1.

Hydrological Cycle
• Water stored in biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere and
hydrosphere
• Inputs, outputs, flows, storages

2. Precipitation, Interception and Evapotranspiration

Precipitation
• Differs by latitude: tropics – high, subtropical – low, mid-latitudes –
cyclonic / frontal, polar – low because lower temperature holds less
moisture
• Influences run-off and evapotranspiration
• Types
o Convectional: displacement of warm air upwards in
convectional system
o Orographic: meets barrier (land mass) and must rise above it,
deposits mostly on windward compared to leeward
o Cyclonic: warm air mass rises after encountering cooler,
denser air mass
 Warm front – drizzles, cooler front – heavier showers
o Snow: water vapour frozen directly into solid, minute ice
crystals forming around nuclei
o Sleet / hail / frost
• Intensity affects nature of channel flow: 0.5 – 4mm/h vs. 100-
150mm/h
o Higher intensity, more flow

Interception
• Types: canopy, throughflow, stemflow, litter
• Factors
o Types of rainfall: short and heavy vs. prolonged drizzle: pine
trees intercept 15% vs. 94%
o Type of vegetation: tropical: 40%, temperate: 30%, savanna:
full leaf then more interception but varies seasonally

Evapotranspiration
• Potential: at field capacity vs. actual: below field capacity
• Factors
o Temperature
o Relative humidity
• Low RH, vapour pressure gradient high,
evapotranspiration increases

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 • Results in higher RH, vapour pressure gradient falls,
temperature increases
• Results in lower RH, vapour pressure gradient increases,
evapotranspiration increases
o Wind: replace surface layer with unsaturated layer of air –
facilitates mixing of saturated and unsaturated air molecules
o Vegetation; soil texture: determines wilting point and field
capacity which in turn determines water capacity

3. Soil Moisture Storage, Infiltration and Throughflow

Soil moisture storage

• Pores form narrow passages where water flows through – water not
removed by throughflow and percolation become capillary water
due to capillarity of water (water tends to stick to solid particles)
• Seasonal variations

cm of water (monthly
means)

Precipitation
Soil
Water moisture
deficit recharge
Soil
moisture
withdrawal
Potential
evapotranspira
tion

Field Wiltin
time
(Winter) capacit(Summer) g
(month)
y point
o When precipitation > potential evapotranspiration, soil
reaches saturation capacity – gravitational water is drained,
leaving capillary water – soil reaches field capacity
o When precipitation < potential evapotranspiration, water
drawn from soil and is drawn from increasingly thinner pores,
leaving hygroscopic water – soil reaches wilting capacity
which is maintained till precipitation > potential
evapotranspiration again
• Large water capacity – greater difference between field capacity
and wilting point – more favourable for soil

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Infiltration
• Water drawn into soil by gravity and capillary action
• Factors
o Rainfall: amount, duration, size – affects ease of entry into soil
o Soil texture: coarse vs. fine-grained: water encounters more
flow resistance as diameter of pores decreases because it
sticks to grains instead of flowing through
o Vegetation
 Decaying vegetation assists infiltration
 Affects soil structure: changes soil to crumb-like
structure (loose and friable structure allowing rapid
infiltration and drainage)
 Rain splash action: reduces chances of raindrops sealing
natural soil openings
o Compaction by tractors / trampling by cattle changes soil into
platy structure which impedes downward movement of water
o Terracing increases amount of time water is retained on
slopes
o Antecedent soil moisture: rain water from previous rainfall
o Urbanization: replacement of vegetation with concrete
• Rate of infiltration decreases over time due to
o Less storage capacity: depends on rate of water loss
o Filling of thin pores reducing capillary action
o Impact of rain breaks up soil aggregates to fill pores
o Wet clay swells in size and decreases size of pores

Throughflow
• Generated by lower permeability of soil at greater depths
o Occurs because permeability of soil is greater than the
underlying rock
o Clay pan (less permeable region) is formed below because
finer particles are washed down by percolating water to fill
pores
o Soils at greater depth experience more compaction due to
weight of soil above: restricts downward flow of water and
hence water moves laterally (throughflow)
• Sometimes throughflow can be a flow along well-defined sub-
surface seepage lines (percolines) like tunnels / pipes where soil
particles are washed away by sub-surface flow

4. Overland Flow

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Forms
• Sheet wash
o Upper part of slope with smooth surface experiences sheet
erosion
o Downslope experiences slope wash causing debris
accumulated in thickening layers
• Rills and gullies
o Flows along depressions downslope cause small channels to
be incised, forming rills which are innumerable, closely-
spaced channels
o Gullies are the large channels formed due to erosion and
devegetation

Horton overland flow

• When rainfall intensity > infiltration capacity, excess water is stored
in depressions – surface detention
• Variations on slope
o Amount increases downslope due to accumulation
o Velocity increases due to steeper gradient + less friction
between water and slope
• Variation over time: increases if rainfall intensity does not fall
because infiltration capacity decreases with time
• Limitations
o Rarely generated under humid temperate conditions where
rainfall intensity > infiltration capacity by a wide margin
o Works for semi-arid environments, urban areas, devegetated
areas, places where soil is trampled by cattle

Saturation overland flow

• Ground saturated – rise in water table because rainfall impeded
from flowing downwards due to impermeable B-horizon
• Rain falls directly on saturated soil – cannot be absorbed – causing
overland flow
• Migration of water through soil downslope as throughflow will seep
out as return flow

Q/m3s- Peak
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5. Channel Flow discharge
Lag time
• Sources: channel precipitation, overland flow, throughflow, baseflow
• Types: perennial, Recessio
Rising intermittent, ephemeral: determined by baseflow
n limb
limb Storm flow
Storm hydrographs
• Features
Base flow

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Time/
h
 o Initial rise in discharge due to channel precipitation
o Rising limb due to overland flow
o Lag time because need time for water from rainfall to travel to
gauging station and time for overland flow to be generated
 Shorter lag time means more prone to flooding due to
increase in discharge spread over a shorter time
interval
o Double peak: overland flow + throughflow
• Factors
o Location of rainstorm: upper part of basin – longer lag time
and less pronounced peak
o Nature of precipitation: heavy – shorter lag time and higher
peak
o Basin characteristics
 Size: bigger – longer lag time (need more time to reach
gauging station) and higher peak (more water captured)
 Shape: elongated vs. circular (shorter lag time and
lower peak)
 Relief: steeper – shorter lag time and higher peak
o Vegetation
 Interception reduces total discharge
 Plant roots reduce throughflow – lower peak discharge
 Increase capacity and infiltration rate – increase
proportion of throughflow and baseflow – longer lag
time and lower peak
o Basin geology: more permeable rocks and soil increase
infiltration
o Urbanization: increase velocity and amount of discharge
• Hydrograph of melting glaciers: melt in early afternoon where
temperature highest, peak discharge late afternoon causing short-
term variations
• Annual hydrograph
o Seasonal variations
 Climate: eg. Britain: least in late summer, most in spring
due to amount of evapotranspiration and water varies
 Basin geology eg. River Derwent: impermeable shale-
sandstone vs. River Wye: permeable carboniferous
limestone
 Flow regulation

6. Groundwater Storage

Porosity and permeability

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• Aquifers: water-bearing rock formations high in porosity and
permeability vs. aquicludes: non-porous and non-permeable
• Porosity: % of total volume consisting of voids
o Factors
 Spaces between mineral grains eg. sand and gravel
high porosity but may be cemented by smaller minerals
 Fractures
 Solution cavities eg. limestone where solution activities
form holes and pits that can be enlarged into caves as
water flows over
 Vesicles: basalt and volcanic rocks found on top layer of
lava flow – very high porosity due to trapped air bubbles
• Permeability: capacity of rocks to transmit fluids (size of pores)
o Primary: passage of water through pores
o Secondary: passage of water through fractures

Groundwater storage and water table

• Groundwater result of percolation
• Water table: boundary separating unsaturated rocks above from
saturated rocks below
o Zone of aeration: air and water fill openings
o Zone of saturation: fractures, groundwater
• Factors affecting water table
o Surface topography
 Shape of water follows shape of relief – greater depth at
hills than at valleys because gravitational pull
downwards
 If rain ceases, water level slowly subside to height of
valleys
o Geological structure: perched water table due to alternating
layers of aquiclude and aquifer
• Fluctuations in water table: determined by amount of input and
output
o Seasonal
 Zone of intermittent saturation (between minimum and
maximum point of saturation)
 Eg. Britain: more rain in winter than in summer. April-
October: precipitation < evapotranspiration but this
changes after October – precipitation recharge
o Long term
 Eg. deserts – water table lies at great depths – fossil
groundwater from pluvial periods

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  Water table getting lower because people use the
aquifer by building wells to draw water, forming cones
of depression

Groundwater and channel flow

• Effluent: water table higher than channel: seepage into channel
• Influent: seepage from channel into ground
• Problems associated with groundwater utilization and pollution
o Ground subsidence due to over-pumping eg. valley of
California, Mexico City. In Southern California, artificially
divert rivers over permeable deposits to recharge
groundwater
o Groundwater pollution: bury waste in unsaturated region
subjected to reaction with percolating water leads to
contamination of groundwater
o Salt-water intrusion: depth of freshwater underground 40x
that of freshwater above ground. Normally freshwater floats
on denser salt water. But excessive pumping lowers water
table – bottom of freshwater zone will rise 40x – eventual
salinization of water

7. Water Balance
• Balance between water inputs (precipitation), water outflow
(evapotranspiration and stream flow), change in water storage
• P=E+R± S
• Spatial variations
o Singapore: precipitation > potential evapotranspiration all
year round, especially beginning of year with NE monsoon –
water surplus. Though high potential evapotranspiration, even
higher precipitation
o Sudan – arid region: precipitation < potential
evapotranspiration due to high temperature – water deficit
• Temporal variations: Britain: winter – surplus, summer – deficit

8. Flood Management

Causes: climatological vs. non-climatological

• Excessive rainfall: eg. UK regular winter floods due to series of
depressions – heavy rainfall – overland flow due to already
saturated ground
• Rapid snowmelt in spring / early summer eg. Bangladesh floods due
to snowmelt in Himalayas

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• Volcanic action induces snowmelt
• Landslides: displacement of water – overflow banks eg. rockslide in
Vaiont reservoir in Northern Italy inundated the Piave Valley and the
town of Longarone
• Dam failures: eg. failure of St. Francis dam – San Francis Quito
Canyon flooded

Flood-intensifying conditions: basin conditions + channel conditions

Flood prediction and forecasting

• Flood prediction: likelihood of occurrence
o Recurrence intervals – flood frequency graph
o Limitations
 Talking about probability only, not certainty
 Basin / channel conditions may change with time – need
to update
 Short records – inaccurate – may miss extreme floods

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• Flood forecasting: severity of flood
o Rational runoff
 Peak rate of runoff Qpk= 0.278CIA, C=rational run off
coefficient, I=rainfall intensity, A=drainage area
 Assumes Horton overland flow
 Most ideal for area of 200 acres / urbanized area with
high run off rates

Flooding in Singapore
• Nature of rainfall: high and intense especially during monsoon –
saturate soil quickly – overland flow
• Topography: Bukit Timah Granite and Jurong Formation – steep-
sided valleys concentrate floodwaters on low valley floors
• Recent development: urbanization – concretization – reduces
infiltration capacity and efficient storm drainage – increase flood
propensity
• Flood management programs to curb but can never evade floods

Flooding in Bangladesh
• May to June: snowmelt from Himalayas to reach Bangladesh in July
• Worst hit: 60% island inundated
• Deforestation in mountain catchment areas of Nepal
• Coincidence of flood peaks from 3 rivers in 1988: Brahmaputra,
Ganges, Meghna

Effects of floods
• Primary: direct contact with flood waters
o High velocity – carry heavy load that can injure people
o Can cause massive erosion – undermine structures
o Suspended load which is deposited when flood retreats,
covering buildings with a layer of wind
o Farmland loss
o Drowning
o Furniture / equipment damaged by water especially US homes
as they are made of timber / plastic
• Secondary: disruption of essential services and health hazards and
psychological impact
• Tertiary: change in river channels, loss of jobs, corruption

Prediction: recurrence interval, hazard mapping, warnings

Mitigating
• Levee / dams but if fail, aggravate situation. Failure of levees in
Mississippi in 1993. Failure of Teton Dam in Idaho.

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• Channelization
o Enlarge cross-sectional area. Straighten channels using
artificial cut-offs – shorten channels – steeper gradient and
velocity enables discharge to dissipate quickly
o But like in Mississippi, difficult to work against river’s natural
tendency to meander
• Floodways: outlet of flow eg. Lake Ponchartrain. Normally used for
recreation.
• Non-structural
o Expensive and false of security
o Flood-plain zoning: monitoring land use in floodplains
o Building codes
o Buy out programs: to relieve burden on government funds
o Mortgage limitations

9. Channel Morphology

Generation and dissipation of river energy

• Generation: discharge = volume x velocity
• Dissipation
o Erosion, transportation (5%)
o Frictional drag (95%) along river and banks
 Adjacent threads of water flowing at different velocities
eg. turbulent flow
 Water interchanged in eddies – local changes in velocity
– loss in energy

Factors affecting river energy

• Volume of water
o Humid tropics: volume increases downstream due to
tributaries – more efficient river downstream
o Arid regions: volume decreases downstream due to
evaporation – convex profile
• Velocity – Manning’s equation V=1.49R2/3S 1/2/ n
o R: hydraulic radius: ratio of cross-sectional area to length of
wetted perimeter
 More contact with bed and banks, more friction
o S: channel slope
o n: coefficient of roughness
 Smoother downstream because bed made up of silt /
sand / clay
o 2x velocity leads to 4x discharge

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o Downstream: average stream velocity increases / remains
constant. Increase in R and decrease in n compensated by
decrease in S

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10. Fluvial Processes

Erosion processes
• Abrasion: coarse and angular fragments dragged across riverbed,
rubbing and wearing away exposed rock outcrops
o Occurs upstream because lots of large load, forming rock-cut
channels due to down-cutting
rock-cut
channel

Solid rock

o Pothole drilling: localized erosion in eddies forms shallow

depression. Any load that gets trapped will be swirled round
to form potholes
• Hydraulic action: sheer force of water to dislodge particles – lateral
erosion
o Occurs at lower/ middle courses, forming alluvial channels
alluvial
channel

solid rock
alluvium

o Cavitation: collapse of bubbles of water – shock waves hit and

slowly weaken bank
• Attrition: breakdown of the load itself due to collision – more
rounded downstream
• Solution: dissolve constituents eg. limestone. Water / humic acid
• Components
o Vertical down-cutting – gorges as neighbouring potholes
merge – lowering of riverbed. River rejuvenation – deep v-
shaped valleys / gorges
o Lateral erosion
 Erosion concentrated at / below water surface where the
thalweg is
 Usually when river meanders
 Collapse of upper face of banks – retreat of concave
banks

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o Headward erosion
 Head of river eg. limestone terrain: emergence of
springs
 Profile of river locally steep – could result in waterfall /
collapse of overhang – retreat upstream

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River transport
• Processes
o Traction: rolling of larger load across riverbed. Usually at
source of river where there are large load and steep gradient
o Saltation: ‘bouncing’ of smaller load. Lifted due to turbulence
and land a distance downstream
o Suspension: smaller particles eg. silt / clay small enough to be
held by turbulence. Greatest part of load transported. Occurs
near river mouth. Greater turbulence and velocity, larger load
can remain in suspension.
o Solution: dissolved load
• Hjulstrom curve

o 0.5mm diameter – sand – lowest competent velocity:

minimum velocity required to move particles loosely resting
on the riverbed
 Larger particles – higher competent velocity due to
weight
 Smaller particles – higher competent velocity due to
high cohesiveness and electrical bonding
o Positive relationship between speed and particle size
 Larger particles have a higher settling velocity: velocity
at which particles becomes too heavy to be transported
and are hence deposited
o Less velocity to transport than to erode
 Need very huge fall in velocity for smaller particles to be
deposited even if they are eroded upstream vs. larger
particles
• Velocity

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 o River’s capacity: ability to transport volume of load
proportional to discharge3
o River’s competence: ability to transport weight and size of
load proportional to discharge6
o Affected by geology and climate

River deposition
• Sudden input of load – overloaded eg. landslide
• Loss of energy: river broadens, n increases. Low precipitation,
discharge falls.
• Land forms
o Alluvial fan: where valley meets plain – sudden drop in
gradient – loss of energy. Deposit load in a fan-like shape.
Sorting of alluvium with coarser ones downstream of the apex
due to further fall in velocity
o Point bars / floodplains (lateral accretion): erosion of banks –
load deposit on point bars – continued lateral accretion –
floodplains for meandering rivers
o Floodplains (vertical accretion)
 Floodwater overflows banks – sudden drop in river
competence and capacity – deposit coarser loads on
margins of bank (levees) and accumulation of silt over
floodplain

11. Channel Plan Forms

River meanders
• Sinuosity ratio: ratio between distance of centre line of valley and
distance along channel. Meander if exceed 1:1.5
• Geometric features

• Formation: erosion and deposition processes

o Erosion of concave bank: thalweg diverted against – impact of
hydraulic action greatest – concentrate erosion

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 o Load dragged across river bed to convex side but loss in river
energy due to friction and previous erosion – deposit load –
point bars
o Helicoidal flow – increase meander amplitude and sinuosity –
ox-bow lakes

o Migration of meanders

Braided channels
• Features

• Formation
o High discharge – lots of bed load – erosion of channel banks
o Low discharge – coarser load starts being deposited to form
nuclei of bars. Flow disrupted, velocity decreases
downstream, finer particles settle on nuclei
o Further decrease in discharge – expose bars
o Some bars will be washed away by the next high discharge
but some will be stable and vegetated – assists trapping of
more sediment

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o Braided channels markedly unstable. Kosi River, India
receives load from the Himalayas: shifts 112km in 228 years.
Catastrophic erosion of new channels and abandonment of old
ones

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12. Drainage Basin Analysis

Stream order analysis

• Strahler’s method: does not reflect relationship between channel
size and capacity
• Law of stream number
o Number inversely proportional to order
o Length proportional to order
o Size of drainage basin proportional to order
• Bifurcation ratio: dividing number of streams in one order by the
number of streams in the next highest order, higher ratio – more
prone to flooding

Drainage density
• Total length of stream / total basin area
• Limitations: intermittent streams, limestone terrain: dry valleys,
underground flows
• Factors (those influencing infiltration and overland flows)
o Time for erosion / migrate headwards
o Rock type, relief, infiltration capacity of soil, total annual
precipitation / rainfall intensity, vegetation

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