PART III – Water Losses

Hydrology – Lecture
3rd Term AY 2022-2023

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Contents
1. Introduction
2. Evaporation
3. Transpiration
4. Evapotranspiration
5. Infiltration

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1. INTRODUCTION

Image source: gpm.nasa.gov 3

1. Introduction
HYDROLOGIC EQUATION
▪ The basic hydrologic equation states that
𝑹𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 − 𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 = 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒐𝒇𝒇

▪ The various water losses that occur in

nature are enumerated in the following
slides. If these losses are deducted from
the rainfall, the surface runoff can be
obtained

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2. Evaporation
LAKE EVAPORATION (FREE SURFACE)
▪ The factors affecting evaporation are air and
water temperature, relative humidity,
wind velocity, surface area (exposed),
barometric pressure and salinity of the
water, the last two having a minor effect.
▪ The rate of evaporation is a function of the
differences in vapour pressure at the water
surface and in the atmosphere

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2. Evaporation
LAKE EVAPORATION (FREE SURFACE)
▪ Higher temperature and wind velocity,
greater is the evaporation,
▪ Higher humidity and dissolved salts, smaller
is the evaporation

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2. Evaporation
ESTIMATION
▪ Evaporation from water surfaces can be
determined from the following methods:
▪ STORAGE EQUATION

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2. Evaporation
ESTIMATION
▪ Evaporation from water surfaces can be
determined from the following methods:
▪ Auxiliary pans
▪ Evaporation formula (Daltons Law)

▪ Energy Budget
▪ Water Budget
▪ Combination of aerodynamic and energy
balance equations
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2. Evaporation
EVAPORATION PAN
▪ Evaporation pans are installed in the vicinity
of the reservoir or lake to determine the lake
evaporation
▪ PAN COEFFICIENT
Evaporation pan data cannot be applied
to free water surfaces directly but must
be adjusted for the differences in
physical and climatological factors

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2. Evaporation
EXAMPLE 1
▪ The total observed runoff volume during a
storm of 6-hr duration with a uniform
intensity of 15 mm/hr is 21.6 Mm3. If the
area of the basin is 300 km2, find the
average infiltration rate and the runoff
coefficient for the basin.

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2. Evaporation
EXAMPLE 1

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2. Evaporation
Reducing Lake Evaporation
The following are some of the recommended
measures to reduce evaporation from water
surfaces:
▪ Reservoir of more depth and less area
▪ Tall trees on the windward side to serve as
windbreakers
▪ Formation of certain chemical films on the
surface
▪ Allowing flow of water

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2. Evaporation
SOIL EVAPORATION
▪ evaporation from a wet soil surface
immediately after rain or escape of water
molecules with more resistance when the
water table lies within a meter from the
ground
▪ This is expressed as a percentage of
evaporation from free water surface

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3. TRANSPIRATION
TRANSPIRATION
▪ the process by which the water vapor
escapes from the living plant leaves and
enters the atmosphere
▪ Widely used method for the measurement if
by phytometer. 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.

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3. TRANSPIRATION
TRANSPIRATION
▪ 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

▪ For the weight of dry matter produced,

sometimes, the useful crop such as grains of
wheat, gram, etc. are weighed. Average
value is 700.

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4. EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
▪ Evapotranspiration (Et) or consumptive use
(U) is the total water lost from a cropped
(or irrigated) land due to evaporation from
the soil and transpiration by the plants or
used by the plants in building up of plant
tissue
▪ It is usually expressed as depth over an
area

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4. EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
ESTIMATION
▪ Blaney-Criddle Method - this method is used
throughout the world for the consumptive
use determinations

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4. EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Example (Blaney-Criddle Method)
▪ Determine the evapotranspiration and irrigation
requirement for wheat, if the water application
efficiency is 65% and the consumptive use
coefficient for the growing season is 0.8 from
the following data

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4. EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Example (Blaney-Criddle Method)

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4. EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Example (Blaney-Criddle Method)

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4. EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
ESTIMATION
▪ Evaporation Index Method - Analysis of data
on consumptive use indicate a high degree
of correlation between pan evaporation
values and consumptive use. The relationship
between the evapotranspiration (Et) and pan
evaporation (Ep) is usually expressed as

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4. EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Example (Evaporation Index Method)
▪ Assuming a growing season of 4 months
December-March for wheat, determine the
consumptive use of wheat in the month of
January if the pan evaporation for the month
is 9.5 cm. Take the consumptive use
coefficient at 40%, stage growth of the crop as
0.52

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4. EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Example (Evaporation Index Method)

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4. EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Factors Affecting Evapotranspiration
▪ Climatological factors like percentage
sunshine hours, wind speed, mean monthly
temperature and humidity.
▪ Crop factors like the type of crop and the
percentage growing season.
▪ The moisture level in the soil.

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5. INFILTRATION
INFILTRATION
▪ Water entering the soil at the ground surface
▪ It replenishes the soil moisture deficiency and
the excess moves downward by the force of
gravity called deep seepage or percolation
and builds up the ground water table
▪ The maximum rate at which the soil in any
given condition is capable of absorbing water
is called its infiltration capacity (fp)

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5. INFILTRATION
INFILTRATION
▪ The infiltration rate (f) at any time t is given by
Horton’s equation.

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5. INFILTRATION
INFILTRATION

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5. INFILTRATION
Example (Horton’s Equation)
▪ For a small catchment, the infiltration rate at
the beginning of rain was observed to be 90
mm/hr and decreased exponentially to a
constant rate of 8 mm/hr after 2.5 hrs. The
total infiltration during 2.5 hrs was 50 mm.
Develop the Horton’s equation for the
infiltration rate at any time t < 2.5 hrs

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5. INFILTRATION
Example (Horton’s Equation)

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References
• Linsley, R.K., M.A. Kohler and J.L.H. Paulhus (1988).
Hydrology for Engineers; McGraw-Hill
• Applied Hydrology by VenTe Chow (1988), David Maidment
and Larry Mays; McGraw-Hill
• Raghunath, H.M. (2006). Hydrology: Principles, Analysis,
and Design. New Age International Limited, Publishers

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