CIV3113 - Engineering Hydrology

Analysis of Rainfall Data

Prepared by S. Eastman
Faculty of Engineering & Technology
Contents
OPTIMUM RAIN-GAUGE NETWORK DESIGN ............................................................................................ 2
DEPTH-AREA-DURATION (DAD) CURVES .................................................................................................. 5
GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF RAINFALL ............................................................................................ 8
RAINFALL FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS .................................................................................................. 10

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OPTIMUM RAIN-GAUGE NETWORK DESIGN
The aim of the optimum rain-gauge network design is to obtain all quantitative data averages and
extremes that define the statistical distribution of the hydrometeorological elements, with
sufficient accuracy for practical purposes. When the mean areal depth of rainfall is calculated by
the simple arithmetic average, the optimum number of rain-gauge stations to be established in a
given basin is given by the equation (IS, 1968).

where N = optimum number of raingauge stations to be established in the basin

Cv = Coefficient of variation of the rainfall of the existing rain gauge stations (say, n)
p = desired degree of percentage error in the estimate of the average depth of rainfall over the
basin.
The number of additional rain-gauge stations (N–n) should be distributed in the different zones
(caused by isohyets) in proportion to their areas, i.e., depending upon the spatial distribution of the
existing rain-gauge stations and the variability of the rainfall over the basin.
Saturated Network Design
If the project is very important, the rainfall has to be estimated with great accuracy; then a network
of rain-gauge stations should be so set up that any addition of rain-gauge stations will not
appreciably alter the average depth of rainfall estimated. Such a network is referred to as a
saturated network.
Example 1.0 For the basin shown in Fig. 1, the normal annual rainfall depths recorded and the
isohyetals are given. 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%. Indicate how you
are going to distribute the additional rain-gauge stations required, if any. What is the percentage
accuracy of the existing network in the estimation of the average depth of rainfall over the basin?

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 Figure 1: Isohyetal map

Note: σ = standard deviation.

The optimum number of rain-gauge stations to limit the error in the mean value of rainfall to p =
10%.

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 Additional rain-gauge stations to be established = N-

– n = 11 – 5 = 6

The additional six raingauge stations have to be distributed in proportion to the areas between the
isohyetals as shown below:

These additional rain-gauges have to be spatially distributed between the different isohyetals after
considering the relative distances between rain-gauge stations, their accessibility, personnel
required for making observations, discharge sites, etc.
The percentage error p in the estimation of average depth of rainfall in the existing network,

Or, the percentage accuracy = 85.2%

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DEPTH-AREA-DURATION (DAD) CURVES
Rainfall rarely occurs uniformly over a large area; variations in intensity and total depth of fall
occur from the centres to the peripheries of storms. From Fig. 2, it can be seen that the average
depth of rainfall decreases from the maximum, as the area considered increases. The average
depths of rainfall are plotted against the areas up to the encompassing isohyets. It may be necessary
in some cases to study alternative isohyetal maps to establish maximum 1- day, 2-day, 3-day (even
up to 5-day) rainfall for various sizes of areas. If there are adequate self-recording stations, the
incremental isohyetal maps can be prepared for the selected (or standard) durations of storms, i.e.,
6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 42, 48 hours etc.

Figure 2: An isohyetal pattern of critical consecutive 4-day storm is shown in Fig. 2.0. Prepare the
DAD curve.

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Solution: Computations to draw DAD curves for 4-day storm.

Plot ‘col. (9) vs. col. (3)’ to get the DAD curve for the maximum 4-day critical storm, as shown

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 Figure 3: DAD-curve for 4-day storm

Figure 4: 2.15 DAD-curves for Narmada & Tapti Basin for rainstorm of 4-6 August 1968

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GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF RAINFALL
The variation of rainfall with respect to time may be shown graphically by (i) a hyetograph, and
(ii) a mass curve.
A hyetograph is a bar graph showing the intensity of rainfall with respect to time and is useful in
determining the maximum intensities of rainfall during a particular storm as is required in land
drainage and design of culverts.

Fig. 5 Hyetograph

A mass curve of rainfall (or precipitation) is a plot of cumulative depth of rainfall against time
(Fig. 6). From the mass curve, the total depth of rainfall and intensity of rainfall at any instant of
time can be found. The amount of rainfall for any increment of time is the difference between the
ordinates at the beginning and end of the time increments, and the intensity of rainfall at any time
is the slope of the mass curve (i.e., i = ∆P/∆t) at that time. A mass curve of rainfall is always a
rising curve and may have some horizontal sections which indicates periods of no rainfall. The
mass curve for the design storm is generally obtained by maximizing the mass curves of the severe
storms in the basin.

Fig. 6. Mass curve of rainfall

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Example: The following are the rain gauge observations during a storm. Construct: (a) mass curve
of precipitation, (b) hyetograph, (c) maximum intensity-duration curve and develop a formula, and
(d) maximum depth-duration curve.

Solution (a) Mass curve of precipitation. The plot of ‘accumulated rainfall (cm) vs. time (min)’
gives the ‘mass curve of rainfall.
(b) Hyetograph. The intensity of rainfall at successive 5 min interval is calculated and a bar-graph
of ‘i (cm/hr) vs. t (min)’ is constructed; this depicts the variation of the intensity of rainfall with
respect to time and is called the hyetograph.

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RAINFALL FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS
Hydrologists need to estimate the probability that a given rainfall event will occur to assist planners
in determining the likelihood of the success or failure of a given project.
The main parameters needed to describe rainfall frequency distributions are the duration, intensity,
and return period.
The return period is the average period of time in years expected either between high-intensity
storms or between very dry periods. Generally, plans for agricultural drainage ditches and grassed
waterways consider an event with a return period of 5 to 10 years sufficient.
Larger, less frequent events will overtop the banks and might result in damage to the crop, but this
risk is offset by having smaller waterways that occupy less land or ditches that cost less to
construct.
However, hydrologic plans for urban areas are more commonly concerned with adverse impacts
of flooding on buildings and the potential for injuries or loss of life associated with the flooding.
Therefore, extreme events associated with a 100-year return period, or probable maximum
precipitation (PMP), might be used in developing land use management strategies and designs.
Culverts under roads are usually sized based on the risk of flooding of the road, the type of road,
and the anticipated volume of traffic on the road. For projects concerned with storm runoff from
small to medium-size watersheds (under 1 to 100 mi2), plans generally require a storm event with
a duration varying from 5 min to 24 h.
Larger watersheds (over 100 mi2) may require storm durations or cumulative rainfall amounts for
time periods of up to 1 month. For river basin projects with large-scale irrigation, drainage, river
flooding, or river drought flows, rainfall amounts from time periods of 1 month to 1 year may be
needed. If long-term records are available, such as 100 or more years, it may be sufficient to
determine the highest or lowest rainfall from that record.
Because data from recording rain gages have not generally been available for more than 60 years,
it is frequently necessary to estimate a 50- or 100-year event from 30 or fewer years of rainfall
records.
There are numerous methods for estimating the return period for a given rainfall duration. The
Hazen method, is commonly used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and is similar to other methods.
The method consists of determining the statistical distribution of rainfall amounts for the duration
of interest, plotting that distribution on probability paper, and interpolating or extrapolating from
the graph to determine the storm associated with the return period of interest.

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 Source: Engineering Hydrology (3rd ed.)
The probability of an event equaled to or exceeded is given by the Weibell formula P = (m/(N
+1)). The recurrent interval is given by T = 1/P or (N + 1)/m
The record of annual rainfall at Station A covering a period of 22 years is given below. (a) Estimate
the annual rainfall with return periods of 10 years and 50 years. (b) What would be the probability
of an annual rainfall of magnitude equal to or exceeding 100 cm occurring at Station A? (c) What
is the 75% dependable annual rainfall at station A?

Example: Table 1 – Annual Rainfall at Station A

Solution
The data is arranged in descending order and the rank number assigned to the recorded events. The
probability P of the event being equaled to or exceeded is calculated using Weibell formula. Two
or more events have the same magnitude (m=13 and 14) and the probability P is calculated for the
largest m value of the set. The return period T = 1/P

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Table 2- Calculation of Return Periods

A graph is plotted between the annual rainfall magnitude as the ordinate (on arithmetic scale) and
return period T as the abscissa (on the logarithmic scale). By extrapolation of this plot, the rainfall
magnitude of specific duration for any recurrence interval can be estimated. This simple empirical
procedure can give good results for small extrapolations, and the error increases with the number
of extrapolations. For accurate work, various analytical calculation procedures using frequency
factors are available. Gumbel’s extreme value distribution and Log Pearson type 3 method are two
commonly used analytical methods.
(a) i. For T = 10 years, the corresponding rainfall magnitude is obtained by interpolation between
two appropriate successive values in Table 2 (T = 11.5 and 7.667 years respectively, as 137.9cm).
ii. For T = 50 years, the corresponding rainfall, by extrapolation of the best fit is 189 cm.
(b) Return period of an annual rainfall of magnitude equal to or exceeding 100 cm, by interpolation,
is 2.4 years, As such the exceedance probability P = 1/2.4 = 0.417 (41.7%).
(c) 75% dependable annual rain at Station A = Annual rainfall with probability P = 0.75, i.e., T =
1/0.75 = 1.33 years. By interpolation between two successive values on table 2 having T =1.28
and 1.35 respectively, the 75% dependable annual rainfall at station A is 82.3 cm.

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Return Periods of Annual Rainfall at Station A

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 References
Ward A. D., William J. E. (2003). Environmental Hydrology. (2nd ed.). Taylor &
Francis Group
Raghunath H. M. (2006) Hydrology: Principles, Analysis & Design. (2nd ed.). New
Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers
Subramanya. K. (2008). Engineering Hydrology. (3rd ed.). McGraw Hill
Publishing

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