Research reports of the National Institute of Hydrology (1996-2001) - Highlights

The India Water Portal is pleased to announce to its users, that a comprehensive archive of over two hundred and fifty technical research reports of the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee, have now been made available on the portal, and in the public domain for the first time.

These papers span the research work of NIH from 1996-97 to 2000-01, and are broadly related to the inter-disciplinary subject of scientific & applied hydrology. Overall, the reports deal with:

• Study of processes such as rainfall, runoff, evapotranspiration and their interface,
• Design of hydrological monitoring networks to record river flows, water levels in rivers/lakes, groundwater and rainfall,
• Study of snow melt and glaciers,
• Modeling of rainfall-runoff, water quality and flood,
• Analyzing droughts and floods, including statistical analysis of flood and drought risk,
• Investigating the causes of flooding and identifying possible solutions,
• Evaluating the consequences of land-use changes,
• Developing models of hydrological processes and systems.

Here are some highlights from selected research papers:

Water Quality

The studies in this area emerged from NIH’s work on monitoring of groundwater and surface water quality at various locations. The problem of water quality has been studied by applying models for various pollution loads under different scenarios in different seasons. Some studies include:

• Surface water quality assessment of river Kali with special emphasis on non point source of pollution: The study conducts an extensive water quality survey in sixteen reaches of Kali river in western Uttar Pradesh to estimate the inflow of two major nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) from point and non-point sources. The study intends to validate the present model based on the principle of conservation of mass and reaction kinetics phenomenon. Read more
• Statistical analysis of water quality data of river Yamuna: The study models the variations in water quality parameters of Yamuna river by means of stochastic approach using Central Water Commission’s monthly data for the period 1990-95 and makes projections for the year 1996. Read more
• Surface and groundwater quality studies in Ghataprabha representative basin: The study analyses the surface and groundwater quality of Ghataprabha representative basin during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. It looks at the primary impact of land-use and cropping pattern on water quality using physico-chemical analysis, geo-chemical classification of groundwater samples and monitoring of groundwater quality. Read more

Hydrological Modeling

The studies in this field dealt mainly with design flood estimation using flood frequency analysis and unit hydrograph based approaches and distributed event based models for different terrain situations to estimate design flood, regional flood frequency analysis and development of relationship between frequency of rainfall and frequency of flood.

• Water balance study of Krishnai river basin based on Thornthwaite’s concept of Potential Evapotranspiration: The study aims to determine the climatological water balance of Krishnai river basin in Goalpura, Assam using the popular Thornthwaite’s concept of Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) to calculate the availability of water for various uses. The method offers a firm basis for appraising the problems related to water development projects in the planning stage and provides a sound footing for operating and managing the system. Read more
• Rainfall-runoff analysis using Flood Analysis and Protection Systems model: The study applies advanced models of design storm like Flood Analysis and Protection Systems (FLAPS) and HEC-1 for rainfall-runoff simulation employing selected short-term events of three basins of the north-eastern region viz., Myntdu-Leska (Meghalaya), Krishnai and Dudhnai (Assam). The results are used to study the sensitivity of the model parameters with respect to different hydrological parameters of the basin. Read more
• Hydrological aspects of rainwater harvesting in the Kandi belt of Jammu region: The study discusses the hydrological aspects of rainwater harvesting in the Kandi belt in the foothill zone of Siwalik in Jammu region with the help of a case study on water availability in a pond in village Badhori, Samba district, Jammu. Read more

Assessment of Irrigation Return Flow

Studies in this field used the distributed modeling approach for proper estimation of irrigation return flow, an important component in the water balance of irrigation command areas.

• Estimation of irrigation return flow in Lokapavani area of KR Sagar command in Karnataka: The study deals with the estimation of hydrological soil properties of the area of Lokapavani River in KR Sagar Command in Mandya district of Karnataka. The properties determined are soil texture, porosity, saturated hydraulic conductivity, specific gravity and soil moisture characteristics. Read more

Dam Break Studies

The studies in this field aimed at developing hypothetical dam break situations and forecasting the peak flood stages for the dams.

• Dam break study of Myntdu Leska dam in Meghalaya using DAMBRK model: The report presents a study of hypothetical failure of Myntdu Leska dam in the southern part of Meghalaya near the international Indo-Bangladesh border. The maximum water level attained by the dam break flood in the river downstream of dam has been calculated and ascertained for extent of submergence of the area. Read more

Software Development

 These deal with reports on development of user friendly and interactive hydrological software.

• Software for reservoir analysis: The report describes a software developed by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) for reservoir analysis in view of the importance of reservoir operation problem in the Indian context and the non-availability of generalized software for reservoir analysis. Read more

Reservoir Operation

The studies in this field deal with mainly with techniques developed for reservoir operation and flood moderation.

• Application of Artificial Neural Networks in reservoir operation: In the study, two different Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) were developed for Dharoi reservoir, Gujarat, one for flood control operation and another for conservation operation. Read more

Snow and Glacier Studies

The studies on snow and glacial hydrology pertain to snow and glacier contribution, melt rate and melt water storage for the Himalayan rivers.

• Sensitivity analysis of melt runoff due to temperature and precipitation: The study aims to assess the impacts of various climate scenarios on the hydrological response of the high altitude Spiti river in the Himalayas. The climatic scenarios were constructed on the basis of simulations of the Hamburg coupled atmosphere-ocean climate model for the study region. Read more

Lake Studies

The studies in this field deal with water balance, sedimentation and evaporation related to lakes.

• Estimation of rate and pattern of sedimentation and useful life of Dal Nagin Lake in Jammu and Kashmir: The study determines rates of sedimentation and estimates the useful life of Dal-Nagin lake in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir using radiometric techniques. Read more

Hydro-meteorological Inventory

• Hydro-meteorological inventory of Orissa cyclones: The study is based on investigations and collection of necessary information on the super cyclone in Orissa in October 1999. It examines cyclonic phenomenon in the country in general and Orissa in particular, and stresses the need for preparing a comprehensive plan for dealing with such disasters. Read more

To access all the NIH research reports, please click here.

India Water Portal is grateful to the National Institute of Hydrology for sharing these papers, and allowing them to be published in the public domain.