Introductory Concepts

The course deals on the hydrologic cycle and the different processes such as precipitation,
evaporation, infiltration, overland flow, groundwater flow and surface runoff generation.

1. HYDROLOGY

Hydrology (from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) 'water', and -λογία (-logía) 'study of') is the scientific
study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including
the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is
called a hydrologist. Hydrologists are scientists studying earth or environmental
science, civil or environmental engineering, and physical geography. Using various analytical
methods and scientific techniques, they collect and analyze data to help solve water related problems
such as environmental preservation, natural disasters, and water management.
The central theme of hydrology is that water circulates 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. Water changes its state of
being several times throughout this cycle.

The areas of research within hydrology concern the movement of water between its various states, or
within a given state, or simply quantifying the amounts in these states in a given region. Parts of
hydrology concern developing methods for directly measuring these flows or amounts of water, while
others concern modeling these processes either for scientific knowledge or for making a prediction in
practical applications.

The Water cycle shows the continuous movement of water within the Earth and atmosphere. It is a
complex system that includes many different processes. Liquid water evaporates into water vapor,
condenses to form clouds, and precipitates back to earth in the form of rain and snow.

Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example
as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt
water and only three percent is fresh water; slightly over two thirds of this is frozen
in glaciers and polar ice caps.[2] The remaining unfrozen freshwater is found mainly as groundwater,
with only a small fraction present above ground or in the air. [3] Natural sources of fresh
water include surface water, under river flow, groundwater and frozen water. Artificial sources of fresh
water can include treated wastewater (wastewater reuse) and desalinated seawater. Human uses of
water resources include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities.
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Water resources are under threat from water scarcity, water pollution, water conflict and climate
change. Fresh water is a renewable resource, yet the world's supply of groundwater is steadily
decreasing, with depletion occurring most prominently in Asia, South America and North America,
although it is still unclear how much natural renewal balances this usage, and
whether ecosystems are threatened.[4] The framework for allocating water resources to water users
(where such a framework exists) is known as water rights.

A Drainage basin is an area of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of
water such as a river, lake, wetland or ocean. The drainage basin includes both the streams and
rivers that convey the water as well as the land surface from which water drains into those channels.

2. THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

Together, these five processes - condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and

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Condensation is the process by which water vapor in the air is changed into liquid water; it's the
opposite of evaporation. Condensation is crucial to the water cycle because it is responsible for the
formation of clouds.

Condensation is the process in which gas converts into its liquid state. Examples: Morning dew on the
grass. Water droplets on the outer surface of cold drink bottle.

Condensation: the conversion of water from a gas into a liquid. Condensation is the change of water
from its gaseous form (water vapor) into liquid water. Condensation generally occurs in the
atmosphere when warm air rises, cools and looses its capacity to hold water vapor.

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 3. PRECIPITATION

Precipitation is any liquid or frozen water that forms in the atmosphere and falls back to the earth. It
comes in many forms, like rain, sleet(ice pellet), and snow. Along with evaporation and condensation,
precipitation is one of the three major parts of the global water cycle.

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Precipitation is any type of water that forms in the Earth's atmosphere and then drops onto the
surface of the Earth.

Water vapor, droplets of water suspended in the air, builds up in the

Precipitation condenses, or forms, around these tiny pieces of material, called cloud condensation
nuclei (CCN).

Clouds eventually get too full of water vapor, and the precipitation turns into a liquid (rain) or a solid
(snow).

Precipitation is part of the water cycle. Precipitation falls to the ground as snow and rain. It
eventually evaporates and rises back into the atmosphere as a gas. In clouds, it turns back into liquid
or solid water, and it falls to Earth again. People rely on precipitation for fresh water to drink, bathe,
and irrigate crops for food.

Formation of Precipitation

Precipitation forms in the clouds when water vapor condenses into bigger and bigger droplets of
water. When the drops are heavy enough, they fall to the earth. If a cloud is colder, like it would be at
higher altitudes, the water droplets may freeze to form ice
The most common types of precipitation are rain, hail, and snow grains. Drizzle, Ice Pellets, small
hail, Ice Crystals.

Different Types of Precipitation

Sometimes, different types of precipitation fall at the same time. During harsh winter storms, for
instance, it is not unusual for sleet and rain to fall at the same time.

Other times, precipitation doesn't fall at all. Virga is a type of precipitation that begins to fall from
a cloud, but evaporates before it reaches the surface of the Earth.

Human activity can create precipitation. Urban heat islands, which are areas around major cities that
are much warmer than their surroundings, lead to increased and more intense rainfall near cities.

Global warming also causes changes in global precipitation. When the planet is hotter,
more ice evaporates in the atmosphere. That eventually leads to more rainy precipitation. It usually
means wetter weather in parts of North America, for example, and drier conditions in tropical areas
that are usually humid.

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Rain. Most commonly observed, drops larger than drizzle (0.02 inch / 0.5 mm or more) are
considered rain. However, smaller drops are also considered raindrops if, in contrast to drizzle, they
are widely separated.

Drizzle. Fairly uniform precipitation composed exclusively of fine drops very close together. Drizzle
appears to float while following air currents, but unlike fog droplets, it falls to the ground. Quite often
fog and drizzle occur together.

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Ice Pellets (Sleet) Precipitation of transparent or translucent pellets of ice, which are round or
irregular hard grains of ice consisting of frozen raindrops, or largely melted then refrozen
snowflakes....

Hail. Precipitation in the form of small balls or other pieces of ice falling separately or frozen together
in irregular lumps. Associated with thunderstorms, individual hail stones are ¼ inch (5 mm) or greater
in diameter. Hail sizes of 1 inch (2.5 cm) or more are indicative of severe thunderstorms....

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Small Hail (Snow Pellets) . Precipitation of white, opaque grains of ice that are round or sometimes
conical. Diameters are less than ¼ inch (5 mm)

..

Snow. Precipitation of snow crystals that are mostly branched and in the form of six-pointed stars.

.
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Snow Grains. Precipitation of very small, white, and opaque grains of ice. Basically, this is frozen
drizzle.

Ice Crystals. Generally occurring in very cold regions, they are falling crystals of ice in the form of
needles, columns, or plates. Also called 'diamond dust', ice crystals appear like fog with individual
water particles forming directly as ice. The shape of the individual ice crystals causes the 'light pillar'
optical effect above the light source.