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Introduction
Hydrologic Cycle
The hydrologic cycle begins with the evaporation of water from all
surface water on the planet. When it evaporates, it is condensed and lifted in
the atmosphere. From there, it it release by precipitation and hits land in the
form of rain, slow, etc. It seeps through the soils reach water table and
reservoirs and then flows through the soil until it reaches the surface. ANd
then the cycle repeats itself beginning with evaporation.
Methods
Water Quality
To find the water quality we used the “YSI” to measure five different
locations. The “YSI” tool is a probe that can measure stream temperature,
water pH, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen concentration and its
percentage.
Each locations results were different due to the location of the water
sample and the average amount of sun the water got daily. The sample that we
took next to the road had a much higher conductivity and lower oxygen
percentage than the rest. The reason we received such different numbers is due
to the fact that the water source is so close the the roads. When the snow plows
put ice on the road and cars exhaust fumes and liquids, they run into the water
changing those two characteristics. The sun, along with powering the
hydrological cycle, assists in the oxidation of water. It give energy to
organisms living inside the water which then release oxygen into the water.
Depending on the amount of light that the water source receives on a daily
basis play a part in the amount of oxygen present within the water.
Definitions:
● YSI- Yellow Springs Instruments
● Dissolved Oxygen Concentration- amount of oxygen in the water
● Dissolved Oxygen Concentration %- percent of maximum amount
of oxygen in the water
● Conductivity- a measure of the dissolved ions in the water
● pH- the acidic or basic characteristic of the water.
Stream Velocity
The Bobbers: For this tactic we measured a distance of 5 meters from the bridge
and had our team member wait in the water at that mark. The rest of us headed to the
top of the bridge and collected data from there. We dropped three rubber balls from
the bridge and measured the time it took for the ball to get from the bottom of the
bridge to the team member. We did this for a total of nine times.
The Flowmeter: The flowmeter is an object used to accurately measure
velocity. It has individual you can move the measurement to to properly place the
meter in the water. If the stream in deeper than 0.5m then you have to move the meter
to measure the velocity at 20 & 80% the depth of the water. The velocity at that
location would then be the average of the two measurements. If the stream in shorter
than 0.5m you need to measure velocity at 60% of the depth. So, my team and I took
three separate readings at three different depths.
Stream Morphology
To find the morphology of the stream, we had to find the height of the
instrument first. We did this by measuring the rod through the tripod. We needed to
get the rod is closest possible to the tripod to get an accurate measurement; the
measurement we got was 1.4m. After we found the height of the tripod, we then went
to the stream and found the beginning and end of the floodplain and put our
measuring tape(m), from each point, across the stream. After finding the distance
across, we decided to take surveys of the stream in 1.3m intervals, taking a total of 10
surveys. The survey rod we used at each interval calculated the height of water at that
spot. We did these calculations in two spots, one at a riffle and one at a pool.
Stream Discharge
To get the discharge results, we used Manning Equation
(v=(100/n)*R𝘩^⅔*S^½).in order to calculate the equation we need to know what the
area of the flow was, the perimeter, average velocity, slope, and the roughness
coefficient. Then, after finding the velocity, we needed to multiply by the area to get
the discharge.
Definitions:
● n = roughness coefficient
● S = slope
● R𝘩 = hydraulic radius(=area/perimeter)
Results
Water Quality Data
Dissolved Dissolved Conductivity
Site Description Temperature Oxygen Oxygen (µS/cm) pH
ID (C) (mg/L) (%)
This is the Average Area Discharge This is the Stream Discharge
Manning’s Equation
This is discharge from
the Bobber method.
Discussion
Conclusion
Overall, these processes that have been performed, are all necessary to
find important components and characteristics of a stream. Being able to
calculate velocity, discharge, quality, and the morphology of a stream is very
important when it comes to understanding hydrology and the water cycle. It
helps to understand what affects the way water moves place to place. This lab
work, although tedious, is an important step in furthering a career in
Environmental Science. I learned how easy it is to go through a process and
think that what you are doing is correct, and then have a different data process
show you how it is wrong. It opened my eyes on how important it is to check
your data before you present it. It also showed me how scientist and
mathematicians can easily make mistakes in the rush of it all. But most
importantly, I was able to understand how simple water systems interact with
the environment, and how much we have an affect on it.