Tag Archives: hydrograph analysis

Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis by Bedient et.al. Chapter 1 Problem 7


Clear Lake has a surface area of 708,000 m2 (70.8 ha.). For a given month, the lake has an inflow of 1.5 m3/s and an outflow of 1.25 m3/s. A +1.0-m storage change or increase in lake level was recorded. If a precipitation gage recorded a total of 24 cm for this month, determine the evaporation loss (in cm) for the lake. Assume that seepage loss is negligible.


Solution:

We are given the following values:

\begin{align*}
\text{Area}, \ A&=708,000 \ \text{m}^2 \\
\text{Inflow}, \ I&=1.5 \ \text{m}^3/\text{s} \\
\text{Outflow}, \ O & = 1.25 \ \text{m}^3/\text{s} \\
\text{change in storage}, \ \Delta S & = 1.0 \ \text{m} \\
\text{Precipitation}, \ P&=24 \ \text{cm} \\
\text{time}, \ t &= 1 \ \text{month} = 30 \ \text{days}
\end{align*}

The required value is the \text{Evaporation}, \ E.

We shall use the formula

\Delta S=I+P-O-E

Solving for E in terms of the other variables, we have

E=I+P-O-\Delta S

Before we can substitute all the given values, we need to convert everything to the same unit of cm.

\begin{align*}
\text{Inflow}&=\frac{1.5\:\frac{\text{m}^3}{\text{s}}\cdot \frac{100\:\text{cm}}{1\:\text{m}}\cdot \frac{3600\:\text{s}}{1\:\text{hr}}\cdot \frac{24\:\text{hr}}{1\:\text{day}}\cdot \frac{30\:\text{days}}{1\:\text{month}}\cdot 1\:\text{month}}{708,000\:\text{m}^2} \\
\text{Inflow}&=549.1525 \ \text{cm}
\end{align*}
\begin{align*}
\text{Outflow}&=\frac{1.25\:\frac{\text{m}^3}{\text{s}}\cdot \frac{100\:\text{cm}}{1\:\text{m}}\cdot \frac{3600\:\text{s}}{1\:\text{hr}}\cdot \frac{24\:\text{hr}}{1\:\text{day}}\cdot \frac{30\:\text{days}}{1\:\text{month}}\cdot 1\:\text{month}}{708,000\:\text{m}^2} \\
\text{Outflow}&=457.6271 \ \text{cm}
\end{align*}
\Delta S=1.0 \ \text{m} \times \frac{100 \ \text{cm}}{1.0 \ \text{m}}=100 \ \text{cm}

Now, we can substitute the given values in the formula

\begin{align*}
E & =I+P-O-\Delta S \\
E& =549.1525 \ \text{cm}+24 \text{cm}-457.6271 \ \text{cm}-100 \ \text{cm} \\
E& =15.5254 \ \text{cm} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right)
\end{align*}

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Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis by Bedient et.al. Chapter 1 Problem 6


A lake with a surface area of 1050 acres was monitored over a period of time. During a one-month period, the inflow was 33 cfs, the outflow was 27 cfs, and a 1.5-in. seepage loss was measured. During the same month, the total precipitation was 4.5 in. Evaporation loss was estimated as 6.0 in. Estimate the storage change for this lake during the month.


Solution:

We are given the following values:

\begin{align*}
\text{Area}, \ A&=1050 \ \text{acres} \\
\text{Time}, \ t&=1 \ \text{month} \\
\text{Inflow}, \ I&=33 \ \text{cfs} \\
\text{Outflow}, \ O&=27 \ \text{cfs} \\
\text{Ground seepage}, \ G&=1.5 \ \text{in} \\
\text{Precipitation}, \ P&=4.5 \ \text{in} \\
\text{Evaporation}, \ E&=6.0 \ \text{in}
\end{align*}

The formula that we are going to use is:

\sum \text{Inflows}-\sum \text{Outflows}=\text{Change in Storage}, \Delta S \\
\\ 
\sum I-\sum Q=\Delta S

In this case, the inflows are \text{Inflow} \ I and \text{Precipitation}, \ P, while the others are outflows. Our formula now becomes

\color{Blue} \sum \text{Inflow}-\color{Red} \sum \text{Outflow}=\color{Green} \Delta S
\\
\color{Blue}(I+P)- \color{Red}(O+G+E)=\color{Green}\Delta S

Before substituting, we need to convert all the given to inches. More specifically the outflow O and inflow I.

The inflow and outflow, in cfs, will be divided by the given are to come up with units of inches.

The inflow is

\begin{align*}
\text{Inflow}&=\frac{33\:\frac{\text{ft}^3}{\text{s}}\cdot \frac{1\:\text{acre}}{43560\:\text{ft}^2}\cdot \frac{12\:\text{in}}{1\:\text{ft}}\cdot \frac{3600\:\text{s}}{1\:\text{hr}}\cdot \frac{24\:\text{hr}}{1\:\text{day}}\cdot \frac{30\:\text{days}}{1\:\text{month}}\cdot 1\:\text{month}}{1050\:\text{acres}} \\
\text{Inflow}& =22.4416 \ \text{in}
\end{align*}

The outflow is

\begin{align*}
\text{Outflow}&=\frac{27\:\frac{\text{ft}^3}{\text{s}}\cdot \frac{1\:\text{acre}}{43560\:\text{ft}^2}\cdot \frac{12\:\text{in}}{1\:\text{ft}}\cdot \frac{3600\:\text{s}}{1\:\text{hr}}\cdot \frac{24\:\text{hr}}{1\:\text{day}}\cdot \frac{30\:\text{days}}{1\:\text{month}}\cdot 1\:\text{month}}{1050\:\text{acres}} \\
\text{Outflow}& =18.3613\ \text{in}
\end{align*}

Now that everything is in inches, we can now substitute the values in the formula

\begin{align*}
\Delta S&=\left( I+P \right)-\left( O+G+E \right) \\
\Delta S&=\left( 22.4416 \ \text{in}+4.5 \ \text{in} \right)-\left( 18.3613 \ \text{in}+1.5 \ \text{in}+6 \ \text{in} \right) \\
\Delta S&=1.0803 \ \text{in} \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right)
\end{align*}

We can also state the change in storage in terms of volume by multiplying the given area

\begin{align*}
\Delta S \ \text{in volume} & =1.0803 \ \text{in}\times 1050 \ \text{acres}\times \frac{1 \ \text{ft}}{12 \ \text{in}}\\
\Delta S \ \text{in volume} & = 94.5263 \ \qquad \ \color{DarkOrange} \left( \text{Answer} \right)
\end{align*}

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