Importance of hydrologic knowledge in natural resource planning
- Knowledge is required in estimating runoff, planning erosion control measures, planning for irrigation, removal of excess water and conserving
- Knowledge of runoff in designing structures
- Data about infiltration, evaporation and transpiration are required in planning
- Irrigation and drainage systems, moisture conservation practices, etc.
- Knowledge for crop production: type, amt and distribution of rainfall
Example apple cultivation.
Branches of Hydrology:
- Chemical hydrology: study of chemical characteristics of water
- Ecohydrology: study of interactions between organisms and the hydrologic cycle
- Hydrogeology: study of the presence and movement of water in aquifers
- Hydroinformatics: is the adaptation of information technology to hydrology and water resources applications
- Hydrometeorology: study of the transfer of water and energy between land and water body surfaces and the lower atmosphere.
- Isotope hydrology: study of the isotopic signatures of water
- Surface hydrology: study of the hydrologic processes that operate at or near the Earth’s surface.
Applications of hydrology:
1) Determining the water balance of a region
2) Determining the agricultural water balance
3) Designing riparian restoration projects
4) Mitigating and predicting flood, landslide and drought risk.
5) Real-time flood forecasting and flood warning.
6) Designing irrigation schemes and managing agricultural productivity.
7) Part of the hazard module in catastrophe modeling.
8) Providing drinking water.
9) Designing dams for water supply or hydroelectric power generation.
10) Designing bridges.
11) Designing sewers and urban drainage system.
12) Predicting geomorphological changes, such as erosion or sedimentation.
13) Assessing the impacts of natural and anthropogenic environmental change on water resources.
14) Assessing contaminant transport risk and establishing environmental policy guidelines.