China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Water and the Science of Pollution
Published in Daniel T. Rogers, Environmental Compliance Handbook, 2023
Water is constantly on the move through the four spheres of the geosphere—the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. This movement of water is cyclical and is called the hydrologic cycle or water cycle. In this cycle, water changes phase many times and exists as a liquid (surface waters and groundwater), solid (snow and ice), or gas (water vapor). The global movement of water is initiated by solar energy, which evaporates surface water into the atmosphere. Much of this water vapor condenses and falls as some form of precipitation on a distant land surface, where it either evaporates, flows back into the oceans through rivers and streams, is taken up by vegetation and slowly released into the atmosphere as evapotranspiration, or infiltrates into the ground. Groundwater also migrates back to the oceans (Jones 1997; Alley et al. 1999). Figure 2.3 depicts the water cycle.
Hydrology science
Published in Mohammad Albaji, Introduction to Water Engineering, Hydrology, and Irrigation, 2022
Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout the Earth, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. 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.
Global Climate Change Impacts on Watershed Hydrology
Published in Moonisa Aslam Dervash, Akhlaq Amin Wani, Climate Change Alleviation for Sustainable Progression, 2022
Vishnu Prasad, Abrar Yousuf, Parminder Singh Sandhu
An understanding of the different hydrological processes within a watershed is essential for maintaining the watershed in good health through effective management of rainwater/runoff, soil water and soil erosion. The term describes how water moves and is stored within a watershed, what are the different water inputs from the river system into the drainage basin and the water outputs from the watershed. Understanding how water is used and cycled through a watershed provides a framework for describing and understanding how within that watershed land and water interact. The main processes to be studied under watershed hydrology are precipitation, evaporation and transpiration, infiltration, runoff and streamflow, etc. (Bhardwaj, 2019).
Estimation of Surface-Subsurface Water Balance in Lower Tapi River Basin Using Gridded Data and Station-Based Observed Data
Published in ISH Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 2023
Bhumika Mistry, Narendra Shrimali, Hiteshri Shastri
Climate change is broadly referred to as change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over a long period e.g. decades to millions of years. Human activities augment the natural variability of climate, which is often referred to as global warming (IPCC, 2001). The effects of warming are witnessed on both global as well as on local scale (IPCC, 2001). Water resources of the region are highly sensitive to variations in weather and climate patterns. Climate change, directly impacts the occurrence of precipitation and, therefore, subsequent components of the hydrologic cycle such as; runoff, floods, droughts, snow-glacier melt, water quality, groundwater recharge etc. As indicated by climate model simulations, precipitation, snowmelt and glacier melt is expected to intensify at higher latitudes during the twenty-first century (IPCC, 2007). The risks of floods and droughts are expected to intensify in several parts of the world owing to the increased in precipitation variability and intensity. At the same time, several semiarid and arid regions are projected to suffer a decline of water resources. (Singh et al. 2014).
Advances in the application of smartphones in hydrology
Published in Water International, 2023
Lei Li, Soon-Thiam Khu, Jia Wang, Mingna Wang
Broadly speaking, hydrology is the study of the waters above and below the Earth’s land surface, including the occurrence, circulation, and distribution of waters in time and space, their biological, chemical and physical properties, and their response to the environment. Hydrology, on the other hand, is the study of the processes by which water resources are depleted and replenished in terrestrial regions of the Earth, including all stages of the hydrological cycle (UNESCO & WMO, 1992). Since the emergence of hydrology, based on the various forms of water on the earth, the various ways of water resources utilization and the demand of social development for hydrology development, hydrology has derived many branches, such as engineering hydrology, urban hydrology, snow hydrology, surface water hydrology, regional hydrology, ecohydrology, etc., involving surface water, groundwater, water-related erosion and sediment transport process, snow and ice, water quality, water ecology, the interaction between land and atmosphere, flood forecasting and water resources management, etc. (Rosbjerg & Rodda, 2019).
Review of climate change impacts on reservoir hydrology and long-term basin-wide water resources management
Published in Building Research & Information, 2022
Amaya Kahaduwa, Lalith Rajapakse
The study shows that the global climatic change is having a direct impact on local and regional hydrologic variations such as changes in precipitation patterns, increased surface temperatures, variations in the streamflow and the occurrence of frequent floods and droughts, which in turn affect the built environment. Increased intensity and the frequency of floods should be taken into consideration by the design engineers. Intense droughts will affect the continuous generation of hydropower which will eventually demand an alternative power generation method for the countries that are heavily dependant on hydropower. Considerations need to be taken regarding the efficient use of water with the options of rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment and reuse in buildings. Further, the increased temperature will have a considerable effect on selecting suitable air conditioning and ventilation systems for a particular building. Long-term basin-wide water resources management strategies should be followed to adapt to the climate change impacts and the recommendation is to stress more on the ways of reducing climate change impacts in future studies.