HYDROLOGY

Hydrology, which may be defined as the science of the waters of the earth and of the
behavior of water within the hydrological cycle, as well as its relation to the environment, is an
indispensable requirement for planning and design in the field of water resources development.
Owing to its rapid development during the last decade, hydrology has become a fundamental
science for water resources management. Nevertheless, projects for river training, irrigation and
drainage, hydropower, water supply, flood control and navigation are frequently executed without
first carrying out an adequate program of hydrological investigations.
The term hydrology is from Greek: ὕδωρ, hydōr, "water"; and λόγος, logos, "study. Hydrology is
the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the Earth, including the
hydrologic cycle and water resources. A practitioner of hydrology is a hydrologist, working
within the fields of either earth or environmental science, physical geography, geology or civil
and environmental engineering.
Domains of hydrology include hydrometeorology, surface hydrology, hydrogeology, drainage
basin management and water chemistry, where water plays the central role. Oceanography and
meteorology are not included because water is only one of many important aspects.
Hydrological research can inform environmental engineering, policy and planning.

History of hydrology

Hydrology has been a subject of investigation and engineering for millennia. For example, about
4000 B.C. the Nile was dammed to improve agricultural productivity of previously barren lands.
Mesopotamian towns were protected from flooding with high earthen walls. Aqueducts were built
by the Greeks and Ancient Romans, while the History of China shows they built irrigation and
flood control works. The ancient Sinhalese used hydrology to build complex irrigation Works in
Sri Lanka, also known for invention of the Valve Pit which allowed construction of large
reservoirs, anicuts and canals which still function.
Marcus Vitruvius, in the first century B.C., described a philosophical theory of the hydrologic
cycle, in which precipitation falling in the mountains infiltrated the Earth's surface and led to
streams and springs in the lowlands. With adoption of a more scientific approach, Leonardo da
Vinci and Bernard Palissy independently reached an accurate representation of the hydrologic
cycle. It was not until the 17th century that hydrologic variables began to be quantified.
Pioneers of the modern science of hydrology include Pierre Perrault, Edme Mariotte and
Edmund Halley. By measuring rainfall, runoff, and drainage area, Perrault showed that rainfall
was sufficient to account for flow of the Seine. Marriotte combined velocity and river cross-
section measurements to obtain discharge, again in the Seine. Halley showed that the evaporation
from the Mediterranean Sea was sufficient to account for the outflow of rivers flowing into the
sea.
Advances in the 18th century included the Bernoulli piezometer and Bernoulli's equation, by
Daniel Bernoulli, the Pitot tube. The 19th century saw development in groundwater hydrology,
including Darcy's law, the Dupuit-Thiem well formula, and Hagen-Poiseuille's capillary flow
equation.
Rational analyses began to replace empiricism in the 20th century, while governmental agencies
began their own hydrological research programs. Of particular importance were Leroy Sherman's
unit hydrograph, the infiltration theory of Robert E. Horton, and C.V. Theis's Aquifer

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test/equation describing well hydraulics.
Since the 1950s, hydrology has been approached with a more theoretical basis than in the past,
facilitated by advances in the physical understanding of hydrological processes and by the advent
of computers and especially Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
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Branches of hydrology

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 ground water.
Hydro informatics 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.

Application of hydrology

Because water occurs naturally in many forms and places and has many uses, it is of concern to
several professions. The elements of hydrology are therefore present in many different study
programs.
The IHD Working Group on Education and Training in Hydrology listed a number of such fields
with the subdivisions in which hydrology is generally taught.

(a) Geophysics (meteorology);

(b) Civil engineering (hydraulic engineering);
(c) Agronomy (agricultural engineering);
(d) Forestry (watershed management);
(e) Geology (hydrogedogy);
(f) Geography (geomorphology);
(g) Sanitary engineering (water quality);
(h) Biology and chemistry (environmental biology and chemistry).

Hydrologic cycle

The central theme of hydrology is that water moves throughout the Earth through different
pathways 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.