HYDROLOGY |

definition

hydro.logy
The termhydrologyis from Greek:hydr, "water";
and,logos, "study".

noun
thesciencedealingwiththeoccurrence,circulati
on,distribution,andpropertiesofthewatersof
the earthanditsatmosphere.
HYDROLOGY | history
TheRomansconstructe
d
numerousaqueductst Perault
o bring water from Linked rainfall
distant sources into to flow of the
their cities and towns. river Seine
Waste water was Marriotte Poiseuille
removed by Combined Stokes
complexsewage velocity and Manning
systemsand released river cross Reynolds
into nearby bodies of section to Mead
water. Some aqueducts obtain Meyer
also provided water for discharge of the
4000 BC 200
mining, AD
processing, 1500 1800 1850 1900
river Seine
manufacturing, and Leonardo da Pitot Hazen
Along the Indus
agriculture. Vinci and Bernoulli Gumbel
River, Pakistan,
Bernard Palissy Euler Hurst
the Tigris and
independently Chezy Meinzer
Euphrates in
reached an Dalton Hubbert
Mesopotamia,
accurate Made progress in Prandtl
Hwang Ho in
representation of applications of Chow
China, and the
the hydrologic mathematics, Thornthwaite
Nile in Egypt that
cycle fluid mechanics, Penman
the first hydraulic
and hydraulics Horton
engineers
Darcy
created canals,
Worked on
levees, dams,
groundwater
subsurface water
hydrology
conduits, and
wells
HYDROLOGY |
branches

Chemic Eco Surface Drainage Basin

Hydrogeology Hydrometeorology
al Hydrol Hydrology Management
Hydrol ogy
Study of Study of Study of Study of the Study of Covers
ogy
chemical interacti the transfer of hydrologi water-
characteris ons of distribution water and c storage,
tics of living and energy processes in the
water organis movement between that form of
Water Quality ms and of land and operate reservoirs
Chemistry the groundwate water body at or , and
of water hydrolog r in the surfaces and nearEart flood-
in rivers ic cycle soils and the lower h's protection
and lakes, rocks of the atmosphere surface
both of Earths
pollutants crust
and
natural
solutes
HYDROLOGY |
applications Assessing Determining the
impacts of water balance
natural and
human for a region
induced
Designi environmenta
ng l change on
irrigati water
Design resources
on
ing
scheme
draina
s Designi
ge ng
system Urban
s drinkin Determining
g agricultural
Assessin water balance
g export water
of and
Predicting
sediment sewer
floods
& system
nutrients s
from
fields to
water Designing buffers
systems
 HYDROLOGY | the hydrologic cycle

Transpiration
Evaporation
Infiltration
2
Condensation
4
Runoff
Precipitation
Subsurface flow
5
1

7
HYDROLOGY | themes | atmospheric
water Water present in
the atmosphere
either as a solid
(snow, hail), liquid
(rain) or gas (fog,
mist)

Topics
Cloud formation
Precipitation types
Measuring
precipitation
Evaporation types
Estimating
evaporation
HYDROLOGY | themes | surface water
Water at the
surface, whether
stagnant in the form
of surface storage or
flowing in rivers, or
as overland flow on
slopes

Topics
Bernoullis equation
Measuring water
velocity and flow
Hydrograph analysis
Pollutant loads
HYDROLOGY | themes | groundwater &
soil water Water beneath the
land surface that
fully saturates the
pores in the ground
is called
groundwater

Water stored in the

unsaturated zone
above the water
table is called soil
water

Topics
Aquifers
Darcys Law
Soil moisture
Capillary rise &
evaporation
Infiltration &
HYDROLOGY | distribution of earths
water
HYDROLOGY | fresh water
HYDROLOGY | fresh water | rivers
& lakes
HYDROLOGY | watershed | definition

Awatershedis an extent
or an area of land
heresurface
waterfromrainandmelting
snoworiceconverges to a
single point, usually the exit
of the basin, where the
waters join another water
body, such as
river,lake,reservoir,
Also known
wetland,sea, as:
orocean
Catchment
Catchment area
Catchment basin
Drainage area
River basin
Water basin
HYDROLOGY | watershed | US
hydrologic regions
HYDROLOGY | watershed | hydrologic
classification
1. Region
21
nationally 4. Watershed
5-15 per sub-
basin

2. Sub-
region
221 5. Sub-
nationally watershed
3. Basins 5-15 per
378 watershed
nationally

4. Sub-
basins
2246
nationally
700 square
miles
average area
HYDROLOGY | watershed |
characteristic factors Topography
Topography determines the speed with which the runoff
will reach a river. Clearly rain that falls in
steepmountainousareas will reach the river faster
than flat or gently sloping areas.

Shape
Shape will contribute to the speed with which the runoff
reaches a river. A long thin catchment will take longer
to drain than a circular catchment.

Size
Size will help determine the amount of water reaching
the river, as the larger the catchment the greater the
potential for flooding.

Soil type
Soil type will help determine how much water reaches
the river. Sandysoils are very free draining and
rainfall on sandy soil is likely to be absorbed by the
ground.
Clayeysoils can be almost impermeable and therefore
rainfall on clay soils will runoff and contribute to flood
volumes.

Land use
Land use can contribute to the volume of water reaching
the river, in a similar way to clay soils. For example,
rainfall on roofs,pavementsandroadswill be collected
by rivers with almost no absorption into thegroundwater.
 HYDROLOGIC THINKING !

Precipitation, snow, seasonality, fire, soil, nutrients,

flora/fauna, ground water, floods, rivers, climate
change?
ARID
SEMI-ARID
NATIVE
PRAIRIE
RAINFOREST
S
REFERENCES
Introduction to Physical Hydrology, Martin R. Hendricks
Hydrology and Floodplain Analysis, Bedient, Huber and
Vieux
National Geographic Magazine
www.wikipedia.org