Hydrology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

For the study of agricultural water management, see Hydrology (agriculture). For other uses,
see Hydrology (disambiguation).

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this
article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Hydrology" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2011)(Learn
how and when to remove this template message)

Water covers 70% of the Earth's surface.

Hydrology (from Greek: ὕδωρ, "hýdōr" meaning "water" and λόγος, "lógos" meaning "study") is the
scientific study of the movement, distribution and management of water on Earth and other planets,
including the water cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner
of hydrology is called a "hydrologic engineer", working within the fields of civil and environmental
engineering. Hydrologists can also be scientists studying earth or environmental
science and physical geography. [1] Using various analytical methods and scientific techniques, they
collect and analyze data to help solve water related problems such as environmental
preservation, natural disasters, and water management.[1]
Hydrology subdivides into surface water hydrology, groundwater hydrology (hydrogeology), and
marine hydrology. Domains of hydrology include hydrometeorology, surface
hydrology, hydrogeology, drainage-basin management and water quality, where water plays the
central role.
Oceanography and meteorology are not included because water is only one of many important
aspects within those fields.
Hydrological research can inform environmental engineering, policy and planning.

Contents

 1Branches
 2Applications
 3History
 4Themes
o 4.1Groundwater
o 4.2Infiltration
o 4.3Soil moisture
o 4.4Surface water flow
o 4.5Precipitation and evaporation
o 4.6Remote sensing
o 4.7Water quality
o 4.8Integrating measurement and modelling
o 4.9Prediction
o 4.10Statistical hydrology
o 4.11Modeling
o 4.12Transport
 5Organizations
o 5.1Intergovernmental organizations
o 5.2International research bodies
o 5.3National research bodies
o 5.4National and international societies
o 5.5Basin- and catchment-wide overviews
 6Research journals
 7See also
 8References
 9Further reading
 10External links

Branches[edit]
 Chemical hydrology is the study of the chemical characteristics of water.
 Ecohydrology is the study of interactions between organisms and the hydrologic cycle.
 Hydrogeology is the study of the presence and movement of groundwater.
 Hydrogeochemistry is the study of how terrestrial water dissolves minerals weathering and this
effect on water chemistry.
 Hydroinformatics is the adaptation of information technology to hydrology and water resources
applications.
 Hydrometeorology is the study of the transfer of water and energy between land and water body
surfaces and the lower atmosphere.
 Isotope hydrology is the study of the isotopic signatures of water.
 Surface hydrology is the study of hydrologic processes that operate at or near Earth's surface.
 Drainage basin management covers water storage, in the form of reservoirs, and floods
protection.
 Water quality includes the chemistry of water in rivers and lakes, both of pollutants and natural
solutes.

Applications[edit]
 Calculation of rainfall.
 Calculating surface runoff and precipitation.
 Determining the water balance of a region.
 Determining the agricultural water balance.
 Designing riparian restoration projects.
 Mitigating and predicting flood, landslide and drought risk.
 Real-time flood forecasting and flood warning.
 Designing irrigation schemes and managing agricultural productivity.
 Part of the hazard module in catastrophe modeling.
 Providing drinking water.
 Designing dams for water supply or hydroelectric power generation.
 Designing bridges.
 Designing sewers and urban drainage system.
 Analyzing the impacts of antecedent moisture on sanitary sewer systems.
 Predicting geomorphologic 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.
 Estimating the water resource potential of river basins.