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Table of Contents
1. Procedure
2. Numericals
Thiessen polygon method is a common method of weighing the rain gauge observation according to the area.
This method is also called the weighted mean method. Thiessen’s method assumes that rainfall at any point
within the polygon is the same as that of the nearest gauge. For this method, all the gauges in and around the
basin are considered.
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4/18/23, 4:13 PM Thiessen Polygon Method: Procedure, Numerical, And Solutions
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1. Procedure
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The procedure of computing average rainfall by Thiessen polygon method
a. Draw a map of the basin and locate the rainfall stations (P1, P2……..)
c. Draw perpendicular bisectors to each of the lines. The perpendicular bisectors form the boundary of polygons.
e. Multiply the area of each Thiessen polygon by the rain gauge value of the enclosed stations.
Pavg = ( n∑i=1 Ai x Pi )/ A
Where,
n = Number of stations
2. Numericals
1. The figure below represents a catchment area with the precipitations observed in a year. Calculate the mean
precipitation by the Thiessen polygon method.
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4/18/23, 4:13 PM Thiessen Polygon Method: Procedure, Numerical, And Solutions
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Solution
Rainfall at A (PA) = 10 cm
Rainfall at B (PB) = 12 cm
Rainfall at C (PC) = 15 cm
Rainfall at D (PD) = 11 cm
Area of polygon for B,C, and D is also same as A = 5×2.5 =12.5 Km2
Pavg = ( n∑i=1 Ai x Pi )/ A
= (10×12.5+12×12.5+15×12.5+11×12.5)/(12.5+12.5+12.5+12.5)
= 12 cm
2. The figure below represents a catchment area with the precipitations observed in a year. Calculate the mean
precipitation by the Thiessen polygon method and check the result roughly by the arithmetic mean method.
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4/18/23, 4:13 PM Thiessen Polygon Method: Procedure, Numerical, And Solutions
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Solution:
AB=BC=CD=16 km
Using the above calculation, the areas of each polygon for each station are as follows:
= 47.5 sq. km
Pavg =?
Pavg = ( n∑i=1 Ai x Pi )/ A
Pavg = 10.47 cm
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4/18/23, 4:13 PM Thiessen Polygon Method: Procedure, Numerical, And Solutions
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Pavg = ∑Pi / n
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Pavg = (10+15+8+6+9+12)/6
Pavg = 10 cm
3. A basin has an area in the form of a pentagon with each side of 20km. The five rain gauges located at the
corners A, B, C, D, E have recorded 60, 81, 73, 59, and 45mm of rainfall respectively. Compute mean rainfall
over the basin by the Thiessen polygon method.
Constructing Thiessen polygons as shown in figure b above. Height of equilateral triangle= 10tan60 = 17.32 km
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4/18/23, 4:13 PM Thiessen Polygon Method: Procedure, Numerical, And Solutions
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Pavg= ∑Pi Ai / A
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Pavg= (60×100+81×100+73×157.73+59×57.73+45×157.73) / 573.19
Pavg = 62.9 mm
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