HYDROLOGY

Roldan Q. Pineda June 26, 2013

Introduction Water is the most abundant substance on earth, the principal constituent of all the living things, and a major force constantly shaping the surface of the earth. It is also a key factor in air-conditioning the earth for human existence and in influencing the progress of civilization. Hydrology, which treats all phases of the earths water, is a subject of great importance for people and their environment.

Understanding the Water Cycle The world's total volume of water is in many different forms: Liquid- oceans, rivers and rain Solid- glaciers Gas- invisible water vapor in the air

Water changes states as it is moved around the planet by wind currents.

Water Cycle
Changes in the distribution, circulation, or temperature of the earths waters can have far-reaching effects. Changes may caused by human activities.

Applications of Hydrology
Design and operations of hydraulic structures Water supply Wastewater treatment and disposal Irrigation Drainage Hydropower generation Flood control Navigation Erosion and sediment control Salinity control Pollution abatement Recreational use of water Fish and wildlife protection

Water Resources

Icecaps and Glaciers 68.7% Groundwater 30.1% Surface water 0.3% Others 0.9% Fresh water 3%

Lakes 87%

Saline (Oceans) 97%

Swamps 11% Rivers 2%

Earths water

Freshwater

Fresh surface water

Source: en.wikipedia.org

Sources of Natural Drinking Water

Surface Water
- is water in a river, lake or fresh water wetland. Surface water is naturally

Groundwater
- is fresh water located in the pore space of soil and rocks - water that is

Seawater
- is water that has the property of salinity and temperature which controls the density of the water.

Rainwater
- is precipitation that is collected from relatively clean, aboveground surfaces usually rooftops.

flowing within aquifers below the water table

Precipitation

There are several forces acting on a water droplet or ice crystal in a cloud
Winds Atmospheric stability Gravity Drag (friction)

When a droplet reaches a certain critical mass the force of gravity will exceed the other forces and precipitation will fall Rain drops are 100X larger than cloud droplets

Measurement of Precipitation

automated rain gauges standard rain gauges

Measurement of Precipitation

Tipping bucket rain gauge

Measuring Precipitation with Weather Radar

Measurement of Precipitation
Measuring Precipitation Using Weather Satellites

A disdrometer is an instrument used to measure the drop size distribution and velocity of falling hydrometeors. Some disdrometers can distinguish between rain, graupel, and hail.

Interpretation of Precipitation Data

Averaging Thiessen Polygon Method Isohyetal Method

Example: A small urban watershed has four rainfall gages as located in the figure. Total rainfall recorded at each gage during a storm event is listed. Compute the mean aerial rainfall for this storm using Theissens Method.
Gage Stn. A B C D Rainfall 81.50 mm 73.00 mm 75.25 mm 76.25 mm

400 m
A 300 m A

400 m

100 m

A1
A2 A3

400 m C 400 m

200 m
300 m

A4 100 m D

300 m
400 m 400 m

400 m

Rainfall Depth and Intensity

Time (min) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 150 Max depth Max int. in/hr Rainfall (in) 0.02 0.34 0.1 0.04 0.19 0.48 0.5 0.5 0.51 0.16 0.31 0.66 0.36 0.39 0.36 0.54 0.76 0.51 0.44 0.25 0.25 0.22 0.15 0.09 0.09 0.12 0.03 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.76 9.12 Cumulative Running totals rainfall 30 min 1 hour 2 hours 0 0.02 0.36 0.46 0.5 0.69 1.17 1.17 1.67 1.65 2.17 1.81 2.68 2.22 2.84 2.34 3.15 2.46 3.81 2.64 3.81 4.17 2.5 4.15 4.56 2.39 4.2 4.92 2.24 4.46 5.46 2.62 4.96 6.22 3.07 5.53 6.73 2.92 5.56 7.17 3 5.5 7.42 2.86 5.25 7.67 2.75 4.99 7.89 2.43 5.05 8.04 1.82 4.89 8.13 1.4 4.32 8.13 8.22 1.05 4.05 8.2 8.34 0.92 3.78 7.98 8.37 0.7 3.45 7.91 8.38 0.49 2.92 7.88 8.4 0.36 2.18 7.71 8.41 0.28 1.68 7.24 3.07 6.14 5.56 5.56 8.2 4.1

Return Period
1. Determine number of years of data, n

2. Set rainfall duration for analysis (5 minutely, hourly, daily, etc.)

3. Find maximum depth for duration in each year 4. Rank the depths from highest to lowest for all years Greatest amount at top of list, rank = m = 1 Partial duration series algorithm swaps out maximum for year during n years with with n maximum in n years (e.g., more than 1 value per year allowed) 5. Compute return period

Return Period
The return period or recurrence time interval T is

where n is number of years of data, m is rank of data from highest (m=1) to lowest (m=n) Corresponding probability = 1 / T (e.g., for t = 100 year event, the probability = 0.01)

n 1 m

1 P T

Return Period
Max. Rainfall depth Ranked (cm) data 150 222 141 205 184 192 147 184 131 184 222 182 181 181 205 179 133 165 135 159 119 156 184 150 159 150 150 147 192 142 179 141 142 135 165 133 156 131 182 119 Return period, n=20 T=(n+1)/ number m of data 21.00 10.50 7.00 5.25 4.20 3.50 3.00 2.63 2.33 2.10 1.91 1.75 1.62 1.50 1.40 1.31 1.24 1.17 1.11 1.05 Prob, P=1/T Prob in % 0.048 5% 0.095 10% 0.143 14% 0.190 19% 0.238 24% 0.286 29% 0.333 33% 0.381 38% 0.429 43% 0.476 48% 0.524 52% 0.571 57% 0.619 62% 0.667 67% 0.714 71% 0.762 76% 0.810 81% 0.857 86% 0.905 90% 0.952 95%

Year 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950

rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Evaporation

Terminology
Evaporation process by which liquid water passes directly to the vapor phase Transpiration - process by which liquid water passes from liquid to vapor through plant metabolism Sublimation - process by which water passes directly from the solid phase to the vapor phase

Evaporation Vapor pressure water vapor normally behaves as an ideal gas Partial pressure of water (vapor pressure) adds to partial pressures of the other gaseous constituents - Water vapor is about 1-2% of total pressure Humidity quantity of water vapor present in air (absolute, specific or a relative value) Specific Humidity ratio of mass of water vapor in moist air - to mass of air Dew point temperature temperature at which air becomes saturated at a given specific humidity

Factors Influencing Evaporation

Energy supply for vaporization (latent heat)

Solar radiation

Transport of vapor away from evaporative surface

Wind velocity over surface Specific humidity gradient above surface

Vegetated surfaces
Supply of moisture to the surface Evapotranspiration (ET)
Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) moisture supply is not limited

Method Estimating Evaporation

Energy Balance Method Aerodynamic Method Combined Method Priestly-Taylor Method

Groundwater
In any area, most rocks below a particular depth are saturated. At equal pressure (zero pressure), water flows towards lower elevation (downhill). At equal elevation, water flows towards lower pressure. (Pipe to faucet) Water flows at different rates through different materials: larger holes-> faster flow

Importance of Groundwater
Direct use of groundwater About half the domestic water use is from groundwater. Varies regionally. Advantages of using groundwater much less subject to seasonal variations in availability than surface water slow movement leads to high biological purity temperature is remarkably constant available virtually everywhere if you go deep enough Stream flow usually comes from groundwater discharge which means the other half of the water supply is from groundwater indirectly Groundwater controls erosion, influences mass wasting, soil processes, etc.

Zones of Saturation

Important processes
Infiltration creating soil moisture Subsurface flow through soil Groundwater flow

Saturation = % of void space occupied by water Zone of aeration (pores contain water & air) Soil water zone
Water moves down (up) during infiltration (evaporation)

Vadose zone
Water held in place by capillary forces Saturation is at or near field capacity except during infiltration
Completely saturated at base Near field capacity at the top Water is pulled up from the water table by capillary forces

Capillary zone

Soil Water Movement Factors determining movement include

Soil texture
Size soil particles Pore space

Soil moisture content Slope of soil or rock layer relative to direction of force of gravity Movements very complicated and hard to predict

Rates of Flow

Typical bulk groundwater flow rates range from 0.01 m/yr to 100 m/yr, mostly in the low range. Because much groundwater flow is channeled, the actual rates of flow are often much higher or lower.
Permeability varies tremendously. Clean sandstone may have K=0.1 m/s, while clay can have K=1E-10 m/s. Most of the movement happens in the most permeable materials, and the bulk of most materials act as storage. (Its sort of like roads and parking lots/street parking).

Rates of Flow
These are situational terms.

Aquifer - a layer that yields sufficient water to be worth pumping. Should be permeable. Aquitard - the opposite of an aquifer, it does not yield enough water to be worth pumping.

Water Table and Topography

Use of Groundwater
About half the domestic water use is from groundwater. Varies regionally. Why groundwater is good much less subject to seasonal variations in availability than surface water slow movement leads to high biological purity temperature is remarkably constant available virtually everywhere if you go deep enough

Use of Groundwater
Drawdown: depression of a piezometric surface (including water table) due to pumping. Since pumping water out means lifting it, this is important. Cone of depression is lowering of piezometric surface due to pumping around a well. Much more depressed near the well and less depressed further away. For a given amount of water withdrawal, the shape (width vs. depth) depends on hydraulic conductivity, storativity, and layer thickness. Other things being equal, a higher-permeability aquifer will have a broader, shallower cone of depression. A higher-storativity aquifer will also have a broad, shallow cone of depression. A thicker aquifer has a broader, shallower cone of depression.

Use of Groundwater

Types of Aquifer
Aquifer - store & transmit

Aquiclude store, dont transmit

Clays and less shale Impervious boundaries of aquifers Shales and less clay Leaky confining layers of aquifers

Unconsolidated deposits sand and gravel, sandstones etc.

Aquitard transmit dont store

Confined aquifer (under pressure)

Unconfined aquifer (phreatic, water table)

Bounded by a water table

Bounded by impervious layers

Aquifer Properties

Hydraulic conductivity (K)

Ability of a formation to transmit water
Clay Silt

Sedimentary Material Peat Soil

Porosity (%) 60-80

Soils

50-60
45-55 40-50 35-40 30-40 30-35 30-40 30-35 10-20 1-10 1-10

Storativity (S)
Ability of a formation to store water

Med. to Coarse Sand Uniform Sand Fine to Med Sand Gravel Gravel and Sand Sandstone Shale Limestone

Porosity (n)
Percent of total pore space occupied by voids

Infiltration General
Process of water penetrating from ground into soil Factors affecting infiltration
Condition of soil surface, vegetative cover, soil properties, hydraulic conductivity, antecedent soil moisture
Saturation Zone Transition Zone

Transmission Zone Wetting Zone Wetting Front depth

Four zones
Saturated, transmission, wetting, and wetting front

Infiltration Infiltration rate

Rate at which water enters the soil at the surface

Cumulative infiltration
Accumulated depth of water infiltrating during given time period

Surface Runoff
- water which travels over the ground surface to a channel.

Streamflow
What is a Stream? What are its boundaries? Where does it begin? Where does it end?

A stream is a current of water or other fluid. It is anything flowing out of a source; river, rivulet

Streamflow
Streams are like the capillaries and blood vessels that connect to the major arteries, the rivers. But unlike our body's circulation system, the smaller channels deliver most of the water and food to the bigger ones. Without feeder streams, our rivers would not exist. You could say a stream begins at its headwaters, often in the mountains, fed by an underground spring or the runoff from rain and snow melt. Rivulets of water flow downhill, merging together to become a stream which continues, mixing with other tributaries, until they all become a river flowing to the sea. The mouth of a river usually opens into the ocean in a broad bay where fresh water and salt water mix, called an estuary. The length of a stream may be only a few feet from where it emerges until it joins another stream, or it may traverse hundreds of miles, from the mountains to the sea. Some streams flow year-round, others only after a storm or when snow melts in the spring.

Streamflow
What could be more dynamic than a stream? It is constantly changing its flow, its depth, even its bed, as anyone knows who has observed a stream in different seasons or at different places along its course. It scours, shifts channels, meanders, floods, erodes, carries and deposits silt. Squeeze a stream in one place, and like a water balloon, it bulges in another. Where it is restricted, the stream speeds up to compensate, eroding downstream banks or spreading out to flood adjacent property. Many factors shape the character of a stream as it progresses from its headwaters to its mouth: the slope and current, the amount of water being transported, its temperature and water chemistry. These, in turn, influence the vegetation, the animals, the bottom sediments, and the shape of the channel at any point along the stream's journey.

Streamflow

Streamflow
What exactly is a Streamflow?
Stream flow is a measure of the water volume transported by a stream. It is measured by determining the volume of water that moves by a point in a set period of time (e.g., cubic feet per second or gallons per hour). Flow is affected by weather and groundwater interactions: it increases during wet seasons and decreases during dry seasons. Stream flow or discharge is the volume of water that moves through a specific point in a stream during a given period of time. Discharge is usually measured in units of cubic feet per second (cfs). To determine discharge, a cross-sectional area of the stream or river is measured. Then, the velocity of the stream is measured using a Flow Rate Sensor. The discharge can then be calculated by multiplying the cross-sectional area by the flow velocity.

Stream flow is an important factor in the stream ecosystem and is responsible for many of the physical characteristics of a stream. Stream flow can also modify the chemical and biological aspects of a stream. Aquatic plants and animals depend upon stream flow to bring vital food and nutrients from upstream, or remove wastes downstream.

Streamflow

Factors Influencing Flow Velocity Depth of stream channel Width of stream channel Roughness of stream bottom Slope or incline of surrounding terrain

Factors Influencing Stream Volume Weather or climate Seasonal changes Merging tributaries Human impact

Measuring Streamflow
The amount of water flowing in a river is called the discharge. Specifically, discharge is the volume of water that flows past a point during a specific time. Discharge is usually reported as the number of cubic feet of water passing a point each second, abbreviated as cfs (cubic feet per second). Across the country, discharge is measured in many ways. On some rivers, devices called stilling wells are installed. The height of water in the well is proportional to the discharge. Discharge can also be measured using weirs, small "walls" built across rivers to force the flow through a V-notch at the top. The height of the water level in the notch indicates the amount of discharge. Current meters can be used to measure river velocity. The measured velocity must be multiplied by the river's cross section to calculate discharge.

Measuring Streamflow

Stilling well used to measure streamflow

Schematic of a stilling well and shelter at a stream-gauging station.

The height of water passing through the notch in the weir can be used to measure discharge.

Current meter and weight suspended from a bridge crane.

Peak Runoff Estimation by Rational Method

Relates peak runoff to rainfall intensity Assumes entire catchment contributing, rainfall distributed evenly, all losses are in coefficient Qp = C i A C is runoff coefficient, i is rainfall intensity (m/s), A is watershed area (m2) and Qp is peak runoff (cms) Note that peak runoff is important for sizing storm water conveyance structures such as sewer pipes and culverts Limitations of Rational Method Runoff coefficient is not likely dependent of rainfall rate and antecedent moisture conditions Rainfall is not likely uniform over the catchment area so should limit application to areas smaller than 80 has. Higher coefficients should be used for less frequent storms given smaller percentage of rainfall abstraction

Watershed

Area draining to a stream Streamflow generated by water entering surface channels Affected by Physical, vegetative, and climatic features Geologic considerations Stream Patterns Dry periods Flow sustained from groundwater (baseflow) http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/whatis.html

Streamflow
Atmospheric Moisture

Atmospheric Water
Evapotranspiration Precipitation

Snow
Interception
Throughfall and Stem Flow

Rain Evaporation Energy

Subsurface Water
Infiltration Groundwater

Snowpack Snowmelt Pervious Surface Infiltration Soil Moisture Percolation Groundwater Groundwater Flow Streams and Lakes Channel Flow Runoff Impervious Evapotranspiration Overland Flow Evaporation Watershed Boundary

Surface Water

Streamflow or Discharge Hydrographs

- graph showing the flow rate as a function of time at a given location on a stream.

-- an integral expression of the physiographic and climatic characteristics that govern the relations between rainfall and runoff of a particular drainage basin. -- two types: annual hydrograph and storm hydrograph

Annual Hydrograph

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ctl/hydrograph.html

Storm Hydrograph
Centroid of Precipitation Time of Rise Basin Lag Peak

Discharge, Q

Inflection Point

Baseflow Recession
Beginning of Direct Runoff

Baseflow Recession End of Direct Runoff Time