Precipitation is any solid or liquid that forms in the atmosphere and falls to the

earth. It is one of the three main steps of the hydrologic cycle. Precipitation
forms from water vapor condenses into bigger droplets of water.

Precipitation can vary depending on the temperature on the cloud. It can be

rain, sleet, snow, or hail. Rain is liquid precipitation falling from the sky. Snows
are ice crystals that form in the cold clouds. Hails are formed when raindrops
are carried upward by thunderstorm updrafts into extremely cold areas of the
atmosphere and freeze. Sleet is like a mix of rain and snow, it starts as a
snowflake but melts into raindrops as it falls through a layer of warm air.

Precipitation is classified by the mechanism that lifts air to produce rain, with each type having
distinct rainfall patterns:
Convective Storms: Driven by the rapid upward movement of warm air, leading to short, intense
rainfall often with thunderstorms or hail.

Orographic Storms: Occur when moist air is forced to rise over mountains, causing heavy rain on the
windward side and drier conditions on the leeward side.

Cyclonic Storms: Associated with large low-pressure systems, bringing widespread, prolonged rainfall
over large areas.

Hurricanes/Tropical Cyclones: Intense cyclonic storms forming over warm oceans, producing very
heavy rainfall, strong winds, and storm surges.

Each type affects regional climate and weather patterns differently.

Rainfall Characteristics:
Depth- Refers to how much water has fallen over a period of time. In
most cases this is measured in an hour basis and has a unit of mm (in
most cases). It is the depth to which water will accumulate if all the rain
water remained at the same place where it fell without flowing off or
seeping into the ground.

Duration- Refers to the length of time rainfall occurs. A high intensity

rainfall for a short duration may affect soil density and permeability, 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.

Intensity- defines 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).

It is also well noted that intensity and duration can have a large
influence on whether the rainfall infiltrates or becomes surface runoff.
 Higher rainfall intensity produces larger size raindrops which have more
impact energy, and thus higher intensity storms can damage
vegetation and soil; it also displaces soil particles contributing to the
process of soil deposition and weathering.

Hyetography- a graphical representation of the relationship between

the rainfall intensity and time. This chart is very useful in representing the
characteristics of a storm, and is particularly important in developing
the design storm to predict extreme floods.

Point rainfall is the rainfall during a given time interval which is often one storm.
Also, it can be an estimate of the amount that may have been measured at
a given point. A rain gauge is the instrument most commonly used to
measure the amount of rain that reaches the ground surface during a storm.
It collects rainwater into a cylindrical vessel of a fixed diameter. The volume of
collected water is divided by the area of the cylinder opening and converted
into a depth or rain.

Rainfall measurements are usually provided in units of water depth (inches or

millimeters) to which rainwater would stand on an area, if all the rain were
collected on it. Thus, 1 cm of rainfall over a catchment area of 1km²
represents a volume of water equal to 10 m³.4

A rain gauge is an instrument to measure rainfall rate in a certain period of

time. Rain gauges catch and represent the precipitation falling on a
respective surrounding area.

Types of Rain Gauges

A. Non-recording rain gauge:
Symon’s rain gauge

B. Recording rain gauge:

 Weighing bucket type rain gauge
 Tipping bucket type rain gauge
 Floating or Natural syphon type rain gauge

Before the use of rainfall records of a station for hydrological analysis of

storm, water resources, floods, etc. It is necessary to first check the data for
continuity and consistency. Continuity refers to the availability of continuous
record of previous rainfall while consistency means that rainfall data of
previous year should be consistent with the present environmental condition.
However, the continuity of a record may be broken with missing data due to
many reasons such as damage or fault in a rain gauge during a period, or
absence of an observer. For this reason, estimation of rainfall data is being
conducted by using the data of the neighboring stations.
Methods to calculate missing data:

1. ARITHMETIC MEAN METHOD

If the normal precipitation at each of the selected stations is within 10% of

that station with missing data.

2. NORMAL RATIO METHOD

If the normal precipitation/rainfall at any of the selected stations is more than

10% of that station with missing records. Consists of weighing the precipitation
at the various stations by the ratios of normal annual precipitations.

ARITHMETICAL-MEAN METHOD

Arithmetical mean method is a procedure applied in order to predict

average value of a hydrological parameter in a certain area. This method is
calculated by taking an average of the values that are obtained from
several observation points or stations within the region. To calculate the
arithmetical mean, you add all the individual observations and divide the sum
with the total number of observations. This approach takes the view that the
parameter of interest for instance precipitation is uniformly distributed in the
area and simply gives an average value. The method is widely employed in
hydrology with the aim of approximating local averages where detailed
spatial information is lacking.

STEPS IN SOLVING ARITHMETICAL-MEAN METHOD:

Get the parameter you are concerned with, like rainfall measurements at few
stations over a specified area.

Sum up all of the values recorded from different stations or observation points.

Count how many observations or stations.

Lastly, solve average rainfall over the catchment P by dividing the total sum
of of the values by the number of observations

THIESSEN-MEAN METHOD

The Thiessen-polygon method calculates average precipitation over an area

by assigning weightage to each station based on the area closest to the
station. This method is superior to the arithmetic-average method as it
rationally assigns weightage to various stations. The weightage factor for
each station is determined using a planimeter or overlay grid. This method is
effective for rain gauge stations outside the catchment and is relatively easy
to calculate for a fixed network of stations.

STEPS

Draw straight lines connecting 2 stations.

Draw a perpendicular bisector between the 2 stations and extend until it

meets with another bisector within the area.

Connect the intersection of the bisectors.

Then solve for the average rainfall over the catchment P

ISOHYETAL METHOD

The Isohyetal Method is described as a procedure of estimating average

precipitation by using lines called isohyets and which connect points of equal
rainfall. This method entails drawing isohyets derived from precipitation data
of different stations and then taking an average precipitation by integrating
over the areas which correspond to these lines. It is more accurate than the
previous model because it incorporates spatial heterogeneity of precipitation.

Draw isohyets or contour of equal precipitations

Compute the average rainfall between each pair of isohyets

Then solve for the average rainfall over the catchment P

DOUBLE-MASS ANALYSIS

A test for consistency of record or for rain gauge inconsistency.

Common causes of inconsistency:

1. Shifting of a rain gauge station to a new location

2. The neighborhood of the station undergoing a marked change

3. Change in the ecosystem due to calamities such as forest fires and

landslides.

4. Occurrence of observational error from a certain date.

Due to these inconsistencies, the double-mass analysis is used to detect if

data at a site have been subjected to a significant change in magnitude
due to external factors such as problems with instrumentation, observation
practices, or recording conditions. This technique is based on the principle
that when each recorded data comes from the same parent population,
they are consistent.

Limitations in the use of double-mass analysis:

1. Base location should be located relatively close to station being tested

2. Method should not be used in mountainous areas where precipitation

can deviate significantly for nearby stations.

3. Method should only be used for long-term adjustment of precipitation

data but not for adjusting daily or storm precipitation.

Steps in estimating the mean annual precipitation (based on the sample

problem)

The data is sorted in descending order of the year, starting from the latest
year 2019. Cumulative values of station BHIE rainfall and the ten station
average rainfall values are calculated.

Plot the given data then analyze the breakpoint.

Solve for Mc using the data from the breakpoint to the latest year. Find the
slope using Linear Regression in Data Analysis.

Solve for Ma using the data from 2008 to 1990. Use linear regression in data
analysis.