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Water covers 70% of the Earth's surface.Hydrology (from Greek: Yδρoλoγια, Yδωρ+Λoγos, Hydrologia, the "study of water") is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the Earth, and thus addresses both the hydrologic cycle and water resources. A practitioner of hydrology is a hydrologist, working within the fields of either earth or environmental science, or civil and environmental engineering.
Domains of hydrology include hydrometeorology, surface hydrology, hydrogeology, and water quality, where water plays the central role. Oceanography and meteorology are not included because water is only one of many important aspects.
Hydrological research is useful not only in that it allows us to better understand the world in which we live, but also by providing insight for environmental engineering, policy and planning.
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Hydrologic Cycle
Main article: Hydrologic cycle
The central theme of hydrology is that water moves throughout the Earth in different ways and at different rates. The most vivid image of this is in the evaporation of water from the ocean, which forms clouds. These clouds drift over the land and produce rain. The rainwater flows into lakes, rivers, or aquifers. The water in lakes, rivers, and aquifers then either evaporates back to the atmosphere or eventually flows back to the ocean, completing a cycle.
Hydrologic Measurements
The movement of water through the Earth can be measured in a number of ways. This information is important for both assessing water resources and understanding the processes involved in the hydrologic cycle. Following is a list of devices used by hydrologists and what they are used to measure.
- Rain gauge - rain and snowfall
- Stream gauge - stream flow (see: discharge (hydrology))
- Radar - cloud properties
- Piezometer - groundwater pressure and, by inferrence, groundwater depth (see: aquifer test)
- Tensiometer - soil moisture
- Satellite
- Disdrometer - precipitation characteristics
- Time domain reflectometer - soil moisture
- Sling psychrometer - humidity
- Infiltrometer - infiltration
Hydrologic Prediction
Observations of hydrologic processes are used to make predictions of future water movement and quantity.
Statistical Hydrology
By analysing the statistical properties of hydrologic records, such as rainfall or river flow, hydrologists can estimate future hydrologic phenomena. This, however, assumes the characteristics of the processes remain unchanged.
See: return period.
Hydrologic Modeling
With an understanding of how changes in the environment affect the movement of water, hydrologists can also construct models to predict how these changes will happen in the future.
Hydrologic Transport
Water movement is a significant means by which other material, such as soil or pollutants, are transported from place to place.
Applications of Hydrology
- Mitigating and predicting flood, landslide and drought risk;
- Designing irrigation schemes and managing agricultural productivity;
- Providing drinking water;
- Designing dams for water supply or hydroelectric power generation;
- Designing bridges;
- Predicting geomorphological changes, such as erosion or sedimentation.
- Assessing the impacts of natural and anthropogenic environmental change on water resources.
- Assessing contaminant transport risk and establishing environmental policy guidelines.
See also
- chemical hydrology
- current (water)
- drainage system
- ecohydrology
- fresh water
- groundwater
- hydraulic engineering
- hydrograph
- hydroinformatics
- hyetograph
- isotope hydrology
- limnology
- river
- soil moisture
- virtual water
- water abstraction
- water industry
- water table
- watershed
- well water
References
- Introduction to Hydrology, 4e. Viessman and Lewis, 1996. ISBN 0-673-99337-X
- Handbook of Hydrology. ISBN 0070397325
- Encyclopedia of Hydrological Sciences. ISBN 0-471-49103-9
External links and sources
- International Glossary of Hydrology.
- U.S. Geological Survey - Water Resources of the United States
- British Hydrology Society
- Institute of Hydrology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany