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Research Activity
Chapter 1: Hydrology And Hydrologic Cycle

1.1 Difference between hydrology and hydraulics
-Hydrology is the scientific study of the waters of the earth, with a particular focus on how
rainfall and evaporation affect the flow of water in streams and storm drains. Hydraulics is the
engineering analysis of the flow of water in channels, pipelines, and other hydraulic structures.
1.2 The hydrologic cycle and its human impact
- Human activities can influence the hydrologic cycle in many other ways. The volumes and
timing of river flows can be greatly affected by channeling to decrease the impediments to flow,
and by changing the character of the watershed by paving, compacting soils, and altering the
nature of the vegetation.
1.2.1 Water cycle / Evaporation / Transpiration Precipitation / Streamflow / Subsurface Flow /
Groundwater Flow
*Water Cycle
-The water cycle , also known as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement
of water as it makes a circuit from the oceans to the atmosphere to the Earth and on again.
Most of Earth's water is in the oceans. ... Some of it evaporates as vapor into the air.
-Evaporation is the process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas or

vapor. Evaporation is the primary pathway that water moves from the liquid state back into
the water cycle as atmospheric water vapor.
- Transpiration rates vary widely depending on weather conditions, such as temperature,

humidity, sunlight availability and intensity, precipitation, soil type and saturation, wind, and
land slope.
-Surface Flow is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater,
stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil.
-Stream Flow is always changing, from day to day and even minute to minute. Of course, the
main influence on streamflow is precipitation runoff in the watershed.
-Subsurface flow, in hydrology, is the flow of water beneath earth's surface as part of the water
cycle. In the water cycle, when precipitation falls on the earth's land, some of the
water flows on the surface forming streams and rivers.
-Groundwater flow is defined as the "part of streamflow that has infiltrated the ground, has
entered the phreatic zone, and has been discharged into a stream channel, or springs and
seepage water." It is governed by the groundwater flow equation.
1.2.2 Humans And The Water Cycle
- A number of human activities can impact on the water cycle: damming rivers for
hydroelectricity, using water for farming, deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.
-Hydroelectric energy, also called hydroelectric power or hydroelectricity, is a form of energy

that harnesses the power of water in motion—such as water flowing over a waterfall—to
generate electricity. People have used this force for millennia.
-Irrigation is the process of applying controlled amounts of water to plants at needed intervals.
-Deforestation is the permanent removal of trees to make room for something besides forest.
This can include clearing the land for agriculture or grazing, or using the timber for fuel,
construction or manufacturing. Forests cover more than 30% of the Earth's land surface,
according to the World Wildlife Fund.
- The greenhouse effect is a natural process that warms the Earth's surface. When the Sun's
energy reaches the Earth's atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space and the rest is
absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases.
1.3 Interrelationship Of The Phases Of The Hydrologic Cycle

- Water is constantly moving within and above the earth in a cycle called the hydrologic cycle.
Not only is the hydrologic cycle a cycle of water, it is a cycle of energy as well. There are six
major components of this cycle: evapotranspiration, condensation, precipitation, infiltration,
percolation and runoff.
* Evapotranspiration is the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth's land
and ocean surface to the atmosphere. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water to the
air from sources such as the soil, canopy interception, and waterbodies.
*Condensation is the process by which water vapor in the air is changed into liquid
water. Condensation is crucial to the water cycle because it is responsible for the formation of
clouds.
* Precipitation and the Water Cycle. Precipitation is water released from clouds in the form of

rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail. It is the primary connection in the water cycle that
provides for the delivery of atmospheric water to the Earth.
* Infiltration is the process by which precipitation or water soaks into subsurface soils and
moves into rocks through cracks and pore spaces.
* Percolation occurs when the water on the earth's surface in the run-off stage seeps
underground.
* Runoff cycle. The part of the hydrologic cycle undergone by water between the time it
reaches the land as precipitation and its subsequent evapotranspiration or discharge through
stream channels.
1.3.1 Evapotranspiration
- Evapotranspiration is the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth's land
and ocean surface to the atmosphere. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water to the
air from sources such as the soil, canopy interception, and waterbodies.
1.3.2 Precipitation
- Precipitation and the Water Cycle. Precipitation is water released from clouds in the form of
rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail. It is the primary connection in the water cycle that
provides for the delivery of atmospheric water to the Earth. Most precipitation falls as rain.
1.3.3 StreamFlow
-Stream Flow is always changing, from day to day and even minute to minute. Of course, the
main influence on streamflow is precipitation runoff in the watershed.
1.3.4 Infiltration / Percolation

-Infiltration is the process by which precipitation or water soaks into subsurface soils and
moves into rocks through cracks and pore spaces. Percolation occurs when the water on the
earth's surface in the run-off stage seeps underground.
1.3.5 GroundWater
-Groundwater is a part of the natural water cycle. Some part of the precipitation that lands on
the ground surface infiltrates into the subsurface. The part that continues downward through
the soil until it reaches rock material that is saturated is groundwater recharge.

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Chapter 1: Hydrology And Hydrologic Cycle

-Evaporation is the process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas or

- Transpiration rates vary widely depending on weather conditions, such as temperature,

-Hydroelectric energy, also called hydroelectric power or hydroelectricity, is a form of energy

1.3 Interrelationship Of The Phases Of The Hydrologic Cycle

* Precipitation and the Water Cycle. Precipitation is water released from clouds in the form of

1.3.4 Infiltration / Percolation

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