Module-1 Hydrology

8hours
Hydrology:

Introduction, Global distribution of water and Indian water availability. Hydrologic cycle

(Horton’s) qualitative and engineering representation.

Precipitation: Forms and types, measurement of rain fall using Syphon type of rain gauges, optimum number of rain gauge
stations, consistency of rainfall data (double mass curve method), computation of mean rainfall, estimation of missing data,
presentation of precipitation data, movingaverage curve, mass curve, rainfall hyetographs.
Losses from Precipitation: Evaporation process, factors affecting evaporation, measurement using IS class-A Pan, reservoir
evaporation and control. Factors affecting Evapo-transpiration. Infiltration, Factors affecting infiltration capacity, measurement by
double ring infiltrometer, Horton’s infiltrationequation, infiltration indices.
 • Hydrology means the science of water. It is the science that deals with the
occurrence, circulation and distribution of water of the earth and earth’s
atmosphere.

• Water occurs on the earth in the form of vapour, snow, surface

water, ice, and ground water in the subsurface.

Introduction • Evaporation of water from water bodies such as oceans and lakes, formation and
movements of clouds, rain and snowfall, streamflow and ground water movements
are some examplesof the dynamic aspect of water.

• The various aspects of water related to the earth can be explained in terms of a
cycle known as the Hydrologic Cycle.
SCOPE OF HYDROLOGY

The study of hydrology helps us to know:

1. The maximum probable flood that may occur at given sit and its frequency; this is required for the safe design of drains, bridges
& culverts, dams & reservoirs, channels and otherflood control system.

2. The water yield from a basin –its occurrence, quantity and frequency etc; this is necessary for the design of dams, municipal water
supply, water power, river navigation etc.

3. The ground water development for which a knowledge of Hydro geology of the area i.e. formation of the soils, recharge facilities like
streams and reservoirs, rainfall pattern, climate; cropping pattern etc are required.

4. The maximum intensity of storm & its frequency for the design of drainage project in the area.
HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE

Water exists on the earth in gaseous form (water vapor), liquid and solid (ice) forms and is circulated among the different components of the
Earth mainly by solar energy and planetary forces. Sunlight evaporates sea water and this evaporated form is kept in circulation by
gravitational forces of Earth and wind action. The different paths through which water in nature circulates and is transformed is called
hydrological cycle.
Hydrological cycle is defined as the circulation of water from the sea to the land through the atmosphere back to the sea often with delays
through process like precipitation, interception, runoff, infiltration, percolation, ground water storage, evaporation and transpiration also
water that returns to the atmosphere without reaching the sea.
Hydraulogic Cycle
Qualitative representation of Horton‘s hydrological Cycle
Engineering representation of Horton‘s hydrological Cycle
 The world‘s total water resources are estimated to be around 1.36X 1014 ha-m. 92.7% of this water is salty and is stored in oceans and seas. Only
2.8% of total available water is fresh water. Out of this 2.8% fresh water, 2.2% is available as surface water and 0.6% as ground water. Out Of the
2.2% surface water, 2.15% is stored in glaciers and ice caps, 0.01% in lakes and streams and the rest is in circulation among the different
components of the Earth‘s atmosphere.
Out of the 0.6% ground water only about 0.25% can be economically extracted. It can be summarized that less than 0.26% of fresh water is
available for use by humans and hencewater has become a very important resource.

Water is never stagnant (except in deep aquifers), it moves from one component to other

component of the earth through various process of precipitation, run off, infiltration, evaporation etc. For a civil engineer, it is
important to know the occurrence, flow, distribution etc. it important to design and construct many structures in contact withwater.
Precipitation

The process of continuous condensation in free air helps the condensed particlesto grow in size. When the resistance of the air
fails to hold them against the force of gravity, they fall on to the earth’s surface. So after the condensation of water vapour, the
release of moisture is known as precipitation. This may take place in liquid or solid form.

Precipitation in the form of drops of water is called rainfall, when the drop size is more than 5 mm. when raindrops evaporate
before reaching the earth whilepassing through dry air.

Drizzle: A fine sprinkle of numerous water droplets of size less than 0.5mm and intensity less than 1mm/hr is known as drizzle.
In this, the drops are so small thatthey appear to float in the air.

When the temperature is lower than the 0° C, precipitation takes place in the form
of fine flakes of snow and is called snowfall. Moisture is released in the form ofhexagonal crystals.
 These crystals form flakes of snow. Besides rain and snow, other forms of precipitation are sleet and hail (more about hail while
studying thunderstorms), though the latterare limited in occurrence and are sporadic in both time and space.

Sleet is frozen raindrops and refrozen melted snow-water. When a layer of air with the temperature above freezing point overlies a
subfreezing layer near the ground, precipitation takes place in the form of sleet.

Raindrops, which leave the warmer air, encounter the colder air below. As a result, they solidify and reach the ground as small pellets of
ice not bigger than the raindrops from which they are formed. Sometimes, drops of rain after being released by the clouds become
solidified into small rounded solid pieces of ice and which reach the surface of the earth are called hailstones.

These are formed by the rainwater passing through the colder layers. Hailstones

have several concentric layers of ice one over the other.

Rainfall: drop size more than 0.5 mm.

Virage: raindrops evaporate before reaching the earth.

Drizzle: light rainfall; drop size less than 0.5 mm.

Mist: evaporation occurs before reaching the ground leading to foggy weather.

Snowfall: fine flakes of snow fall when the temperature is less than 0°C.
 Hail: precipitation in the form of hard rounded pellets is known as hail; 5 mm and

50 mm

Types of Rainfall: On the basis of origin, rainfall may be classified into three maintypes – the

 Convectional
 Orographic or relief
 Cyclonic or frontal conventional Rainfall
 The, air on being heated, becomes light and rises up in convection currents. As it rises, it expands and loses heat and
consequently, condensation takes place and cumulous clouds are formed. This process releases latent heat of condensation
which further heats the air and forces the air to go further up.

 Convectional precipitation is heavy but of short duration, highly localised and is associated with minimum amount of
cloudiness. It occurs mainly during summer and is common over equatorial doldrums in the Congo basin, the
Amazon basin and the islands of south-east Asia.
Orographic Rainfall

 When the saturated air mass comes across a mountain, it is forced to ascend and as it rises, it expands (because of fall in
pressure); the temperature falls, and the moisture is condensed.

 This type of precipitation occurs when warm, humid air strikes an orographic barrier (a mountain range) head on. Because
of the initial momentum, the air is forced to rise. As the moisture laden air gains height, condensation sets in, and soon
saturation is reached. The surplus moisture falls down as orographic precipitation along the windward slopes.

 The chief characteristic of this sort of rain is that the windward slopes receive greater rainfall. After giving rain on the windward
side, when these winds reach the other slope, they descend, and their temperature rises. Then their capacity to take in moisture
increases and hence, these leeward slopes remain rainless and dry.

 The area situated on the leeward side, which gets less rainfall is known as the rain-shadow area (Some arid and
semi-arid regions are a direct
consequence of rain-shadow effect. Example: Patagonian desert in Argentina, Eastern slopes of Western Ghats). It is also
known as the relief rain.

 Example: Mahabaleshwar, situated on the Western Ghats, receives more than 600 cm of rainfall, whereas Pune, lying in the rain
shadow area, has only about 70 cm.

The Wind Descending on the Leeward Side is heated adiabatically and is called Katabatic Wind.
Frontal Precipitation

 When two air masses with different temperatures meet, turbulent conditions are produced. Along the front convection
occurs and causes precipitation (we studied this in Fronts). For instance, in north-west Europe, cold continental air and
warm oceanic air converge to produce heavy rainfall in adjacent areas.

Fronts – Frontogenesis – Stationary Front, Cold Front, Warm Front, Occluded Front

Cyclonic Rain

 Cyclonic Rainfall is convectional rainfall on a large scale. (we will see this in detail later)

 The precipitation in a tropical cyclone is of convectional type while that in a temperate

cyclone is because of frontal activity.

Monsoonal Rainfall

 This type of precipitation is characterized by seasonal reversal of winds which carry oceanic moisture (especially
the south-west monsoon) with them and cause extensive rainfall in south andsoutheast Asia. (More while studying
Indian Monsoons).
Syphon float
type rain gauge
 CONSISTENCY OF RAINFALL
If the conditions relevant to the recording of a raingauge station have undergone significant change during the period of record, inconsistency
could arise in the rainfall data of that record. Some of the common causes for inconsistency of recordare:

1. Shifting the raingauge station to new location.

2. The neighborhood oh the station undergoing a marked change.

3. Change in the ecosystem due to calamities such as forest fires, land slide etc.

4. Occurrence of observational error from certain data.

Checking for inconsistency of a record is done by “double mass curve technique”. This technique is based on the principle that
“when each recorded data comes from the same parent population, they are consistent.
A group of 5 to 10 base stations in the neighborhood of the problematic station ‘X’ is selected. The data of annual (monthly) mean rainfall of the
station X and also the average rainfall of the group of the base stations covering a long period is arrangedin reverse chronological order.
The accumulated precipitation of station X and the accumulated precipitation values of the average of the group of base station are calculated
starting from the latest record. Values of ∑Px are plotted against ∑Pavg for various consecutive time periods. A decided break in the slope of the
resulting plot indicate a change in precipitation regime of station ’X’ beyond the period of change of regime is corrected by using the relation:

𝑃𝐶𝑋 = 𝑃𝑋∗ 𝑀𝐶/ 𝑀𝑎

Where,

𝑃𝐶𝑋 = Corrected precipitation at any time period T1 at station X Px =

Original recorded precipitation at time period T1 at station X Mc =
Corrected slope of the double mass curve

Ma = Original slope of the double mass curve

 ESTIMATION OF MISSING PRECIPITATION RECORD
A sufficiently long precipitation record is required for frequency analysis of rainfall data. But a particular rain gauge may not be
operative for sometime due to many reasons it becomes necessary to estimate missing record & fill the gap rather than to leave it empty. This is done
by the following method.

1. Interpolation from Isohyetal map:

In an Isohyetal map of the area the passion of the station (rain gauge) where record is missing is marked by interpolation techniques the missing record
is worked out the factors like storm factor, topography nearness to seaare considered for proper estimation.
2. Station Year method:

In this method the records of 2 or more stations are combined into one long record provided station records are independent and areas in which
stations located are climatologically the same. The missing record at any station in a particular year may be found by ratio of averages or by graphical
comparison.
3. Arithmetic average method :

Here number of other rain gauge station record surrounding station in question (missing record) is required. The missing rainfall
record at the station is taken as average o fall available data surrounding station in question. P1, P2, P3-------- etc Pn are rainfall record
from ―n‖ station surrounding a non operative station ‘x’ the rainfall data for station ‘x’ is given as
Px = (P1+ P2+ P3------+Pn) / 3
This method is applicable when normal annual rainfall at station ―x‖ does not differ by more than 10% with the surrounding
station.
 OPTIMUM NUMBER OF RAIN GAUGE STATIONS

If there are already some raingauge stations in a catchment, the optimal number of stations that should exist to have anassigned percentage of error
in the estimation of mean rainfall is obtained by statistical analysis as
N = (Cv/E ) 2

Where, N= optimal number of stations

E = allowable degree of error in the estimate of mean rainfall
If there are n stations in the catchment each recording rainfall values P1, P2…….... Pn in a known time, the coefficient ofvariation.

P1 = (P12+ P22+ P32------+Pn2) / 3

 Moving Average Curve
The graphical representation of rainfall in any of the methods may not show any trend or cyclic pattern present in the data. The moving
average curve smoothens out the extreme variations and indicate the trend or cyclic pattern if any more clearly. It is also known as the moving
mean curve.
The procedure to construct the moving average curve is as follows: The moving average curve is constructed with a movingperiod (m) year, where m
is generally taken to be 3 to 5 years. Let X1, X2, X3…………… Xn be the sequence of given annual rainfall in the chronological order.
Let Yi denote the ordinate of the moving average curve for the ith year. Then m = 3, Yi is computed from

From the above equations the computed value of ‘i’ correspond in time, the middle value of ‘x’ being average and therefore it is
convenient to use odd values of “m”.
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

1. Explain Horton’s qualitative Hydrologic cycle?

2. Explain with a neat sketch Siphon’s rain gauge?

3. Define precipitation. Explain various forms of precipitation?

4. Explain double Mass curve with sketch.

5. Explain scope of application of hydrology.

6. Explain:
a) Optimum number of rain gauges.
b) Consistency of rainfall data.
EVOPERATION

LOSSES FROM PRECIPITATION

The hydrological equation states that =Runoff + Rainfall – Losses‘.

Hence the runoff from a watershed resulting due to a storm is dependent on the losses. Losses may occur due to thefollowing reasons
1. Evaporation
2. Evapotranspiration
3. Infiltration.
4. Interception.
5. Watershed leakage
6. The first three contribute to the major amount of losses.
EVAPORATION

It is the process by which a liquid changes to gaseous state at the free surface through transfer of heat energy. In an exposed water body like
lakes or ponds, water molecules are in continuous motion with arrange of velocities (faster at the top and slower at the bottom). Additional heat
on water body increases the velocities. When some water molecules posses’ sufficient kinetic energy they may cross over the water surface.
Simultaneously the water molecules in atmosphere surrounding the water body may penetrate the water body due to condensation. If the
number of molecules leaving the water body is greater than the number of molecules arriving or returning, difference in vapour pressure occurs,
leading to evaporation
 EVAPORATION PROCESS
When the external thermal energy supplied to surface of water body, the kinetic energy of water molecules will be increased. When the
molecules near the free surface attain enough kinetic energy, they escape from the water body they eject themselves in to the atmosphere. Out
of total atmospheric pressure on the free surface there will be some contribution from the vapour molecules present in the free surface. This
partial pressure exerted by the vapour is called vapour pressure. Continued supply of heat energy causes accumulation of more and more
vapour molecules and thus gaseous medium can no longer accommodate and reject vapour molecules in the form of condensation at the
same rate as vaporization. At this stage the air is said to be saturated. At saturation the partial pressure exerted by water vapour is called the
saturation vapour pressure and denoted by (Es) which increase with temperature.
Thus if vapour pressure of air above free surface of water is already equal to the saturation vapour pressure (Es) neither evaporation no
condensation takes place and then it is called as equilibrium state. From the above explanation for evaporation to occur it is necessary to
have a supply of water, a source of heat and Vapour pressure deficit, i.e difference b/w saturated vapour pressure of water correspond to
water temperature.

FACTORS AFFECTING EVAPORATION

1. Vapour pressure difference:

The number of molecules leaving or entering a water body depends on the vapour pressure of water body at the surface and also the vapour pressure of
air. Higher water temperature leads to high vapour pressure at surface and tends to increase the rate of evaporation. High humidity in air tends to
increase vapour pressure in air and in turn reduces rate of evaporation.
2. Temperature of air and water:
The rate of emission of molecules from a water body is a function of its temperature. At higher temperature molecules of water have greater energy to
escape. Hence maximum evaporation from water bodies takes place in summer. It has been estimated that for every 1o C rise in atmospheric
temperature increases 5 cm of evaporation annually.

3. Wind Velocity:
When wind velocity is more the saturated air (humid air) is drifted away and dry air comes in contact with water surface which isready to absorb moisture.
Hence rate of evaporation is dependent on wind velocity. It has been estimated that 10% increase in wind velocity increases 2 – 3% of evaporation.

4. Quality of water:
The rate of evaporation of fresh water is greater than saline water. (Specific gravity of saline water is greater than that of fresh water. It is established
that saline water has lesser vapour pressure and it is observed that evaporation from fresh water is 3 – 4% more than sea water.

5. Atmospheric pressure and Altitude:

Evaporation decreases with increase in atmospheric pressure as the rate of diffusion from water body into the air is suppressed. At higher
altitude the atmospheric pressure is usually lesser and there by evaporation rate is higher.

6. Depth of water body:

Evaporation shallow water bodies is greater when compared to deep water bodies as the water at lower levels in deep water bodies is not heated much
and vapour pressure at lower levels is also reduced.
7. Humidity:
If the humidity of the atmosphere is more the evaporation will be less because during the process of evaporation, water vapour, moving from the
point of higher moisture content to lower moisture content and rate of this movement is grounded by this difference of their moisture content or
moisture gradient existing in air.

8. Radiation:
Since the evaporation requires continuous supply of energy which is derived mainly from solar radiation. The radiation will be a factor of
considerable importance. Evaporation increase and the radiation increases and vice versa.
DALTONS LAW OF EVAPORATION
The rate of evaporation is function of the difference in vapour pressure at the water surface and the atmosphere.
Dalton‘s law of evaporation states that ―Evaporation is proportional to the difference in vapour pressures of water and air
MEASUREMENT OF EVAPORATION

 In order to ensure proper planning and operation of reservoirs and irrigation systems estimation of evaporation is necessary. However exact
measurement of evaporation is not possible. But the following methods are adopted as they give reliable results.

1) Pan measurement methods 2) Storage equation method

3) Use of empirical formulae 4) Energy budget method

PAN MEASUREMENT METHOD
Any galvanized iron cylindrical vessel of 1.2 m to 1.8 m diameter, 300 mm depth with opening at the top can be used as an evapometer or
evaporation pan. During any interval of time evaporation is measured as the drop in water level in the pan. Rainfall data, atmospheric pressure
data, temperature, etc should also be recorded. It has been correlated that evaporation from a pan is not exactly the same as that taking place
from a water body. Hence while using a pan measurement data for measuring evaporation from a lake or a water body, a correction factor has
to be applied or multiplied by a pan co-efficient.
Pan co-efficient = (actual evaporation from reservoir / measured evaporation from pan)
The evaporation pans adopted in practice have a pan coefficient of 0.7 to 0.8. The popularly used evaporation pans are:
1. ISI standard pan or Class A pan 2. US Class A
USE OF EMPIRICAL FORMULAE
Based on Dalton‘s law of evaporation, various formulae have been suggested to estimate evaporation.

1. Meyer‘s formula:

E = C*(es – ea)*(1+0.06215V)
Where, E = evaporation from water body (mm/month)
es= saturation vapour pressure at water surface (mm of mercury) corresponding to mean monthly temperature of water.
ea= actual vapour pressure of air based on mean monthly temperature & relative humidity.
v = monthly mean wind velocity in Km/hr, 10m above the ground c = 50
(small shallow ponds) = 11 (for large or deep water bodies)

2. Rohwer‘s formula:

E = 0.771(1.465 – 0.000732Pa)*(0.44+0.7334v)*(es – ea)

Where, E = evaporation in mm/day
Pa = Mean Barometric Reading in mm mercury
es= saturation vapour pressure at water surface (mm of mercury) corresponding to mean monthly temperature of water ea= actual vapour
pressure of air based on mean monthly temperature & relative humidity

v = monthly mean wind velocity in Km/hr, 10m above the ground

METHODS TO CONTROL EVAPORATION FROM LAKES

Following are some recommended measures to reduce evaporation from water surfaces.

1) Storage reservoirs should have more depth and less surface area. The site for construction of a dam should be so chosenthat a deep reservoir
with minimum surface area exposed to atmosphere is formed.

2) Tall trees on the wind ward side of the reservoir should be planted so that they act as wind breakers.
3) By spraying a chemical such as Acetyl Alcohol on water surface, a film of 0.15 microns thickness is produced on the surface. This film allows
precipitation in but does not allow evaporation. This is suitable when wind velocities are less and for small andmedium sized reservoirs.

4) In case of ponds and lakes entire water body can be covered by thin polythene sheets as mechanical covering.
5) In reservoirs outlet arrangements should be so done to let out warmer water at top than cold water from bottom.
6) De-weeding the reservoirs should be done such that water consumed by weeds is reduced.
7) The streams and channels to be straightened so that length and in turn exposed area to atmosphere are reduced.
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Evapotranspiration:
In agricultural fields apart from transpiration, water is also lost due to evaporation from adjacent soil. The sum of these two losses is often termed as
evapotranspiration (Et) or consumptive use (Cu).
Potential evapotranspiration:
When sufficient moisture is freely available to completely meet the needs of the vegetation fully covering an area, the resulting
evapotranspiration is called potential evapotranspiration.
Actual evapotranspiration:
The real evapotranspiration occurring in a specific situation in the field is called actual evapotranspiration. The knowledgeof evapotranspiration,
potential evapotranspiration and actual evapotranspiration are very much useful in designing irrigation systems (in deciding the amount of water
to be supplied for raising crops).
FACTORS AFFECTING EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Potential evapotranspiration is controlled by meteorological facts but actual evapotranspiration is affected by plant and soilfactors. In total the factors
affecting evapotranspiration are:

1. Temperature 2. Humidity 3. Percentage sunshine hours 4. Wind speed 5. Type of crop 6. Season 7.
Moisture
holding capacity of soil 8. Irrigation Methods 9. Cropping patterns
BLANEY CRIDDLE EQUATION
Blaney and Criddle developed a simple equation for estimating evapotranspiration. It is assumed that the evapotranspiration is closely correlated
with the mean monthly temperatures and daylight hours. The monthly consumptive use factor ‘f’ is defined as: f = (p*Tm / 100)
Where Tm is the monthly mean temperature in 0F, p is the monthly daylight hours expressed as
p = (possible sunshine hours for the particular month/ possible sunshine hours for the whole year) * 100 p = (possible
sunshine hours for the particular month/ 365*12) * 100
The value of p depends on the latitude of the place and the month of the year. The monthly consumptive use is thenobtained as:
u = k*f
Where k is an empirical crop co-efficient. The monthly consumptive use u are added for all the months of the crop to yield theseasonal consumptive use
or the total evapotranspiration in inches. The value of k depends on the month and the place. The Blaney – Criddle equation gives reasonably accurate
estimates of evapotranspiration provided a locally developed crop co- efficient is used. However it takes only temperature and daylight hours into
account and the other important factors like humidity and wind are ignored.
 INFILTRATION
INTRODUCTIO
N:
The water entering the soil at the ground surface after overcoming resistance to flow is called infiltration.
The process is also termed as infiltration. Infiltration fills the voids in the soil. Excess water moves down by gravity and it is known as percolation.
Percolation takes place till water reaches ground water table. For continuous infiltration to occur it is essential that percolation should also be
continuous, which is also dependent of ground water movement. Infiltration process: Infiltration plays an important role in the runoff process and it
can be easily understood by a simple analogy as shown below. The soil medium where infiltration is to be observed may be considered as a small
container covered with a wire gauge mesh. If water is poured over the gauge, part of it enters the soil and some part over flows. Further the runoff
and infiltration depend on the condition of soil. When soil reaches saturated condition infiltration stops and all input becomes runoff. Usual ly at the
beginning of a storm infiltration is more and runoff is less and when storm continues infiltration becomes lesser and runoff become constant. The
volume of rainfall that will result in runoff is called ‗Rainfall excess‘.
Infiltration rate (f): It is actually the prevailing rate at which the water is entering the given soil at any given instant of time. It is expressed in cm/hr
(i.e. depth of water entering soil per unit time).
Infiltration Capacity (fp): It is the maximum rate at which a soil in any given condition is capable of absorbing water.

INFILTERATION
FACTORS AFFECTING INFILTRATION CAPACITY

The variations in the infiltration capacity are large. The infiltration capacity is influenced by many factors. Some factors contribute to long
term variation, but some cause temporary variations.

a. Depth of surface retention and thickness of saturated layer of soil: Infiltration takes place due to combined influence of gravity and capillary
force. Due to this a layer of soil near the surface becomes saturated. If the thickness of saturated soil at any given time and at any given section is
‘L’ the water will flow through a series of tiny tubes of length ‘L’. Therefore infiltration capacity should decrease with time in a continuous rain and
become a constant ultimately.

b. Soil Moisture - The soil moisture affects the infiltration capacity in 2 ways:
(i) If the soil is quiet dry at the beginning of the rain, there is a strong capillary attractionfor moisture in subsurface layers that acts in the
same direction as gravity and given high initial value of infiltration. As water percolates down the surface layer becomes semi saturated &
capillary forces diminish hence f also reduces.

(ii) When the soil is subjected to wetting very fine soil particles called colloids will swell slightly and reduce the size of the voids. This
leads to reduce of ‘f’ with time.

c. Compactness of soil -
(i) Due to rain – The clay surfaced soils are compacted even by the impact of rain drops which reduce ‘f’. This compaction not only reduces
the porosity but also pore sizes. Thiseffect is negligible in sandy soil. Protection by vegetative cover or practically eliminate
this effect even in fine textured soils.
(ii) Due to man & animals – where heavy pedestrian or vehicular traffic moves on the soil, the surface is rendered relatively impervious and
this reduces ‘f’.

d. In wash of fines - When the soil becomes very dry, the surface often contains many fine particles. When rain falls and infiltration begins,
these fines are carried into the soils and aredeposited in the voids, thus reduce the infiltration capacity.

e. Vegetative covers - The natural surface cover has also an important influence on
infiltration. The presence of dense cover on vegetation on the surface increase ‘f’. The vegetative covers retard the movement of overland
flow and causes high depth of detention. Vegetative cover also reduces the raindrop compaction and provides a layer of decaying organic
matter which promotes the activity of borrowing insects and animals which in turn produces permeable soil structures.

Transpiration by vegetation tends to keep the soil moisture at low levels. Also these

factors tend to increase the infiltration capacity ‘f’. Surfaces covered with snow paved urban area will obviously have very low or zero
infiltration capacity.

f. Temperature - The effect of temperature on infiltration capacity is explained through viscosity. The flow through soil pores is almost
laminar for which the resistance is directly proportional to the viscosity. At high temperature viscosity of water is low high filtration
capacity is expected. During winter season the temperature is less and thus infiltration capacity becomes less. This is one of the factors
responsible for seasonablevariation in ‘f’.
 MEASUREMENT OF INFILTRATION:

Infiltration rates are required in many hydrological problems such as runoff estimation, soil moisture studies in agriculture, etc. The
different methods of determination of infiltration are

1. Use of Infiltro-meters

2. Hydrograph analysis method

The infiltrometer always gives the infiltration capacity at a particular site and infiltration from this at various locations in the basin may give
fairly satisfactory estimate average infiltration capacity for the entire basin. In the hydrograph analysis method the actual infiltration rate
curve is obtained, provided the accurate measurement of rainfall and runoff from the basin made.

Double ring Infiltro-meters :

A tube infiltrometer has a drawback that infiltration in it does not represent or simulate the actual field conditions because the water
tends to disperse laterally after coming out at the bottom. To overcome this draw back a Double ring Infiltro-meter is widely used. It consists of two
consecutive rings driven into the ground as shown in the figure below. The inner ring has a diameter of 30 cm and outer ring has a diameter of 60
cm. They areconcentrically driven into the ground as shown in figure. A constant water depth of 5 cm is maintained in both the rings. The outer ring
provides a water jacket to the water infiltrating from the inner ring and thus simulates the natural conditions. The water depths in both the rings are
maintained constant during the observation period. The measurement of water volume added into the inner ring is only noted. The experiment is
carried out till constant infiltration rate is obtained.
To prevent any disturbance or accidental fall of foreign matter the top of theinfiltrometer is covered with a perforated disc.
INFILTRATION EQUATIONS

The data from Infiltro-meters can be used to plot an infiltration capacity curve. Infiltration capacity curve is a decaying curve which shows high
infiltration capacity rate at beginning anddecreases exponentially and attains minimum or constant value over time.
Many mathematical equations have been proposed to describe the shape of the curve. The most commonly used equation is ―Horton‘s
Equation.
The infiltration rate (f) at any time ‘t‘ is given by Horton‘s equation

Fo = initial rate of infiltration capacity

Fc= final constant rate of infiltration at saturation

K= a constant depending primarily upon soil and vegetatione= base of Napier an logarithm
t= time from beginning of storm

Fc= shaded area obtained as shown from the graph also known as field capacity is the amount of rainfall which can be absorbed by soil. This
equation when conjunctively used with rain fall data (hyetograph) can be used to calculate surface runoff volumes occurringduring a storm
INFILTRATION INDICES:

The infiltration capacity curves which are developed either from infiltrometer tests or the hydrograph analyses methods can be used to estimate
the runoff from a given storm. The infiltration rate curve appropriate to the soil, vegetation and antecedent moisture conditions existing at the time
of occurrence of storm is superimposed on the rainfall hyetograph with base lines coincident as shown in figure below.
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

1) Explain the factors affecting evaporation?

2) Define evaporation. With a neat sketch explain measurement of evaporation using “IS class A pan”?

3) Explain estimation of evaporation by Meyer’s and Rohwer’s empirical formulae?

4) What are the measures taken to reduce evaporation?

5) Enlist the factors affecting evapotranspiration?

6) Explain Blaney Criddle equation for estimating evapotranspiration?

7) What are the different methods of estimating evapotranspiration? Explain any two methods.

8) Explain the factors affecting infiltration capacity.

9) Describe the method of determining infiltration capacity using double ring infiltrometer.

10) Differentiate between:

(a) W-index & ɸ index (b) AET & PET
IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

1. Explain the hydrology and global distribution of water.

2. Explain water availability in Indian scenario.
3.Explain Horton’s qualitative Hydrologic cycle?
4. Explain with a neat sketch Siphon’s rain gauge?
5. Define precipitation. Explain various forms of precipitation?
6. Explain the factors affecting evaporation?

7. Define evaporation. With a neat sketch explain measurement of evaporation using “IS class A pan”?
8. What are the measures taken to reduce evaporation?
9. Enlist the factors affecting evapotranspiration?
10.Explain the factors affecting infiltration capacity.
11.Describe the method of determining infiltration capacity using double ring infiltrometer. 12.Differentiate between W-index & ɸ
index.