Hydrological Process &

Measurements
EngH 651
Asfaw Kebede (PhD), Hydrology and Water Resources
Hydrological Process & Measurements
The aim of the course is:

 To introduce the field measurement techniques available for the major hydrological
processes such as:-

 Precipitation
 Infiltration,
 Soil moisture,
 Evaporation,
 Interception etc. and
 Their estimation methods which are widely applicable in physical as well as conceptual
models of watersheds, agricultural fields, etc.
Hydrological Process & Measurements
Content of the course
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component
 Introduction to the major hydrological processes and precipitation
 Field measurement techniques
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth:
 Weather Phenomena (solar radiation and energy balance on the earth’s surface, air
temperature, wind speed, humidity of air and transport of water vapor in the air)
 Evaporation from water bodies, bare soil, vegetation (transpiration)
 Methods of Evaporation estimation (Penman, Penman-Monthieth, Hagreaves, Turc, etc)
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena:
 Infiltration, water flow and retention in the unsaturated zone and method of estimations,
 (Darcy equation, Richards equation, Green-Apt equations, etc) and
 Other empirical methods.
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component
Definition of hydrology (Singh, 1992)
 Hydrology is a science that deals with
 The space-time characteristics on the quantity and quality of water on earth including its:-
 Occurrence
 Movement
 Distribution
 Circulation
 Storage
 Exploration
 Development, and
 Management
 It involves multitude of disciplines: Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Geography,
Glaciology, Oceanography, Physics, etc.
Therefore, Hydrology is an interdisciplinary science
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Physical Processes related to the hydrological cycle
o Weather Phenomena
 Solar radiation
 Other components of the earth’s energy balance
 Wind
 Humidity
 Air temperature & transport of sensible heat in air
 Precipitation (rain, snow, etc.)
 Deposition of pollutants from the atmosphere

o Surface Phenomena
 Surface retention of water (depression storage)
 Interception
 Overland flow
 Channel flow
 Storage & flow in reservoirs, lakes, Estuaries
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Physical Processes related to the hydrological cycle…
o Unsaturated (vados zone) phenomena
 Infiltration
 Water flow & retention in the unsaturated zone
 1D/2d/3D vertical flow
 Down Slope movement

o Groundwater Phenomena:
 Groundwater flow
 Groundwater storage
 Groundwater interaction
 With surface water bodies (bank infiltration)
 Unsaturated zone (recharge, capillary rise)

o Evaporation Phenomena:
 Weather phenomena
 Evaporation from open water
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Physical Processes related to the hydrological cycle…
 Evaporation from intercepted water
 Evaporation from bare soil
 Evaporation from plant (transpiration)
o Water Regime of plant
 Water uptake by roots
 Transport & retention of water in plant
 Transpiration
o Snow and Frost Phenomena
 Snow pack accumulation & transformation
 Snow melting
 Water uptake by frozen layer
 Infiltration to frozen soil
 Evaporation
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Physical Processes related to the hydrological cycle…
o Transport & transformation of solutes
 In surface water
 In the unsaturated zone
 In groundwater

Basic Hydrological Cycle

o Standard concepts (Physical)
 Precipitation
 Evaporation/Evapotranspiration
 Surface Water
 Unsaturated Zone water
 Groundwater
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component…
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component…

Basic Hydrological Cycle water balance…

For a given problem area, say a catchment in an interval of time ∆t, the general continuity equation for water
in its various phases is written as,

Mass inflow - Mass outflow = Change in mass storage

Usually magnitudes related to the hydrologic cycle are expressed in mm per unit time.

Example - 1: A lake had a water surface elevation of 103.200m above datum at the beginning of a certain
mouth. In that month the lake received an average inflow of 6.0 m3/ s from surface runoff sources. In the same
period the outflow from the lake had an average value of 6.5 m 3/s. Further, in that month, the lake received a
rainfall of 145mm and the evaporation from the lake surface was estimated as 6.10 cm. Write the water budget
equation for the lake and calculate the water surface elevation of the lake at the end of the month. The
average lake surface area can be taken as 5000 ha. Assume that there is no contribution to or from the ground
water storage.

Solution
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component…
Basic Hydrological Cycle water balance…

Example 2: A small catchment of area 150 ha received a rainfall of 10.5 cm in 90 minutes due to a stream.
At the outlet of the catchment, the stream draining the catchment was dry before the storm and
experienced a runoff lasting for 10 hours with an average discharge value of 2.0 m 3/s. The stream was
again dry after the runoff event.
a) What is the amount of water which was not available to runoff due to combined effect of infiltration,
evaporation and transpiration?
b) What is the ratio of runoff to precipitation?

Solution
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Basic Hydrological Cycle…
Global Scene:
Area (106 km2) Volume % of total water amount % of fresh water
km3 (103 ) amount
Oceans 361.3 1,338,000 96.5 0.0
Groundwater
Fresh 134.8 10,530 0.76 30.1
Salty 134.8 12,870 0.93
Soil Moisture 82 16.5 0.0012 0.05
Polar ice 16 24,024 1.7 68.6
Other ice & snow 0.3 340.6 0.025 1.0
Lakes
Fresh 1.2 91 0.007 0.26
Saline 0.8 85.4 0.006
Marshes 2.7 11.5 0.0008 0.03
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Basic Hydrological Cycle…
Global Scene:

Area (105 km2) Volume % of total water amount % of fresh water

km3 (103 ) amount
Rivers 148.8 2.1 0.0002 0.006
Biologic Water 510 1.1 0.0001 0.003
Atmospheric water 510 12.9 0.001 0.04

Total water 510 1,385,985 100

Fresh water 148.8 35,029 2.5 100
Table 1. Water on earth (after Chow et al., 1998)
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Basic Hydrological Cycle… (Global Scene)

Oceans Land
Area (106 km2) 361.3 148.8
mm/yr Km3/yr mm/yr Km3/yr
Precipitation 1270 458000 800 119000
Evaporation 1400 505000 484 72000 (60.5%)
River 44700 (37.5%)
Groundwater 2200 (1.8 %)
Table 2. The global hydrologic cycle (after Chow et al., 1988)
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Basic Hydrological Cycle… (Continental Scene)
Europe Asia Africa N. America S. America Australia World

Area (104 km2) 9.8 45 30.3 20.7 17.8 8.7 132.3

Precipitation (mm) 734 726 686 670 1648 736 834

Evaporation (mm) 415 433 547 383 1065 510 540
Runoff (mm) 319 229 139 287 583 226 294
Evaporation (%) 57 60 80 57 65 69 65

Surface runoff (mm) 210 217 91 203 373 172 204

Groundwater runoff 109 76 48 84 210 54 90

(mm)
Surface runoff/ Total 66 74 65 71 64 76 69
runoff (%)
Table 3. the yearly water balance for the different continents (source: Van der leeden et al., 1990)
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Quantification Aspects
Resource Definition
 Scale
 Quantity
 Quality
Water Use, Flow-paths & Sustainability
 Sectors (Agriculture, Domestic, Industrial,
Hydropower, Recreation, etc.)
 Needs, Impact, strategies & tradeoffs
 Contamination/protection/supply security
 Prediction
Monitoring & Evaluation
 Type
 Frequency
 Feedback
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Aspects we are dealing
 Precipitation and its measurement
 Evaporation and its measurement aspects
 Unsaturated water flow and measurement aspects
Resources (Water Resources Assessments):- in
water resource assessment we will focus on
Scale
 Watershed/basin or aquifer characterization
 Commonly diverted/skewed (administrative/legal
boundaries)
Quantity
 Typical starting point (precipitation, surface
water, groundwater)
 Water balance analysis
Quality (frequency, 2nadry or overlooked but critical)
 Inclusive to each user group needs
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation

Objectives of this topic:

 To bring in the important characteristics of rainfall

 To Provide computational methods for estimating both average areal rainfall amounts and missing
rainfall depth
 To provide a method for evaluating the consistency of a gauged record of rainfall
 To show the fundamentals of probable maximum precipitation
 To show different ways of presenting rainfall data
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation
Precipitation is that part of atmospheric moisture that reaches the earth surface in different forms:
The essential requirement for precipitation to occur
 Moisture in the atmosphere
 Presence of nuclei around which condensation vapor takes place
 Dynamic cooling responsible for condensation of water vapor

Precipitation product must reach the ground in some form

Rain: when ppt reaches the surface of the earth as droplets of water (size: 0.5 to 6 mm)
Snow: when ppt falls in the form of ice-crystals
Drizzle: water droplets of size less than 0.5 mm. it appears to be floating in the air
Hail: it is the precipitating rain in the form of any irregular form of ice with size ranging from 5 to 50mm
Dew: during night when the surface of the objects on earth cools by radiation, the moisture present in the
atmosphere condenses on the surface of these objects forming droplets of water
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Precipitation formation is classified according
to the factors responsible for lifting the air
mass:
Convective
Orographic
Cyclonic
1. Convective :- lifting of unstable air that is
warmer than surrounding air due to uneven
surface heating (Figure 2.1)
 Thunder storms
 Spotty and highly variable in intensity
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
2. Orographic: mountain range barriers cause lifting of
air masses (Fig. 2.2)
 Moist air is forced over mountain barriers by
westerly air flow & ppt falls on wind (i.e west) side
of mountain range while the leeward (eastern) side
is warner and drier
 Medium to high intensity rainfall counting for longer
duration
3. Cyclonic : a cyclone is a low pressure area
surrounded by a large high pressure area.
 When the low pressure occurs in an area, especially
over large water bodies
 It causes the air at the low pressure zone to lift,
The name of this cyclones vary in different places
o Tropical cyclone (in India)
o Typhoon (south East Asia)
o Hurricane (America)
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Measuring Precipitation
 Precipitation is measured as a vertical depth of water
that would accumulate on the horizontal surface
 Units of measurement: mm, cm, inches, feet, etc.
 It is collected & measured by instrument called rain
gauge (Fig. 2.3)
While setting up any rain gauge station the following
points should be noted:
1. The site should be on a level ground, i.e. slopping
ground, hill tops or hill slopes are not suitable
2. The site should be an open space
3. Horizontal distance b/n the rain gauge and the
nearest objects should be twice the height of the
objects
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
4. Site should be away from continuous wind forces,
5. Other meteorological instruments and the fencing of the site should maintain the step (3)
6. The site should be easily accessible (7) the gauge should be truly vertical
7. Ten percent of total number rain gauge stations of any basin should be self-recording
8. The observer must visit the site regularly to ensure its proper readiness for measurement

Type of rain gauge

1. Non-recording (rain gauge)… cylindrical container type
2. Recording (rain gauge)… Weighting type, flot type, tipping bucket type
3. Weather radar
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Measurement of rainfall by a weather radar
based on principle of that the amount of
power returned from raindrop is related to
rainfall intensity.

Reading Assignment to be submitted:

Principle of recording, data type available
using satellite rainfall recording.
The Most significant cause of error in rain
data:
 Observations is usually turbulent airflow
around the gauge,
 The dependence of rain gauge catch on
wind speed
 Evaporation from within the measuring
cylinder
 Adhesion of water to funnel, (water then
evaporate)
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
 Gauge leaks, blockages or overflows in storms
 Error in observation or transcription
 Splash in or out

Testing and Adjusting of PPt records

1. Consistency of rainfall data
Lack of consistence may be due to
 Unreported shifting the rain gauge (by as much as 8 km aerially & 3 meter in elevation)
 Significant construction work might have changed the surrounding
 Change of observational procedures
o Use of double mass-curve checks the consistency of the record
o The accumulated rainfall of a particular station is compared with the concurrent accumulated
values of mean rainfall groups of 5 to 8 surrounding base stations
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Testing and Adjusting of PPt records…
 Fig. 2.6, from the plot, the year in which a
change in regime (or environment) has occurred
is indicated by the change in slope of the
straight line plot.
 The rainfall records of the station x are
adjusted by multiplying the recorded values of
rainfall by the ratio of slopes of the straight
lines before and after change in environment.

Figure 2.9 Double mass curve analysis

for checking consistency of Rainfall
data
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Estimation of mean ppt records:
o Arithmetic method
o Thiesson polygon method
o Isohytal method
o Inverese Distance Weighting Method
o Index Stations method and
o MAPX mapping of radar data
Arithmetic Mean
Simple and satisfactory method if gages are uniformly
distributed and if individual variations are not great
Average = Total/number of stations
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….

Thiesson polygon method

o Unique for each gage network

o Allows for areal weighting of precipitation data
o Does not allow for orographic effects (those due to
elevation changes)
o Most widely used method

Fig. 2.10 Computation of areal average rainfall by the

Thiessen method.
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….

Isohytal method
 Overcomes some of these difficulties by constructing isohyets,
using observed depths at rain gages and interpolation between
adjacent gages
 Once the isohyetal map is constructed, the area Aj between
each pair of isohyets, within the watershed, is measured and
multiplied by the average Pj of the rainfall depths of the two
boundary isohyets to compute the areal average precipitation
by Equation,
 The isohyetal method is flexible, and knowledge of the storm
pattern can influence the drawing of the isohyets, but a fairly
dense network of gages is needed to correctly construct the
isohyetal map from a complex storm.
 One of most accurate methods
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
o Distance Weighting Method
o Index Stations method and
o MAPX mapping of radar data
Reading assignment.

Estimation of Missing PPt.

Using the surrounding stations to fill the gap of the missing data
The general methods area:
1. Arithmetic mean method
Simple method
When normal rainfall of the missing station within is 10% (<10%) of the surroundings stations
Used when the index stations are evenly distributed around the missing station
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….

Estimation of Missing PPt….

2. Normal ration Method
 Used when the normal rainfall of index station differs by more
than 10% (>10%)
 The rainfall of the surrounding index stations are weighted by
the ratio of normal annual rainfalls as follows

3. Inverse Distance Method

 Superimposing a rectangular coordinate system over the map
marked with rain gauge stations
 The origin of the coordinate system represents the missing
station
 The distance from the missing station is used as a weightage as
follows
Inverse Distance method
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Adequacy of rain gauges in a network Table. Minimum density of precipitation station networks
 Ideally a basin should have as many as possible Type of regions Range of norms for Remark
number of gauges to give a clear picture of the minimum network
Arial rainfall area for one station
 However, the following factors govern the (sq. km)
density of station in the country I. flat regions of 600 to 900 It can extend to
temperate, 3000 sq. km under
o Economy
Mediterranean and exceptionally
o Topography tropical zones difficult conditions.
o Accessibility II. mountainous 100 to 250 Under difficult
regions of conditions, this
 No definite rule as how many gauges are
temperate, may be extended
adequate
Mediterranean and up to 2000 sq. km
 Various countries have different stations density tropical zones
 At present in Ethiopia, according to MOWIE III. small 25
(2019), about 832 meteorological and 506 mountainous island
hydrological stations are available which does with very irregular
not satisfy the WMO’s recommendations (2399- precipitation
5428 meteorological and 674-1796 hydrometric IV. arid and polar 1500 to 10000 Great deserts are
stations)
zones not included
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Adequacy of rain gauges in a network…
 Statistics has been used in determining the optimum number of rain gauges required to be installed in a
given catchment.
 Fore monthly totals (annuals) of precipitation recorded in a network comprising N gauges that were fairly
uniformly distributed the statistic namely,
 Coefficient of variation (Cv) could be employed in determining the adequacy of gauges in the network.
 Values of Cv are calculated for the network using monthly (annual) amounts expresses as a percentage of
average annual rainfall.
 If CV is less than or equal to the allowable percentage of error, then the number of gauges in the network
is considered adequate.
 If Cv is more than the allowable, then the number of gauges required can be calculated from equation:

2
 Cv  Where: Cv = coefficient of variation of rain fall based on existing rain gauge stations;
N 
E
E= allowable percentage error in the estimate of basic mean rainfall.
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Adequacy of rain gauges in a network…
Example
A sub-basin with area of 1038 sq.km has 7 stations. The normal annual rainfall depths for all the seven
stations are given below in table. Determine the optimum number of rain-gauge stations to be established in
the basin if it is desired to limit the error in the mean value of rainfall to 10%. Indicate how you are going to
distribute the additional rain gauge stations (if required). Is it possible to have zero percent error in the
estimate of the mean value?
Table. Normal annual rainfall depth for stations in sub basin
Station A B C D E F G
Normal annual rainfall depth (cm) 62 94 62 47 32 88 70
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Temporal and spatial variability of precipitation

 The global distribution of precipitation is strongly related to latitude.

 In general, the equatorial zone (tropic belt) where the world’s maximum amounts of rainfall occur, and
decrease with increasing latitude.
 However, the geographic distribution of precipitation depends on factors other than distance from the
equator.
 Meaning, the global rainfall distribution is strongly influenced by the proximity to oceans, orographic
effects and other factors.
 The long-time mean annual height of precipitation ranges from 6000 mm (selected tropical areas) down
to 20 mm (subtropical arid regions).
 The main source of moisture for precipitation is evaporation from the oceans.
 Therefore, precipitation tends to be heavier near coastlines.
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Temporal and spatial variability of precipitation ….
 Amounts and frequency of precipitation differ in mountain areas, so the spatial variations of precipitation
depend with:
 Elevation
 Slope and
 Orientation
 Most regions can be characterized by examining one factor, the seasonal distribution of precipitation.
 Several main types of rainfall regimes can be distinguished:
 the tropical type containing two wet seasons (peaks in April and November) along the equator except trade wind
and monsoon areas featuring only one wet season,
 the subtropical type featuring winter rain,
 The temperate zone type characterized by rainfall throughout the year according to continentality and
elevation.
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Parameters of precipitation
 What is information obtained from Gauging station?
 Gauging stations can record the following information during a precipitation event:
 Total precipitation,
 Water equivalent (height of precipitation):- It is expressed as a height of precipitation in mm above a horizontal
plane.
 precipitation duration :-Period of time in min, hrs, days during which precipitation fell.
 Precipitation intensity:-ratio between precipitation total and precipitation duration

Presentation of precipitation data

Mass curve: - is a graphical representation in which time is represented along the abscissa and the
cumulative precipitation is represented along the ordinate.
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Mass curve
Presentation of precipitation data…
60
Plot of a mass curve gives information

cummulative rain fall (mm)

50
regarding rainfall intensity, duration, 40
magnitude, onset and cessation of 30
precipitation of any storm. 20

10

0
Rainfall hyetograph :- is a plot presented in the 9 10 11 12 13 14

form of a bar chart, a plot between the intensity of Time (hr)

rainfall and time.

40

35

30
rainfall intensity

25

20

15

10

0
9

9.5

10

10.5

11

11.5

12

12.5

13

13.5
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….
Precipitation….
Presentation of precipitation data…
Depth - Area - Duration (DAD) Relationship :-The areal
characteristics of a storm of a given duration are reflected
in its depth area relationship.
 A depth - area duration curve expresses graphically the
relation between progressively decreasing average
depth of rainfall over a progressively increasing area
 Refer: Applied Hydrometeorology by: Pukh Raj
Rakhecha and Vijay P. Singh, 2009, Springer. For DAD
construction steps
I-D-F curves
RF of a place can be completely defined if the intensities,
durations and frequencies of the various storms occurring
at that place are known.
Part 1. Hydrological Cycle and its Component….

End of Part 1
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth

Content of Part II

 Weather Phenomena (solar radiation and energy balance on the earth’s surface, air
temperature, wind speed, humidity of air and transport of water vapor in the air)
 Evaporation from water bodies, bare soil, vegetation (transpiration)
 Methods of Evaporation estimation (Penman, Penman-Monthieth, Hagreaves, Turc, etc)
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth

Objective

 Introduce basic concepts related to estimating evaporation for design problems in hydrology.
 Provide an overview of energy and water budgets as they apply to the estimation of evaporation rates.
 Introduce computational methods that have a theoretical basis for estimating evaporation.
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
INTRODUCTION TO EVAPORATION AND TRANSPIRATION

 About 70% of the annual precipitation on the land surface

of the earth is returned to the atmosphere by evaporation
and transpiration,

 It is clear that evaporation and transpiration are important

elements of the hydrological cycle.

 ET also play a major part in all water balance studies and

in design of all water resources projects.

 The local rate of evaporation depends on the availability

of water and of energy, and on a multitude of factors
Fig. Schematic representation of the atmospheric
describing the nature of the surface, vegetation, humidity,
heat engine. The thickness of the arrows indicates
wind, etc. the relative amounts of energy flow.
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
INTRODUCTION TO EVAPORATION AND TRANSPIRATION….

 The energy supply is primarily from solar radiation and

it varies with latitude, season, weather, exposure of
the surface and its reflective properties (albedo).
 For transport of moisture away from the evaporating
surfaces, wind and its turbulence have the most
important role.
 Evaporation (E), from the hydrological point of view, is
the process in which water from open water surfaces
(oceans, seas, lakes and rivers), from uncovered soil and
from surfaces covered by snow and glaciers goes into the Fig. Annual variation in extraterrestrial radiation
atmosphere in vapor state. [Musy, 2001] (Ra) at the equator, 20 and 400 north and south
(FAO, 56)
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…

INTRODUCTION TO EVAPORATION AND TRANSPIRATION….

 The energy supply is primarily from solar radiation and it Transpiration is the process in
which a fraction from the water assimilated by vegetation is set free into the atmosphere in
vapor state.
 Evapotranspiration (ET) is the sum of those two processes, evaporation and transpiration.
 So the evapotranspiration is the total quantity of water, in the shape of vapor, transferred from
atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere and anthropsphere.

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION PROCESS

 The combination of two separate processes whereby water is lost on the one hand from the
soil surface by evaporation and on the other hand from the crop by transpiration is referred
to as evapotranspiration (ET).
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION PROCESS….

 Direct solar radiation and, to a lesser extent,

the ambient temperature of the air provide this
energy.

 The driving force to remove water vapour

from the evaporating surface is the difference
between the water vapour pressure at the
evaporating surface and that of the
surrounding atmosphere. Figure. The partitioning of evapotranspiration into
evaporation and transpiration over the growing
period for an annual field crop
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION PROCESS ….

 As evaporation proceeds, the surrounding air becomes

gradually saturated and the process will slow down and
might stop if the wet air is not transferred to the
atmosphere.

 The replacement of the saturated air with drier air

depends greatly on wind speed.

 Hence, solar radiation, air temperature, air humidity

and wind speed are climatological parameters to consider
Figure. The partitioning of evapotranspiration
when assessing the evaporation process. into evaporation and transpiration over the
growing period for an annual field crop
 Evaporation and transpiration occur simultaneously and
there is no easy way of distinguishing between the two  At sowing nearly 100% of ET comes from
evaporation, while at full crop cover more than
processes
90% of ET comes from transpiration.
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION PROCESS ….

FACTORS AFFECTING EVAPOTRANSPIRATION

 Weather parameters, crop characteristics,
management and environmental aspects are
factors affecting evaporation and transpiration
(Figure 3)
The losses from a water surface depend upon the
following factors:
 Area of the water surface:-direct relation
 Depth of the water in the water body,
 Humidity:-inverse relation
 Wind velocity:- direct relation
FIGURE 3. Factors affecting evapotranspiration
 Temperature:- direct relation with reference to related ET concepts
 Atmospheric pressure, and
 Quality of water
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION PROCESS ….
Potential and actual evaporation
 The Evapo-Transpiration (ET) is the sum of the water lost to the atmosphere by the plants through
transpiration, and the water evaporated from soil or water body, surrounding the plant.
 Thus, Potential Evapo-Transpiration (PET) and Actual Evapo-Transpiration (AET) are two distinct concepts in
evaporation.
 PET was more explicitly defined by Penman and others as the “evaporation from an extended surface
of short green crop, actually growing, completely shading the ground, of uniform height and not
shortage of water.”
 If the water supply available is less than PET, the deficit will be drawn from soil moisture storage until the
available soil moisture is reduced to about 50%.
 The real evapo-transpiration, occurring in a specific situation in the field, is called actual evapo-
transpiration (AET).
 PET is controlled essentially by meteorological factors, where the AET is also considerably affected by
plant and soil factors.
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
Reference (ETo), crop evapotranspiration Under standard (ETc)
and non-standard conditions (ETc adj)

 Distinctions are made (Figure 4) between (ETo), (ETc) and (Etc

adj).
 ETo is a climatic parameter expressing the evaporation
power of the atmosphere.
 ETc refers to the evapotranspiration from excellently
managed, large, well watered fields that achieve full
production under the given climatic conditions.
 Due to sub-optimal crop management and environmental
constraints that affect crop growth and limit
evapotranspiration, ETc under non-standard conditions
generally requires a correction.

Figure 4. Distinction b/n Eto, Etc, and ETcadj

Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
Measurement of Evaporation
The rate of evaporation from large water surfaces,
such as rivers, ponds, reservoirs, etc., can be
determined by the following four methods:

1. Pan measurement methods

2. Using Empirical formulae
3. Storage equation method / water-budget method/
4. Energy budget method

The last three methods are used for estimation.

Figure 5. Pan measurement method

Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
Measurement of Evaporation…
Using Empirical formulae

Dalton (1802), established a law that expresses the

evaporation rate from a water surface, depending on the
air saturation deficit (the water quantity es - ea which air
can store) and on the wind speed (u).

This law has the following expression (Musy, 2001):

Meteorological factors

The meteorological factors that influence the evaporation process are: the available quantity of
water, solar radiation, air pressure and wind, the specific and relative air humidity and also the air
and water temperatures.
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
Solar radiation
The quantity of water evaporated from a
surface depends mainly on the heat quantity
that the surface receives from the sun.
The heat quantity received by a surface
alternates depending on the geographic
conditions (latitude gradient) and altitude
(altitude gradient) where the surface is
located (Musy, 2001).

The solar radiation received by the soil

surface during a day with clear sky can be FIGURE 5. Schematic presentation of the diurnal variation of
expressed using the relation: the components of the energy balance above a well-watered
transpiring surface on a cloudless day.
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
DETERMINING EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
ET measurement /estimation
 Evapotranspiration is not easy to measure.
 Specific devices and accurate measurements of various
physical parameters or the soil water balance in
lysimeters are required to determine
evapotranspiration.
 But for most water resource application ET estimates
obtained by more indirect methods.
1. Energy balance and microclimatological methods:
 Evaporation of water requires relatively large amounts
of energy, either in the form of sensible heat or
radiant energy.
 Therefore, the evapotranspiration process is governed
by energy exchange at the vegetation surface and is
limited by the amount of energy available.
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
DETERMINING EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
ET measurement….
 Because of this limitation, it is possible to predict the
evapotranspiration rate by applying the principle of
energy conservation.
 The energy arriving at the surface must equal the
energy leaving the surface for the same time period.
The equation for an evaporating surface can be written
as:

Where Rn= the net radiation, H= the sensible heat, G =the soil heat flux and λET=the latent heat flux.

 The various terms can be either positive or negative, Positive Rn supplies energy to the surface and
positive G, λET and H remove energy from the surface
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
DETERMINING EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
ET measurement….estimation
2. Soil water balance

 Evapotranspiration can also be determined by measuring

the various components of the soil water balance.
 The method consists of assessing the incoming and
outgoing water flux into the crop root zone over some
time period (Figure 6)
 If all fluxes other than evapotranspiration (ET) can be
assessed, the evapotranspiration can be deduced from
the change in soil water content (∆SW) over the time Figure 6. Soil water balance of the root zone
period:
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
3. Penman-Monteith equation
 In 1948, Penman combined the energy balance with the mass transfer method and derived an equation to
compute the evaporation from an open water surface from standard climatological records of sunshine,
temperature, humidity and wind speed.
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…
4. Temperature-Based Methods

Hargraves method

The modified Hargreaves - Samani

0.5
PET = 0.0023 Tm + 17.8)( Tmax − Tmin Ra

Where, Tm = daily mean air temperature (°C)

Tmax = daily maximum air temperature (°C)
Tmin = daily minimum air temperature (°C)
Ra = extra-terrestrial radiation (MJm-2day1
Part 2. Elements of evaporation phenomena and plant growth…

Evaporation from water bodies, bare soil, vegetation (transpiration)

Reading assignment : source Physical Hydrology (2015) or any other books.

Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena:
Points to be covered
 Water flow and retention in the unsaturated zone,
 Infiltration, and
 method of estimations, (Darcy equation, Richards equation, Green-Apt equations, etc) and
other empirical methods.

The vadose zone (often called the unsaturated zone) is commonly defined as the
geologic media spanning from the land surface to the groundwater table of the first
unconfined aquifer (Stephens 2018).

The vadose zone is known to play a critical role within the biosphere:
(1) as a storage medium to supply water to the plants and atmosphere, and
(2) as a controlling agent in the transmission of recharging water as well as contaminants from
the land surface to groundwater (Nimmo 2005).
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
The main sources of groundwater contamination typically originate in the vadose zone as:-

 leaking underground storage tanks,

 municipal solids and hazardous waste landfills,
 waste management sites, unlined pits, ponds, and lagoons,
 household septic systems, pesticide application areas, or surface spills

 More importantly, these contaminants are modified by interactions within the vadose zone.
 For example, Małecki and Matyjasik (2003) reported that the average total dissolved solids values for
rainwater changed dramatically from 30.2 mg/L at the land surface to 318 mg/L in groundwater.
 Therefore, the significant role of vadose zone is in contaminant distribution
 Research efforts have thus far focused on the vadose zone as a significant reservoir for the capture,
storage, and release of contaminants.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
 Since vadose zone involves numerous coupled physical,
geochemical, and microbial processes, the interplay of
these processes is difficult to understand especially from
a remediation perspective.
 To capture complex vadose zone characteristics, significant
advances have been made in subsurface characterization
techniques which are non-invasive, have finer resolution
and capture a large spatial extent (Wainwright et al. 2018).

 In particular, these include in situ water, solute and gas

monitoring, geophysical and remotely sensed
observations, as well as weather data, which all offer
diverse sets of data.

Figure 1. Schematic presentation of the vadose zone architecture and

inherent complexities. For example, a solid-liquid interface acts as
a zone of high biogeochemical activity.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
 The major open questions related to these datasets include:-

I. how to incorporate such diverse data types into reactive transport models;
II. which methods to use to separate bulk properties from small scale heterogeneities and
interfaces; and
III. how to characterize error characteristics and incorporate this uncertainty into model
predictions.

FIELD CONDITIONS, OBSERVATIONS AND TECHNIQUES

Vadose zone characterization and monitoring methods are commonly used for:-
 the development of a complete and accurate assessment of the inventory, distribution, and
movement of contaminants in the unsaturated zone;
 development of improved predictive methods for liquid flow and contaminant transport;
 design of remediation systems (barrier systems, stabilization of buried wastes in situ, etc..
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
 To understand the vadose zone
processes, one needs to measure
both the soil moisture content and
water pressure.

 The relationship between the

moisture content(θ) and water
pressure (ψ) is fundamentally
important to understanding soil
water behavior.

 The graph of this relationship is

commonly called the water retention
Figure. Water retention curve for a sand(Ss), either silt or clay-
curve.
loam(Uu), either loam-silt or clay(Lu), and either clay or
peat(Tt).
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
In situ measurements in the vadose zone
Soil moisture measurements.
 Soil moisture is widely recognized as a key parameter in the mass and energy
balance between the land surface and the atmosphere.
 in situ measurement should be used to validate satellite observation
/remotely sensed data/,
 The standard reference method for determining the soil moisture content is
to oven dry soil samples at 105oC.
 Disturbed soil samples are commonly used to determine the gravimetric
moisture content of soil.
 The moisture content is often expressed in volumetric units—gravimetric
moisture content times the soil dry density will give you a volumetric
moisture content.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …

Neutron moisture meter.

 One of the more accurate devices
available for measuring the amount of
moisture in the soil is the neutron
moisture meter (neutron probe).
 It use radioactive material for measuring
soil moisture.
 They contain an electronic gauge, a
connecting cable, and a source tube
containing both nuclear source and
detector tube (Fig. 1).
 An access tube is installed in the ground,
and the source tube is lowered into the
tube to the desired depths of
measurement.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Water pressure measurements.
 A tensiometer is used to directly measure
the soil water pressure.
 The tensiometer consists of a porous tip/cup,
a water-filled tube and a vacuum gauge.
 The porous cup of the tensiometer is buried
in the soil, as water is pulled out of the
tensiometer, the vacuum inside the tube
increases.
 Soil suction creates the vacuum inside the
tensiometer, which is measured by the gauge.
 Tensiometers are used in irrigation
scheduling to help farmers and other
irrigation managers to determine when to
water.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
In situ
measurements in
the saturated zone
Groundwater level
measurements.
 Groundwater level
measurements are
conducted in boreholes,
which are usually
equipped with the metal
or plastic casing.
 The water level can be
measured with a tape or
using a water pressure
transducer connected to
the data acquisition
system.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture
 Water on the Earth’s surface may follow one of three paths:
 it may evaporate into the atmosphere,
 flow across the land surface towards stream channels as overland flow, or
 it may infiltrate into the ground
 Infiltration and surface runoff are inversely related; as one increases the other decreases.
 It involves the entrance of water into the soil, the storage of water within the soil mass, and the
transmission of water through the soil by percolation,
 Limitations in any one of these component processes can reduce infiltration at the surface.
 Two forces act to move water into the soil - gravity and capillary suction.
 The infiltration capacity for a soil is the maximum rate of infiltration limited only by the properties of the
soil
 If the soil is initially dry when infiltration begins, the infiltration capacity is high since both strong capillary
and gravity forces work to draw water into the soil. As the soil becomes wet, capillary forces decrease
causing the rate of infiltration to decrease.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….
FACTORS CONTROLLING INFILTRATION

Figure. infiltration capacity for a sand

and a clay soil. Figure. Cumulative infiltration curves for different
Land use

Figure. Infiltration capacity affected by different

antecedent moisture conditions
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….
INFILTRATION RATE VERSUS CUMULATIVE INFILTRATION

Figure. (a) The infiltration rate curve f(t). The area under
the curve from time 0 to time t equals the cumulative
infiltration F(t).

(b) The cumulative infiltration curve F(t). The derivative

(slope) of the function F(t) is the infiltration rate f(t).
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….
INFILTRATION MEASUREMENT AND ESTIMATION
 Infiltration is temporally and spatially heterogeneous because all the factors that influence
infiltration vary over time and space.
 Soil texture can change over a distance of a few meters horizontally and with depth in the soil.
Vegetation changes with elevation, aspect, season and human activities.
 Antecedent moisture generally increases downslope, and changes with each passing storm and
intervening period of drying.
 Given such variability it is impossible to know infiltration precisely even for a small area.
 Therefore, average infiltration values are often estimated based on soil properties and
vegetation cover.
 For a specific project requiring detailed information, infiltration may be measured or estimated
by one of the following methods.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….
A. Infiltrometers:- using a ring
infiltrometer or a rainfall simulator

A site is selected and a framework of overhead sprinklers installed. At the downslope-end of the site provision is made
for collecting surface runoff.
Sprinkler nozzles and water pressure are designed to simulated varying rainfall intensity, drop size and fall velocity.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….
B. Hydrograph analysis
An approximate method for estimating infiltration for small drainage basins combines the
analysis of rainfall hyetographs and stream hydrographs from a basin.
READING ASSIGNMENT for detail analysis and steps
INFILTRATION MODELS
Horton's model :- Horton's (1939) equation models the infiltration process as negative
exponential function:
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….
Horton's model…

Figure. Diagrammatic representation of the components

of the Horton infiltration equation
Figure. Graphs showing the effect on fp of varying the
parameter k in the Horton equation

The effect of varying k, The larger k, the more rapidly infiltration

approaches fc,
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….
Equations for infiltration rate f and cumulative infiltration F for the Horton and Philip equations.

 Philip's equation (Philip 1957) is one of the more accessible conceptual approaches, to
modeling infiltration.
 The method is considered conceptual because the terms have direct physical interpretations.
The basic model is given by the two-term equation:
 where S is called the sorptivity or ‘diffusion’ term, and is a function of the capillary forces.
 A is the ‘transmission’ term, and is closely related to the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks)
and the movement of water by gravity.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….
 Philip’s equation thus incorporates the two forces that move water into and through the soil.
 For water moving horizontally in a soil, the transmission term is zero, and capillary forces alone draw
water into the soil.
Other functions used for infiltration estimation

α parameter depending on soil conditions

Kostiakov

Dvorak- b constant
Mezencev

Holtan

Dooge

Green& Ampt
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….

Reading assignment to be submitted in written form:

1. General description of Darcy equation and Richards equation,
principles theory and their relation in estimation of soil moisture
2. How soil moisture & Water Pressure will be measured?
3. Evaporation from water bodies, bare soil, vegetation (transpiration)
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….
OTHER METHODS FOR ESTIMATING INFILTRATION
The Φ index and W-index
 The Φ index is one of the simplest methods of estimating infiltration.
 The index represents the amount of precipitation retained by the basin divided by the
duration of the storm.
 In other words, it is the average ‘loss’ rate.
 It is a loss rate because it includes depression storage and any other retentions as well as
infiltration.

Relating soil classification with Infiltration group:- is other way of relating infiltration with soil
type, which helps to estimate infiltration capacity/rate.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….
OTHER METHODS FOR ESTIMATING INFILTRATION
The Φ index and W-index
 W-index and Φ index are two indices which are commonly used in relating infiltration,
rainfall and runoff.
 W-index is the average infiltration rate or the infiltration capacity averaged over the whole
storm period, and is given by:
𝑭 𝑷−𝑸
𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒙 = =
𝒕𝒓 𝒕𝒓

Where F= Total infiltration including initial basin recharge

P= total precipitation
Q=total runoff
tr= Duration of rainfall in hr
Φ index is defined as the average rate of loss such that the volume of rainfall in excess of that rate will
be equal to the volume of direct runoff.
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture….
OTHER METHODS FOR ESTIMATING
INFILTRATION
The Φ index and W-index…
 Φ index can be defined, the other
way round, as the rate of rainfall
above which the rainfall volume
equals the runoff volume.
 Φ index can be represented
graphically as shown in the Figure
below

Infiltration=Doted area
Runoff= Hatched area
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Infiltration and soil moisture…. Figure 2
OTHER METHODS FOR ESTIMATING INFILTRATION

It can be seen from this Figure, that Φ index would be

equal to
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔
Φ index =
𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 (𝒕𝒆)

𝑨 +𝑨 +𝑨 Figure 3
Φ index = 𝟐 𝟒 𝟔
𝒕𝒆
𝑨𝟏+𝑨𝟐+𝑨𝟑+𝑨𝟒+𝑨𝟓+𝑨𝟔+𝑨𝟕
𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒙 =
𝒕𝒓
Φ index and W-index will evidently be equal for a
uniform rain of the type shown in Fig 3, but they would
not be equal for a non-uniform rain of the type shown
in Figure 2
Part 3. Unsaturated (vadose zone) phenomena: …
Example
The following are the rates of rainfall for successive 20 minutes period
of a 140 minutes storm: 2.5,2.5, 10,7.5,1.25,5 cm/hr. taking the value
of Φ as 3.2 cm/hr, find out the net runoff in cm, the total rainfall and
the value of W index and total infiltration/potential infiltration