precipitation – Depression Storage

The complexity of a water budget depends on the physical system and the ultimate use of the
budget. Water budgets for large areas are complex with many parameters.
 Units of Measurement – the primary quantities are defined as mass, length, time, and
temperature. A secondary quantity is one defined in terms of primary quantities. Examples of
secondary quantities are volume in cubic meters (m 3), density in kilograms per cubic meter (kg/
m3), and rainfall intensity (mm/s). Both U.S. or English customary System and System of Units
are used.

CHAPTER II

METEOROLOGY AND THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

Meteorology - is the study of the atmosphere with special interest in the weather and climate
conditions. Weather conditions are those existing in a watershed or area at a specific time.
Climate is the average of prevailing conditions over a period of years and is defined by
measures of central tendency (average, median, etc.) or availability (standard deviation, range,
etc.).

a. The Atmosphere - is the gaseous envelope surrounding the earth. It sustains life by
cycling chemicals and water. For the study of hydrology, the complex atmosphere can
be divided into three parts: dry air, water vapor, and impurities related to hydrologic
cycling of water.

Table 2.1 Volume of Four Gases in the Atmosphere;

GAS PERCENTAGE
Nitrogen (N2) 78.09
Oxygen (O2) 20.95
 Argon (Ar) 0.93
Carbon dioxide (CO2) 0.03

b. Water Vapor - in the atmosphere of the earth, water vapour by weight is about 1.5 x 10 13
metric tons. The atmosphere weight is 5.6 x 10 15 metric tons. Water vapor must be
present with temperature differences and other impurities for clouds and precipitation to
form. Generally, water vapor occurs in the atmosphere about 18,000 ft. above the earth
(Petterssen, 1964). Within the earth’s atmosphere, as distance from the earth increases,
temperature in general will decrease. As temperature decreases, water vapor content
will decrease. The amount of water vapour can be expressed as the pressure that
vapour would exert in the absence of other gases, and is known as vapor pressure. The
vapor pressure of water vapor saturating the air at 86 oF (30 oC) is about 1.18 in of
mercury (40 millibars [mbar]) while at 32 oF (0 oC), the vapor pressure is about 0.20 in of
mercury (7 mbar).

The atmosphere is infrequently saturated. The degree of saturation is expressed as the ratio of
actual vapor pressure to that at saturation for a given temperature. This ratio is expressed as
the percentage and is called relative humidity, or:

f = 100 e/E

Where;

f – Relative humidity (%)

e- Actual vapour pressure (mbar)
E- Saturated vapour pressure (mbar)
As the relative humidity increases and approaches 100%, the chances for precipitation
increases.

c. Solar Energy - initiates the hydrologic cycle and influences climate. On the average,
solar energy reaching the earth is approximately 0.5 Ly/min with the planet average
absorbing about 0.22 Ly/min. The energy produces mass movements in the atmosphere
and oceans and is the energy source for evaporation and transpiration. Evaporation
occurs from water surfaces while transpiration is the loss of water from plant life. Of
special interest for the understanding of the hydrologic cycle are the fundamental
processes of conduction, convection, and radiation. Solar energy is done by conduction
from the land and convection in the water bodies and atmosphere.
Conduction is the transport of air between adjacent layers if the layers are at different
temperatures. A net transport of heat will result. Also, the amount of heat transfer is
dependent on velocity and concentration. The degree of proportionality can be
determined by laboratory measures and is expressed by the following.

For thermal conductivity:

qx = KT [ (∆T)/x)
where;

qx = rate of transport of heat per unit area in the x direction (cal/cm2-sec)

 KT = thermal conductivity constant at steady state (cal/deg-cm-sec)
∆T = temperature differential (degrees centigrade)
X = distance (cm)

d. Wind – is the movement of air. The measures of wind are speed and direction. Wind
speed is important because it can be related to water loss and precipitation events. In
order for precipitation to occur, a sustained inflow of moist air is required. Winds provide
the forces to sustain the moist air flow. Instruments for measuring wind speed are called
anemometers. Common measures are kilometres per hour, miles per hour, meters per
second, or knots.

e. Temperature influences the form of precipitation and the rates of evaporation,

transpiration, and snowmelt. It is one measure that has been related to the prediction
and explanation of the occurrence and distribution of waters on the earth. Temperatures
are expressed using Celsius (oC), Fahrenheit (oF), or absolute scale. For hourly
temperature data:

Tavg = ∑ Ti / 24

where;

Tavg = maximum daily temperature, oF or oC

Ti = hourly temperature, oF or oC
If maximum and minimum data are collected, then the average temperature is defined as

Tavg = (Tmax + Tmin)/2

where;

Tmax = maximum daily temperature, oC

Tmin= minimum daily temperature, oC

Under normal atmospheric conditions, temperatures will decrease with elevation. The mean
decrease with increasing elevation is 0.7 oC/100m (3.8 oF/1000ft). Thus, applying temperature
data from one location (elevation) to a second location (elevation) may not be accurate.
The temperature associated with saturated air is referred to as dewpoint temperature (T D).
Dewpoint temperature is easily obtained in the field or available from Weather Bureau records.
Knowing the air and dewpoint temperature, estimates humidity can be obtained using;

f = (112 – 0.1T + TD) / (112 + 0.9T)

where;

f = relative humidity,
T = temperature, oC
TD = dewpoint temperature, oC
Hydrologic Cycle - is a simplified accounting of the complex interactions of meteorological,
biological, chemical, and geological phenomena. It is the movement of water from surface
water, groundwater, and vegetation to the atmosphere and back to the earth in the form of
precipitation. The transfer of water from the plant tissues to the atmosphere is called
transpiration. Plants absorb water from the soil through the root system. Rainfall can be
abstracted onto vegetation, intentionally stored in pods, be abstracted by depression storage,
infiltrated into the soil, or be available for discharge (rainfall excess). Rainfall that infiltrates into
the soil moves or percolates to the water table. Some of this groundwater may help recharge
the aquifers. Some infiltrated waters may evaporate or flow in the direction of surface waters.

Some surface water will remain after infiltration, abstraction by vegetation, and depression
storage has been filled. An example of depression storage is a hole in pavement that stores
water. This depression storage is different from the intentional design of surface storage ponds
to reduce rainfall excess and runoff.

For mass balance for hydrologic cycle;

P + R + B – F – E – T = ∆S

Where;

∆S = change in storage volume

P = Precipitation
R = Rainfall Excess
B = Subsurface Flow = interflow + baseflow
F = Infiltration
E = Evaporation
T = Transpiration

Rainfall Excess – during precipitation event, a mass balance of the total volume of rainfall onto
and flow from an area is helpful to understand rainfall excess. Consider, as variables the volume
of precipitation P, Rainfall excess R, Infiltration F, Evaporation E, Transpiration T, and Initial
Abstraction IA. Initial Abstraction is water intercepted by vegetation and stored in surface
depressions. A mass balance of a simplified water budget for a fixed time period, considering
negligible boundary transfers, is written as;

Rainfall excess = Precipitation – Storage Change

R = P – E - T – F - IA
In many locations, it is difficult to separate evaporation and transpiration. Thus, the variables are
considered together and most likely can be estimated as one value, identified as
evapotranspiration (ET). For short time period (hours-day) each of the above variables can be
considered constant, and since evapotranspiration (ET) is negligible, then;

R = P – F - IA

If the volume of infiltration and initial abstraction is proportional to the precipitation volume, the
quantity of rainfall excess can be expressed as a fraction of precipitation:

R = CP
Where CP = runoff coefficient (dimensionless) such that 0 ≤ C ≤ 1

The runoff coefficient, as defined here, is the ratio of rainfall excess to precipitation. The runoff
coefficient can be determined from extensive rainfall and runoff studies, or from published
values.

Example 1. Over a two-month period of time, a catchment in the Pontypridd area of Wales is
expected to receive 254 mm of rain with an expected evapotranspiration estimated at 85 mm
and that lost to groundwater storage of 20 mm.There is no other significant storage in the
watershed. What is the expected rainfall excess to a reservoir storage area if the catchment
area is 65 km2? Express your answer in cubic meters and liters. Also, determine how many
people can be serviced by this water if the person per day water use rate is 160 liters.

Solution:

Solving for rainfall excess using a mass balance:

R = P- ET – F
R= 254 – 85 – 20 = 149 mm (over the catchment)

Or in m3:
 149 mm
R= x 65km2 x 106 m2/ km2 = 9.685 (106) m3
1000 mm/m

Or in liters:

R = 9.685 (106) m3 x 103L/m3 = 9.685 (109) liters

Solving for the per person use rate:

Usage/ 2 months = 160 liters / person-day x 30d / mo x 2mo

= 9600 liters / person

9.685 (10¿¿ 9)liters

And people = ¿ = 1,008,855 people
9.6(10¿¿ 3) liters/ person ¿