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Emano, Marie Ann Terese S.

.Exercise No. 3 – Statistics and Hydrology

Part I- DISCUSSION

1. Rainfall data are the fundamental building block for determining the amount of runoff
generated during a particular storm event. if in the design of a beam, the structural
designer must know the loads that the beam will be required to support, what is to be
determined by the hydrologist in designing a storm sewer system or highway culvert?

2. Hydrologic prediction methods are classified as being either event-based or continuous.


Discuss briefly the considerations/procedures of each method.
a. Event Process Models
These models are designed for the simulation of individual event and its
emphasis on infiltration, evaporation and surface run-off. Event hydrological modeling
of a basin represents finer scale hydrologic process and defined the basin response
to a selected precipitation event. Event hydrologic simulation calculates total runoff
volume, runoff depth, peak discharges and time of peak discharges on the basis of
event storm. The selection of a fine-scale step and the selection of storm events for
developing the effective model are extremely important factors for event modeling.
b. Continuous Process Models
These models are used for long-term simulation. Continuous simulation
synthesizes the hydrologic process and numbers of precipitation events and their
cumulative effects by using effective soil properties to analyze soil moisture
conditions over a long-lasting time period. Both dry and wet conditions of the
watershed within that longlasting time period are used in the continuousbsimulation
process to develop hydrological models
3. Precipitation takes place only when water vapor is present in the atmosphere and a
cooling mechanism is present to facilitate condensation of the vapor. Differentiate the
following types of precipitation: frontal precipitation, cyclonic precipitation, convective
precipitation and orographic precipitation.
a. Cyclonic precipitation results from the lifting of air converging into a low pressure
area, or cyclone. A cyclone is defined as an area of low pressure with a counter-
clockwise (Northern Hemisphere) circulation of the air around it, usually inward,
towards the center. This type of precipitation can also be classified into non-
frontal and frontal. Non-frontal precipitation can occur in any kind of barometric
depression or barometric low. The lifting of the air is caused by horizontal
convergence of air flowing from an area of higher pressure into the low pressure
area. Frontal precipitation is the result of lifting of lighter warm moist air over
more dense cold air.
b. Convective precipitation results from the lifting or upward movement of air that is
warmer and lighter than its colder denser surroundings. Typically, on a hot day
the ground surface becomes heated, as does the air in contact with it. This
causes the air to rise, expand, and cool dynamically causing condensation and
precipitation.
c. Orographic precipitation is caused by air masses which strike some natural
topographic barriers like mountains, and cannot move forward and hence rise up,
causing condensation and precipitation.

4. For the design engineer, the most important characteristic of rainfall are: the depth or
volume of rainfall during a specified time interval; the duration of the rainfall; the area
over which the rainfall occurs; the spatial and temporal distributions of rainfall within the
storm; and the average recurrence interval of a rainfall amount. Discuss briefly each
characteristic.
a. The unit of precipitation is linear depth, usually in millimetres (volume/area), or kg
m–2 (mass/area) for liquid precipitation. Rainfall intensity is defined as the ratio
of the total amount of rain (rainfall depth) falling during a given period to the
duration of the period It is expressed in depth units per unit time, usually as mm
per hour (mm/h).
b. The duration refers to the length of time rainfall occurs. A high intensity rainfall
for a short duration may affect tender seedlings, but it will not likely have much
effect on soil erosion and runoff. Rainfall of longer duration can significantly affect
infiltration, runoff, and soil erosion processes.
c. Extreme rainfall can result in flooding and the necessity to release water from
hydroelectric dams. Such events can be placed into a historical context using the
concept of Average Recurrence Interval (ARI). Also referred to as the “return
period”, the ARI represents a current precipitation event (amount per unit time)
as the average number of years (climatologically) between equivalent events for
a specific location.
The average or expected value of the periods between exceedances of a given
rainfall total accumulated over a given duration. It is implicit in this definition that
the periods between exceedances are generally random

5. In estimating effective rainfall or storm water runoff from a rainfall event, the following
water losses or abstractions must be determined accordingly: interception, infiltration
depression storage, and evapotranspiration. Discuss briefly each abstraction.

Part II – Problems
1. A study of daily rainfall in July showed that the probability of a rainy day following a rainy
day is 0.444, a dry day following a dry day is 0.724. If it is observed that a certain July
day is dry, what is the probability that the next two days will also be dry?

2. The computed relative frequencies of observed peak discharges in a river using class
interval of 15,000 cfs with 7 classes are 0.030,0.106

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