MEAN PRECIPITATION OVER AN AREA the precipitation at the various stations by the

ratios of normal annual precipitations.

PREPARATION OF DATA

 Before using the rainfall records of a

station, check the data for continuity
and consistency.
 The continuity of record may be
broken with missing data due to
reasons such as damaged or faulty
instrument\ during a period.
 However, missing data can be
estimated using data of the
neighboring stations.
 In these calculations, the normal
rainfall is used as a standard of
comparison.
Normal Rainfall
Sample Problem
The normal annual rainfall at stations A, B, C,
and D in a basin aren80.79, 67.59, 76.28, and
92.01cm respectively. In the year 1975, the
Station D was inoperative, and the Stations A,
B, and C recorded annual precipitations of
91.11, 72.23, and 79.89cm respectively.
Estimate the rainfall at Station D in that year.
Nx
P x= ¿
M

 the average value of rainfall at a

particular date, month, or year over a
P D=
3 [
92.01 91.11 72.23 79.89
+ +
80.79 67.59 76.28
= 99.48
]
specified 30-year period.  Rain gauges represent only point
 recomputed every decade. sampling of the areal distribution of a
storm.
Normal annual precipitation at Station A
means the average annual precipitation at A  In practice, hydrological analysis
based on a specified 30-year record. requires a knowledge of the rainfall
over an area.

ESTIMATION OF MISSING DATA

METHODS OF CONVERSION
Simple Arithmetic Average Point Rainfall to Average Precipitation Over an Area

If the normal annual precipitations at various 1. Arithmetical-Mean Method

stations are within about 10% of the normal 2. Thiessen-Mean Method
annual precipitation at Station X, then a simple 3. Isohyetal Method
arithmetic average procedure is followed to
estimate P x Arithmetical-Mean Method
 is a preferable method when the
rainfall measured at various stations
show little variation.

Normal Ratio Method

If the normal annual precipitations vary

P1, P2…Pi…Pn = rainfall values
considerably, then Px is estimated by weighing
N = number of stations within an area
 P = mean precipitation over the area
Sample problem
ARITHMETICAL-MEAN METHOD
Sample Problem In a catchment area, approximated by a circle
of diameter 100 km, four rainfall stations are
situated inside the catchment and one station is
outside in its neighborhood. The coordinates of
the Centre of the catchment and the five
stations are given below. Also given the annual
precipitation recorded by the five stations in
1980. Determine the average annual
precipitation by the Thiessen-mean method.

Centre: (100, 100) Diameter: 100 km

Distance are in km
Station 1 2 3 4 5
coordinate (30,8 (70, (100, (13 (100,
s 0) 100) 140) 0,10 70)
0)
Thiessen-Mean Method precipitatio 85 135.2 95. 3 146. 102.2
 the rainfall recorded at each station is n (cm) 4
given a weightage on the basis of an
area closest to the station

1. The catchment area is drawn to scale.

2. Positions of the gauges are marked on
drawing.
3. Stations are joined to form a network
of triangles.
4. Perpendicular bisectors for each of the
sides of the triangle are established.
5. The boundary of the catchment is
considered as the outer limit of the
polygon (which are called Thiessen
Polygons).

THIESSEN-MEAN METHOD Sample

Problem

Thiessen-Mean Method
At
is called the weightage factor for each station  superior to arithmetic-average method as:
A  some weightage is given to the
various stations on a rational basis
  rain gauge stations outside the
catchment are also used
effectively
 unique for each gage network
 does not allow for orographic effects
(those due to elevation changes), but is
probably the most widely used of the three
available methods.

ISOHYETAL METHOD
 The superior method in determining
precipitation when stations are large in
number.

Process:
1. The catchment area is drawn to scale
and the rain gauge stations are
marked.
2. The recorded values are marked on a
plot at appropriate stations. ADEQUACY OF RAINGAUGE STATIONS
3. The isohyets (which are lines joining
points of equal rainfall magnitude) are The optimal number of stations that should
drawn. exist to have an assigned percentage of error in
the estimation of mean rainfall is obtained by:

ISOHYETAL METHOD Sample Problem

The isohyets due to a storm in a catchment

were drawn (fig. 2.14) and the are of the
cathment bounded by isohyet were tabulated
as below:

Isohyets (cm) Area (km2 ¿

Station 12.0 30
12.0-10.0 140
10.0-8.0 80
8.0-6.0 180 ADEQUACY OF RAINGAUGE STATIONS
6.0-4.0 20
Estimate the mean precipitation due to the
Sample Problem:
storm
A catchment has six raingauge stations. In a  Records of float type and weighing
year, the annual rainfall recorded by the bucket type gauges are of this form.
gauges are as follows:  They are very useful in extracting the
Statio a b c d e f information on the duration and
n magnitude of a storm.
Rainfa 82. 102 180 110 98. 136
ll 6 .9 .3 .3 8 .7

For a 10% error in the estimation of the mean

rainfall, calculate the optimum number of
stations in the catchment.

RECORD CONSISTENCY

Inconsistency arises when conditions relevant

to the recording of a raingauge station undergo
significant change during the period of record.

Some of the common causes:

1. Shifting of a raingauge station to a
new location
2. The neighborhood of the station
undergoing a marked change
3. Change in the ecosystem due to
calamities
4. Occurrence of observational error
from a certain date
A
Checking of inconsistency of a record is done
through double-mass curve technique (also
known as double mass analysis).

Principle:
When each recorded data comes from the
same parent population, they are consistent.

MASS CURVE OF RAINFALL

The mass curve is a plot of the accumulated

precipitation against time, plotted in
chronological order.
Sample problem:
Given the following data, test the consistency
of the annual rainfall of station D and correct
the record id there is any discrepancy. Also, RETURN PERIOD
calculate the mean annual precipitation at the is the average length of time between
station M (considering the adjustment if precipitation events that have the same
deemed necessary) duration and volume or amount.

Sample Problem:
The record of annual rainfall at Station A
covering a period of 22 years is given below.
(a) Estimate the annual rainfall with return
Total of ABC Cum. Tot. of ABC Cum. periods of 10 years. (b) What would be the
Total of D Adj. H Cum. Tot. of ABC probability of an annual rainfall of magnitude
Cum. Tot. of Adj. H. equal to 100cm occurring at Station A?
71 71 28 23.73 71.00 23.73
72 143 61 27.97 143.00 51.69
86 229 99 32.20 229.00 83.90
83 312 130 31 312
114.90
64 376 154 24 376
138.90
75 451 182 28 451
166.90
56 507 204 22 507
188.90
66 573 230 26 573 Solution:
214.90

Slope of 2017-2022 0.3808

Slope of 2015-2017 0.4494
Ratio: 0.8474