4-Computation of Average Rainfall
4-Computation of Average Rainfall
P P P ...... Pn P i
Pav 1 2 3 i 1
n n
Advantages: suitable method when rainfall is uniform.
Example: Using Arithmetic Average Method, find average rainfall
over a catchment. The rain gage data is: 12.6, 18.8, 14.8, 10.4 and
16.2 mm.
Solution:
n
P1 P2 P3 ...... Pn P i
Pav i 1
n n
12.6 18.8 14.8 10.4 16.2 72.8
Pav 14.56 mm
5 5
2.Thiessen polygon method.
This method is a more common method of weighing the rain-
gauge observation according to the area.
P A P A P A ...... Pn An (P A ) i i
Pav 1 1 2 2 3 3 i 1
A1 A2 A3 .... An n
A
i 1
i
Solution:
A P 6085.6
Pav 31.53 mm
A 193
3.Isohytel method.
An isohyet is a line, on a rainfall map of the basin, joining
places of equal rainfall readings.
P P
A 2 1 2
5484.5 14.78 cm
P
A 371
av
Problem:
Find the mean precipitation for the area sketched in figure by
Thiessen’s method. The area is composed of a square plus an
equilateral triangular plot of side 4 kms. Rainfall readings in cms at
the various stations are also given in figure.
Presentation of rainfall data
2.Hyetograph
1.Mass curve of Rainfall
If the total accumulated precipitation is plotted
against time, the curve obtained is known as Mass
curve of Rainfall/Storm.