The Hydrological System

Cintia Bertacchi Uvo

 Learning Goals
• Hydrological cycle
• Climate and water availability
• Catchment area
• Water balance equation (continuity equation)
• Runoff coefficient
• How to calculate pollutant transport out from
an area

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology

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 Human Activities

Source: http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/Publications/Short_Series/LakeReservoirs-2/9.asp

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology

 Water Use and Consumption
Global Household

Source: World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP, UN-Water)

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology
 Climate and Water Availability

Solar Radiation

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 Atmospheric Circulation

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http://schoolworkhelper.net/
 Atmospheric Circulation

cloud animation
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Global River Network
 Main Deserts of the World

Source: http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/what/world.html

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 Variation in precipitation
• Monthly precipitation in Lund since 1753
[mm]

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 Precipitation unit
• [mm]
• 1 liter / m2
• 10-3 m3 /m2 = mm

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How to go from precipitation to rivers?

THE WATER BALANCE

 Water Balance

Interception losses
(evaporation from leafs, etc.)

Transpiration
P (from plants)

Soil evaporation

E
Runoff
Q
ΔM Soil water
Groundwater flow

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology

 Swedish boreal forest numbers in mm/year

Water balance
for different
climates
Semiarid steppe
Swedish boreal forest

Semiarid steppe

Tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforest

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology

 Water Balance Equation
What comes in has to go out or be stored

P – Q – E = ΔM P
E

• P = precipitation
• E = evapotranspiration
• Q = runoff ΔM

• ΔM = change in M Q
storage
VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology
 Water Balance within an area
• Commonly Water Balance is made within a
catchment area, that is:
• The rainfall collecting area upstream a certain
point in the water course.

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology

 Catchment
• Catchment area is defined by topographical
water divide

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 Catchment size
• 106 km2
– Amazon 7 x 106 km2

• 102 km2
– Skarsvatn 86 km2
– Bulken 1094 km2

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 Thousands of sub
catchments

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 Mean Values of Q, E and P [mm/year]

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology

 Examples of water balance calculation
• For a certain area, the annual precipitation is 1300
mm/year and the annual evapotranspiration is 800
mm/year. What is the runoff if there is no storage
during the year?

• For the same area, the precipitation was 700 and the
evapotranspiration, 500 mm during 6 months. What
was the resulting runoff if the increase in water storage
was 100 mm?

• Remember to ALWAYS use the same the units when

doing a water balance (mm/month, mm/day, mm/30
min, …)
VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology
 Runoff Coefficient
• Ex. 2.1 Two rainfall events falls over a catchment,
one after the other. After the first rainfall of 24 mm,
a total runoff of 11 mm was observed. The second
rainfall is measured to about 14 mm. How large
runoff can be expected after the second rainfall?
Rain 1; P1 = 24 mm
P
Q1 = 11 mm

Rain 2; P2 = 14 mm
Q2 = ?

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology

 Solution
• Assume the two rainfalls are evenly distributed over the
entire catchment.
• Precipitation 24 mm becomes 11 mm runoff from the first
rainfall.
• 13 mm ”disappeared” on the way to the outflow point, i.e.,
this water either infiltrated and/or evaporated.
• runoff coefficient k is defined as runoff divided by
precipitation for a specific precipitation event (k = Q/P), for
the first rainfall k becomes; 11/24 = 0.46.
• This means that from a rain, just 46% were transformed
into runoff.
• Assume runoff coefficient constant,
• k = Q1/P1= Q2/P2. That is, Q2 = k ∙ P2 = 0.46 ∙ 14 = 6.4 mm .

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology

 Use of Water Balance Equation
• Ex. 2.2 A 121 ha large lake has an inflow via a river corresponding to 0.425
m3/s. There is also an outflow from the lake via another river that
corresponds to 0.368 m3/s. During one month, the water level in the lake
increases corresponding to 19.7 * 103 m3. During the same month it rained
33 mm. How large was the total evaporation from the lake during this
month (1 ha = 10 000 m2)?

Qin

Lake
Qout

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology

 Solution
• Do the water balance for the lake
• Σ inflows to the lake - Σ outflows from the lake = change in volume of the
lake.
• Assume that there are no other inflows and/or outflows from the lake,
e.g., no losses or contributions to the groundwater system surrounding
the lake.
P + Qin - Qut - E = ΔM that gives E = P + Qin - Qut - ΔM
E = 33 mm + Qin - Qut - ΔM
E = 33 mm + (0.425 - 0.368) m3/s – 19700 m3
E = 33 mm + 0.057 m3/s · (3600 · 24 · 30) s – 19700 m3 =
E = 33 mm + 128044 m3 =
E = 33 mm + 128044 m3 / (121 · 104 m2) =
E = 33 mm + 0.106 m = 139 mm
evaporation is about 139 mm/month.
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 Water Storage

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 Water Storage
• Ex. 2.3 For a catchment with an area of 20 km2, an average of 732
mm/year of precipitation and total evaporation of 550 mm/year has been
observed during a 10-year period. Within the catchment there is an old
waste dump and in the outflow water, a high phosphorous (P) content of
0.25 mg/l P have been found. What is the annual mass transport of
phosphorous in the water out from the catchment?
A = 20 km2
P = 732 mm/year
P E E = 550 mm/year
C = 0.25 mg/l P

Q* C=?
P - E - Q = ΔM

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology

 Solution
• Assume the storage to be zero as calculations are made for
average values (10 years).
• Set up a water balance
P = E + Q => Q = 732 – 550 => Q = 182 mm/year.
• Assume that the concentration measurement of
phosphorous is representative for the entire 10-year
period. C = 0.25 mg/l P.
• But we need Q in l. Q is transformed from mm/year to m3/s
by multiplying with the total catchment area.
Q = 182 mm/year·20 km2 = 182·10-3 m/year·20·106 m2
= 3640·103 m3/year => Q = 3.64·106 m3/year.
Q = 3.64 · 106 m3/ (365·24·60·60) s = 3.64·106 m3/
(31.54 · 106 s) = 0.115 m3/s => Q = 115 l/s

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 Solution (cont.)
• This is the average runoff every second for the 10-year
period. Now we can calculate the transport of
phosphorous that comes out from the catchment
during one year:

• Q · C = 115 l/s · 0.25 mg/l = 28.75 mg/s

• The transport per year becomes

• 28.75 mg/s · 60 · 60 · 24 · 365 · s/year = 907 kg/year.

• about 1000 kg/year.

VVR111 – Hydrology and Aquatic Ecology