CONCEPTS IN HYDROLOGY

ENGR. RAZON C. DOMINGO

 Global distribution of atmospheric water
 
Source: Gleick, P. H., 1996: Water resources. In Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather, ed. by S. H. Schneider, Oxford University Press, New York, vol. 2, pp.
817-823.
 

One estimate of global water distribution

Water source Water volume, Water volume, Percent of total Percent of total
in cubic miles in cubic freshwater water
kilometers
Atmosphere 3,094 12,900 0.04% 0.001%
Total global 8,404,000 35,030,000 100% 2.5%
fresh water
Total global 332,500,000 1,386,000,000 -- 100%
water
 CONDENSATION

CONDENSATION 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.
 EVAPORATION

EVAPORATION IS THE PROCESS BY WHICH WATER CHANGES FROM A

LIQUID TO A GAS OR VAPOR. EVAPORATION IS THE PRIMARY PATHWAY
THAT WATER MOVES FROM THE LIQUID STATE BACK INTO THE WATER
CYCLE AS ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR. STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT
THE OCEANS, SEAS, LAKES, AND RIVERS PROVIDE NEARLY 90 PERCENT
OF THE MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE VIA EVAPORATION, WITH THE
REMAINING 10 PERCENT BEING CONTRIBUTED BY PLANT
TRANSPIRATION.
 EVAPOTRANSPIRATION

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION IS
THE SUM OF EVAPORATION
FROM THE LAND SURFACE
PLUS TRANSPIRATION FROM
PLANTS.
 FRESHWATER (LAKES AND RIVERS)

SURFACE WATER INCLUDES THE LAKES,

RESERVOIRS (HUMAN-MADE LAKES),
PONDS, STREAMS (OF ALL SIZES, FROM
LARGE RIVERS TO SMALL CREEKS),
CANALS (HUMAN-MADE LAKES AND
STREAMS), AND FRESHWATER
WETLANDS. THE DEFINITION OF
FRESHWATER IS WATER CONTAINING
LESS THAN 1,000 MILLIGRAMS PER
LITER OF DISSOLVED SOLIDS, MOST
OFTEN SALT.
 GROUNDWATER FLOW

AS PART OF THE WATER CYCLE,

GROUNDWATER IS A MAJOR
CONTRIBUTOR TO FLOW IN MANY
STREAMS AND RIVERS AND HAS A
STRONG INFLUENCE ON RIVER AND
WETLAND HABITATS FOR PLANTS AND
ANIMALS. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN USING
GROUNDWATER FOR THOUSANDS OF
YEARS AND CONTINUE TO USE IT
TODAY, LARGELY FOR DRINKING
WATER AND IRRIGATION.
 GROUNDWATER STORAGE
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
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
 ICE, SNOW AND GLACIERS

EVEN THOUGH THE AMOUNT

OF WATER LOCKED UP IN
GLACIERS AND ICE CAPS IS A
SMALL PERCENTAGE OF ALL
WATER ON (AND IN) THE
EARTH, IT REPRESENTS A
LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE
WORLD'S TOTAL FRESHWATER.
 INFILTRATION
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, A
PORTION OF THE WATER THAT FALLS
AS RAIN AND SNOW INFILTRATES
INTO THE SUBSURFACE SOIL AND
ROCK. 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.
SOME OF THE WATER MAY INFILTRATE
DEEPER, RECHARGING
 OCEANS AND SEAS
THE OCEANS ARE, BY FAR, THE
LARGEST RESERVOIR OF WATER ON
EARTH — OVER 96% OF ALL OF
EARTH'S WATER EXISTS IN THE
OCEANS. NOT ONLY DO THE OCEANS
PROVIDE EVAPORATED WATER TO THE
WATER CYCLE, THEY ALSO ALLOW
WATER TO MOVE ALL AROUND THE
GLOBE AS OCEAN CURRENTS.
OCEANS ARE THE STOREHOUSES OF
WATER NATURE USES TO RUN THE
WATER CYCLE.
 PRECIPITATION
FOR PRECIPITATION TO HAPPEN, FIRST
TINY WATER DROPLETS MUST
CONDENSE ON EVEN TINIER DUST,
SALT, OR SMOKE PARTICLES, WHICH
ACT AS A NUCLEUS. WATER DROPLETS
MAY GROW AS A RESULT OF
ADDITIONAL CONDENSATION OF
WATER VAPOR WHEN THE PARTICLES
COLLIDE. IF ENOUGH COLLISIONS
OCCUR TO PRODUCE A DROPLET WITH
A FALL VELOCITY WHICH EXCEEDS
THE CLOUD UPDRAFT SPEED, THEN IT
 SNOWMELT
RUNOFF FROM SNOWMELT IS A
MAJOR COMPONENT OF THE GLOBAL
MOVEMENT OF WATER. THE
IMPORTANCE OF SNOWMELT VARIES
GREATLY GEOGRAPHICALLY, AND IN
WARMER CLIMATES IT DOES NOT
DIRECTLY PLAY A PART IN WATER
AVAILABILITY. IN THE COLDER
CLIMATES, THOUGH, MUCH OF THE
SPRINGTIME RUNOFF AND STREAMFL
OW IN RIVERS IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO
MELTING SNOW AND ICE.
 SPRINGS

A SPRING IS A WATER RESOURCE

FORMED WHEN THE SIDE OF A HILL, A
VALLEY BOTTOM OR OTHER
EXCAVATION INTERSECTS A FLOWING
BODY OF GROUNDWATER AT OR
BELOW THE LOCAL WATER TABLE,
BELOW WHICH THE SUBSURFACE
MATERIAL IS SATURATED WITH
WATER. A SPRING IS THE RESULT OF
AN AQUIFER BEING FILLED TO THE
POINT THAT THE WATER OVERFLOWS
ONTO THE LAND SURFACE.
 STREAMFLOW

THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (USGS)

USES THE TERM "STREAMFLOW" TO
REFER TO THE AMOUNT OF WATER
FLOWING IN A RIVER.  A LOT OF
RUNOFF ENDS UP IN CREEKS,
STREAMS, AND RIVERS, FLOWING
DOWNHILL TOWARDS THE OCEANS.
 SUBLIMATION

SUBLIMATION IS THE CONVERSION

BETWEEN THE SOLID AND THE
GASEOUS PHASES OF MATTER, WITH
NO INTERMEDIATE LIQUID STAGE.
FOR THOSE OF US INTERESTED IN THE
WATER CYCLE, SUBLIMATION IS MOST
OFTEN USED TO DESCRIBE THE
PROCESS OF SNOW AND ICE
CHANGING INTO WATER VAPOR IN
THE AIR WITHOUT FIRST MELTING
INTO WATER.
 SURFACE RUNOFF

RUNOFF IS NOTHING MORE THAN WATER

"RUNNING OFF" THE LAND
SURFACE. 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.