cmutsvangwa: Hydrology, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng.

, NUSTt, 16/02/2006 15:28:02

ANALYSIS OF PRECIPITATION


Distribution of rainfall

Point rainfall
It is rainfall at single station, measured at that particular rain gauge. If it is
missing, point rainfall can be estimated from data from surrounding stations
(Viessman et al, 1989),. The stations should be located near to each other, or
are in the same hydrological zone

Estimation of rainfall from surrounding stations

Example
Find point rainfall at station A from point rainfalls recorded from surrounding
stations, B, C, D, E and F (10mm; 50mm; 80mm; 90mm; 58mm and 60mm
respectively and as shown in Fig. 1)

Solution
From weighted averages:

Plot y-axis and x-axis running through point A (Fig.1)
Find all coordinates of stations B; C; D; E and F ( y x ; )

2 2 2
y x D + =

2
1
D
W =
Point rainfall at A, (P
A
)
( )

=
W
W P
P
A

P are point rainfalls recorded at surrounding stations

( )
mm
W
W P
P
A
68
07 . 0
58 . 4
= =

Table 1

Station Rainfall
(mm)
x

y

2
x

2
y

2 2
y x +

W PxW
A 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
B 80 10 6 100 36 136 0.0074 0.37
C 90 5 9 25 81 106 0.0094 0.75
D 58 6 5 36 25 61 0.016 1.44
E 60 4 6 16 36 52 0.019 1.10
F 7 4 49 16 65 0.0153 0.92

338

0.07

4.58





Chapter 4: Average and areal rainfall
1
cmutsvangwa: Hydrology, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUSTt, 16/02/2006 15:28:02

x
C
y
D B(x, y)
A
x
E
F


Fig. 2: Coordinates of the stations

Areal rainfall
For large catchment areas, greater than 50km
2
, rainfall is not distributed
uniformly. It is necessary to convert point values of rainfall to give an average
rainfall or the areal precipitation over a certain catchment area. The three main
methods for deriving areal precipitation are:

arithmetic mean
Thiessen polygon
Isohyetal

Arithmetic mean
It is the sum of all items divided by the number of the items. The mean of yearly
rainfall observed for a period of consecutive years, usually 30 years and above.

simple
good estimate in flat areas if gauges are uniformly distributed
applicable when rainfall at different stations does not vary

n
P
P
i
avg

=

i
P =sum of the rainfall at different gauge stations
n=number of stations

Median: The ordinate corresponding to 50% of the years. Items are
arranged in ascending order: If the number of items is odd, then the middle
item gives the mean and if the number of items is even, the average of the
central items gives the median.





Chapter 4: Average and areal rainfall
2
cmutsvangwa: Hydrology, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUSTt, 16/02/2006 15:28:02

Thiessen polygon

it allows for non uniform distribution of rainfall by producing a weighting
factor for each gauge
very accurate that the arithmetic mean
not suitable for mountainous areas because of the orographic influences
or for intense local storms


Procedure
stations are plotted on a map
stations are joined together by straight lines
perpendicular bisectors are drawn to the straight lines joining adjacent
stations to form polygons (Thiessen polygon).
gauges have to be properly located over the catchment area to get regular
shaped polygons
a new Thiessen diagram has to be constructed every time there is a change
in the rain gauge network
It is assumed that the area enclosed within the polygon has the same
amount of rainfall as the enclosed gauge. Each polygon is assumed to be
influenced by the rain gauge station inside it.
The areal average depth of rainfall of the entire catchment area is given by:

( )
n
n n
i
i i
avg
A A A
P A P A P A
A
P A
P
+ + +
+ + +
= =

....
......
2 1
2 2 1 1


The Thiessen coefficient is given as:

=
i
i
A
A
efficient ThiessenCo

e.g. for rainfall at station 1, (A
1
)
mentArea TotalCatch
A
efficient ThiessenCo
1
=

Once these coefficients have been determined for a stable rain gauge network, the
areal rainfall is very quickly computed for any set of rainfall measurements, and
also to estimate missing data for one rain gauge station without redrawing the
polygon.

An example of the Thiessen method is shown in Fig 3(a).

Isohyetal method
The most accurate of all the three methods and is applicable when rainfall is
controlled by relief.

Procedure:
Point rainfalls are plotted in a map


Chapter 4: Average and areal rainfall
3
cmutsvangwa: Hydrology, Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUSTt, 16/02/2006 15:28:02

lines of equal rainfall are drawn (isohyets)
measure area enclosed between successive isohyets with a planimeter
multiply each of these areas by the average rainfall between the isohyets

=
i
i
avg
A
P P
A
P
2
2 1



Fig. 3: Examples of the Thiessen and Isohyetal methods

References

1. Viessman J .R., Lewis G. L., and Knapp J .W., (1989), Introduction to
hydrology, Harper Collins, USA



Chapter 4: Average and areal rainfall
4