Topic 1

HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE

OBE
CLO 1
Evaluate water cycle for a catchment by estimation
of precipitation and the losses using measurement,
empirical and analytical methods.
PO 1
To acquire and apply engineering fundamentals to
complex civil engineering problems (Engineering
knowledge).

Lesson Outcomes
On completion of this chapter, you will be able to:
differentiate between hydrology and engineering
hydrology
describe the applications of engineering hydrology
describe a hydrologic cycle and the related components
quantify the world water quantities
estimate the quantity of hydrologic cycle components
using water budget equation

Hydrology
the science of water
deals with the occurrence, circulation and

distribution of water of the earth and earths

atmosphere.

Engineering Hydrology
A study concerned with engineering applications
Dealing with:
Estimation of water resources
The study of processes such as precipitation,

runoff, evapotranspiration and their interaction

The study of problems such as flood and
droughts and strategies to combat them

Applications of Engineering
Hydrology
Irrigation
Water supply
Flood Control

Hydropower
Navigation

Schematic representation of Hydrologic Cycle

Precipitation

Clouds
Sun

1
Snow

2
3

Precipitation

Evaporation
from ocean

8
Groundwater (8)

9
0 = Evaporation from ocean
1 = Raindrop evaporation
2 = Interception
3 = Transpiration

5
6

8
Rock

6
0
8
Pervious material

4 = Evaporation from land

5 = Evaporation from water bodies
8 = Ground water
6 = Surface runoff / Stream flow
9 = Deep percolation
7 = Infiltration
7

Hydrologic Cycle Components

1. Precipitation (P)
Forms of water that reach the earth from the
atmosphere.
e.g.: rainfall, snowfall, hail
2. Evaporation (E)
Transformation of water to the vapor state.
Occurs predominantly on the surface of ocean
and other water bodies.

Hydrologic Cycle Components

3. Transpiration (T)
Process by which water moves through plants and
is released to the atmosphere through leaf
stomata.
4. Evapotranspiration (ET = E + T)
Sum of all water evaporated from free surfaces
and that used by the vegetation.

Hydrologic Cycle Components

5. Infiltration (I)
Process by which precipitation moves into the soil
through the soil surface, enhance the moisture
content of the soil and reach the groundwater
body.
6. Interception (Int)
Process where some of the precipitation water
retain on the drainage basin through its adherence
to abstract objects (e.g. leaves, building) until it is
returned to the atmosphere through evaporation.

Hydrologic Cycle Components

7. Surface runoff (R)
Portion of precipitation that is not intercepted or
stored, and moves above the earth surface.
8. Base flow/ Interflow/ Subsurface flow (B)
the lateral motion of water through the upper
soil layers until it enters a stream channel.
This usually takes longer to reach stream
channels than runoff.

Hydrologic Cycle Components

8. Groundwater Flow (G)
Water that is accumulated deep under the
ground.
It may be released into streams or emerged as
springs.
9. Depression Storage (S)
Water that accumulates in surface depressions
and eventually either infiltrates or evaporates
(applies to ponds and lakes with no outlets)

Residence time
The average duration of a particle of water to
pass through a phase of the hydrologic cycle is
known as the residence time of that phase
Residence time for a phase:
Volume of w ater in a phase
Tr
Average flow rate in the phase

13

World Water Distribution

Global Annual Water Balance

Item

Ocean

Land

Area (M km2)
Precipitation
(km3/year)
(mm/year)
Evaporation
(km3/year)
(mm/year)
Runoff to ocean
Rivers (km3/year)
Groundwater (km3/year)
Total runoff
(km3/year)
(mm/year)

361.30

148.8

458,000
1270

119,000
800

505,000
1400

72,000
484
44,700
2,200
47,000
316

Source: World Water Balance & Water Resources Of The Earth. UNESCO 1975

Catchment/Watershed

Water Budget Equation

Hydrologic system:

An area or stock of water for which inflows and outflows can

be identified.
Principle of conservative of mass:

Water CANNOT be created or destroyed within the area.

Mass Inflow (Vi) = Mass Outflow (Vo)

Mass Inflow (Vi)

Mass Outflow (Vo)

Precipitation (P)
Runoff flow-in (Ri)
Net groundwater flow-in (Gi)

Runoff flow-out(Ro)
Evaporation (E)
Transpiration (T)
Net groundwater flow-out (Go)

Water-budget Equation
If inflows do not equal to outflows, there must be a
change in storage (DS )

Vi = Vo + DS

or

DS = Vi Vo

Notes:
The infiltration does not occur explicitly in the water budget equation as

the infiltration which is a loss to the runoff processes is a gain to the

groundwater system.
All terms in the water-budget equation must have consistent units (volume
or depth over the catchment area).
In hydrologic calculations volumes are often expressed as average depths
over the catchment area.

Example
What is the correspondence depth for a 10 km2 catchment
with an annual stream flow of 107 m3?
Depth over a catchment area

= 107 / (10 x 106)

=1m
= 100 cm

Example 1
A small catchment of area 150 ha received a rainfall (P) of
10.5 cm in 90 mins. 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 m3/s. The stream was again dry after the
runoff event.
(i) What is the amount of water which was not available to
runoff due to combined effect of infiltration (G), evaporation
(E) & transpiration (T)?
(ii) What is the runoff coefficients (i.e. the ratio of runoff to
precipitation)?
Runoff coefficient = R/P

Runoff Coefficient
How do you relate the runoff coefficient with
infiltration?
Runoff coefficient = R/P

Runoff coefficient , infiltration clay

Runoff coefficient , infiltration sand

Example 2
A lake had a water surface elevation of 103.2 m above datum at
the beginning of a certain month. In that month the lake received
an average inflow (Ri) of 6.0 m3/s from surface runoff sources. In
the same period the outflow (Ro) from the lake had an average
value of 6.5 m3/s. Further, in that month, the lake received a
rainfall (P) of 145 mm and the evaporation (E) from the lake
surface was estimated as 6.10 cm. The average lake surface area is
5000 ha. Assume that there is no contribution to or from the
ground water storage (Gi = Go = 0).
(i) Write the water budget equation for the lake surface.

(ii) Calculate the water surface elevation of the lake at the end of
the month.