Mean Areal Depth of

Precipitation Methods
Precipitation
Part 3 of 4

Keep it simple.

Precipitation Units
Average precipitation is measured by the total volume
of precipitation falling over a given catchment area
every hour.
A.P. = (Volume/Area)/Hour
Volume per Area is equal to the Average depth.

A.P. = Average Depth/Hour

Usually expressed in inches/millimetres per hour.

Methods of Measurement
Arithmetic Mean
Thiessen Polygon Method
Isohyetal Method

Distance Weighting

Arithmetic Mean
The Mean Areal depth of precipitation is computed by
taking the average of the readings.
Easiest method but accuracy depends on the number
of stations where reading is taken.

Arithmetic Mean Procedure

The Average precipitation is the
average of the station readings.
. . =

. . =

0.55:0.87:2.33:5.40:1.89
5

. . = 2.21 .

Thiessen Polygon Method

In this method, each reading is assumed to be equal
throughout an influence area, the average precipitation
is then computed by taking the total volume of water
divided by the total area.
More accurate than Arithmetic Mean.

Thiessen Polygon Method Procedure

The first step is to connect the

stations with straight lines as
show in figure a.

Thiessen Polygon Method Procedure

Perpendicular bisectors are

then drawn in every line
between two stations.

Thiessen Polygon Method Procedure

Each station is assigned with
influence area and the
average precipitation is
computed by taking the
summation of station reading
multiplied by its influence
area.
( . )
. . =

. . = 2.03 .

Distance Weighting Method

In this method, stations closer to the centroid of the total
area are given more emphasis than the farther stations.

Distance Weighting Method Procedure

The distance of the stations to
the centroid is computed.
Compute the k for every
station.
1
= 2

The weight of the station(w) is

computed using:

Distance Weighting Method Procedure

Station

distance

Precipitation

Weighted
precipitation

1.1

0.826

0.096

0.55

0.05

0.5

4.000

0.462

0.87

0.40

0.6

2.778

0.322

2.33

0.75

1.4

0.510

0.059

5.40

0.32

1.4

0.510

0.059

1.89

0.11

= 8.624

. . = 1.63"

Isohyetal Method
The most accurate of the methods, but also the most
laborious.
Isohyets are drawn and the area between two isohyets
is multiplied by the average precipitation in that area,
sum up all the results and dividing by the total area, you
will get the average precipitation.

Isohyets = Iso + Hyetology

Equal Precipitation

Isohyetal Method
Draw the isohyets.

Estimate the precipitation in

every grid within the basin.
Sum up the precipitation and
divide by the total area.

A. P. =

. . = 1.90

Graphical Representation of Rainfall

Keep it simple.