Precipitation

Q.1 Which one of the following points should be kept in mind while selecting
the site for a rain gauge station?

A. The site where a rain gauge is set up should be close to a meteorological

observatory.
B. The rain gauge should be on the top of hill.
C. A fence, if erected to protect the rain gauge from cattle etc. should be
located within twice of the height of the fence.
D. The distance between the rain gauge and the nearest object should be
atleast twice the height of the object.
[ESE 2019]

Q.2 In intensity-duration analysis of Sherman, the intensity of rainfall i is

represented as

bn
A.
(t + a)

an
B.
( t + b)
n

(a + t )
n

C.
b

a
D.
( t + b)
n

[ESE 2019]

Q.3 Annual rainfall values at station A in mm for the years 2001 to 2010 are
given in the table below. If simple central 3-year moving mean of this rainfall
record is calculated, the maximum and minimum values in the moving mean list
would be
 Year 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Annual 586 621 618 639 689 610 591 604 621 650
Rainfall
P at
station
A (mm)

A. 689 mm and 602 mm

B. 649 mm and 602 mm
C. 689 mm and 586 mm
D. 649 mm and 586 mm
[ESE 2018]

Q.4 A Double Mass Curve analysis is useful in

A. Consistency Analysis
B. Frequency Analysis
C. Storage Computation Analysis
D. Guessing missing data in cases of non-homogeneous terrain
[ESE 2015]

Q.5 Orographic rain occurs when the air is cooled sufficiently as a result of

A. lifting due to flow over a mountain barrier

B. relative movement of two large air masses
C. violent upthrow of air arising from localized heating
D. cyclonic conditions
[ESE 2015]

Q.6 The double mass curve analysis is adopted to

A. Estimate the missing rainfall data

B. Obtain intensities of rainfall at various durations
C. Check the consistency of data
D. Obtain the amount of storage needed to maintain a demand pattern
[ESE 2014]

Q.7 The successive annual rainfall magnitudes at a place for a period of 10

years from 2001 to 2010, both inclusive are 30.3, 41.0, 33.5, 34.0, 33.3, 36.2,
33.6, 30.2, 35.5 and 36.3 cm. The mean and median values of this annual
rainfall series are, respectively

A. 33.8 cm and 34.39 cm

B. 34.39 cm and 33.8 cm
C. 34.39 cm and 40.2 cm
D. 33.8 cm and 40.2 cm
[ESE 2014]

Q.8 A catchment may be idealised as a rectangle. There are three rain gauges
located inside the catchment at arbitrary locations. The average precipitation
over the catchment is estimated by two methods: (i) Arithmetic mean (P A) and
(ii) Thiessen polygon (PT). Which of the following statements is correct?

A. PA is always smaller than PT

B. There is no definite relationship between PA and PT
C. PA is always equal to PT
D. PA is always greater than PT

[GATE 2019]

Q.9 A catchment is idealised as a 25 km  25 km square. It has five rain gauges,

one at each corner and one at the centre, as shown in the figure.

During a month the precipitation at these gauges is measured as G1 = 300 mm.

G2 = 285 mm, G3 = 272 mm, G4 = 290 mm and G5 = 288 mm. The average
precipitation (in mm up to one decimal place) over the catchment during this
month by using the Thiessen polygon method is __________.

[GATE 2017]
Q.10 The average surface flow of a reservoir in the month of June is 20 km 2. In
the same month the avg. rate of inflow is 10 m3/s; outflow rate is 15 m3/s,
monthly rainfall is 10 cm, monthly seepage loss is 1.8 cm and storage change is
16 million m3.

The evaporation (cm) in that month is:

A. 46.8
B. 136
C. 13.6
D. 23.4

[GATE 2015]

Q.11 In any given year, the probability of an earthquake greater than magnitude
6 occurring in the Garhwal Himalayas is 0.04. The average time between
successive occurrence of such earthquake in years ___________.

[GATE 2014]

Q.12 Which of the following is a non-recording rain gauge?

A. Tipping Bucket rain gauge

B. Float type rain gauge
C. Symon’s rain gauge
D. Weighing type rain gauge
[SSC JE 2018]

Q.13 An irrigation canal is 80 km long. It has an average surface width of 15 m.

If the evaporation measured in a Class A pan is 5 mm/day, the volume of water
evaporated in a month of 30 days is: (take pan coefficient as 0.7)

A. 18000 m3
B. 126000 m3
C. 180000 m3
D. 12600 m3
[SSC JE 2018]
Q.14 Which of the following is a non-automatic rain gauge used in the
measurement of rainfall?

A. Float-type rain gauge

B. Symon’s rain gauge
C. Weighing bucket rain gauge
D. Tipping bucket rain gauge
[SSC JE 2018]

Q.15 Which of the following is true?

A. Precipitation = evaporation + runoff

B. Precipitation = infiltration + runoff
C. Runoff = Evaporation + precipitation
D. Evaporation = precipitation + runoff
[SSC JE 2018]

Q.16 What is precipitation in hydrology? Describe briefly various forms of

precipitation.
[ESE MAINS 2016]

Q.17 In a watershed four non-recording raingauges have been installed to record

rainfall data. The annual rainfall record for one of the years is furnished below:

Location site of raingauge station A B C D

Recorded annual rainfall in ‘cm’ 100 120 140 80

Assuming an error of 10 per cent in the estimation of mean rainfall find out the
optimum number of non-recording and recording raingauges for this watershed.
[ESE MAINS 2012]

Q.18 The annual rainfall at station X and the average annual rainfall at 18
surrounding stations during 1952 to 1970 are as follows:

Annual rainfall in cm at X:

30.5 38.9 43.7 32.2 27.4 32.0 49.3 28.4

24.6 21.8 28.2 17.3 22.3 28.4 24.1 26.9
20.6 29.5 28.4
and
18 stations average annual rainfall in cm:

22.8 35.0 30.2 27.4 25.2 28.2 36.1 18.4

25.1 23.6 33.3 23.4 36.0 31.2 23.1 23.4
23.1 33.2 26.4
and

Explain how the consistency of the record at station X can be verified and how
to determine the year in which a change is regime has occurred.
[ESE MAINS 2007]

Q.19 What is flow mass curve? How it is prepared? Explain the procedure of
determining the storage capacity of a reservoir by using flow mass curve.

[IFS 2018]

Q.20 Thiessen’s weights of 4 main rain gauges A, B, C and D covering a river

basin are 0.16, 0.24, 0.32 and 0.28 respectively. If the average depth of rainfall
for the basin is 45 mm and the individual rainfalls at B, C and D are 55 mm, 40
mm and 45 mm respectively, what is the rainfall at ‘A’.

[IFS 2010]

Q.21 A catchment has five raingauge stations. The average annual rainfall
values at these stations are 75, 90, 82, 98 and 105 cm. If the standard deviation
of the rainfall data is 12 cm, determine the additional number of raingauges
needed in the catchment for 5%. Error in the estimation of mean rainfall,

[IFS 2012]

Q.22 Define mass curve of a rainfall and rainfall hyetograph with neat sketches,
Explain how the hyetograph is derived from mass curve.

[IFS 2010]

Q.23 Annual rainfalls at seven gauge stations in a basin are 580, 940, 600, 450,
200, 880 and 680 mm respectively. What is the percentage error in estimating
the average depth of rainfall? How many additional raingauges are required, if it
is desired to limit the error only to 10%.
 [IFS 2006]

Q.24 A rural watershed consists of:

5 km2 of forest area with C = 0.1

2 km2 of agricultural area with C = 0.25
1 km2 of unpaved streets with C = 0.30
0.75 km2 of paved cover with C = 0.35
1.25 km2 of residential area with C = 0.40

where C = coefficient of runoff. Estimate the peak runoff rate for rainfall with a
return period (T) of 25 years, if the intensity-duration-frequency relationship for
the watershed is

150 T 1 3
i=
( t + 12 )
0 .5

where i = Rainfall intensity in mm/hr

T = Return period in year
t = Duration of rainfall in minutes

The watershed has a time of concentration of 50 minutes.

[CSE 2018]

Q.25 The normal annual precipitations of 5 rain gauges A, B, C and E are 1250
mm, 1020 mm, 760 mm, 1130 mm and 1370 mm respectively. During a
particular storm, the precipitations recorded by the stations A, B, C and E are
132 mm, 92 mm, 68 mm and 102 mm respectively. The instrument at station D
was inoperative during the storm. Estimate the rainfall at station D during that
storm.

[CSE 2018]

Q.26 Explain step by step how reservoir capacity is decided using a mass inflow
curve. A mass curve is the plot of accumulated in flow (supply) or outflow
(demand) versus time.
 [CSE 2017]

Q.27 Describe the methods used for determining mean depth of precipitation in
catchments when point rainfall data are available.

[CSE 2015]