Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydrologist. Hydrologists are scientists studying earth or environmental science, civil or environmental engineering, and physical geography. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Calculation of rainfall.
Calculation of Evapotranspiration
Calculating surface runoff and precipitation.
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A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually a freshwater stream, flowing on the surface or inside caves towards another waterbody at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, sea, bay, lake, wetland, or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground or becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water. Small rivers can be referred to by names such as creek, brook, and rivulet. There are no official definitions for the generic term river as applied to geographic features, although in some countries or communities, a stream is defined by its size.
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock become completely saturated with water is called the water table.
A lake is a naturally occurring, relatively large body of water localized in a basin surrounded by dry land. A lake generally has a slower-moving flow than the inflow or outflow stream(s) that serve to feed or drain it. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from the ocean, although, like the much larger oceans, they form part of the Earth's water cycle by serving as large standing pools of storage water. Most lakes are freshwater and account for almost all the world's surface freshwater, but some are salt lakes with salinities even higher than that of seawater.
The modern techniques and methods to measure snow properties in the field and in the laboratory are introduced by specialists in the corresponding field. The methods are applied in the field and in th
"Hydrology for Engineers" is an introduction to the study of floods, droughts and a fair distribution of water. The course will introduce basic hydrologic concepts and methods: probability and statist
Ecohydrology investigates the effects of hydrological processes on ecosystems, as well as in turn the effects of biotic processes on the water cycle. The Summer School will focus on three aspects of e
Climate change is expected to alter the temporal distribution of precipitation events, leading to prolonged drought periods and an increased frequency of extreme precipitation events. Changes in precipitation pattern will directly affect soil moisture dyna ...
Despite their high ecological value, non-perennial streams have received less attention than their perennial counterparts. This doctoral thesis addresses this disparity by advancing knowledge on the dynamics of the drainage density and hydrologic processes ...
Plant water uptake from the soil is a crucial element of the global hydrological cycle and essential for vegetation drought resilience. Yet, knowledge of how the distribution of water uptake depth (WUD) varies across species, climates, and seasons is scarc ...