FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY,

APPLIED DESIGN AND FINE ART

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

HYDRAULICS AND HYDROLOGY

HANDOUT 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION

The role of water is central to most natural processes. Water transports sediment and solutes
to lakes and oceans, thereby changing the landscape. The global energy balance is influenced
strongly by the high capacity of water for storing thermal energy and the large amount of heat
required to change water from liquid to vapour and vice versa. The abundance of water in the
atmosphere and oceans makes it an important regulator of climate. Water vapour is the most
important of the green house gases. Life depends on water.
Hydrology is primarily concerned with water on or near the land surface; ocean water are the
domain of oceanography and the marine sciences. Hydrology encompasses the study of the
occurrence and movement of water on and beneath the surface of the earth, the properties of
water, and its relationship with the living and material components of the environment.
Ultimately, many hydrological questions involve the transport of dissolved nutrients, energy,
sediment, or contaminants. The starting point for investigations of transport must be the
physical processes of water movement.

As an earth science, hydrology is closely related to other natural sciences. Understanding

precipitation and evaporation requires knowledge of climatology and meteorology; similarly,
infiltration is connected to soil science, groundwater flow to geology, surface runoff to
geomorphology, streamflow to fluid mechanics. Besides the flow of water, understanding the
transport of constituents calls for a host of additional knowledge, drawn principally from
chemistry and physics, to account for the decay, precipitation, dissolving, dispersion, and
chemical reactions which change the concentration of its constituents as water flows along.
The touchstone of any science is its ability to predict the behaviour of phenomena and then
verify the predictions by observation. In hydrology, verification is complicated because the
phenomena are driven by precipitation, which is an inherently random and uncertain process,
and because the spatial extent and variability of the phenomena are so great as to defy exact
prediction and measurement at every point. Thus, statistical science must be employed to
examine the critical numbers from large amounts of observed hydrologic data and to test the
hypotheses being examined. Many hydrologic extremes are so unpredictable that the only
way to assess their potential size and scope is through the assembly and analysis of
hydrologically recorded events. Hydrology is thus an observational science. The extent,
intricacy and inherent uncertainty of hydrologic phenomena are so large as to cause some
people to question whether they will ever be completely understood. The exciting reward of

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hydrologic research is the gradual unveiling of nature’s processes by extension of observation
and theory.
Hydrology as a Profession. Hydrology is a profession because the hydrologist seeks to apply
hydrologic knowledge to solve problems and make life better for people.
The practicing hydrologist’s task is to specify the inputs of water and constituents to a water
resource system, such as a river, lake or aquifer system. Hydrologists are concerned with
three issues:
Water use – Withdraw of water from lakes, rivers and aquifers for water supply to cities
industries and agriculture, instream use of water for hydropower and recreation, and
protection of wildlife, both plant and animal life, which inhabits these water systems. The
hydrologist is called upon to specify the inflows to the system for both normal and drought
conditions and to predict how different withdrawal rates or instream flow policies would
affect the flow through the system.
Water control – Control of hydrologic extremes e.g flood control and drought mitigation. In
flood protection, the hydrologist’s task is to specify the inputs to the system for given design
conditions, and to trace the discharge of water and sediment through the system. Hydrology is
especially dependent upon hydraulics in these tasks.

Pollution control – Prevention of the spread of pollutants or contaminants in natural water

bodies, and the cleanup of existing pollution. Here the hydrologist must determine the
sources and extent of pollution, how quickly and how far the pollution will spread, and where
the pollutants will ultimately end up. Hydrology relates closely to geology and environmental
engineering in this type of work.

2.0 THE HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE

The motion of water can be described at many different scales. The fundamental concept of
hydrology is the hydrological cycle – the global-scale, endless recirculatory process linking
water in the atmosphere, on the continents, and in the oceans. We can think of this
recirculatory process in the terms of reservoirs and compartments that store water (the
oceans, atmosphere, etc.) and the movement of water between them. Within the various
compartments of the hydrological cycle, water can be stored in any one of three separate
phases or states: gas (vapour), liquid, or solid. For example, water in the atmosphere can
exist as vapour (the concentration of water vapour is expressed as humidity), in liquid (cloud
droplets, rain drops), or in solid phase (ice crystals, snowflakes). Similarly, all three phases of

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water can be found on or below the land surface. Movement of water from one compartment
to another can occur in any of the three phases.

2.1 The Processes

The natural circulation of water near the surface of the Earth is portrayed in the Figs 3.1.

The hydrological cycle can be considered to “start” anywhere, but let us consider ocean and
lake water first (Figure 3.1a). Water from the oceans and lakes evaporate into the atmosphere.
The rising vapours are cooled, condensed and fall back to the earth in the form of rain, snow,
hail, etc. Some of this precipitation is intercepted by vegetation and some of it falls directly
onto the oceans and lakes and is re-evaporated into the atmosphere. The precipitation which
reaches the ground either flows into streams and rivers and ultimately into the oceans or
infiltrates below the earth’s surface. Some of the sub-surface water returns to the atmosphere
through evaporation or transpiration by plants and some returns to the surface as streams or
into the ocean, and the remainder is stored as ground water. (Dake, 1983)

The driving force of the circulation is derived from the radiant energy received from the
Sun. The dynamic processes of water vapour formation and transport of vapour and liquid in
the atmosphere are driven largely by solar energy. Precipitation and the flow of water on and
beneath the Earth’s surface are driven primarily be gravity. With partially dry soil,
gravitational and other forces are responsible for the movement of water. When water
evaporates from the surface of the ocean to the atmosphere, it remains mainly unseen in
atmospheric storage for an average of 10 days. It is estimated that each year about 502,800
km3 of water evaporates over the oceans and seas. As the moist air is lifted, it cools and water
vapour condenses to form clouds. About 458,000 km3 falls directly to the oceans as
precipitation while the remaining 44,800 km3 falls over land. Snow may accumulate in Polar
Regions or on high mountains and consolidate into ice, in which state water may be stored
naturally for very long periods.

Once the water reaches the ground, one of two processes may occur; 1) Some of the water
may evaporate back into the atmosphere or 2) the water may penetrate the surface and
become ground water. Ground water either seeps its way into the oceans, rivers and streams,
or is released back into the atmosphere through evapotranspiration.

The remaining water on the earth’s surface is runoff, which empties into rivers and is carried
back to the ocean, where the cycle begins again.

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However, a considerable portion of river flow and groundwater percolation never reaches the
ocean, having evaporated in internal runoff areas or inland basins lacking an outlet to the
ocean.

Fig 3.1a- Graphical representation of a Hydrological cycle (Pidwirny,1999)

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 Figure 3.1b. The World's Water Cycle
Source: Igor A, Shilomanov, State Hydrological Institute (SHI, St. Petersburg) and United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, Paris) 1991; Max Planck, Institute of Meteorology, Hamburg, 1994; Freeze, Allen,
John, Cherry, Groundwater, Prentice Hall; Englewood Cliffs NJ, 1979

The land phases of the hydrological cycle have an enhanced importance in nature since
evaporation is a purifying process; the salt sea water is transformed into fresh precipitation
water and therefore water sources and storages on the continents consist largely of fresh
water. The exceptions include groundwater storages with dissolved salts (brackish water)
and surface waters polluted by man or natural suspended solids.

2.2 The Water Budget

The hydrological cycle can be described quantitatively by applying the principle of conservation
of mass, which often is referred to as a water balance or water budget when used in this way. A

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simple statement of conservation of mass for any particular compartment (usually referred to as
control volume) is that the time rate of change of mass stored within the compartment is equal to
the difference between the inflow rate and the outflow rate. For example, if we are adding two
grams of water to a bucket every minute and one gram of water is leaking out each minute, then
the mass stored within the bucket is increasing at the rate of one gram per minute. Symbolically,
we can write this as:
dM
= I ' − O' ...........................................................(1.1)
dt
Where M = mass within the control volume [M]; t = time [T]; I ' =mass inflow rate [MT-1]; and
O ' = mass outflow rate [MT-1]. The expressions in square brackets are the mass-length-time
dimensions associated with the defined quantity.
In many instances, the density of water can be taken as approximately constant and the
conservation of law expressed in terms of volume. The terms involving mass in equation (1.1)
can be expressed in terms of density times volume and density can then be cancelled from both
sides of the equation. Thus, equation (1.1) can be rewritten:

.......................................................(1.2 )
dV
=I−O
dt
Where: V =volume of water within the control volume [L3]; I = volume inflow rate [L3T-1]; and
O = volume outflow rate [L3T-1].

2.2.1 The Global Water Budget

We can construct a global water budget by applying the principle of mass conservation (equation
1.2), using the continents as our control volume. The quantity V is then the volume of water
stored on or within the continental land masses. Inflow is precipitation and outflow consists of
evapotranspiration and runoff (both surface water and ground water). Note that in addition to
ignoring density variations we must express the rate of evaporation or transpiration – outflows of
water vapour from the continents to the atmosphere – in “liquid water equivalent” or LWE units.
Otherwise, density is varying (water vapour is much less dense than liquid water), and mass,
rather than volume, is the conserved quantity.

If we consider only average annual conditions for our water budget, the dV term in equation 1.2
dt
becomes negligible. That is, over a period of years the average amount of water stored as ice (ice
caps and glaciers), as surface water (rivers and lakes) and as sub-surface water (ground water)
does not change significantly. Over much longer time periods, such as centuries and millennia
this may not be true if there is dynamic shift in climatic conditions. If there is no change in
storage over time, we say that the system is at steady state. For any given control volume at

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steady state, a completely general water budget equation can be written (using bars over the
terms to indicate that they are annual average quantities):

dV
= 0 = p + rsi + rgi − rso − rgo − et .....................................................1.3
dt
Where: V = average volume of water stored, and assumed to be constant; p = average
precipitation rate; rsi = average surface water inflow rate; rgi = average groundwater inflow rate;
rso = average surface water outflow rate; rgo = average groundwater outflow rate; and et =
average evapotranspiration rate. All the terms in the equation have dimensions of volume per
time [L3T-1]. For the continents, equation 1.3 is simplified neglecting the inflows and outflows of
ground water, because they tend to be very small. We also neglect surface water inflows, because
surface water flows from the continents to the oceans, and will refer to surface water outflows as
runoff, rs . With these simplifications, equation 1.3 becomes;
dV
= p − rs − et = 0 ............................................................(1.4) OR p = rs + et
dt

Where p = average precipitation rate[L3T-1]; rs = average surface runoff rate[L3T-1] and et =

average evapotranspiration rate[L3T-1].

To quantify the global hydrological cycle we can examine the relative sizes of the compartments.
Nearly 97% of all the water on the Earth is stored in the oceans, while about 0.001% is stored in
the atmosphere. Considering only fresh water (defined as having a concentration of total
dissolved solids less than 0.5 parts per thousand and considered portable), which accounts for
about 2.5% of the total storage, 69.6% is contained in the polar icecaps and glaciers while 30.1%
is contained in the groundwater. The fresh water contained in lakes, streams, rivers and marshes
represents only 0.26% of all fresh water and 0.008% (80 drops in a million!) of all water on the
Earth.
Another useful concept of thinking about the size of the various reservoirs in relation to the flows
of water into and out of them is the residence time. The residence time, Tr [T], is a measure of
how long, on average, a molecule of water spends in that reservoir before moving on to another
reservoir in the hydrological cycle. The residence time is easily calculated for systems at steady
state, when the inflow and outflow rates are identical:
V
Tr = ......................................................................(1.5)
I
The residence time has dimensions of time. The residence time provides an indication of the time
scales for flushing a solute out of that particular reservoir. Table 2 shows the estimated residence
times of the world's water resources exist as biospheric water; atmospheric water; river channels;
swamps; lakes and reservoirs; soil moisture; ice caps and glaciers; oceans and seas, and
groundwater. The estimated residence times range from one week to 10,000 years.

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Table 2: Estimated Residence Times of the World’s Water Resources

Water Source Residence Time

Biospheric Water 1 week
Atmospheric Water 1.5 weeks
River Channels 2 weeks
Swamps 1 to 10 years
Lakes and Reservoirs 10 years
Soil moisture 2 weeks to 1 year
Ice caps and glaciers 1,000 years
Oceans and Seas 4,000 years
Ground water 2 weeks to 10,000
years

The water budget for all the land areas of the world is: p = 800mm, rs = 310mm, and

et = 490mm. (Note that we are referring to the volumes divided by the areas being
considered. It is sometimes more convenient to use depth rather than total volume, because
the volumes can be quite large. On average, 39% of precipitation to the continents runs off
and and 61% is returned to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration. In other words, the
runoff ratio rs is equal to 0.39. The average is ofcourse, affected by many topographic and
p

climatic factors and the budgets for individual continents can be quite different from the
average. (see Table 3)

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Table 3: Average annual water budget for the continents

Continent Area (km2) p (mm) rs (mm) et (mm) rs

p

Africa 30.3x10 6 690 140 550 0.20

Asia 45 x10 6 720 290 430 0.40

Australia 8.7 x10 6 740 230 510 0.31

Europe 9.8 x10 6 730 320 410 0.44

North 20.7 x10 6 670 290 380 0.43

America
South 17.8 x10 6 1650 590 1060 0.36
America
Source: L’vovich (1979)

2.2.2 The Catchment Water Budget

A global view of the hydrological cycle is not appropriate for discussion of details of
hydrological processes. Just as the water budget for each continent can differ from the global
average, we expect the local water budget to vary from place to place within a continent, and
most problems require the use of control volumes much smaller that the continental scale.
Although any volume can be defined as the control volume for the application of equations
(1.1) and (1.2), hydrologists typically choose the volume to be a catchment (Some textbooks
use the terms watershed and drainage basin). The catchment is a fundamental hydrological
unit. A catchment is an area of land in which water flowing across the land surface drains
into a particular stream or river and ultimately flows through a single point or outlet on that
stream or river; thus the catchment is defined relative to a specific location along a water
course and the associated land area can be considered to “catch” the water that flows past that
point. Clearly then, any number of catchments can be defined for a particular river
(corresponding to any location along the river).

We can define a catchment by specifying when a point is part of the catchment and when it is
not. A point is within a catchment if the surface water hypothetically flowing from that point
ultimately appears at the river station defining the catchment outlet; the point is not within the
catchment if surface water flows from it into another river or into the same river below the
given river station. The boundary separating regions which do and do not contribute water to

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that river station is called a divide. A catchment is then defined as all points that potentially
can contribute surface water to a particular river station.

Let us consider application of equation (1.2) to a catchment. In this case, V is the volume of
water stored on or beneath the surface of the catchment. One inflow is precipitation falling on
the catchment. By definition, there is no surface water inflow into the catchment. There may
be both inflow and outflow of ground water across catchment boundaries. However, if the
assumption is made that the ground water divide coincides with the surface water divide, then
groundwater inflows can be neglected in the formulation of the water budget equation. This
assumption is often valid but should be evaluated for each application. Outflows consist of
loss to the atmosphere and discharge at the river station chosen in defining the basin. The
conservation equation for the catchment may be written:
dV
= p − rs − rg − et .........................................................................(1.6)
dt

Where: V= volume of water stored in the catchment [L3]; p = precipitation rate [L3T-1]; rs =

rate of surface runoff [L3T-1]; rg = net rate of groundwater runoff [L3T-1]; et = rate of

evapotranspiration [L3T-1].
Where p = average precipitation rate [L3T-1]; rs = rate of surface runoff [L3T-1] and et = average
evapotranspiration rate [L3T-1].

We can illustrate the use of equation (1.6) by considering long-term average conditions. For
questions involving long-range regional planning, average quantities are often adequate. In this
case, changes in volume of water stored in the catchment can be neglected. If, in addition we
assume net groundwater stored in the catchment can be negligibly small, the budget equation
becomes:
p − r s − et = 0 .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ...(1.7)
As an example on the use of equation (1.7), let us estimated the annual average
evapotranspiration for a catchment with the following characteristics: the catchment drains
and area of 11,834km2 and average discharge is 144.5m3s-1; catchment receives average
precipitation of about 1080mmyr-1. The terms in equation (1.7) must be expressed in
comparable units, so we will express the river discharge in mmyr-1 distributed over the
catchment.; that is, the volume of flow will be converted to the equivalent depth of water over
the entire catchment by dividing by the catchment area. Thus,
mm m3 1 s 1000mm
rs = 144.5 x 10
x 3.154 x10 7 x .............................(1.8)
yr s 1.1834 x10 yr m

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Performing the indicated calculation we find that rs is 385mmyr-1 over the basin area.

Equation (1.7) indicates that p − r s = et = 695mmyr-1 or that evapotranspiration is about 64%

of the rain that falls in this catchment. Such a catchment would be in an arid region.

It can be noted that the use of a water budget for annual average conditions is straightforward
and provides useful information about climatological mean values. One reason that these
applications of the conservation laws are simple and straightforward is that in dealing with
annual averages we have been able to neglect temporal changes in storage. We have not had
to consider how soils store and release water or how channel storage changes with the
passage of a flood wave. An understanding of hydrological phenomena at time scale of hours,
days, or even months requires that changes in storage be described and that the relationship
between the forces applied to water “particles” and the motion of these “particles” be studied.
Thus knowledge of the dynamics of water flow is important.

As earlier discussed, the processes of precipitation and evaporation are fundamental in the
hydrological cycle and are at the interface between the earth's surface and atmosphere. In
order to understand physics of evaporation and the formation of rainfall it is essential to
consider the atmosphere and the solar radiation.

2.3 The Atmosphere

The atmosphere is a distinctive layer about 100 km around the earth. The average structure is
represented in Fig.3.2. It is made up of three main layers that include: Troposphere,
Stratosphere, Mesosphere and Thermosphere. The temperature profile assists in defining the
layers of the atmosphere. There is a general decrease in temperature in the troposphere. The
troposphere contains 75% of the weight of the atmosphere and all its moisture. The
stratosphere is the second layer of Earth's atmosphere, just above the troposphere. It is
stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down. This is
in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth's surface, which is cooler higher up and warmer
farther down. The border of the troposphere and stratosphere is called the tropopause where
the inversion begins. The height of the tropopause, the boundary layer between the
troposphere and stratosphere is about 11km.The mesosphere is located from about 50 km to
80-90 km altitude above Earth's surface. Within this layer, temperature decreases with
increasing altitude. It can be observed that both the density and air pressure decrease steadily

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with increasing altitude. The temperature varies in characteristic pattern that almost repeats
itself after nearly 70 km. The thermosphere is the layer of the earth's atmosphere directly
above the mesosphere and it begins at about 80 km above the earth. Within this layer,
ultraviolet radiation causes ionization. Thermospheric temperatures increase with altitude due
to absorption of highly energetic solar radiation by the small amount of residual oxygen still
present. Temperatures are highly dependent on solar activity, and can rise to 2,000°C. Even
though the temperature is so high, one would not feel warm in the thermosphere. A normal
thermometer would read significantly below 0°C. This is due to the distance between the few
molecules that are present.

Fig 3.2: The profile of the atmosphere

Seasonal variations are a result of changes in air temperature and pressure in the atmosphere.
This ranges from 8km at the poles to 16km at the equator. The temperature from ground
level to the tropopause falls steadily with increasing altitude at a rate of 6.5oCkm-1 known as
the lapse rate.

Atmospheric pressure is the weight of a column of air of unit area from the level of
measurement to the top of the atmosphere. At sea level, the atmospheric pressure is 1 bar and

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 air density is 1.2kgm-3 on average based, on a temperature of 288K and the expression ρ =
P/RT where R is the gas constant of 0.29 KJ kg-1 k-1.

2.3.1 Chemical Composition

The Chemical Composition of dry air is consistent up to the mesopause at about 80 km. The
major constituents and their proportions are shown in Table 4. In the last category the gases
include Argon, Carbon dioxide, Traces of hydrocarbons ammonia, nitrates and radioactive
isotopes are also present. Gaseous Pollutants form heavy industry and have an influence on
weather.

Table 4. The constituents of air

Gases Percentage by Mass
Nitrogen 75.5
Oxygen 23.2
Inert gases 1.3

2.3.2 Solar Radiation

In general, all forms of energy on the earth are derived from the sun. However, the more
conventional forms of energy, the fossil fuels received their solar energy input ions and
possess the energy in a greatly concentrated form.

The main source of energy at the earth's surface is solar radiation or insulation. The heat
engine driving the hydrological cycle is fueled by solar radiation on the earth's surface.

The amount of radiant energy received at any point of the earth surface is a function of i) the
solar output, ii) the distance from the sun, iii) the altitude of the sun. iv) and the length of the
day, if it is assumed there are no atmospheric effects.

a) Solar output
The sun is a ball of incandescent matter with a gaseous layer of about 320 km thick and
transmits gas and other radiation a distance of 145 million km. Only a small fraction is
intercepted by the earth. About half of the total energy emitted by the sun lies in the visible
light range between 0.4 and 0.7µm. The lower limit is ultra violet at 0.25µm and the upper

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limit being infrared at 30µm. There are changes in the solar output associated with sunspots
and solar flares. The solar constant is defined as the total solar radiation received in unit time
on unit area of a surface place at right angles to the sunrays at the earth's mean distance from
the sun. The average value is 1.39Kwm-2.

b) Distance from the Sun

Since the earth has an eccentric orbit, the distance from the sun is continuously changing. As
a result the solar constant varies accordingly. In January the earth is nearest the sun at
perihelion and in July it is furthest from the sun at aphelion.

c) Altitude of the sun

The factors determining the sun's altitude are latitude, season and time of day, and have a
considerable influence on rate of solar radiation received at any point on earth.

d) Length of day
The length of the day depends on latitude and season. This affects the total amount of
radiation received at a point.

The atmosphere has a significant effect on the energy balance at the earth surface. It acts like
a two-way filter. On the one hand it protects the earth from extreme external influences and
on the other a two-way filter. Solar radiation passing through the atmosphere loses energy
called attenuation. This attenuation is a result of three principal factors.

i) Scattering - about 9% of the incoming radiation is scattered back to space through

collision with molecules of air or water vapour. Another 16% is also scattered but
reaches the earth as diffuse radiation. This takes place with the shorter wavelengths
giving the sky a blue appearance.
ii) Absorption - about 15% of solar radiation is absorbed by gases of the atmosphere
especially Ozone water vapour and carbon dioxide. Since the gases absorb radiation
of less than 0.3µm very little penetrates below an altitude of 40km.
iii) Reflection - about 33% of solar radiation is reflected from the clouds and the ground
back into space. The amount reflected is dependant upon the albedo (r) of the
reflecting surface. This ranges from about 90% of the radiation (r = 0.9) for white

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 clouds or fresh white snow to nearly zero for a dark tropical ocean. Other factors
affecting the reflectivity is the surface conditions being roughness, soil type or water
content.

After taking into account all the losses, it is noted that only 43% of solar radiation reaches the
earth surface. It is the short wave component of the net radiation that heats the land and the
oceans. The earth radiates energy in the long wave range, which is readily observed by the
atmosphere. The earth receives more than twice as much energy in the infrared range than it
receives in short wave solar radiation.
The balance between incoming and outgoing radiation is dependant upon the latitude and
varies between the poles and the equator. There is a net heat loss in the Polar Regions and a
net heat gain in the equatorial region. Further variations occur because of the presence of
land and water.

The Net Radiation - is the amount of energy available at any particular point on the earth's
surface for heating the ground and lower air layers and for evaporation. The net radiation
may be defined as
R = Si - r (Si) + Li - Lo

where Si is the short wave incoming radiation

Li is longwave incoming radiation
Lo is longwave outgoing radiation
r is the albedo
The incoming long wave radiation comes from clouds has the following effects:-

Under clear conditions Li ≅ (0.6 to 0.8) Lo thus Li -Lo gives a net of long wave
In cloudy conditions Li ≅ Lo and Li - Lo becomes zero.
We should note, diurnal variations in net radiation, which is primary source of energy. At
night S = O and Li is smaller so R = Lo, the net radiation is negative.

3.3.1 Beam and Diffuse Solar Radiation

Solar radiation is categorized into two; (i) Beam/direct and (ii) Diffuse solar radiation.
Beam or direct radiation is solar radiation originating directly from sun without any

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additional reflection from the earth’s atmosphere. These radiations are received directly from
the sun without any alteration in direction of travel.

Solar radiation received from the sun after its direction of travel has been altered causing a
reflection is called diffuse radiation as shown in Fig 3.4. This reflection is caused by
components in the atmosphere that include; aerosols, dust molecules, water vapour, etc. Thus
the radiation finally received at the earth’s surface consists partly of beam radiation and
partly diffuse radiation.

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 Extra-Terrestrial
Radiation
Reflected Back
into Space

Reflected
Direct
back by Atmosphere
radiation
surface

Diffuse
radiation

Earth’s surface

Fig 3.4. Direct, Diffuse and Total Solar Radiation

The combination of both direct and diffuse solar radiations incident on a surface is called
Total Solar Radiation. Total radiation excludes radiation that has been absorbed by matter
and then re-emitted because most of this radiation is at longer wavelengths.
The extra-terrestrial solar radiation is entirely direct radiation from the sun. But as it passes
through the Earth’s atmosphere, interaction with other matter occurs resulting into scattering
of radiation and hence a reflection takes place. As a result, the radiations leaving the
atmosphere are now diffuse radiations.

3.3.2 The Solar Spectrum

The solar radiation spectrum shows a wide range of wavelengths. It can be divided into two
major regions with respect to the capability of ionizing atoms in radiation-absorbing matter:
ionizing radiation (X-rays and gamma-rays) and non ionizing radiation (UVR, visible light
and infrared radiation). About 8% of the energy is in the ultra-violet region, 44% is in the
visible region, and 48% is in the infra-red region.

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Not all emitted radiation reaches the earth’s surface. Some of the radiation is absorbed by
molecules of ozone and water vapor. There is a small amount of absorption of solar radiation
by oxygen. The absorption of solar radiation by carbon dioxide is also slight. Absorption by
ozone takes place in the upper atmosphere.

Fig 3.5 Showing the Solar Radiation Spectrum

When the conditions are favorable, the maximum intensity observed at noon at seal level is 1
kW/m2. The spectrum of the radiation emitted by the sun is close to that of a black body at a
temperature of 5,900K.
In the Renewable Energy Policy of Uganda (2007), Solar Energy is named among the
Renewable Energy Resources that Uganda can fully exploit to meet the ever growing energy
demands. The mean solar radiation is 5.1 kWh/m2 per day, on a horizontal surface. This is
quite favorable for the application of a number of solar technologies.
Fig 3.6 below shows the solar energy potential for different main towns in Uganda. North
Eastern Uganda and some areas surrounding Lake Albert have the highest Average Radiation
of 5.6 - 6.8 kWh / m2 / day. South western Uganda (Kigezi) has the lowest average radiation
of 2.4 – 4.0 kWh / m2 / day.

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 Moyo

Yumbe
Adjumani
Kitgum

Arua Kotido

Pader
Gulu

Moroto
Nebbi

Lira

Apac
Katakwi
Nakapiripirit
Kaberamaido
Masindi Soroti

Kumi
Hoima Kapchorwa
Nakasongola
Sironko
Pallisa
Mbale
Kiboga Kamuli
Kibale Luweero
Bundibugyo Kayunga Tororo
Kyenjojo Mubende Iganga
Bugiri
Fort Portal
Mayuge Busia
Wakiso Mukono Jinja

Kamwenge Mpigi Kampala

Kasese

Sembabule

Masaka Kalangala

Bushenyi
Mbarara
Rakai
Rukungiri
Kanungu Ntungamo

Kisoro Kabale

Legend

Dist Hqts
Main River
Lakes
Average Radiation
kWh / m2 / day
5.6 - 6.8
0 20 40 80 1 20 16 0 5.0 - 5.6
Kilome ters
4.8 - 5.0
4.0 - 4.8
2.4 - 4

Fig 3.6 Solar Energy Availability in Uganda

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3.4 The Carbon Cycle

The Carbon Cycle is a series of processes through which all of the carbon in existence
rotates. The cycle consists of four major reservoirs of carbon interconnected by pathways of
exchange. The reservoirs are the atmosphere, the terrestrial biosphere (freshwater systems
and non-living organic material), the oceans (dissolved inorganic carbon and living and non-
living marine biota) and the sediments (fossil fuels). The annual movements of carbon occur
because of various chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes.

Fig 3.7. Carbon cycle showing the transformation of carbon

The movement of carbon, in its many forms is described by the carbon cycle as illustrated in
fig 3.7 above. The carbon cycle is a closed system. There is a fixed amount of carbon in the
world and it is that amount that is being transformed and transferred in the cycle.

Plants absorb CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and release CO2 back in to the
atmosphere during respiration. Another major exchange of CO2 occurs between the oceans
and the atmosphere. The dissolved CO2 in the oceans is used by marine life in

20
 photosynthesis. Two other important processes are fossil fuel burning and changing land use
which includes agriculture, deforestation, and reforestation.

4.0 The Socio- Economic Importance of Meteorology

4.1 Introduction
Meteorology is essentially the study of precipitation and evaporation or the behavior of the
Earth’s atmosphere in space and time and its interaction with land and water masses or in
simple terms, meteorology is the study of the air around us. The study of hydrometeorology
links the needs of the hydrologist with the fundamental knowledge of the meteorologist.

Meteorology is studied so as to enhance public safety, security and general social and
economic benefits. Today, trends in weather – related disaster losses are soaring and there is
an increasing realization that adequate weather, flood and drought warning services and
closely related preparedness can avert much of human and economic loss. This is key to
sustainable development.
Applications
i) The main elements that constitute meteorology are temperature, humidity, pressure
and wind speed and direction. It is obvious; therefore, that meteorology affects
any living thing including animals, plants and insects. Inevitably, the major areas
that require meteorology input are agriculture, water, health, aviation, marine,
tourism, construction and environment protection.

ii) It is important that agriculturists and the farming community in general understand
the behavior of those meteorological parameters that affect crops and other plants.
Knowledge or weather trends are vital in order to minimize losses and maximize
planning and operation of agricultural activities while the daily weather forecasts
help the farmer to organize his day.

iii) We are aware that water may become one of the limited resources of the next
century with many different users acting in conflict. In order to manage the water
needs for agriculture, domestic uses or industry, it is essential to have a good
knowledge of the water supply and demand, through good use of meteorological
information. For example, the design of dams for hydro-electric power generation,
irrigation and fishing calls for a deep understanding of the meteorological regime

21
 of the catchment area of the dam. The maximum possible rainfall must be known
for purposes of designing the dam. If the dam bursts due to inadequate
meteorological information at the planning stage, the consequences of the
economy of the country concerned could be severe because of the enormous
construction costs of the dam and the possible loss of human and animal life and
property caused by flooding downstream. Without adequate meteorological
planning data, engineers could build larger than necessary dams resulting in waste
of public funds.

iv) It is now obvious that there is a direct link between meteorological information
and health monitoring and protection. It is known and has been demonstrated that
diseases like malaria are always located in areas with a significant degree of
humidity. There are other diseases which spread or reduce to changes in air
temperature.
v) All aircraft flying from or to an airport must be provided with weather forecasts
for take off, along the entire flight route and destination. Meteorological
information is used by airline operators in determining the optimum load and fuel
reserves for each flight sector in addition to ensuring the safety of the aircraft and
its contents. Such meteorological information includes flight level wind speed and
direction, temperatures, cloud heights and types and any other significant weather
phenomena that would affect the performance of the aircraft.
vi) Today, the ocean and the marine environment form a large part of the
responsibility of the meteorological community. The relevancy of meteorology to
the development and management of aquatic resources is well understood.
Knowledge of the water temperatures of different parts of water masses helps to
map out breeding areas of fish and other water borne living species and their
movement. This helps to efficiently and effectively carry out marine activities
over the oceans, seas and inland waters. More specifically, information on wind
speed and direction and hence, the state of the water masses is vital for the
efficient operation of the shipping industry. The industry also requires routine and
timely warnings of accurately forecast severe weather systems like cyclones to
enable ships avoid dangerous routes.
vii) The tourism industry is an important industry to many countries. There is no
doubt that accurate climatologically information and daily weather forecasts are

22
 required to enable four operators to plan the movement of tourists within the
countries on both long-term and daily basis. Climatologically information is
required also for sitting tourist hotels and other recreational facilities.
viii) In many manufacturing processes, the ambient temperature is of extreme
importance. Factory planners and builders require extreme minimum and
maximum temperatures for the purpose of planning factories. Relative humidity is
also of considerable importance as it affects the level of human comfort.
ix) Information on rainfall, evaporation, temperature and humidity is vital for
biological research and general ecological studies aimed at preventing erosion and
environmental degradation and forest fires. The protection of the environment,
especially atmosphere, requires knowledge and monitoring of meteorological
parameters and it is essential for governments to understand such phenomena as
climate change and its possible impacts o the economics for appropriate decisions.

x) Due to escalating costs of conventional energy sources such as oil, the

development of alternative sources of energy such as wind and solar has become
crucial to many counties. The meteorological community provides the relevant
organizations with measurements of wind strength, solar radiation, sunshine
duration and cloud cover in an effort to develop inexpensive methods of
harnessing wind and solar energy.

xi) There are many other operational services where intensive use of meteorological
information is made. In this respect, one may mention:
- Desert locust surveillance;
- Fire monitoring;
- Climate changes and sea-level rise
- Long-range airborne pollutant transport follow-up
- Coastal zones management

In all these applications, observed data and derived information is used to monitor the
environment and thereby, mitigate the negative effects on the population. The data is
vital for monitoring, assessing and protecting the regional environment.

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4.2 Some Weather Related Disasters and their Socio-Economic Impacts

It is now accepted that 75% of the natural disasters in the World are related to
meteorological events. The African continent is particularly vulnerable in this regard.
For example during the 1997/98 period, it is estimated that 15,246 people died while
2,217,200 people either lost their homes or were displaced due to the El Nino effect.
The severe flooding, which started in October 1997 in parts of Eastern Africa, including
Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan. Tanzania and Uganda, was as a result of 10
worst in living memory in some areas.
While Eastern Africa was experiencing severe flooding, other parts of Africa, including
Ethiopia and Southern Africa, experienced severe drought conditions. In Ethiopia alone,
5 million people lacked food and suffered malnutrition while others died due to the
severe drought conditions.
In addition, a number of tropical cyclones affected the countries in the southern region
of Eastern Africa over the last few years, many with devastating effects on their
economics. In 1994, the cyclone ‘’Nadya’’ left 140 people dead, 1.5 million homeless
and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage in Mozambique. In a similar
experience, Cyclone ‘’Gretelle’’ in 1997 caused approximately 200 casualties, 500,000
to 600,000 people displaced and heavy agricultural and structural damage in
Madagascar.
Other weather-related disasters that have caused great suffering and economic damage
particularly in Africa, include lightening, thunderstorms and landslides. Each year,
lightening strikes are known to kill many people and cause a lot of damage to property
in many parts of East Africa. Cases of whole classrooms of school children being killed
by lightening strikes have been reported. Thunderstorms are known to be the worst
enemy of the agricultural industry. Large amounts of crop are destroyed by severe
thunderstorm occurrences that are common in many parts of the World. During the
1997/98 El Nino episode, many villages were reported covered by landslides in many
parts of Kenya alone.
A part from causing the loss of human and animal life and the destruction of property,
these weather-related hazards disrupt normal activities, impacting heavily on the
weather-related hazards will always occur. The best that can be done is to plan and
prepare to mitigate against their negative effects/impacts and that is where meteorology
plays a major role. With better monitoring and understanding of atmospheric

24
development, long-range predictions of many of these weather-related hazardous
phenomena can be made. With proper issuance of warnings, plans and preparations can
be made to avoid heavy impacts.

4.3 National Meteorological and Hydrological Services

We now know that meteorology has a role to play in the socio-economic development
of countries. To achieve that effectively and efficiently, National Meteorological and
Hydrological Services (NMHSs) have to establish and maintain adequate weather
observation networks. They also have to establish and maintain both national and
international communication networks to enable move observational data and products
from other parts of the globe. There must be a capability to process data and make
forecasts through an improvement of human resource skills in the NMHSs.
The data observation network. The recording facilities, the telecommunication network
and data processing facilities form the basic infrastructure of any NMHS. The
establishment and maintenance of the basic infrastructure requires a modest but
important contribution from any governments to the socio-economic development of its
own country.
Some of the areas that need to be improved in climatic services in Africa include the
policies regarding data dissemination and availability of data. There is the need to align
the NMHSs offices to the needs of service providers and create a unit that would deal
with the key issue of climate change. These would also address national and regional
issues, research areas and their role in the national economy.
Furthermore, there is need to raise awareness and build capacity in the climate
community, of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), national development
priorities. There is need to disseminate best practices, technical training to decentralize
information, improve data bases with modern software, the use of satellite data to
improve on real time forecasting, improve prediction for early warning systems and
develop climate change scenarios for infrastructure, policy and investments.

25
 BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES

1. Shaw E.M (1992); Hydrology in Practice, Chapman, 1992, London, UK.

2. Ayoade J.O (1998); Tropical Hydrology and Water Resources, Macmillan, 1998,
London, UK
3. Jones J.A.A (1996); Global Hydrology, Longman, 1996, London, UK.
4. Watson I. and Burnett A.D. (1993); Hydrology, An Environmental Approach,
Buchanan 1993, Florida, USA.
5. Viessman Jr W. and Lewis G.L. (1996); Introduction to Hydrology, Fourth Edition,
Harper Collins College Publishers, 1996, Florida USA.
6. Wilson E.M. (1990); Engineering Hydrology, Fourth Edition, Macmillan 1990,
London, UK
7. United Nations Environment Programme (2002); Vital Water Graphics: An
Overview of the State of the World’s Fresh and Marine Waters, 2002 UNEP,
Nairobi, Kenya.
8. Hornberger et al. (1998); Elements of Physical Hydrology, The Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1998.
9. The Renewable Energy Policy for Uganda, Ministry of Energy and Mineral
Development, November 2007.
10. Mukolwe E. (2000), Meteorology and Socio Economic Impacts, Proceedings,
Kenya Meteorological Society, 2000.
11. A Gap Analysis for the implementation of the Global Climate Observing System
Programme, International Research Institute, for Climate and Society,(IRI)
2006,Columbia, USA

12. Dake Jonas M. (1983); Essentials of Engineering Hydraulics, 2nd Edition, Published
by The Macmillan press Ltd; London, 1983.

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Questions (A)

1. a) What is significant about the:

i. Stratospheric layer of ozone
ii. Troposphere
b) What is the lapse rate?
c) What is unique about the sun and the evaporation process?
2 a) What are the factors which influence the amount of radiant energy
received at any point on the earth's surface.
b) How does the atmosphere affect solar radiation?
c) What do you understand by net radiation?
3. a) What is the Greenhouse effect?
b) How can its effects be counteracted?
c) Explain the effect of the reduction in rainforest cover
d) What are the causes of climatic change?
e) Explain the significance of the carbon cycle.
4. Precipitation is Typically measured as a volume [L3] per unit area [L2] which has
dimensions of length [L].What is the average annual precipitation (in millimeters, mm) at
two hypothetical stations A and B that receive average annual precipitations of (1.6
inches) and (460 inches) respectively.
5. In some cases, stream discharge is often measured in units of cubic feet per second (ft3 s-1
of “cfs”). In most countries (Uganda inclusive), discharge is measure in cubic meters per
second (m3 sec-1). What is the equivalent flow (in m3 s-1) of 18.2 ft3 s-1?.
6. In an average year, 1.0 metre of precipitation falls on a catchment with an area 1000 (or
103) km2. What is the volume of water received during and average year in cubic meters.
13. The polar ice caps (area=1.6x107km2) are estimated to contain a total equivalent
volume of 2.4x107km3 of liquid water. The average annual precipitation over the ice caps
is estimated to be 5 inches per year. Estimate the residence time of water in the polar ice
caps, assuming their volume remains constant in time.
7. In an average year, a small catchment (area = 3.0 km2) agricultural catchment receives
950mm of precipitation. The catchment is drained by a stream, and a continuous record of
stream discharge is available. The total amount of surface-water runoff for the year,
determined from the stream discharge record, is 1.1x106 m3.

27
(a) What is the volume of water (in m3) evapotranspired for the year (assume no
change in water stored in the catchment)?
(b) What is the depth of water (in mm) evapotranspired for the year (again,
assume no change in water stored in the catchment)?
(c) What is the runoff ratio for the catchment?

28