Hydrology

From Freepedia

(Redirected from Hydrological)

Image:Land ocean ice cloud 1024.jpg

Hydrology (from Greek: Yδρoλoγια, Yδωρ+Λoγos, Hydrologia, the "study of water") is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the Earth, and thus addresses both the hydrologic cycle and water resources. A practitioner of hydrology is a hydrologist, working within the fields of either earth or environmental science, or civil and environmental engineering.

Domains of hydrology include hydrometeorology, surface hydrology, hydrogeology, and water quality, where water plays the central role. Oceanography and meteorology are not included because water is only one of many important aspects.

Hydrological research is useful not only in that it allows us to better understand the world in which we live, but also by providing insight for environmental engineering, policy and planning.


Contents

Hydrologic Cycle

Main article: Hydrologic cycle

The central theme of hydrology is that water moves throughout the Earth in different ways 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.

Hydrologic Measurements

The movement of water through the Earth can be measured in a number of ways. This information is important for both assessing water resources and understanding the processes involved in the hydrologic cycle. Following is a list of devices used by hydrologists and what they are used to measure.

Hydrologic Prediction

Observations of hydrologic processes are used to make predictions of future water movement and quantity.

Statistical Hydrology

By analysing the statistical properties of hydrologic records, such as rainfall or river flow, hydrologists can estimate future hydrologic phenomena. This, however, assumes the characteristics of the processes remain unchanged.

See: return period.

Hydrologic Modeling

With an understanding of how changes in the environment affect the movement of water, hydrologists can also construct models to predict how these changes will happen in the future.

Hydrologic Transport

Water movement is a significant means by which other material, such as soil or pollutants, are transported from place to place.

See: erosion, pollution.

Applications of Hydrology

See also

References

External links and sources

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/Hydrology.html"


Views
Personal tools
In other languages
Similar Links