2025
Module 1
The Hydrologic Cycle
and
Rainfall Runoff Processes
Assoc. Prof. Ts. Gs. Ir. Dr. Kuok King Kuok
School of Engineering, Computing & Science
Room E304
[email protected] CVE30001 – Urban Water Resources
What is Engineering Hydrology?
Hydrology is the science of water.
It is the study of the
occurrence
character
movement
of water within and between the physical and biological
components of the environment.
Hydrological Cycle
An orderly scheme to systematically examine and analyze the
movement of water through the landscape
The hydrologic cycle is the central focus of hydrology.
The cycle has no beginning or end.
Its processes occur continuously
Hydrologic cycle
Evaporation
The conversion of water from a liquid into a gas
Water is transferred from the surface to the atmosphere through
evaporation, the process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas.
Precipitation
Transfer of water from the atmosphere back to earth
Precipitation is the primary
mechanism for transporting water
from the atmosphere to the surface
of the earth. There are several forms
of precipitation, the most common
of which is rain. Other forms of
precipitation include; hail, snow,
sleet, and freezing rain. A well
developed extra-tropical cyclone
could be responsible for the
generation of any or all of these
forms of precipitation.
Hail – forzen form of precipitation, associated with
thunderstorm.
Sleet – wintry precipitation, snows partially melted on its
way to ground.
Tropical cyclone: a storm system characterized by a large
low pressure centre and numerous thunderstorms that
produced strong winds and heavy winds.
Transpiration
Transfer of water from plants to the atmosphere
Transpiration is the
evaporation of water into
the atmosphere from the
leaves and stems of plants.
Transpiration accounts for
approximately 10% of all
evaporating water.
Groundwater
Water that has penetrated the earth's surface
Groundwater is all the water that has
penetrated the earth's surface and is
found in one of two soil layers. The one
nearest the surface is the "zone of
aeration", where gaps between soil are
filled with both air and water. Below
this layer is the "zone of saturation",
where the gaps are filled with water.
The water table is the boundary
between these two layers. As the
amount of groundwater water
increases or decreases, the water table
rises or falls accordingly. When the
entire area below the ground is
saturated, flooding occurs because all
subsequent precipitation is forced to
remain on the surface.
Runoff
Transfer of landwater to the oceans
Runoff is the movement of
landwater to the oceans, chiefly in
the form of rivers, lakes, and
streams. Runoff consists of
precipitation that neither evaporates,
transpires nor penetrates the
surface to become groundwater.
Even the smallest streams are
connected to larger rivers that carry
billions of gallons of water into
oceans worldwide.
Hydrologic Component
-Double Mass Curve Analysis
-Arial Rainfall Rainfall
Rainfall-Runoff Model
Hydrologic
-Infiltration Infiltration
Data
Runoff
Analysis
-Runoff
-Evaporation -Flow Duration Curve
Evaporation
Analysis -Hydrograph/Unit
Hydrograph
Basic Equation of Hydrologic Cycle
Input Process Output
(Rainfall) (Basin) (Runoff)
Simple Hydrologic System Model
Unsteady Flow Equation ; I-Q=dS/dt
I = Input (volume/time)
O= Output (volume/time)
dS/dt = Time rate of change of storage
Relationship between rainfall, infiltration and runoff
Water reaching the ground surface infiltrates into the soil until it
reaches a stage where the rate of rainfall (intensity) exceeds the
infiltration capacity of the soil.
Thereafter, surface puddles, ditches, and other depressions are filled
(depression storage), after which runoff is generated.
Source: Linsley et al. 1958
Physical characteristics affecting runoff
Soil type
The infiltration capacity is dependent on the porosity of a soil
which determines the water storage capacity and affects the
resistance of water to flow into deeper layers.
The highest infiltration capacities are observed in loose, sandy
soils while heavy clay or loamy soils have considerable smaller
infiltration capacities.
The infiltration capacity depends on the moisture content
prevailing in a soil at the onset of a rainstorm.
The initial high capacity decreases with time (provided the rain
does not stop) until it reaches a constant value as the soil profile
becomes saturated
Vegetation
The amount of rain lost to interception storage on the foliage
depends on the kind of vegetation and its growth stage.
A dense vegetation cover shields the soil from the raindrop
impact and reduces the crusting effect as described earlier.
The root system as well as organic matter in the soil increase the
soil porosity thus allowing more water to infiltrate.
Vegetation also retards the surface flow particularly on gentle
slopes, giving the water more time to infiltrate and to evaporate.
An area densely covered with vegetation, yields less runoff than
bare ground.
Slope and catchment size
Steep slope plots yield more runoff than those with gentle slopes.
Quantity of runoff decreased with increasing slope length.
Mainly due to lower flow velocities and subsequently a longer
time of concentration This means that the water is exposed for a
longer duration to infiltration and evaporation before it reaches
the measuring point.
The runoff efficiency (volume of runoff per unit of area) increases
with the decreasing size of the catchment i.e. the larger the size
of the catchment the larger the time of concentration and the
smaller the runoff efficiency.
Meteorological factors affecting runoff
• Type of precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, etc.)
• Rainfall intensity
• Rainfall amount
• Rainfall duration
• Distribution of rainfall over the watersheds
• Direction of storm movement
• Antecedent precipitation and resulting soil moisture
• Other meteorological and climatic conditions that affect
evapotranspiration, such as temperature, wind, relative
humidity, and season.
Average Rainfall Calculation Methods
Arithmetic Mean Method
Thiessen Method
Isohyetal Method
Question?
