ROMBLON STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Engineering and Technology

Agricultual Engineering Department

LECTURE IN HYDROMETEOROLOGY

OBJECTIVES:

1. At the end of the course the students must be able to describe the hydrologic cycle, and
hydrology in engineering.
2. Describe the principles of hydrometeorology, weather and hydrology, precipitation,
evaporation and evapotranspiration, and usage of weather instruments.
3. Describe the principles of watershed/surface hydrology, runoff, infiltration, seepage and
percolation, stream flow, soil erosion and sediment transport.
4. Describe the basic theories of groundwater hydrology, aquifer systems and lithography,
well hydraulics and well development, water quality analysis.

HYDROLOGY - treats of the waters of the earth, their occurrence, circulation and distribution,
their chemical and physical properties, and reaction with the environment including their relation
to living things. Hydrology is used in engineering mainly in connection with the design and
operation of hydraulic structures, what flood flows can be expected over a spillway, at a highway
culvert, or in an urban storm drainage system, what reservoir capacity is required to assure
adequate water for irrigation or municipal water supply during droughts and what effect will
reservoirs, levees, and other control works, exert on flood flows in a stream.

HYDROLOGIC CYCLE - the concept of the hydrologic cycle begins with the evaporation of the
water from the oceans or any bodies of water, the resulting vapor is transported by moving air
masses, and under the proper conditions the vapor is condensed to form clouds which in turn
may result to precipitation. The precipitation which fall upon the ground is dispersed in several
ways, the greater part is temporarily retained in the soil near where it falls and is ultimately
returned to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration by plants. A portion of the water
finds its way over and through the surface soil to stream channels, while other water penetrates
farther into the ground to become part of the groundwater, by the influence of gravity both
surface stream flow and groundwater move toward lower elevations and may eventually
discharge into the oceans. However, substantial quantities of surface and underground water
are returned to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration before reaching the oceans.
The cycle emphasizes the four phases of interests of the hydrologist; precipitation, evaporation
and transpiration, surface stream flow and groundwater.

METEOROLOGY- study of the earth’s atmosphere and especially the study of weather.

HYDROMETEOROLOGY - scientific study of the interaction between meteorological and

hydrologic phenomenon including the occurrence, motion and changes of state of atmosphere
water and the land surface and sub surface phases of the hydrologic cycle. Hydrometeorologic
studies address questions regarding land use, the long term effect of climate change on water
resources and regional precipitation, a scientific field of study that incorporate aspect of
meteorology and hydrology.

Evaporation - gradual change of state from liquid to gas that occurs at a liquid surface.

Precipitation - is any form of water either liquid or solid that falls from the atmosphere and
reach the ground such as rain snow or hail.

Transpiration - evaporation of water particles from plant surfaces especially from the surface
openings or stomata on the leaves.

Evapotranspiration - transfer of water from the earth into the atmosphere by evaporation from
surface water and soil surface, and transpiration from vegetation.

Infiltration - the passage of water through the soil surface into the soil.

Infiltration capacity - the maximum rate at which water can enter the soil at a particular point
under a given set of conditions.

Streamflow - streamflow data are gathered primarily by hydrologist for hydrologic studies, to
the engineering hydrologist, streamflow is the dependent variable in most studies, since
engineering hydrology is concerned mainly with estimating rates or volumes of flow or the
changes in these values resulting from human activities. Because it is difficult to make a direct,
continuous measurement of the rate of flow in a stream but relatively simple to obtain a
continuous record of stage, the primary field data gathered at most streamflow measurement
stations are river stage, this approach is satisfactory only if there is an adequate correlation
between stage and discharge.

Aquifers – a geologic formation which contains water and transmits it from one point to another
in quantities sufficient to permit economic development.

Soil erosion – the wearing away of material on the surface of the land by wind, water and
gravity.In nature erosion occurs slowly as natural weathering and geologic processes remove
rocks, parent material or soil from the land surface, human activity on the other hand greatly
increased the rate of erosion.

Flood – the rise, usually brief in the water level in a stream to a peak from which the water level
recedes at a slower rate. There are various types of flood, such as flash floods, river floods,
dam spill, coastal floods include high tide, storm surge, and tsunami.

Runoff - surface runoff is generated where and when the rainfall intensity exceeds the rate at
which water can enter the soil.

Sediment transport – sediment moves in the stream as suspended sediment in the flowing
water and as bed load, which slides or roll along the channel bottom. Saltation is used to
describe the movement of particles which seem to bounce along the bed.
Ground water - water beneath the soil surface where voids in the soil are substantially filled
with water, such water exists in pores between sedimentary particles and in the fissures of more
solid rocks.

Wells – dug wells have been the principal source of water until recent times, when modern well-
drilling methods have been developed and used extensively. The importance of wells and
ground-water development is indicated by the size of the well-drilling industry.

Solar constant – the rate at which solar radiation reaches the upper limits of earth’s
atmosphere on a surface normal to the incident radiation and at earth’s mean distance from the
sun.

Clouds-are made up of tiny water droplets or ice crystals.

Humidity - refers to the air’s water vapor content.

Wind - is air in motion, it is caused by horizontal variations in air pressure.

Weather - state of the atmosphere at particular time and place, the day by day variation of
temperature, humidity cloudiness, precipitation, wind and pressure in a given area, being
measured by thermometers, hygrometers, rain gauges, barometer and other instruments.

Weather causing phenomena in the Philippines and associated hazards( monsoons,cold

fronts, inter tropical convergence zone, thunderstorms).

Cold front – cold air displacing warm air, marks the boundary where cold air is replacing warm
air. On a weather map cold fronts are drawn as a solid blue line with triangles. The triangles
point in the direction of movement. Typically, warmer, more humid air is found in advance of a
cold front, while colder, drier air is behind it.

Normal daily temperature – is the average daily mean temperature for a given date computed
for a specific 30 year period.

Climate - the long term effect of the sun’s radiation on the rotating earth’s varied surface and
atmosphere, understood easily in terms of annual or seasonal averages of temperature and
precipitation.

Thunderstorm – brought by cumulonimbus clouds which are fibrous clouds which blow strong
wind before it pours heavy rain, it is accompanied by lightning which travels from cloud to cloud
or from cloud to the ground. It also brings thunder, heavy rainfall, hail and tornado. Mammatus
clouds are the precursory signs of an impending tornado.

Tropical depression – maximum winds near the center of between 45-63 kph

Tropical storm – maximum winds near the center of between 64-117 kph

Typhoon – maximum winds near the center is 118 kph and higher.
Tropical cyclones – also known as hurricanes and typhoons are storms with sustained winds
in excess of 120 km/hr, they form over warm tropical water between 5 and 20 degree latitude
where the winds are light and the humidity is high. Beneficial effects of tropical cyclone, rainfall
increases groundwater and the water level of dams that provides drinking water, irrigation water
and hydro electric power, rains means water for plants and decreases the level of pollutants.

ENSO – El Niño Southern Oscillation, is a large -scale natural fluctuation of the global climate
system resulting from the interactions between the ocean and atmosphere in the Central
Eastern Equatorial Pacific (CEEP). The following are indicators of ENSO, Sea Surface
Temperature Anomalies (SSTA), Southern Oscillation Index, Wind anomaly over pacific ocean,
(- surface pressure of Tahiti minus Darwin.

Two Phases of ENSO, (El Niño and La Niña)

El Niño – excessive warming of the surface ocean in the Central Eastern Pacific, high positive
values of Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), and associated with westerly wind anomaly.

La Niña – excessive cooling of the surface ocean in the Central Eastern Pacific, associated with
enhance easterly winds and high positive values of Southern Oscillation Index.

Wind vane – an instrument used to measure wind direction, it is consist of a long arrow with a
tail that moves freely on a vertical shaft, the arrow points into the wind and gives the wind
direction.

Rain gauge – instrument used to measure average precipitation.

Barometer – instrument used to measure wind pressure.

Thermometer – instrument used to measure air temperature.

Actinometer and Radiometer – general name for instruments used to measure intensity of
radiant energy.

Pyrheliometer – instrument used for measuring intensity of direct solar radiation.

Pyranometer – instrument for measuring hemispherical shortwave radiation,i.e., the combined

intensity of direct solar radiation and diffuse sky radiation,(radiation reaching earth’s surface
after being scattered from direct solar beam by molecules and suspensoids in the atmosphere.

Anemometers – measures wind speed, consists of three or more cups that spins horizontally
on a vertical post the rate at which the cups rotate is related to the speed of the wind.

Hygrometers – an instrument that measures humidity. The maximum amount of water vapor
that the air can hold depends on the air temperature; warm air is capable of holding more water
vapor than cold air.

Radar – provides information about precipitation and storms, a radar unit sends out a pulse of
microwaves, when the microwaves strike the objects such as falling precipitation, some of the
microwaves are reflected back to the radar unit where they are detected by an antenna and
displayed on a screen, the elapsed time during transmission and return indicates how far away
the precipitation.

Doppler radar – can determine wind speed by measuring the speed at which precipitation is
moving horizontally toward or away from the radar antenna, it is also used to peer into severe
thunderstorms and locate tornadoes.

Radiosonde – measures air temperature, air pressure and humidity from the earth’s surface up
to 30,000 meters. The radiosonde consists of a small box attached to a gas filled balloon, as the
balloon rises a barometer measures air pressure, a thermometer measures air temperature and
a hygrometer measures humidity, all of these information is transmitted by a radio back to the
ground.

Weather satellites – is a cloud observing platform in space, it provides cloud observations day
and night over vas regions.

Atmosphere – The air that surrounds and protects the earth. The atmosphere is a mixture of
gases that is held close to the earth’s surface by gravity.

Lithosphere – The earth’s rocky outer crust it extends downward 30 – 60 miles although the
rocks reach far deeper, only this surface layer of rocks, minerals and soils is directly involved in
life process.

Hydrosphere – All the parts of the earth that contain water, including lakes, rivers, oceans, ice
caps, and the water vapor of the atmosphere.

Biosphere – refers to the worldwide system which includes the relationships among all living
things – plants and animals – that inhabit the air, land and water