AE 452 Soil and Water

Engineering II (2,3,3)

Lecturer: Dr. Wilson A. Agyare

Agro-hydrology
 Agro-hydrology
Learning Objective

1. To revise with students the hydrological cycle

and its components
2. To develop analytical skills relevant in the
areas of precipitation, evapotranspiration,
infiltration and streamflow
 Agro-hydrology
Definition:
Is the study of water movement,
distribution, quality, use and conservation
on earth and in the atmosphere as it
relates to agriculture.

The importance of agro-hydrology can be

illustrated with the use of the hydrological
cycle.
Hydrologic cycle
Transpiration
EVAPORATION

Evaporation is when the sun

heats up water in rivers,
lakes, ocean and or soil and
turns it into vapour or
steam which rises in to the
air.

TRANSPIRATION

Do plants sweat? Kind of.

Transpiration is the
process by which plants
lose water from their
leaves. The water rises in
to the air.
CONDENSATION
Water vapour in the air gets
cold and changes back into
liquid, forming clouds. This
is called condensation.

PRECIPITATION
Precipitation occurs when so
much water has condensed
that the air cannot hold it
anymore. Water falls to the
earth in the form of rain,
hail, sleet or snow.
 Precipitation
Precipitation types:
• Falling water droplet such as:
– rain
– drizzle (uniform precipitation with droplet sizes less that 0.5
mm)
• Frozen water particles such as:
– snow
– sleet (raindrops fall through below freezing air temperature
resulting in a mixture of rain and snow or hail)
– hail (pellets of frozen ice larger than 5 mm)
• Condense water:
– dew (formed from the direct condensation and absorption
from the atmosphere)
 Primary steps for formation of
precipitation
1. Creation of saturation conditions in the
atmosphere (i.e. typically when there is
lifting of air mass)
2. Phase change from vapour to liquid
(cloud formation)
3. Growth of droplets to appreciable size
that will be able to overcome upward air
movement
CREATION OF SATURATION CONDITIONS
Lifting Mechanisms (1/4)
1. Warm Front: Warm air advancing on cold air
Characteristics of
associated
precipitation events:
Warm air Cold
air  longer duration
 lower intensity
 low energy
 gentler storms

Warm front (produces stratus

cloud)
 Lifting Mechanisms (2/4)
2. Cold front: Cold air advancing on warm air
Characteristics of
associated
Warm air precipitation events:
Cold air
 shorter duration
 higher intensity
 high energy
 severe storms

Cold front (produces

cumulus cloud)
 Lifting Mechanisms (3/4)
3. Cyclonic Events
– Tropical Cyclones: These are non-frontal events but
convective and generated by rising of warm-moist air
masses.
Typical requirements:
• Intense sunshine (typical of ocean)
• High humidity and temperature (typical of ocean)
• Low surface friction (typical of ocean)
– Monsoons:
• 180° reversal in prevailing wind direction with season.
• Partly due to differential heating of oceans and
continents (India, West Africa), thus bringing a season
of wet weather
• Most prominent when combined with topographic
effect that help to create a semi-permanent low
pressure over land, drawing moisture from the ocean
 Lifting Mechanisms (4/4)
4. Orographic Cooling (lifting): Cooling
of air as it rises over mountain range. In
this case a greater percentage of the
precipitation occurs on the windward side
of the mountain
 Change of Phase (nucleation)
Once saturated conditions exist droplets can be
formed, however surface tension resists nucleation.
The presence of small particles (aerosols) provide
the initial condensation nucleus for droplet formation.

Condensation Nuclei
1. Most common is sea salt aerosols
2. Pollutants such as dust and combustion by-
products
3. Ice also enhances formation due to the difference in
vapour pressure of water versus ice.
 Droplet Growth

• Principal growth mechanism is coalescence or

growth by collision.

• Collisions are generated by turbulent air motion

and falling rain drops.

• A droplet must grow to a size large enough to

overcome the upward convective velocities.
 Cloud Seeding
Def.: Artificial nucleation to induce precipitation.
• Rainfall may be induced by the introduction of
artificial nucleation materials (such as Silver
iodide or dry ice) into the atmosphere.
• The long term effect of such activity on rainfall
variability is not clearly known, as extreme
events or events that would have occurred
without seeding is difficult to evaluate
 Rainfall measurement
Rain gauges are instruments used to measure the
depth and or intensity of falling rain on flat
surfaces.
• Factors that affect rainfall measurement:
– design of the rain gauge
– topography of location
– presence of obstruction (such as trees and buildings).
• Main types of rain gauges:
– non-recording
– recording types
 Non-recording Gauges
• It is used to record the rainfall amount over a
period of one day. Typically it is an open
receptacle leading to a graduated or non-
graduated cylinder.
• With a non-graduated cylinder a dipstick or
measuring cylinder is used to take the
measurement.
• Characteristics
– Standard rain gauge is for daily (24 hour) rainfall
– It is economical
– requires service after the rains
– relatively free of maintenance
 Non-recording Gauges
• Main sources of error may arise from:
– measuring stick
– leaks in the funnel or can
– denting of can
– evaporation
 Recording Gauges
• Functions: Provides automatic recording of
rainfall depth over time interval, therefore rainfall
intensity
• In older gauges drum strip chart was used as the
recording mechanism. Modern gauges use
digital recording mechanisms.
• Types of mechanism
– weighing bucket
– tipping bucket
– float-siphon type
• Adv.
– suitable for poorly accessible areas
– records the rainfall amount with time.
 Sources of error in rainfall
measurement
Sources of measurement error that can lead to
error in estimating the actual precipitation:
– observational error
– instrument error
– raindrop splash
– equipment condition
– wind effect is greatest (most significant) on snow and
light rain.
 Radar rainfall measurement:
• Signals of reflected radiation from raindrop
particles at high frequency gives an
indication of rainfall. The signal is
converted to cumulative rainfall.
• The data can provide information on
location and movement of storms and data
in ungauged areas.
• However, there are difficulties or error in
the measurements due to various types of
particulate (hail, snow, rain)
 Rainfall Variability
• Spatial variability – variation from one
location to another: It is generally heaviest
near the equator decreasing with increasing
latitude with regional geographic location
variation having a strong influence
• Temporal variability – variation from one
period or time to another
1. Mean variability: Variability in annual or seasonal
mean (rainy season to the next rainy season)
2. Seasonal variability: This is the variation from one
season to the other eg. Rainy to dry season.
Seasonal variability is very important in the
construction of drainage and storage units.
3. Individual storm variability or the time distribution of
individual storms.
 Rainfall data

• The important parameters of rainfall are

intensity, duration and frequency.
• Intensity: is the amount of rainfall per unit time
(usually expressed in mm per hour)
• Duration: is the time period for a given storm
• Frequency: The number of times a given storm
may occur within a period
• The period taken for a storm of a certain
intensity and duration to re-occur is referred to
as the return period or recurrence interval.
 Rainfall data representation
1. Cumulative mass curve
Plot of summation of rainfall increments as a function of time
Typically the output from a recording gauge is in the form of
cumulative rainfall over time.
Cumm. Rainfall (mm)
250
Cummulative Rainfall

200

150
188 mm
(mm)

100

50

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
-50

Time (min)
 Rainfall data representation
2. Rainfall hyetograph
The depth or intensity of rainfall plotted against time interval
to generate a hyetograph characterizing the time distribution
of a storm or selected time period. Important input to
hydrologic models (surface hydrology models).
 Rainfall data representation

3. Isohyetal maps:
is a plot of constant rainfall
depth (sometimes intensity)
contours based on rainfall
data recorded at gauged
locations (points). These
are generated similarly to
topographic contour maps.
Isohyetal maps are used to
represent long-term
averages or individual
storm events.

Isoyetal map of Ghana

Point rainfall data assessment
Most often rainfall data is measured at a
point, which is used for the following:
• Estimate average rainfall over large area
(watershed)
• Reduce point rainfall to aerial rainfall for
model applications to large areas
• Estimate missing record of gauge data or
estimate data at an ungauged location
 Estimation of Precipitation over an
Area
1. Arithmetic Averages: Used when
– gauges are uniformly distributed
– individual gauge measurements do not vary
greatly (typically for small areas)
n

P i
Pavg  i 1

n
Pi = rainfall at gauge i
n = number of gauges
2. Thiessen Polygon
• Underlying concept is rainfall for an area
is represented by the nearest gauge
• This is done by constructing polygons
around each gauge.
– First, by drawing lines to connect each
gauge.
– Then draw perpendicular bisector on each
connecting line.
– Connect bisectors to form polygons
– Determine area for each polygon
Thiessen Polygon
n

AP i i
Pavg  i 1

AT

n = number of polygons (gauges)

AT = total area
Ai = area of polygon around gauge i
Pi = rainfall at gauge i
 Sample calculation: Arithmetic Average and
Thiessen polygon
Determine the mean rainfall using the arithmetic average
and the Thiessen polygon methods
P5
Rain Precipitation
gauge (Pi)(mm)
P6
P1 56
P P1
P2 40 4
P3 44
P4 52 P
2
P5 48
P6 52 P
3
Total
 Thiessen polygon
P5

P6

P4 P1

P2

P3

a. Drawing lines to connect each gauge

 Thiessen polygon
P5

P6

P4 P1

P2

P3

b. Then draw perpendicular bisector on each

connecting line
 Thiessen polygon
P5

P6

P4 P1

P2

P3

c. Connect bisectors to form polygons

Thiessen polygon
P5

A5
P6

A4 A6
P4 P1

A1
A2 P2
A3
P3

d. Determine area for each polygon

 Arithmetic Average and Thiessen polygon
Rain Precipitation Area of PiAi
gauge (Pi)(mm) influence
(Ai)(ha)
P1 56 260 14560
P2 40 58 2320
P3 44 50 2200
P4 52 250 13000
P5 48 62 2976
P6 52 290 15080
Total 970 50136
n 6

 Pi AP i i
Pavg  i 1

Pavg  i 1 AT
n
3. Isohyetal Method
• Construct isohyets between gauges
• Calculate area between isohyets
• Estimate average rainfall between
isohyetals by applying same summation
as Thiessen Polygon. Where Ai and Pi
represent the area and average rain
between two isohyetals.
 Missing data points or rainfall at
ungauged locations (1/5)
1. Simple average of surrounding gauges
1. Guages must be of about equal distance from
point of estimate
2. Guages should have fairly equal rainfall at
known gauges
2. Normal Ratio Method for missing data
estimation
1. When surrounding gauges differ by greater
than 10% in measured rainfall
2. Stations are weighted based on normal
annual precipitation ratio’s
 Missing data points or rainfall at
ungauged locations (2/5)
Normal Ratio Method for missing data
estimation

1  Nx Nx N x 
Px   P P .... P 
k N 1 N 2 N k
 1 2 k 
Where:
Nx = normal long-term annual precipitation at location x
(i.e. location of interest)
Pk = event precipitation at gauge k
Nk = normal long-term annual precipitation at gauge k
Px = event precipitation at location x to be estimated
K = n-1
The event might be a single storm total, daily total, monthly
total or annual value.
Example: Estimate the missing
data for June 2010 at P1
Rain Monthly Long term
gauge rainfall for mean annual
June rainfall (mm)
2010(mm)
P1 x 1368
P2 156 1324
P3 149 1300
P4 158 1348
P5 148 1288
P6 152 1290
 Missing data points or rainfall at
ungauged locations (3/5)
Reciprocal (Inverse weighted) Distance Method
used for :
• missing data
• ungauged location data estimation

d1
y d4

d2 d3

X
 Missing data points or rainfall at
ungauged locations (4/5)
Reciprocal Distance Method (2/3)

Principle: Surrounding gauges are weighted

based on reciprocals of the sum of squares
of distance away from the point of interest
1. Distance away from the point of interest

2
d  x y 2
i
2. X and y are distances from the ungauged (missing
data) location where precipitation is to be estimated
 Missing data points or rainfall at
ungauged locations (5/5)
Reciprocal Distance Method (3/3)
1
W 
i d2
i

n
 Pi Wi
i 1
Px  n
 Wi
i 1
 Effective rainfall
• This is defined differently for the agriculturist, surface and
groundwater hydrologist.
• For the agriculturist it is defined as that portion of total
rainfall which is directly or indirectly useful for crop
production. It must take care of the consumptive use by
crops, land soaking or wetting for land preparation,
leaching of salts.
• The effectiveness of rainfall depends on:
1. Rainfall amount and intensity
2. Evaporative demand
3. Land and soil characteristics
4. Antecedent soil-water status
5. Groundwater status
6. Farm and crop management practices
7. Crop characteristics
 Effective rainfall
• Effective rainfall is difficult to estimate
because:
– changes in infiltration rate with time
– spatial variation of soil conditions
– spatial and temporal variability of rain
• Forecasting is even more difficult because
of the additional challenges due to:
– uncertainty associated with rainfall pattern
– variation in rainfall amount.
 Effective rainfall measurement or
estimation
Effective rainfall can be measured directly or
estimated using empirical equations.
Direct measurement:
– Soil moisture change
– Daily soil moisture balance
– Integrating gauge
– Ramdas and
– Lysimeter
The empirical equations include:
– Renfro equation
– U.S Bureau of Reclamation method
– USDA-SCS method and
– Potential ET/ precipitation ratio
 Effective rainfall measurement or
estimation

• The Lysimeter method of measurement and

potential ET/precipitation method of estimating
effective rainfall are considered more accurate
than the others.
• The effective rainfall values used for irrigation
system design and water scheduling varies in
different tropical countries.