BASIC CONCEPTS

H ydrology is the study of water and its properties, including its distribution and
movement in and through the land areas of the earth. The hydrologic cycle consists of
the passage of water from the oceans into the atmosphere by evaporation and
transpiration (or evapotranspiration), onto the lands, over and under the lands as runoff and
infiltration, and back to the oceans.
Hydrology is principally concerned with the part of the cycle after the precipitation of water onto
the land and before its return to the oceans; thus meteorology and oceanography are closely
related to hydrology.
Hydrologists study the cycle by measuring such variables as the amount and intensity of
precipitation, the amount of water stored as snow or in glaciers, the advance and retreat of
glaciers, the rate of flow in streams, and the soil-water balance.
Hydrology also includes the study of the amount and flow of groundwater. Though the flow of
water cannot be seen under the surface, hydrologists can deduce the flow by understanding the
characteristics, including permeability, of the soil and bedrock; how water behaves near other
sources of water, such as rivers and oceans; and fluid flow models based on water movements on
the earth's surface.
Hydrology is also important to the study of water pollution, especially of groundwater and other
potable water supplies. Knowledge of hydrology is extensively used to determine the movement
and extent of contamination from landfills, mine runoff, and other potentially contaminated sites
to surface and subsurface water.

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT
Hydrology has been a subject of investigation and engineering for millennia. For example, about
4000 B.C. the Nile was dammed to improve agricultural productivity of previously barren
lands. Mesopotamian towns were protected from flooding with high earthen walls.
Aqueducts were built by the Greeks and Ancient Romans, while the history of China shows they
built irrigation and flood control works. The ancient Sinhalese used hydrology to build complex
irrigation works in Sri Lanka, also known for invention of the Valve Pit which allowed
construction of large reservoirs, anicuts and canals which still function.

Marcus Vitruvius, in the first century B.C., described a philosophical theory of the hydrologic
cycle, in which precipitation falling in the mountains infiltrated the Earth's surface and led to
streams and springs in the lowlands. With adoption of a more scientific approach, Leonardo da
Vinci and Bernard Palissy independently reached an accurate representation of the hydrologic
cycle. It was not until the 17th century that hydrologic variables began to be quantified.

Pioneers of the modern science of hydrology include Pierre Perrault, Edme

Mariotte and Edmund Halley. By measuring rainfall, runoff, and drainage area, Perrault showed
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that rainfall was sufficient to account for flow. Marriotte combined velocity and river cross-
section measurements to obtain discharge. Halley showed that the evaporation from the
Mediterranean Sea was sufficient to account for the outflow of rivers flowing into the sea.

Advances in the 18th century included the Bernoulli piezometer and Bernoulli's equation, by

Daniel Bernoulli, the Pitot tube. The 19th century saw development in groundwater hydrology,
including Darcy's law, the Dupuit-Thiem well formula, and Hagen-Poiseuille's capillary flow
equation.

Rational analyses began to replace empiricism in the 20th century, while governmental agencies
began their own hydrological research programs. Of particular importance were Leroy Sherman's
unit hydrograph, the infiltration theory of Robert E. Horton, and C.V. Theis's aquifer
test/equation describing well hydraulics.

Since the 1950s, hydrology has been approached with a more theoretical basis than in the past,
facilitated by advances in the physical understanding of hydrological processes and by the advent
of computers and especially geographic information systems (GIS).

BRANCHES & RELATED FIELDS

 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 ground water.
 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.
 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 flood-
protection.
 Water quality includes the chemistry of water in rivers and lakes, both of pollutants and
natural solutes.
 Oceanography is the more general study of water in the oceans and estuaries.
 Meteorology is the more general study of the atmosphere and of weather, including
precipitation as snow and rainfall.
 Limnology is the study of lakes. It covers the biological, chemical, physical, geological,
and other attributes of all inland waters (running and standing waters, both fresh and
saline, natural or man-made).

Water resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful. Hydrology
studies the availability of those resources, but usually not their uses.

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APPLICATIONS OF HYDROLOGY

1. Determining the water balance of a region.

2. Determining the agricultural water balance.
3. Designing riparian restoration projects.
4. Mitigating and predicting flood, landslide and drought risk.
5. Real-time flood forecasting and flood warning.
6. Designing irrigation schemes and managing agricultural productivity.
7. Part of the hazard module in catastrophe modeling.
8. Providing drinking water.
9. Designing dams for water supply or hydroelectric power generation.
10. Designing bridges.
11. Designing sewers and urban drainage system.
12. Analyzing the impacts of antecedent moisture on sanitary sewer systems.
13. Predicting geomorphological changes, such as erosion or sedimentation.
14. Assessing the impacts of natural and environmental change on water resources.
15. Assessing contaminant transport risk and establishing environmental policy guidelines.

The central theme of hydrology is that water circulates throughout the Earth through different
pathways 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. Water changes
its state of being several times throughout this cycle.

The areas of research within hydrology concern the movement of water between its various
states, or within a given state, or simply quantifying the amounts in these states in a given region.
Parts of hydrology concern developing methods for directly measuring these flows or amounts of
water, while others concern modelling these processes either for scientific knowledge or for
making prediction in practical applications.

Water is one of our most important natural resources. Without it, there would be no life on earth.
The supply of water available for our use is limited by nature. Although there is plenty of water
on earth, it is not always in the right place, at the right time and of the right quality. Adding to
the problem is the increasing evidence that chemical wastes improperly discarded yesterday are
showing up in our water supplies today. Hydrology has evolved as a science in response to the
need to understand the complex water systems of the Earth and help solve water problems.
Hydrologists play a vital role in finding solutions to water problems, and interesting and
challenging careers are available to those who choose to study hydrology.

ROLES OF HYDROLOGISTS

1. Hydrologists apply scientific knowledge and mathematical principles to solve water-

related problems in society: problems of quantity, quality and availability.
2. They may be concerned with finding water supplies for cities or irrigated farms, or
controlling river flooding or soil erosion.

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 3. They may work in environmental protection: preventing or cleaning up pollution or
locating sites for safe disposal of hazardous wastes.
4. Hydrologists do many things such as interpreting hydrologic data and performing
analyses for determining possible water supplies.
5. Hydrologists help cities by collecting and analyzing the data needed to predict how much
water is available from local supplies and whether it will be sufficient to meet the city's
projected future needs.
6. Hydrologists use topographic maps and aerial photographs to determine where the
reservoir shorelines will be and to calculate reservoir depths and storage capacity. This
work ensures that, even at maximum capacity, no highways, railroads or homes would be
flooded.
7. Hydrologists assist public health officials in monitoring public water supplies to ensure
that health standards are met. When pollution is discovered, environmental engineers
work with hydrologists in making the necessary sampling program.
8. Hydrologists estimate the volume of water stored underground by measuring water levels
in local wells and by examining geologic records from well-drilling to determine the
extent, depth and thickness of water-bearing sediments and rocks.
9. Hydrologists determine the most efficient pumping rate by monitoring the extent that
water levels drop in the pumped well and in its nearest neighbors. Pumping the well too
fast could cause it to go dry or could interfere with neighboring wells.
10. Hydrologists provide guidance in the location of monitoring wells around waste disposal
sites and sample them at regular intervals to determine if undesirable leachate--
contaminated water containing toxic or hazardous chemicals--is reaching the ground
water. In polluted areas, hydrologists may collect soil and water samples to identify the
type and extent of contamination.

EVAPORATION

Evaporation is the process of a liquid becoming vaporized. In other words, a change in

phase in the atmosphere occurs when substances change from a liquid to a gaseous, or vapor,
form. Because we are talking about atmospheric processes that drive the weather, we will refer to

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the evaporation of water although other liquids can evaporate into the air. Also note that solids
can evaporate, or be transformed into a gas, but in meteorology, this is generally referred to as
sublimation.

Evaporation is the process by which water is converted from its liquid form to its vapor
form and thus transferred from land and water masses to the atmosphere. Evaporation from the
oceans accounts for 80% of the water delivered as precipitation, with the balance occurring on
land, inland waters and plant surfaces.

Wind speed: the higher the wind speed, the more evaporation

Temperature: the higher the temperature, the more evaporation

Humidity: the lower the humidity, the more evaporation

Pan evaporation is a measurement that combines or integrates the effects of several

climate elements: temperature, humidity, rain fall, drought dispersion, solar radiation, and wind.
Evaporation is greatest on hot, windy, dry, sunny days; and is greatly reduced when clouds block
the sun and when air is cool, calm, and humid. Pan evaporation measurements enable farmers
and ranchers to understand how much water their crops will need.

An evaporation pan is used to hold water during observations for the determination of the
quantity of evaporation at a given location. Such pans are of varying sizes and shapes, the most
commonly used being circular or square. The best known of the pans are the "Class A"
evaporation pan and the "Sunken Colorado Pan". In Europe, India and South Africa, a Symon's
Pan (or sometimes Symon's Tank) is used. Often the evaporation pans are automated with water
level sensors and a small weather station is located nearby.

A variety of evaporation pans are used throughout the world. There are formulas for converting
from one type of pan to another and to measures representative of the environment .Also,
research has been done about the installation practices of evaporation pans so that they can make
more reliable and repeatable measurements.

Class A evaporation pan

In the United States, the National Weather Service has standardized its measurements on

the Class A evaporation pan, a cylinder with a diameter of 47.5 in (120.7 cm) that has a depth of
10 in (25 cm). The pan rests on a carefully leveled, wooden base and is often enclosed by a chain
link fence to prevent animals drinking from it.

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Evaporation is measured daily as the depth of water (in inches) evaporates from the pan. The
measurement day begins with the pan filled to exactly two inches (5 cm) from the pan top. At the
end of 24 hours, the amount of water to refill the pan to exactly two inches from its top is
measured.

If precipitation occurs in the 24-hour period, it is taken into account in calculating the
evaporation. Sometimes precipitation is greater than evaporation, and measured increments of
water must be dipped from the pan. Evaporation cannot be measured in a Class A pan when the
pan's water surface is frozen.

The Class A Evaporation Pan is of limited use on days with rainfall events of >30mm (203mm
rain gauge) unless it is emptied more than once per 24hours. Analysis of the daily rainfall and
evaporation readings in areas with regular heavy rainfall events shows that almost without fail,
on days with rainfall in excess of 30mm (203mm Rain Gauge) the daily evaporation is
spuriously higher than other days in the same month where conditions more receptive to
evaporation prevailed.

The most common and obvious error is in daily rainfall events of >55mm (203mm rain gauge)
where the Class A Evaporation pan will likely overflow.

The less obvious, and therefore more concerning, is the influence of heavy or intense rainfall
causing spuriously high daily evaporation totals without obvious overflow.

Sunken Colorado pan

The sunken Colorado pan is square, 1 m (3 ft) on a side and 0.5 m (18 in.) deep and made of
unpainted galvanized iron. As the name suggests, it is buried in the ground to within about 5 cm
(2 in.) of its rim. Evaporation from a Sunken Colorado Pan can be compared with a Class A pan
using conversion constants. The pan coefficient, on an annual basis, is about 0.8.

Decreasing Trend of Pan Evaporation

Over the last 50 or so years, pan evaporation has been carefully monitored. For decades, nobody
took much notice of the pan evaporation measurements. But in the 1990s scientists spotted
something that at the time was considered very strange; the rate of evaporation was falling. This
trend has been observed all over the world except in a few places where it has increased.

As the global climate warms, all other things being equal, evaporation will increase and as a
result, the hydrological cycle will accelerate. The downward trend of pan evaporation has been
linked to a phenomenon called global dimming. In 2005 Wild et al. and Pinker et al. found that
the "dimming" trend had reversed since about 1990 

Lake Evaporation vs. Pan Evaporation

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Pan evaporation is used to estimate the evaporation from lakes. There is a correlation between
lake evaporation and pan evaporation. Evaporation from a natural body of water is usually at a
lower rate because the body of water does not have metal sides that get hot with the sun, and
while light penetration in a pan is essentially uniform, light penetration in natural bodies of water
will decrease as depth increases. Most textbooks suggest multiplying the pan evaporation by 0.75
to correct for this.

Relationship to Hydrological Cycle

"It is generally agreed that the evaporation from pans has been decreasing for the past half
century over many regions of the Earth. However, the significance of this negative trend, as
regards terrestrial evaporation, is still somewhat controversial, and its implications for the global
hydrologic cycle remain unclear.

The controversy stems from the alternative views that these evaporative changes resulted, either
from global radiative dimming, or from the complementary relationship between pan and
terrestrial evaporation. Actually, these factors are not mutually exclusive but act concurrently." 

Water and other liquids evaporate at different rates. These rates are influenced by the
temperature, humidity, air flow and surface area of the liquid that is exposed to the air. While a
liquid's evaporation rate may vary with conditions, the evaporation rates of different liquids are
stable relative to each other. For instance, if identical amounts of ethanol and water are kept in
identical open containers and exposed to identical environmental conditions, the ethanol will
always evaporate faster because it has a lower boiling point. Calculating the evaporation rate for
a given set of conditions is a simple thing to do.

TRANSPIRATION

T ranspiration can be defined as the process by which water is lost from plants to the
atmosphere. It is the evaporation of water from plants and can be thought of as plants
"breathing". This is loss of water vapor through leaves and/or stems. Most transpiration
occurs through the stomata.

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During a growing season, a leaf will transpire many times more water than its own weight. For
example a large oak tree can transpire 40,000 gallons of water per year. About 10 percent of the
earth's atmospheric moisture can be attributed to plant transpiration. The rest is supplied by
evaporation and the water cycle.

Transpiration is a biological process necessary for plant life which uses about 90% of the water
absorbed by the roots of the plant. Only about 10% of the water taken up is used for chemical
reactions and tissue formation in the plant.

HOW DOES TRANSPIRATION OCCUR?

Water is lost from the stomata of the plant. Stomata are pores found in the epidermis of the
underside of leaves. They are located on the lower surface of leaves to reduce water loss due to
minimized solar radiation. The moist air in these spaces has a higher water potential than the
outside air, and water tends to evaporate from the leaf surface. The stomata act as pumps which
pull water and nutrients from the roots through the rest of the plant to the leaves in a
phenomenon known as transpirational pull.

Transpirational pull drives water flow in the plant. Water is absorbed by the root hairs of a plant
and is passed through vascular tissues where it is transported to the leaves and stomata. Vascular
tissue is made of more than one cell type and in plants consists of the xylem and phloem. These
carry water and nutrients throughout the plant along vascular bundles of cells arranged end to
end to form long, narrow conduits.

WHEN DOES TRANSPIRATION OCCUR?

Transpiration occurs during photosynthesis when the stomata open for the passage of carbon
dioxide gas. Carbon dioxide is a necessary component of photosynthesis that the plant must get
from their environment. Water transported to the leaves is converted to a gas. As carbon dioxide
is allowed into the leaf, water vapors escape through evaporation to the atmosphere. Plants lack
membranes that are permeable to carbon dioxide and impermeable to water making transpiration
an inevitable consequence of photosynthesis.

WHY DOES TRANSPIRATION OCCUR?

There are several reasons why plants utilize transpiration.

1. The direct effect of transpiration is to regulate the temperature of the plant and to provide
water for photosynthesis.
2. It also serves to move nutrients and sugars through the vascular tissues of the plant.
3. Plants sweat through transpiration. The water that dissipates into the atmosphere pulls
excess heat with it away from the plant. This reduces overheating and cools the leaves.

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 4. Water is one of the substances needed for photosynthesis and must be pumped from the
roots of the plant. The "engine" pulling water and nutrients up the plant is transpiration.
5. Nutrients are absorbed from the soil and moved throughout the plant's cells by way of
transpiration. The minerals distributed during this process are necessary for biosynthesis
in the leaves.

FACTORS AFFECTING RATE OF TRANSPIRATION

There are many environmental factors that can affect the rate of transpiration. Five of the most
important are light, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil water.

Light stimulates the opening of the stomata at daybreak. As the stomata opens to allow
photosynthesis to occur, the transpiration rate increases.

With light comes heat. The leaf can be heated by the temperature of the environment and also by
the heat released during photosynthesis. Transpiration provides a cooling mechanism for the
plant to release excess heat in the leaves and maintain internal temperature necessary for
biological and chemical processes to occur. Transpiration occurs more quickly at higher
temperatures due to increased evaporation. Summer tends to be a time of decreased
transpiration in plants because of increased temperature. A difference of 10°C can lead to three
times the amount of transpiration in a leaf.

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In dry climates transpiration is increased. Water is forced to diffuse more rapidly into the air due
to the concentration difference between the environments outside and inside the plant. Low
humidity creates a vapor gradient between the plant and the air. In dry air, there is a lack of
water, forcing water to be pulled from the plant to the atmosphere increasing transpiration.
Therefore, in humid climates, transpiration is less effected by diffusion.

On windy days the moisture present in the air is swept away from the leaf causing it to
transpire more. On calmer days, the humidity rate can rise causing a decrease in transpiration.

The amount of water in the soil also plays a major role in the rate of transpiration. The plant
must have a continuous supply of water to be able to transpire. If adequate water cannot be
absorbed by the roots and carried up the xylem, the rate of transpiration will decrease. A lack of
water supply will also decrease the rate of photosynthesis and the overall health of the plant.

HAZARDS OF TRANSPIRATION

Transpiration can be hazardous to plants if there is a higher rate of transpiration than rate
of moisture absorption through the roots. This is called moisture stress or plant stress. Even
well watered plants may wilt if the plant cannot adapt it transpiration rate.

PLANT ADAPTATIONS

As discussed, environmental factors can play a large role in the rate of transpiration. Plants in hot
arid environments have found ways of limiting their water loss to avoid dehydration.

Some of the adaptations desert plants use are:

1. absence of leaves
2. stomata that can open and close or that only open at night,
3. special water storage capabilities
4. alternative root structures

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CONDENSATION

C ondensation is the process by which water vapor in the air is changed into liquid water.
Condensation is crucial to the water cycle because it is responsible for the formation of
clouds. These clouds may produce precipitation, which is the primary route for water to
return to the Earth's surface within the water cycle. Condensation is the opposite
of evaporation.

You don't have to look at something as far away as a cloud to notice condensation, though.
Condensation is responsible for ground-level fog, for your glasses fogging up when you go from
a cold room to the outdoors on a hot, humid day, for the water that drips off the outside of your
glass of iced tea, and for the water on the inside of the windows in your home on a cold day.

The phase change that accompanies water as it moves between its vapor, liquid, and solid form
happens because of differences in the arrangement of water molecules. Water molecules in the
vapor form are arranged more randomly than in liquid water. As condensation occurs and liquid
water forms from the vapor, the water molecules become organized in a less random structure,
which is less random than in vapor, and heat is released into the atmosphere as a result.

Condensation in the air

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Even though clouds are absent in a crystal clear blue sky, water is still present in the form of
water vapor and droplets which are too small to be seen. Depending on weather conditions, water
molecules will combine with tiny particles of dust, salt, and smoke in the air to form cloud
droplets, which grow and develop into clouds, a form of water we can see. Cloud droplets can
vary greatly in size, from 10 microns (millionths of a meter) to 1 millimeter (mm), and even
as large as 5 mm.

This process occurs higher in the sky where the air is cooler and more condensation occurs
relative to evaporation. As water droplets combine (also known as coalescence) with each other,
and grow in size, clouds not only develop, but precipitation may also occur. Precipitation is
essentially water in its liquid or solid form falling from the base of a cloud. This seems to happen
too often during picnics or when large groups of people gather at swimming pools.

The clouds formed by condensation are an intricate and critical component of Earth's
environment. Clouds regulate the flow of radiant energy into and out of Earth's climate
system. They influence the Earth's climate by reflecting incoming solar radiation (heat) back to
space and outgoing radiation (terrestrial) from the Earth's surface. Often at night, clouds act as a
"blanket," keeping a portion of the day's heat next to the surface. Changing cloud patterns
modify the Earth's energy balance, and, in turn, temperatures on the Earth's surface.

Clouds form in the atmosphere because air containing water vapor rises and cools. The key to
this process is that air near the Earth's surface is warmed by solar radiation.

Why does the atmosphere cool above the Earth's surface? Generally, air pressure, is the reason.
Air has mass (and, because of gravity on Earth, weight) and at sea level the weight of a column
of air pressing down on your head is about 14 ½ pounds (6.6 kilograms) per square inch. The
pressure (weight), called barometric pressure, that results is a consequence of the density of the
air above.

At higher altitudes, there is less air above, and, thus, less air pressure pressing
down. The barometric pressure is lower, and lower barometric pressure is
associated with fewer molecules per unit volume. Therefore, the air at higher
altitudes is less dense. Since fewer air molecules exist in a certain volume of air,
there are fewer molecules colliding with each other, and as a result, there will be
less heat produced. This means cooler air.

Condensation near the ground

Condensation also occurs at ground level. The difference between fog and clouds which form
above the Earth's surface is that rising air is not required to form fog. Fog develops when air
having a relatively high humidity content (i.e., moist) comes in contact with a colder surface,
often the Earth's surface, and cools to the dew point. Additional cooling leads to condensation
and the growth of low-level clouds. Fog that develops when warmer air moves over a colder
surface is known as advective fog. Another form of fog, known as radiative fog, develops at

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night when surface temperatures cool. If the air is still, the fog layer does not readily mix with
the air above it, which encourages the development of shallow ground fog.

Air, even "clear air," contains water molecules. Clouds exist in the atmosphere because of rising
air. As air rises and cools the water in it can "condense out", forming clouds. Since clouds drift
over the landscape, they are one of the ways that water moves geographically around the globe in
the water cycle.

What appears to be cloud-free air (virtually) always contains sub microscopic drops, but as
evaporation exceeds condensation, the drops do not survive long after an initial chance clumping
of molecules. As air is cooled, the evaporation rate decreases more rapidly than does the
condensation rate with the result that there comes a temperature (the dew point temperature)
where the evaporation is less than the condensation and a droplet can grow into a cloud drop.
When the temperature drops below the dew-point temperature, there is a net condensation and a
cloud forms.

Cloud-like trails that high-flying airplanes leave behind are called contrails. They were called
that because they are actually condensation trails and, in fact, are not much different than natural
clouds. If the exhaust from the airplane contains water vapor, and if the air is very cold (which it
often is at high altitudes), then the water vapor in the exhaust will condense out into what is
essentially a cirrus cloud.

Condensation causes clouds. Cloud is defined as "a visible mass of condensed watery vapor
floating in the air at some considerable height above the general surface of the ground."

A modest-size cloud, one kilometer in diameter and 100 meters thick, has a mass
equivalent to one B-747 jumbo jet. But, with all that mass being spread over such a
large volume of space, the density, or weight (mass) for any chosen volume, is very
small. If you compressed that cloud into a trash bag, well, in that case, you would not
want to be standing below it. Even though a cloud weighs tons, it doesn't fall on you
because the rising air responsible for its formation keeps the cloud floating in the air.
The air below the cloud is denser than the cloud, thus the cloud floats on top of the
denser air nearer the land surface.

( Cecil Adams, http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a980313a.html)

INFILTRATION

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A nywhere in the world, a portion of the water that falls as rain and snow infiltrates into
the subsurface soil and rock. How much infiltrates depends greatly on a number of
factors. Some water that infiltrates will remain in the shallow soil layer, where it will
gradually move vertically and horizontally through the soil and subsurface material. Eventually,
it might enter a stream by seepage into the stream bank. Some of the water may infiltrate deeper,
recharging groundwater aquifers. If the aquifers are porous enough to allow water to move freely
through it, people can drill wells into the aquifer and use the water for their purposes. Water may
travel long distances or remain in groundwater storage for long periods before returning to the
surface or seeping into other water bodies, such as streams and the oceans.

Factors affecting infiltration:

 Precipitation: The greatest factor controlling infiltration is the amount and

characteristics (intensity, duration, etc.) of precipitation that falls as rain or snow.
Precipitation that infiltrates into the ground often seeps into streambeds over an extended
period of time, thus a stream will often continue to flow when it hasn't rained for a long
time and where there is no direct runoff from recent precipitation.
 Soil characteristics: Some soils, such as clays, absorb less water at a slower rate than
sandy soils. Soils absorbing less water result in more runoff overland into streams.
 Soil saturation: Like a wet sponge, soil already saturated from previous rainfall can't
absorb much more, thus more rainfall will become surface runoff.
 Land cover: Some land covers have a great impact on infiltration and rainfall runoff.
Vegetation can slow the movement of runoff, allowing more time for it to seep into the
ground. Impervious surfaces, such as parking lots, roads, and developments, act as a "fast
lane" for rainfall - right into storm drains that drain directly into streams. Agriculture and
the tillage of land also changes the infiltration patterns of a landscape. Water that, in
natural conditions, infiltrated directly into soil now runs off into streams.
 Slope of the land: Water falling on steeply-sloped land runs off more quickly and
infiltrates less than water falling on flat land.
 Evapotranspiration: Some infiltration stays near the land surface, which is where plants
put down their roots. Plants need this shallow groundwater to grow, and, by the process
of evapotranspiration, water is moved back into the atmosphere.

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 As precipitation infiltrates into the subsurface soil, it generally forms an unsaturated zone
and a saturated zone. In the unsaturated zone, the voids—that is, the spaces between grains of
gravel, sand, silt, clay, and cracks within rocks—contain both air and water. Although a lot of
water can be present in the unsaturated zone, this water cannot be pumped by wells because it is
held too tightly by capillary forces.

The upper part of the unsaturated zone is the soil-water zone. The soil zone is
crisscrossed by roots, openings left by decayed roots, and animal and worm burrows, which
allow the precipitation to infiltrate into the soil zone. Water in the soil is used by plants in life
functions and leaf transpiration, but it also can evaporate directly to the atmosphere. Below the
unsaturated zone is a saturated zone where water completely fills the voids between rock and soil
particles.

People all over the world make great use of the water in underground aquifers all over the world.
In fact, in some places, they pump water out of the aquifer faster than nature replenishes it. In
these cases, the water table, below which the soil is saturated and possibly able to yield enough
water that can be pumped to the surface, can be lowered by the excessive pumping. Wells can
"go dry" and become useless.

In places where the water table is close to the land surface and where water can move through
the aquifer at a high rate, aquifers can be replenished artificially. Aquifers may be artificially
recharged in two main ways:

 Rapid-infiltration pits: One way is to spread water over the land in pits, furrows, or
ditches, or to erect small dams in stream channels to detain and deflect surface runoff,
thereby allowing it to infiltrate to the aquifer
 Groundwater injection: The other way is to construct recharge wells and inject water
directly into an aquifer

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 Some of the precipitation that falls onto the land infiltrates into the ground to become
groundwater. Once in the ground, some of this water travels close to the land surface and
emerges very quickly as discharge into streambeds, but, because of gravity, much of it continues
to sink deeper into the ground. If the water meets the water table (below which the soil is
saturated), it can move both vertically and horizontally.

Water moving downward can also meet more dense and water-resistant non-porous rock and
soil, which causes it to flow in a more horizontal fashion, generally towards streams, the ocean,
or deeper into the ground.

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GROUNDWATER

L arge amounts of water are stored in the ground. The water is still moving, possibly very
slowly, and it is still part of the water cycle. Most of the water in the ground comes from
precipitation that infiltrates downward from the land surface. The upper layer of the soil
is the unsaturated zone, where water is present in varying amounts that change over time, but
does not saturate the soil.

Below this layer is the saturated zone, where all of the pores, cracks, and spaces between rock
particles are saturated with water. The term groundwater is used to describe this area. Another
term for groundwater is "aquifer," although this term is usually used to describe water-bearing

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formations capable of yielding enough water to supply peoples' uses. Aquifers are a huge
storehouse of Earth's water and people all over the world depend on groundwater in their daily
lives.

The top of the surface where groundwater occurs is called the water table. Aquifers are
replenished by the seepage of precipitation that falls on the land, but there are many geologic,
meteorologic, topographic, and human factors that determine the extent and rate to which
aquifers are refilled with water. Rocks have different porosity and permeability characteristics,
which means that water does not move around the same way in all rocks. Thus, the
characteristics of groundwater recharge vary all over the world.

In an aquifer, the soil and rock is saturated with water. If the aquifer is shallow enough
and permeable enough to allow water to move through it at a rapid-enough rate, then people can
drill wells into it and withdraw water. The level of the water table can naturally change over time
due to changes in weather cycles and precipitation patterns, streamflow and geologic changes,
and even human-induced changes, such as the increase in impervious surfaces, such as roads and
paved areas, on the landscape.

The pumping of wells can have a great deal of influence on water levels below ground,
especially in the vicinity of the well. If water is withdrawn from the ground at a faster rate that it
is replenished by precipitation infiltration and seepage from streams, then the water table can
become lower, resulting in a "cone of depression" around the well.

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If groundwater wants to be a member in good standing of the water cycle, then it can't be totally
static and stay where it is. The direction and speed of groundwater movement is determined by
the various characteristics of aquifers and confining layers of subsurface rocks (which water has
a difficult time penetrating) in the ground. Water moving below ground depends on the
permeability (how easy or difficult it is for water to move) and on the porosity (the amount of
open space in the material) of the subsurface rock.

If the rock has characteristics that allow water to move relatively freely through it, then
groundwater can move significant distances in a number of days. But groundwater can also sink
into deep aquifers where it takes thousands of years to move back into the environment, or even
go into deep groundwater storage, where it might stay for much longer periods.

Artesian well water is not really different from non-artesian well water - but it comes to the
surface in a different manner. In the diagram above, you can see that there are unconfined and
confined aquifers in the ground. The confinement of water in an aquifer, which can result in
pressure, determines if water coming from it is artesian or not. Wells drilled into confined
aquifers can yield artesian water.

 Unconfined aquifers: In unconfined aquifers, water has simply infiltrated from the
surface and saturated the subsurface material. If people drill a well into an unconfined
aquifer, they have to install a pump to push water to the surface.
 Confined aquifers: Confined aquifers have layers of rock above and below it that are not
very permeable to water. Natural pressure in the aquifer can exist; pressure which can
sometimes be enough to push water in a well above the land surface.

SURFACE RUNOFF

T he oceans are kept full by precipitation and also by runoff and discharge from rivers
and the ground. Many people probably have an overly-simplified idea that precipitation
falls on the land, flows overland (runoff), and runs into rivers, which then empty into the
oceans. That is "overly simplified" because rivers also gain and lose water to the ground. Still, it
is true that much of the water in rivers comes directly from runoff from the land surface, which is
defined as surface runoff.

When rain hits saturated or impervious ground it begins to flow overland downhill. It is easy to
see if it flows down your driveway to the curb and into a storm sewer, but it is harder to notice it

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flowing overland in a natural setting. Water will flow along channels as it moves into larger
creeks, streams, and rivers.

As with all aspects of the water cycle, the interaction between precipitation and surface runoff
varies according to time and geography. Surface runoff is affected by both meteorological factors
and the physical geology and topography of the land. Only about a third of the precipitation that
falls over land runs off into streams and rivers and is returned to the oceans. The other two-thirds
is evaporated, transpired, or soaks (infiltrates) into groundwater. Surface runoff can also be
diverted by humans for their own uses.

Meteorological factors affecting runoff:

 Type of precipitation
 Rainfall intensity
 Rainfall amount
 Rainfall duration
 Distribution of rainfall over the drainage basin
 Direction of storm movement
 Precipitation that occurred earlier and resulting soil moisture
 Other meteorological and climatic conditions that affect evapotranspiration, such as
temperature, wind, relative humidity, and season

Physical characteristics affecting runoff:

 Land use
 Vegetation
 Soil type
 Drainage area
 Basin shape
 Elevation
 Topography, especially the slope of the land
 Drainage network patterns
 Ponds, lakes, reservoirs, sinks, etc. in the basin, which prevent or delay runoff from
continuing downstream

Human activities can affect runoff

As more and more people inhabit the Earth, and as more development and urbanization occur,
more of the natural landscape is replaced by impervious surfaces, such as roads, houses, parking
lots, and buildings that reduce infiltration of water into the ground and accelerate runoff to
ditches and streams.

In addition to increasing imperviousness, removal of vegetation and soil, grading the land
surface, and constructing drainage networks increase runoff volumes and shorten runoff time
into streams from rainfall and snowmelt. As a result, the peak discharge, volume, and frequency
of floods increase in nearby streams.

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INTERCEPTION

W hen precipitation falls onto a vegetated surface, only a part may actually reach the
ground beneath. Depending upon the nature and density of the vegetation cover a
proportion of the rain may be intercepted by the leaves and stems of the vegetation
canopy and temporarily stored on its surfaces. Some, or all, of this water may be evaporated
back into the atmosphere, and so take no part in the land-bound portion of the hydrological
cycle; this is termed as the interception loss.

The remaining water which reaches the ground constitutes the net rainfall. The bulk of this
comprises throughfall consisting of raindrops that fall through spaces in the vegetation canopy
and water which drips from wet leaves, twigs and stems to the ground surface; a generally much
smaller amount of water trickles along twigs and branches to run down the main stem or trunk to
the ground as stemflow.

Measuring Interception

The most common method of measuring interception loss (I) in the field is to compute the
difference between the precipitation above the vegetation layer (P) and the net precipitation
below the vegetation canopy, comprising the throughfall (T) and stemflow (S).

I=P–T–S

Throughfall may be measured using funnel or trough gauges placed beneath the forest canopy
and stemflow may be collected by small gutters sealed around the circumference of the trunk
leading into a collecting container.

Factors affecting throughfall:

1. Canopy coverage
2. Leaf area index (LAI)
3. Leaf surface smoothness

Factors affecting stemflow

1. Branch orientation
2. Roughness of the bark

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Factors affecting interception loss from vegetation

If rain falls over a dry vegetation, the interception loss is usually greatest at the beginning of the
storm and reduces with time. This largely reflects the changing state of the interception storage
of the vegetation cover, namely the ability of the vegetation surfaces to collect and retain falling
precipitation.

At first, when all the leaves and twigs or stems are dry, the interception storage capacity, is at its
maximum, and a very large percentage of precipitation is prevented from reaching the ground.

The duration of rainfall is another factor that influences interception by determining the balance
between the reduced storage of water on the vegetation surfaces, on one hand, and increased
evaporative losses, on the other.

Interception loss is also affected by the type of precipitation including the size distribution of
drops and particularly by the contrast between rain and snow.

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