Outline of hydrology

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 type of thing is hydrology?

Hydrology can be described as all of the following:

a branch of science
* a branch of natural science
** a branch of physical science
*** a branch of Earth science
* a branch of geography
** a branch of physical geography

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

Things studied by hydrology

Abstract concepts in hydrology

Field capacity

Phenomena studied by hydrology

Water movement pathways

Water cycle Above ground

* Evaporation -
** Pan evaporation -
* Condensation -
* Precipitation - condensed water, is pulled by gravity back to Earth, in the form of:
** Drizzle
** Rain
** Sleet
** Snow
** Graupel
** Hail
* Interception -
** Evapotranspiration -
* Stemflow -
* Throughfall -
On ground
* Surface runoff - flow of surface water
** First flush
** Floods
*** Flash floods
* Overland flow -
* Horton overland flow -
Below ground
* Infiltration -
* Pipeflow -
* Baseflow -
* Subsurface flow - flow of ground water

Physical things studied by hydrology

Environmental issues

Measurement tools

Groundwater

Source:

Aquifer characterization
Vadose zone characterization
*Infiltration
** Infiltrometer - infiltration
*Soil moisture
** Capacitance probe-soil moisture
** Time domain reflectometer - soil moisture
** Tensiometer - soil moisture
** Solute sampling
** Geophysical methods

Surface water

Source:

Water level
Channel shape
Discharge

Meteorological

Precipitation
Frozen precipitation
Mean windspeed and direction
Mean air temperature
Humidity
Air pressure
Heat flux
Cloudiness/Sunshine
Evapotranspiration

Soil/porous media

Source:

Bulk density & porosity
Matric potential
Hydraulic conductivity
Piezometer -
Soil moisture content

Water quality

Source:

Conductivity
pH
Dissolved oxygen
Turbidity
Water clarity
Bed load
Erosion/deposition

Modeling

Behavioral modeling in hydrology

Equations

Basin

Hack's law -

Catchment

Water balance -

Evaporation

Penman -
Penman-Monteith -

Infiltration/Soil Movement

Darcy's law -
Richards equation -

Streamflow/Open channel

Fick's law of diffusion -
Chézy formula -
Manning formula -
Strahler number -
Standard step method - computational technique for modeling steady state open channel surface profiles

Erosion

Hjulström curve -

Groundwater

Power/Uncertainty

Models

Hydrological transport model

Applications of hydrology

Some examples of applications of hydrology:

Analyzing the impacts of antecedent moisture on sanitary sewer systems
Assessing contaminant transport risk and establishing environmental policy guidelines
Assessing the impacts of natural and anthropogenic environmental change on water resources
Designing bridges
Designing dams for water supply or hydroelectric power generation
Designing irrigation schemes and managing agricultural productivity
Designing riparian restoration projects
Designing sewers and urban drainage system
Determining the agricultural water balance
Determining the water balance of a region
Fog collection
Part of the hazard module in catastrophe modeling
Predicting and mitigating flood, landslide and drought risk
Predicting geomorphologic changes, such as erosion or sedimentation
Providing drinking water
Real-time flood forecasting and flood warning

Hydrology organizations

Intergovernmental organizations

International Hydrological Programme

International research bodies

National research bodies

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology – UK
Centre for Water Science, Cranfield University, UK
eawag – aquatic research, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Institute of Hydrology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, Germany
United States Geological Survey – Water Resources of the United States
NOAA's National Weather Service – 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

Geological Society of America – Hydrogeology Division
American Geophysical Union – Hydrology Section
National Ground Water Association
American Water Resources Association
Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc.
International Association of Hydrological Sciences
Statistics in Hydrology Working Group
German Hydrological Society
Italian Hydrological Society – http://www.sii-ihs.it
Nordic Association for Hydrology
British Hydrological Society
Russian Geographical Society – Hydrology Commission
International Association for Environmental Hydrology
International Association of Hydrogeologists

Basin- and catchment-wide overviews

Connected Waters Initiative, University of New South Wales – 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

Hydrological Processes, 0885-6087, John Wiley & SonsHydrology Research,, IWA Publishing Journal of Hydroinformatics,, IWA PublishingJournal of Hydrologic Engineering,, ASCE PublicationJournal of HydrologyWater ResearchWater Resources ResearchHydrological Sciences Journal – Journal of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences '''',

Persons influential in the field of hydrology

Allied sciences

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