The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to hydrology:
Hydrology – study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability.
What <em>type</em> of thing is hydrology?
Hydrology can be described as all of the following:
Essence of hydrology
Branches of hydrology
- Hydrometry – the measurement of the different components of the hydrologic cycle
- Chemical hydrology – the study of the chemical characteristics of water
- Ecohydrology – the study of interactions between organisms and the hydrologic cycle
- Hydrogeology – the study of the presence and movement of water in aquifers
- Hydroinformatics – the adaptation of information technology to hydrology and water resources applications
- Hydrometeorology – the study of the transfer of water and energy between land and water body surfaces and the lower atmosphere
- Isotope hydrology – the study of the isotopic signatures of water
- Surface hydrology – the study of hydrologic processes that operate at or near the Earth's surface
- Catchment hydrology – study of the governing processes in a given hydrologically defined catchment
- 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.
History of hydrology
History of hydrology
Things studied by hydrology
Abstract concepts in hydrology
Phenomena studied by hydrology
Water movement pathways
Water cycle (aka "hydrological cycle")
Physical things studied by hydrology
Environmental issues
Measurement tools
Groundwater
Source:
* Flow direction
:* Piezometer - groundwater pressure and, by inference, groundwater depth (see: aquifer test)
:* Conductivity, storativity, transmisivity
:* Geophysical methods
Surface water
Source:
* Mechanical pressure gauge –
* Electronic pressure gauge –
* Acoustic pressure gauge –
* Dumpy level –
* Acoustic Doppler velocimeter –
* Dilution tracing –
Meteorological
* Rain gauge – rainfall depth (unit) and intensity (unit time<sup>−1</sup>)
* Disdrometer – raindrop size, total precipitation depth and intensity
* Doppler weather radar – raindrop size, total precipitation depth and intensity, rain cloud reflectivity converted to precipitation intensity through calibration to rain gauges
* Wind profiler – precipitation vertical and horizontal motion, vertical cross-section of reflectivity and typing
- Frozen precipitation (on ground)
* Pressure sensors – pressure, depth, and liquid water equivalent
* Acoustic sensors – pressure, depth, and liquid water equivalent
- Mean windspeed and direction
* Anemometer –
* Doppler sonar –
* Wind profiler – air vertical and horizontal motion
* Thermometer –
* Infrared thermometer – a form of remote sensing
* Hygrometer (Psychrometer) – measures relative humidity
* Barometer –
* Net radiometer –
* Pyranometer –
* Pyrgeometer –
* Heat flux sensor –
* Lysimeter –
* Spectroradiometer –
* CampbellâÂÂStokes recorder –
* Water budget method
:* Basin water balance –
:* Evaporation pan –
:* Lysimetry –
:* Soil moisture depletion –
* Water vapor transfer method
:* Bowen ratio – considers the energy budget
:* Eddy covariance –
* Component analysis
:* Porometry/Sap flow –
:* Interception loss –
:* Soil evaporation –
* Large-scale
:* Scintillometer –
:* Remote sensing estimates –
:* LIDAR –
Soil/porous media
Source:
* Oven dried sample –
* Suction plate – determines relationship between the water volume and matric potential
* Resistance thermometer – relates to matric potential from previous calibration
* Disc permeameter – measures soil hydraulic conductivity
* Rainfall simulator – measures output through the application of constant input ("rain") in a sealed area
* Slug test – addition or removal of water and monitors the time until return to predisturbance level
- Piezometer –
- Soil moisture content (water volume percentage)
* Frequency domain sensor –
* Time domain reflectometer –
* Neutron probe –
Water quality
Source:
* Electrical conductivity – variety of probes used
* pH meter –
* Winkler test –
* Nephelometer (Turbidimeter) –
* Secchi disk –
- Bed load
- Erosion/deposition
Modeling
Equations
Basin
Catchment
Evaporation
Infiltration/Soil Movement
* Darcy-Weisbach –
Streamflow/Open channel
Erosion
Groundwater
Power/Uncertainty
Models
Hydrological transport model
Applications of hydrology
Some examples of applications of hydrology:
Hydrology organizations
Intergovernmental organizations
International research bodies
National research bodies
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology â UK
- Centre for Water Science, Cranfield University, UK
- eawag â aquatic research, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
- Institute of Hydrology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany
- United States Geological Survey â Water Resources of the United States
- NOAA's National Weather Service â Office of Hydrologic Development, USA
- US Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center, USA
- Hydrologic Research Center, USA
- NOAA Economics and Social Sciences, USA
- University of Oklahoma Center for Natural Hazards and Disasters Research, USA
- National Hydrology Research Centre, Canada
- National Institute of Hydrology, India
National and international societies
Basin- and catchment-wide overviews
- Connected Waters Initiative, University of New South Wales â Investigating and raising awareness of groundwater and water resource issues in Australia
- Murray Darling Basin Initiative, Department of Environment and Heritage, Australia
Hydrology publications
Hydrology-related journals
Persons influential in the field of hydrology
Allied sciences
*Hydraulic engineering –
*Limnology –
*Oceanography –
Hydrology lists
- Drainage basins by area – largest hydrologically defined watersheds in the world
- Floods – chronological and geographic list of major floods worldwide
- Waterways – worldwide listing of waterbodies classified as rivers, canals, estuaries, and firths
See also
Other water-related fields
- Oceanography – more general study of water in the oceans and estuaries.
- Meteorology – more general study of the atmosphere and of weather, including precipitation as snow and rainfall.
- Limnology – study of inland waters (running and standing waters, both fresh and saline, natural or man-made), including their biological, chemical, physical, geological, and other attributes. This includes the study of lakes and ponds, rivers, springs, streams and wetlands.
- Water resources – sources of water that are useful or potentially useful. Hydrology studies the availability of those resources, but usually not their uses.
References
External links