CIV E 634-SURFACE WATER HYDROLOGY
SPRING 2009
MIDTERM EXAM

Name: ___________________ Red ID: _________________ Grade: _______

Instructions: Closed book, closed notes. Use engineering paper. When you are finished, staple your work in sequence, and return this sheet with your work.

  1. What is deep percolation in the context of L'vovich's water balance? Why is deep percolation only a small fraction of precipitation? Explain the physical basis for this.

  2. Why is Monteith's contribution to evaporation modeling important in surface-water hydrology?

  3. Why is the time of concentration calculated by the kinematic wave model likely to be much less than that calculated with a storage concept or diffusion wave?

  4. Why is the Mockus approach to runoff generation, for the most part, better than Horton's? Explain.

  5. What is the mean albedo of the Earth's surface? How does albedo vary from rain forests to deserts? Is it possible for humans to change the albedo of the ground surface? How?

  6. What is the root cause of El Niño? How often does an El Niño event likely to recur? What are the effects of an El Niño event?

  7. What is the range of return periods used in design? What is the return period used for freeboard hydrograph design for large (Class c) dams?

  8. What is the mean annual global terrestrial precipitation? How was this value obtained? Why is drought duration likely to persist around the middle of the climatic spectrum?

  9. What five measures were considered in a comprehensive strategy for drought management in Northeastern Brazil? List them in order of importance, starting with greatest. Describe the pros and cons of each. Which are currently applied, or could be applied, in the San Joaquin valley of California?

  10. How many feet did Camp Creek recover by aggradation from 1989 to 1994? What is the reason for this recovery?