Module 4 – (L12 - L18): “Watershed Modeling”

Standard modeling approaches and classifications, system concept

for watershed modeling, overall description of different hydrologic
processes, modeling of rainfall, runoff process, subsurface flows
and g
groundwater flow

Hydrologic Processes
14
1
1
L14– Hydrologic Processes
L14

 Topics Covered
 Hydrologic cycle, Processes,
Precipitation, Interception, Infiltration,
Evaporation Transpiration,
Evaporation, Transpiration
Evapotranspiration, Runoff
 Keywords: Hydrologic cycle, Precipitation,
infiltration,
t at o , Evapo-
Evapo
apo-transpiration,
t a sp at o , Runoff
u o
2
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Hydrologic Processes
 Hydrologic information – for planning
and management of watersheds.
 Hydrologically watershed
conceptualized – Precipitation ->
Runoff: Evaporation
Evaporation, Transpiration
Transpiration,
Interception, Infiltration etc.
 Watershed: Overland flow, Channel
flow & subsurface flow components. 15.00 0.0

Hydrologic cycle – processes &

Discharge(m3/sec)
12.00


Rainfall internsity
5.0
9.00

mm/hr)
pathways in circulation of water from
10.0
6.00
6 00

(m
15.0

land & water bodies to atmosphere &

3.00

0.00 20.0

back again – Land use effects

0 200 400 600
Rainfall
Time(min) Observed
Simulated

3
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Hydrologic
y g Cycle
y & Processes
Hydrologic
processes
Evaporation Precipitation Photo, A.K. Singh, 2002
Overland

l
Infiltration
Land Hydrology

Groundwater
River

Flow towards Ocean

Hydrosphere & hydrological cycle –

Hydrological processes - balance between
water of the earth & moisture in atmosphere
4
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Condensation
Evaporation
Rainfall

Precipitation
p Surface water Groundwater

 Precipitation in several forms: Rain (water droplets >

0.5mm dia.); Drizzle (<0.5mm dia), Snow (in ice
form), Sleet, Hail stone, Dew.
 Precipitation – Main source of water: Rain & snow.
 Precipitation condition: Humid air cooled to dew
dew-point
point -
> Nuclei -> Droplets to raindrops;->Size of raindrops..
 Four main mechanisms for cooling the air to its dew
point: adiabatic
d b cooling,
l conductive
d cooling,
l radiational
d l
cooling, and evaporative cooling
 Approx.
pp 505,000
, cubic km of water falls as precipitation
p p each
year; 398,000 cubic km- over the oceans & 107,000 cubic km
over land.
 Globallyy averaged
g annual precipitation
p p is 990 mm,, but over
land it is only 715 mm
5
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Precipitation & Measurement
 Occurs when air masses laden with water vapor are
cooled; Storm Precipitation 3 Types: Frontal storm,
C
Convective
ti storm
t & orographic
hi storm.
t
 Rainfall: Measurement & analysis – very important
 Rainfall data: Amount,
Amount intensity & duration
 Rainfall in mm & intensity in mm/hour. Convective
Frontal storm
storm

Warm air
cold Warm moist air raises

Orographic
storm

Dry air
Moist air 6
Mountain
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Rainfall & Measurement
 Rainfall:
R i f ll measured d as vertical
ti l depth
d th off water
t collected
ll t d
on a level surface.
 Measurement by Rain gauges:
 Non-recording type: collects rainfall over a known period
of time – intensity can not be correctly found; IMD –
Standard Gauge: Collector with gun metal rim, funnel,
base & polyethene bottle; Collector area– 100cm2/
200cm2; Polyethene bottle – 2, 4 & 10 lit.; measurement
by graduated measuring cylinder.
 Recording type: give rainfall intensity – mechanical
system – record on graph paper; Curve of cumulative
rainfall with time: Mass curve; Slope of curve – rainfall
intensity.
– Types: Float; Weighing & Tipping bucket: Clock
driven rotating
g drum, ppen fitted g
graph
p ppaper.
p
7
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
http://www.fao.org Raj Vir Singh (2000),
Rainfall Intensity, Duration & Frequency
 Rainfall Intensity: Rate at which rainfall occurs – mm/hr
 Duration: in hours/ days
 Return period (recurrence interval) – period within
which depth of rainfall for a given duration will be
equaled or exceeded once on the average
 T = Return
R t period
i d in
i years = (N+1) /m;
/ N – total
t t l
number of hydrologic events; m – rank of events
arranged in descending order of magnitude
 P b bilit off occurrence off an eventt in
Probability i %:
% P = 100/T
 Intensity of a storm - predicted for any return period &
storm duration, from charts based on historic data.
 1 in 10 year storm describes a rainfall event which is
rare & is only likely to occur once every 10 years, so it
has a 10 ppercent likelihood anyy given
g year
y
8
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Average depth of rainfall over an area
 Large differences in rainfall – within short distances
 Average depth of rainfall to be found:
 Arithmetic average: for evenly distributed stations
(uniform density): Pa = ∑ Pi /N
 Thiessen method: area-weighted averaging – used
when rain gauges are nonuniformly distributed:
Area-weighted average : (every gauge represents
best the area immediately around the gauge)
Constructing Thiessen
h Network:k
1. Plot stations on a map
2. Connect adjacent stations by straight lines
3. Bisect each connecting line perpendicularly
4. Perpendicular lines define a polygon around each
station
5. P at a station is applied to the polygon closest to it
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Average depth of rainfall over an area
 Average depth of rainfall in a watershed:
 P = (A1 P1 + A2 P2 + ….+An Pn) /A
– A – area of watershed;P1, P2, ….Pn – rainfall
depth in the polygon having areas A1, A2, …An
within the watershed.
watershed
 Isohyetal method: record depth of rainfall at locations
of different rain gauges & plot isohyets (lines of equal
rainfall)
i f ll)
 Plot a contour map of P based on gage readings at
stations
 Compute area between each successive contour lines
Pa = PaiAi/  Ai

10
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Interception
 Interception: part of precipitation collects on the plant
canopy; ultimately evaporates – abstraction from
precipitation – quantified.
 A
Amount t off iinterception
t ti d
depends:
d Storm
St character;
h t
vegetation, growth stage, season & wind velocity.
 Importance of interception- purpose of hydrologic model -
Significant in annual or long term model
 Potential storm interception calculation: Li = S+K E t
• Li= volume intercepted
intercepted, S = interception storage
• K = ratio of surface area of intercepting leaves to horizontal
projections of the area; E = the amount of water evaporated
per hour during the precipitation period, t = time (hr)
 Assumption: rainfall is sufficient to satisfy S
 For accounting rainfall (P): Li=S(1-e-P/S)+K E t

11
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Surface Retention / Detention
 Depression storage / surface retention: water retained
on the ground surface in micro
micro-depressions
depressions
– this water will either evaporate or infiltrate into the soil
– Nature of depressions as well as their size is largely a
function of the original land form and local land use
practices and erosion pattern.
 Surface detention: Water temporarily detained on the
surface
f –
– necessary requirement for surface runoff to occur –part
of surface runoff
– Controlling factors: surface micro-relief, vegetation,
surface slope, topography, rainfall excess.

12
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Surface
detention
 Infiltration
Infiltration: process by which water on the ground
surface enters the soil.
 Infiltration capacity of soil determines – amount &
time distribution of rainfall excess for runoff from a
storm.
 Important forf estimation off surface
f runoff,
ff subsurface
b f
flow & storage of water within watershed.
 Controlling factors: Soil type (size of particles, degree
of aggregation between particles, arrangement of
particles); vegetative cover; surface crusting; season
of the year; antecedent moisture; rainfall hyetograph;
subsurface moisture conditions etc.
Soil zone

Recharge Water table

13
Capillary fringe Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Groundwater
 Infiltration
t at o Estimation
st at o (Ghanshyam Das, 2000)

 Infiltration measured – Infiltrometers & rainfall

runoff plots.
 Entry of water into soil surface measured on a
small plot of soil.
soil
 Infiltration rate: Volume per unit of time per unit
of area or depth
p perp unit time.
 Number of methods to estimate infiltration.
 Important methods: Horton equation; Green-
Ampt eqn.; Philips eqn.; Darcy’s eqn.; SCS eqn.;
Holtan eqn.; Kostiakov eqn. etc.

14
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
http://www.turf-tec.com/
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Infiltration Estimation
 Horton Eqn.: infiltration starts at a constant rate f0 & is
decreasing exponentially with time t: ft = fc + (f0 − fc)e − kt
Where ft- infiltration rate at time t; fc- initial infiltration
rate or maximum infiltration rate; f0 - constant or
equilibrium infiltration rate after the soil has been
saturated or minimum infiltration rate; k - decay
constant specific to the soil.
 Philip Infiltration Model: 1
f  si t 1/ 2  K
2
 where si is infiltration sorptivity (cm×hr-0.5), K is
hydraulic conductivity which is considered equal to
the Ks and t is time.

15
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Infiltration Estimation
 Holton’s empirical infiltration equation

– f is in inches per hour, GI is a crop growth index that ranges

from 0.1 to 1.0, A - macropores associated with plant roots, fc
- steady state infiltration rate, Sa – available storage in the
surface layers.
 Infiltration Index: for determination of loss of
rainwater due to abstraction.
abstraction Method assumes
constant value of infiltration capacity (for the full
duration of storm)
 Ф - index:
i d A
Average abstraction
b t ti off rainfall
i f ll
 w-index: Considers initial abstractions; very difficult
to determine correct values of initial abstraction
16
 Condensation
Evaporation
Rainfall

Evaporation Surface water Groundwater

 Evaporation: process where liquid water is

transformed into a gaseous state at a temperature
l
less than
th the
th boiling
b ili point
i t through
th h the
th process off
transfer of heat energy.
– Evaporation of water occurs when the surface of the
liquid is exposed, allowing molecules to escape and form
water vapor.
– This vapor
p can then rise up p and form clouds
– Evaporation – essential part of water cycle.
 Factors affecting evaporation: solar radiation;
differences in vapor pressure between water surface &
overlying air; relative humidity; temperature; Wind;
atmospheric pressure

17
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Measurement of Evaporation
 Exact measurement off evaporation
E i - for
f large
l bodies
b di
of water difficult
 From
o open
ope water
a e surfaces
su aces – eevaporation
apo a o measured
easu ed
by: Atmometers, evaporimeters or open pans
 Evaporation pans: finding reservoir evaporation using
water filled containers -observe
observe how much water is
lost over time
 Different types of pans
 US class A pan
 ISI standard pan
 C l
Colorado
d sunken
k pan P
Pan fill
filled
d with
ith water
t
 Russian GGI pan www.meted.ucar.edu

 Pan Coefficient: (Ratio of lake to pan evaporation)

18
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Evaporation Estimation
 Water Budget Method: from ponded water – lakes/
reservoirs: Water budget method – accounting all
inflows and outflows.
 Energy Budget Method: based on application of law of
conservation of energy – evaporation takes energy.
 Mass Transfer
f (Aerodynamic)
( d ) methods
h d - based on
turbulent transfer of water vapor from an evaporating
surface to the atmosphere
 Combination- mass transfer & energy budget Method
 Empirical Formulas: using available meteorological
data: eg.
eg USGS & USBR Formula: E = 4.57T
4 57T + 43
43.33
 E - cm/yr; T - mean annual temperature in °C.
 Use of Evaporation Pans
19
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Evaporation Control
 Storing water in covered reservoirs
 Making increased use of underground storage

 Controlling aquatic growths

 Building storage reservoirs with minimal surface areas

 Conveying in closed conduits rather than open

channels
 Applying a thin chemical (monocular) film

Eg: Application of Cetyl alcohol is the effective and

feasible method
 Reduces evaporation (20-50%) by preventing the
water molecules to escape
 No water quality effect: Colorless, odorless and
nontoxic
20
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Transpiration
 Transpiration: vaporization of liquid water contained in
plant tissues & vapor removal to the atmosphere.
 Crops predominately lose their water through
stomata.
t t ThThese are small ll openings
i on the
th plant
l t leaf
l f
through which gases and water vapor pass
 Nearlyy all water taken upp is lost by
y transpiration
p and
only a tiny fraction is used within the plant.
 Transpiration depends on the energy supply, vapor
pressure gradient and wind,
wind soil water content and the
ability of the soil to conduct water to the roots, crop
characteristics, environmental aspects and cultivation
practices.
practices
 95% of daily transpiration occurs during daylight
hours

21
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
www.fao.org
 Transpiration & Evapotranspiration
 Soil
S il moisture
i t li
lies b t
between th limits
the li it off wilting
ilti point
i t and
d
field capacity- No effect on transpiration
 Phytometer – device for measuring transpiration
 Evapotranspiration (ET): Evaporation and transpiration
occur simultaneously and there is no easy way of
distinguishing between the two processes.
 Potential evapotranspiration (PET): Rate at which water, if
available, would be removed from wet soil & plant surface,
expressed as the latent heat transfer per unit area or its
equivalent depth of water per unit area.
area
 PET - measure of ability of atmosphere to remove water from
the surface through processes of E & T assuming no control on
water supply.
supply
 Actual evapotranspiration (AET) -quantity of water actually
removed from a surface due to the processes of E & T

22
Water intake
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
through root www.rosemariegarden.blogspot.com
Estimation of Evapotranspiration
 Crop water need = potential evapotranspiration -
actual evapotranspiration
 Crop Coefficient = AET/ PET
 Theoretical Methods: Blaney Criddle, Penmann –
Monteith method
 Empirical Methods: Thronthwaite
 Field Methods: Lysimetres (device in which a volume
of soil, with or without crop is located in a container to
isolate it hydrologically from surrounding), Field plots,
Soil moisture depletion
p studies
 Analytical Methods - Energy or Water budget method

23
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Estimation of Evapotranspiration
 Blaney - Criddle Method:
 Assumption: Consumptive use of water by crops is related to
mean monthly
thl ttemp. & d daylight
li ht hours;
h Provide
P id rough h estimate
ti t
 For extreme climatic conditions -method is inaccurate

 Windy, dry, sunny areas -ETo is underestimated (up to 60 %)

 Calm, humid, clouded areas- ETo is overestimated (up to 40%)

Blaney-Criddle formula: ETo = p (0.46 T mean +8)

 ETo = Reference crop evapotranspiration (mm/day) as an
average for a period of 1 month
 Tmean = mean daily temperature (°C)

 p = mean daily
d il percentage
t off annuall daytime
d ti hours
h

24
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
 Photo, A.K. Singh, 2002

Surface Runoff
 Surface Runoff: part of precipitation which during &
immediately after a storm event, appears as flowing water
in the drainage network of a watershed.
 Result from direct movement of water over the surface of
watershed, precipitation in excess of abstraction demand or
emergence
g of soil water into waterways.
y
 Surface runoff occurs – when the rate of precipitation
exceeds the rate of infiltration.
 C t lli
Controlling Factors:
F t i) Climatic
Cli ti factors;
f t ii) Physiographic
Ph i hi
– Climatic factors: Precipitation (intensity, duration, areal
distribution & storm pattern), evaporation & evapotranspiration.
– Physiographic factors: watershed characteristics (size, shape,
land use, infiltration rate, slope etc.), channel characteristics
(size, cross section, slope & roughness of channel bed) &
drainage pattern & density.
25
Runoff Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay
Surface Runoff
 Overland & Channel Flow: If rainfall exceeds soil
p y water fills surface depression
infiltration capacity, p then
Water spills over down slope as overland flow &
eventually to the stream – channel flow
 Surface runoff - ggenerated either by y rainfall or by
y the
melting of snow, or glaciers
 Measurement of Runoff
 Pass through outlet of watershed
 Flume measurement – H flume
 Automatic water stage recorder
Rai Channel
nfal phase flow
l

Infiltrati
on Overland
26flow
 Surface Runoff Mechanism
 Infiltration excess overland flow (Hortonian / Unsaturated
overland flow): occurs when rate of rainfall on a surface
exceeds rate at which water can infiltrate the ground,
ground &
any depression storage has already been filled.
 Saturation excess overland flow: When soil is saturated &
depression storage filled, & rain continues to fall, rainfall
will immediately produce surface runoff.
 Antecedent soil moisture: Soil retains a degree of moisture
after a rainfall - residual water moisture affects the soil's
infiltration capacity
 Subsurface return flow (through flow): after water
infiltrates the soil on an up-slope portion of a hill- water
may flow laterally through the soil, & exfiltrate (flow out of
the soil) closer to a channel.
Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay 27
Runoff
Steps to Hydrologic Modeling

1. Delineate watershed
2
2. Obtain hydrologic and geographic data
3. Select modeling approach
4. Calibrate/Verify model
5. Use model for assessment/prediction/design
 Use of Models:
 Assessment: What happens if land use/land cover is
changed?
 Prediction: Flood forecasting
 Design: How much flow will occur in a 10 year storm?

Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay 28

 Example Problem
 Rainfall data for a 24 hour storm period recorded for 5
stations are given below. Find average rainfall by Thiessen
method :
Station Obs. Rainfall (cm) Polygon area (km2) Rainfall volume m3
A 5 4 200 000
200,000
B 4.5 3.5 157,500
C 4 6 240,000
D 5.2 5 260,000
E 4.8 4.5 216,000
Weighted Average rainfall = Total volume / Total area
= 4.667 cm

Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay 29

Example Problem
Determine reference crop evapotranspiration ETo in
mm/day, for the month of April, using the Blaney-
Criddle method (Latitude - 35
35° North,
North Mean T max in
April = 27.5°C, Mean T min in April = 19.5°C )
Solution: Formula: ETo = p (0.46 T mean + 8)
 Step 1: determine Tmean= (27
(27.5
5 + 19.5)/2
19 5)/2 =23.5
=23 5°C
C
 Step 2: determine p:
Latitude: 35° North, Month: April, From standard
Table p = 0.29
0 29
 Step 3: calculate ETo:
ETo = 0.29 (0.46 × 23.5 + 8) = 5.45 mm/day
Finally the mean reference crop evapotranspiration
Finally,
ETo =5.45 mm/day during the whole month of April

Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay 30

 References
• Raj Vir Singh (2000), Watershed Planning and
Management, Yash Publishing House
• J.V.S
J V S Murthy (1991)
(1991), Watershed Management,
Management New Age
international Publications
 Ghanshyam Das (2000), Hydrology and soil conservation
engineering, Prentice Hall
ll off India
d
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infiltration_(hydrology)
 http://www.fao.org/docrep/s2022e/s2022e07.htm
http://www fao org/docrep/s2022e/s2022e07 htm
 Viessman and Lewis (2007), Introduction to Hydrology,
Pearson Education.

Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay 31

Tutorials - Question!.?.
 What are the different types of abstraction
losses associated with rainfall?. For the
development of watershed management
plans, what are the important abstraction
losses to be considered?.
considered?
 For typical watersheds in: a) tropic, b) semi
semi--
arid and c) arid regions,
arid, regions identify the
significance of each losses.
 Illustrate various methodologies used to
quantify them.

Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay

32
Self Evaluation - Questions!.
Q
 Illustrate various hydrological processes within the
context of hydrological cycle.
 Describe different types of rain gauges.
 Compare the Thiessen & Isohyetal methods for
computing average rainfall
f ll & b
bring out the
h bbasic
differences & advantages.
 Discuss different methods of evapo
evapo-transpiration
transpiration
estimation.

P f T I Eldho,
Prof. Eldh Department
D t t off Civil
Ci il Engineering,
E i i IIT Bombay
B b
33
Assignment-
g Questions?.
Q
 Describe important precipitation mechanisms.
 Discuss the importance of rainfall intensity,
intensity duration &
frequency in runoff generation.
 Describe various methods of estimation of infiltration.
 Illustrate surface runoff and mechanisms of
generation of surface runoff.

Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay 34

 Unsolved Problem!.
 For your watershed area, obtain the rainfall
data for the nearby rain gauge stations for
f
few storms.
t Using
U i various
i methods:
th d a))
arithmetic mean; b) Thiessen mean
method; c) Isohyetal method,
method compute the
average rainfall by all methods & compare.
 Draw the isohyets for the area consisting of the rain
gauge network.
 Construct the Thiessen polygon.
 Compute the average rainfall.
rainfall

Prof. T I Eldho, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay 35

Dr. T. I. Eldho
Professor,
Department
p of Civil Engineering,
g g
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay,
Mumbai, India, 400 076.
Email: eldho@iitb.ac.in
Phone: (022) – 25767339; Fax: 25767302 36
http://www.civil.iitb.ac.in
http://www. civil.iitb.ac.in