HYDROLOGY AND THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

HYDROLOGY- LUCAS

 At its most basic level, hydrology is often defined as the study of water.
 Hydrology is the science of the waters of the earth and its atmosphere. It
deals with occurrence, circulation, distribution and movements of these
waters over the globe and their interaction with the physical and biological
environments.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HYDROLOGY AND HYDRAULICS

HYDROLOGY HYDRAULICS
 Hydrology is the study of water,  Hydraulics is the physical
its properties, and its movement science dealing with the static
through the Earth’s land and and dynamic behavior of fluids.
atmosphere.

 Hydrology calculates quantities  Hydraulics calculates how water

of water. will move through your streams
and rivers:
• Where?
• How fast?
• How deep?

 Hydrology typically refers to the  A hydraulic analysis is used to

rate of precipitation, the quantity evaluate flow in rivers, streams,
of water, the rate of surface storm drain networks, water
runoff, and the timing of its aqueducts, water lines, sewers,
arrival at a point of interest. etc.
 How do civil engineers use Hydrology and Hydraulics in land
development?

HYDROLOGY HYDRAULICS
Engineers use hydrology to Once the difference between
provide reports detailing the surface pre-development storm water flow
water flow changes that are and post-development storm water
anticipated with the proposed site flow is determined, civil engineers
design. The goal is typically to use hydraulics to design storm water
determine if the post-development management systems to account for
storm water flow is equal to or the difference to minimize a
greater than the pre-development development’s effect on neighboring
storm water flow. sites. These systems, both pipes
and open channels, are designed to
accommodate all intercepted water
flow from rainfall events.

Two types of pollution that affects water quality:

(1) point source pollution, which is direct discharge into the environment
such as from wastewater treatment plants.
(2) nonpoint source pollution, which is composed of diffuse inputs such as
urban storm water or agricultural runoff.

Transportation of pollutants involves processes occurring both above and

below the ground surface. Pollutants typically associated with surface runoff
include excess sediment and phosphorus, while groundwater can transport
nitrogen and discharge contaminated waters to streams and rivers as
baseflow.

Because transport of nonpoint source pollution is mainly driven by the

movement of water, an understanding of hydrology and the hydrologic cycle is
critical to managing our water resources to support human needs.
THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE- EDIOS

Two Phases of Hydrologic Cycle:

 Atmospheric phase, which describes water movement as gas (water
vapor) and liquid/solid (rain and snow) in the atmosphere.
 Terrestrial (Land) phase, which describes water movement in, over, and
through the Earth.

The terrestrial phase is often broken down into the surface water phase
(runoff, streamflow) and the groundwater phase (infiltration, percolation,
aquifer recharge).

The Hydrologic (Water) Cycle

Evapotranspiration (evaporation + transpiration)

 Evapotranspiration is the combined effect of evaporation and
transpiration.
- Evaporation - movement of water directly into the atmosphere as
water vapor from a surface, such as the soil or a water body.
- Transpiration - the process by which plants carry water from the
soil into leaves, where it is released to the atmosphere as water
vapor.
 Due to the difficulty in separating the processes of evaporation and
transpiration, the two processes are generally considered together and
referred to as “ET.” This term includes the water that evaporates directly
from soil, water, and plant surfaces and the water that is pulled from the
soil by plant transpiration.
 As much as 75 percent of the water that enters the soil can be returned to
the atmosphere through ET.
 High wind, solar radiation, and heat can greatly increase the ET rate,
whereas a high water vapor percentage in the air (high relative humidity)
can decrease the potential for ET.

Precipitation
 Precipitation is any type of condensation of atmospheric water vapor that
falls under gravity and includes rain, snow, sleet, hail, and fog.
 The amounts and types of precipitation affect soil development,
vegetation growth, and the generation of runoff, which transports soils,
nutrients, and pollutants.
 Water that evaporates (or sublimates) from the Earth’s surface is stored
as water vapor in the atmosphere before returning to the Earth’s surface
as precipitation.
 As rain falls from the atmosphere, some is caught by vegetation (trees,
grass, crops), and this is called “interception.” A portion of intercepted
rainfall is evaporated back to the atmosphere from the plant surfaces and
never reaches the ground. The rainfall that does reach the soil surface is
referred to as net rainfall.

Infiltration
 Once precipitation has reached the soil surface, some of it can infiltrate
the soil. Infiltration is the downward entry of water into the soil.
 The amount of water that infiltrates and how quickly it infiltrates varies
widely from place to place and depends on soil properties such as soil
moisture content, texture, bulk density, organic matter content,
permeability, porosity, and the presence of any restrictive layers in the
soil.
 - Permeability is a measure of how fast water flows through
the soil. (Infiltration and permeability are greater in porous
materials, such as sands or gravels, than in clay soils.)
- Porosity is a measure of the total amount of open space or
voids in a soil that are capable of retaining water.
 Water retained in the soil pores is part of the soil storage, a portion of
which is available to plants during transpiration.
 Additionally, plants can utilize water stored in the soil at a later time,
providing a buffer capacity for plants between rains. Therefore, soil
structure is an important consideration in agroecosystems and can be
managed with various tillage practices or soil amendments.

Percolation and Groundwater Recharge

 Aside from plant uptake, another path that water can take after it enters
the soil is percolation.
- Percolation is the downward movement of water that has infiltrated
out of the root zone under the pull of gravity.
 Generally, percolation is beyond the reach of plant roots. Water that
percolates downward through the soil, below the plant root zone toward
the underlying geologic formation, is responsible for recharging aquifers.

Groundwater Discharge
 Groundwater that has percolated to an aquifer can be stored in that
aquifer or can flow out of the aquifer and discharge to a surface water
body, such as a stream, river, or lake.
 This groundwater discharge creates baseflow and is an important
connection between ground and surface waters.
- Baseflow - the amount of flow in a stream in the absence of
additional inputs resulting from storm events.
Interflow
 Interflow is the lateral movement of infiltrated water in the vadose zone
and is influenced by soil, geologic, and terrain properties in the
surrounding area.
 As water infiltrates, some of it may reach a layer of soil or rock material
that restricts downward movement and causes a perched water table.
 Restrictive layers can form naturally (fragipan, clay pan, bedrock) or as a
result of human activities.


Runoff
 There are many ways to describe runoff, but a simple definition is the
portion of precipitation falling on an area that is rapidly discharged from
the area through stream channels.
 However, in reality, runoff generation is a complex process controlled by
many factors, and there are even different types of runoff generated
depending on the conditions.

Types of runoff:
 Infiltration excess runoff - the type with which most people are probably
familiar. As the name suggests, infiltration excess runoff
occurs when the infiltration rate of the soil is less than the
rainfall rate.
- This type of runoff generally occurs during intense
thunderstorms or on soils with a low infiltration rate, such
as clays or compacted soils, and is more common in urban
areaswhere impervious surfaces dominate.
 Saturation excess runoff - occurs when the soil profile becomes
saturated with water and can store no more precipitation. Thus,
any precipitation falling in these areas becomes runoff.
- This type of runoff generation is far more common in the humid
temperate regions, such as the Mid-Atlantic, than infiltration
 excess runoff, primarily because the region is wellvegetated and
has permeable topsoil.
Depending on which type of runoff is generated, there can be varying
water quality and production consequences. For instance, sheet and rill
erosionare more common during infiltration excess runoff, partially because
this type of runoff is associated with high rainfall intensities, while saturation
excess type runoff is often responsible for gullying and stream bank failures
due to increased pore water pressure from the weight of water in the soil
profile, which reduces soil cohesion.

Summary of Hydrologic Cycle:

Atmospheric Phase of Hydrologic Cycle
Atmospheric phase of hydrologic cycle starts with the formation of clouds
after vaporization from water bodies and ends after the occurrence of
precipitation.

Land Phase of Hydrologic Cycle

After occurrence of precipitation, water comes in contact with the earth
surface and hydrologic cycle enters the land phase. Part of precipitation is
infiltrated and a part of it, depending upon circumstances, is intercepted by
trees and vegetation.

The global hydrological cycle is produced by water exchange between the

atmosphere, the land, and the oceans, and its main components are
precipitation on the land and the oceans, evaporation from the land and the
oceans, and runoff from the land to the oceans.
The Human Impact on the Hydrologic Cycle

Human activities that change the land cover of river basins and are aimed
at regulating the water fluxes in nature can considerably change the
hydrological cycle of the separate river basins, and even of large regions.

Due to human activities, the natural hydrological cycle of most river basins
is becoming more and more transformed and regimented. The main stream
flow regulation methods are construction of dams, levees, barrages, and
dikes, which provide water accumulation, decreasing flood flow, and
increasing low flow.

The major effects of reservoir construction on the hydrological cycle

(excepting runoff control) are an increase of evaporation and a rise of
groundwater table. In dry regions, evaporation losses from the reservoir water
surface may be so large that they seriously compromise any potential gains.
At the same time, in the conditions of moderate climate, the reservoir losses
on evaporation are relatively small.

The impact of irrigation on the hydrological cycle is especially revealing in

the arid regions, but it is also considerable in regions with moderate climate
where irrigation is of supplementary character. Diversion of water for irrigation
purposes from surface or groundwater resources modifies the natural
hydrological processes. It is common for runoff and evaporation from irrigated
areas to increase significantly. Irrigation in river basins where there is no
additional method of supply often leads to runoff reduction in the outlet site. In
many dry regions, a considerable rise in the groundwater table can occur
because of water filtration from reservoirs, leakage from water distributing
systems, and faulty irrigation technology.
 The primary effect of drainage is the lowering of the groundwater table
and
the extension of the layer with unsaturated soil. As a result,
evapotranspiration may considerably drop (in some cases, by more than 50
percent).

Together with direct change of the hydrological regime of the river basins
by means of stream channel control, irrigation, drainage, and groundwater
abstractions, changing the land use of river basins can exert significant
influence on the hydrological cycle. Consequences of land use change may
be revealed gradually, and be masked by climate variations, but an essential
transformation of hydrological regime can occur. The most significant
distortions of the hydrological cycle are observed in urbanized areas.

The main clearly-expressed effects of deforestation on the hydrological

cycle of a river basin are the increases in transpiration and interception of
precipitation, which in turn result in a decrease of the volume of total runoff.
Deforestation reduces infiltration and improves the conditions for overland
flow. As a consequence, flood runoff and peak discharges may significantly
increase. At the same time, the higher infiltration of forest soils increases the
opportunity for recharge groundwater, and the flow of small rivers tends to be
more sustained, especially in the case of the generation of snowmelt runoff,
when forests further sustain flow by delaying the snowmelt. A rise in the
groundwater table and an increase of ground runoff may also raise the low
flow of medium- and large-sized rivers. Such effects often result in the
conclusion that forests increase runoff.