The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to hydrology:
Hydrology – study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability.
What type of thing is hydrology?
Hydrology can be described as all of the following:
a branch of science a branch of natural science a branch of physical science a branch of Earth science a branch of geography a branch of physical geography
Essence of hydrology
Water Hydrologic cycle Cryosphere Origin of water on Earth Water distribution on Earth
Branches of hydrology
Hydrometry – the measurement of the different components of the hydrologic cycle Chemical hydrology – the study of the chemical characteristics of water Ecohydrology – the study of interactions between organisms and the hydrologic cycle Hydrogeology – the study of the presence and movement of water in aquifers Hydroinformatics – the adaptation of information technology to hydrology and water resources applications Hydrometeorology – the study of the transfer of water and energy between land and water body surfaces and the lower atmosphere Isotope hydrology – the study of the isotopic signatures of water Surface hydrology – the study of hydrologic processes that operate at or near the Earth's surface Catchment hydrology – study of the governing processes in a given hydrologically defined catchment Drainage basin management – covers water-storage, in the form of reservoirs, and flood-protection. Water quality – includes the chemistry of water in rivers and lakes, both of pollutants and natural solutes.
History of hydrology
History of hydrology
Things studied by hydrology
Abstract concepts in hydrology
Field capacity
Phenomena studied by hydrology
Water movement pathways
Water cycle (aka "hydrological cycle") Above ground Evaporation – Pan evaporation – Condensation – Precipitation – condensed water, is pulled by gravity back to Earth, in the form of: Drizzle Rain Sleet Snow Graupel Hail Interception – Evapotranspiration – Stemflow – Throughfall – On ground Surface runoff – flow of surface water First flush Floods Flash floods Overland flow – Horton overland flow – Below ground Infiltration – Pipeflow – Baseflow – Subsurface flow – flow of ground water
Physical things studied by hydrology
Ground water Soil moisture Surface water
Environmental issues Desertification/Oasification – Hypoxia – Erosion – Water pollution –
Measurement tools Groundwater Source: Aquifer characterization Flow direction Piezometer - groundwater pressure and, by inference, groundwater depth (see: aquifer test) Conductivity, storativity, transmisivity Geophysical methods
Vadose zone characterization Infiltration Infiltrometer - infiltration Soil moisture Capacitance probe-soil moisture Time domain reflectometer - soil moisture Tensiometer - soil moisture Solute sampling Geophysical methods
Surface water Source: Water level Mechanical pressure gauge – Electronic pressure gauge – Acoustic pressure gauge – Channel shape Dumpy level – Discharge Acoustic Doppler velocimeter – Dilution tracing –
Meteorological Precipitation Rain gauge – rainfall depth (unit) and intensity (unit time−1) Disdrometer – raindrop size, total precipitation depth and intensity Doppler weather radar – raindrop size, total precipitation depth and intensity, rain cloud reflectivity converted to precipitation intensity through calibration to rain gauges Wind profiler – precipitation vertical and horizontal motion, vertical cross-section of reflectivity and typing Frozen precipitation (on ground) Pressure sensors – pressure, depth, and liquid water equivalent Acoustic sensors – pressure, depth, and liquid water equivalent Mean windspeed and direction Anemometer – Doppler sonar – Wind profiler – air vertical and horizontal motion Mean air temperature Thermometer – Humidity Infrared thermometer – a form of remote sensing Hygrometer (Psychrometer) – measures relative humidity Air pressure Barometer – Heat flux Net radiometer – Pyranometer – Pyrgeometer – Heat flux sensor – Lysimeter – Cloudiness/Sunshine Spectroradiometer – Campbell–Stokes recorder – Evapotranspiration Water budget method Basin water balance – Evaporation pan – Lysimetry – Soil moisture depletion – Water vapor transfer method Bowen ratio – considers the energy budget Eddy covariance – Component analysis Porometry/Sap flow – Interception loss – Soil evaporation – Large-scale Scintillometer – Remote sensing estimates – LIDAR –
Soil/porous media Source: Bulk density & porosity Oven dried sample – Matric potential Suction plate – determines relationship between the water volume and matric potential Resistance thermometer – relates to matric potential from previous calibration Hydraulic conductivity Disc permeameter – measures soil hydraulic conductivity Rainfall simulator – measures output through the application of constant input ("rain") in a sealed area Slug test – addition or removal of water and monitors the time until return to predisturbance level Piezometer – Soil moisture content (water volume percentage) Frequency domain sensor – Time domain reflectometer – Neutron probe –
Water quality Source: Conductivity Electrical conductivity – variety of probes used pH pH meter – Dissolved oxygen (DO) Winkler test – Turbidity Nephelometer (Turbidimeter) – Water clarity Secchi disk – Bed load Erosion/deposition
Modeling Behavioral modeling in hydrology
Equations Basin Hack's law – Catchment Water balance – Evaporation Penman – Penman-Monteith – Infiltration/Soil Movement Darcy's law – Darcy-Weisbach – Richards equation – Streamflow/Open channel Fick's law of diffusion – Chézy formula – Manning formula – Strahler number – Standard step method – computational technique for modeling steady state open channel surface profiles Erosion Hjulström curve – Groundwater Dupuit–Forchheimer assumption – Groundwater flow equation –
Power/Uncertainty Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient GLUE
Models
Hydrological transport model
Canadian Land Surface Scheme CHyM – Cetemps Hydrological Model DRAINMOD DSSAM FEHM Flood Modeller Pro Groundwater model GSSHA HBV hydrology model HEC-HMS HydroGeoSphere Hydrologic evaluation of landfill performance Hydrological transport model Isochrone map Litpack METRIC MIKE 11 MODFLOW Mouse RheinBlick2050 Runoff model (reservoir) SahysMod SaltMod SEDCAD SHETRAN Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model SWAT model Temporal Analyst Vflo WAFLEX WaterGAP WEAP ZOOMQ3D
Applications of hydrology
Some examples of applications of hydrology: Analyzing the impacts of antecedent moisture on sanitary sewer systems Assessing contaminant transport risk and establishing environmental policy guidelines Assessing the impacts of natural and anthropogenic environmental change on water resources Designing bridges Designing dams for water supply or hydroelectric power generation Designing irrigation schemes and managing agricultural productivity Designing riparian restoration projects Designing sewers and urban drainage system Determining the agricultural water balance Determining the water balance of a region Fog collection Part of the hazard module in catastrophe modeling Predicting and mitigating flood, landslide and drought risk Predicting geomorphologic changes, such as erosion or sedimentation Providing drinking water Real-time flood forecasting and flood warning
Hydrology organizations
Intergovernmental organizations
International Hydrological Programme (IHP)
International research bodies
International Water Management Institute (IWMI) UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
National research bodies
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology – UK Centre for Water Science, Cranfield University, UK eawag – aquatic research, ETH Zürich, Switzerland Institute of Hydrology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany United States Geological Survey – Water Resources of the United States NOAA's National Weather Service – Office of Hydrologic Development, USA US Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center, USA Hydrologic Research Center, USA NOAA Economics and Social Sciences, USA University of Oklahoma Center for Natural Hazards and Disasters Research, USA National Hydrology Research Centre, Canada National Institute of Hydrology, India
National and international societies Geological Society of America (GSA) – Hydrogeology Division American Geophysical Union (AGU) – Hydrology Section National Ground Water Association (NGWA) American Water Resources Association Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) Statistics in Hydrology Working Group (subgroup of IAHS) German Hydrological Society (DHG: Deutsche Hydrologische Gesellschaft)Deutsche Hydrologische Gesellschaft, accessed 2 September 2013 Italian Hydrological Society (SII-IHS) – http://www.sii-ihs.it Nordic Association for HydrologyNordic Association for Hydrology, accessed 2 September 2013 British Hydrological Society Russian Geographical Society (Moscow Center) – Hydrology Commission International Association for Environmental Hydrology International Association of Hydrogeologists
Basin- and catchment-wide overviews Connected Waters Initiative, University of New South Wales – Investigating and raising awareness of groundwater and water resource issues in Australia Murray Darling Basin Initiative, Department of Environment and Heritage, Australia
Hydrology publications
Hydrology-related journals
Hydrological Processes, (electronic) 0885-6087 (paper), John Wiley & Sons Hydrology Research, , IWA Publishing (formerly Nordic Hydrology) Journal of Hydroinformatics, , IWA Publishing Journal of Hydrologic Engineering, , ASCE Publication Journal of Hydrology Water Research Water Resources Research Hydrological Sciences Journal – Journal of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) (Print), (Online)
Persons influential in the field of hydrology
Hein de Baar Günter Blöschl Chen Xing (hydrologist) Ven Te Chow Gedeon Dagan James Dooge Endre Dudich G. H. Dury Saeid Eslamian Philipp Forchheimer François-Alphonse Forel Pieter Harting Majid Hassanizadeh Alf Howard Jan Vladimír Hráský Hydra (skater) Shahbaz Khan (hydrologist) Vit Klemes Michal Kravčík Torben Larsen John R. Philip Giovanni Roncagli Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa Alireza Shokoohi Bojidar Spiriev Valeryan Uryvaev Jasper A. Vrugt John Williams (water scientist) Czesław Zakaszewski
Allied sciences Aquatic chemistry – Civil engineering – Hydraulic engineering – Climatology – Environmental engineering – Environmental Engineering Science – Geomorphology – Hydroacoustics – Hydrography – Limnology – Oceanography – Physical geography –
Hydrology lists Drainage basins by area – largest hydrologically defined watersheds in the world Floods – chronological and geographic list of major floods worldwide Waterways – worldwide listing of waterbodies classified as rivers, canals, estuaries, and firths
See also Outline of meteorology
Other water-related fields Oceanography – more general study of water in the oceans and estuaries. Meteorology – more general study of the atmosphere and of weather, including precipitation as snow and rainfall.