Introduction to Hydrometeorology

At the boundary between hydrology and meteorology, hydrometeorology produces an ever more

advance knowledge about the water cycle. In general, this cycle is essential to life on earth, but its
extremes can be very devastating.

Hydrometeorology helps us understand the complex interactions between the weather and the water
resources of our planet, in view to harness their power and to inhibit its threats.

Hydrometeorology is a branch of meteorology and hydrology that studies the transfer of water and energy
between the land surface and the lower atmosphere.

Application of Hydrometeorology includes flood forecasting, drought forecasting, climate change impact

assessments, reservoir management, and water resources and water quality studies.

Earth

–Solid -Geosphere : Geology, Geomorphology, Mineralogy, Seismology

–Liquid –hydrosphere : Hydrology

–Gases –Atmosphere : Meteorology

–Hydrology + Meteorology = Hydrometeorology

Hydrology

–deals with occurrence, circulation and distribution of water in the earth, their physical and chemical
properties and their reaction with the environment

–main concern is -quantities and time distribution of water passing through the various phases

Phases –

•Atmosphere –water vapor and clouds

•Earth surface –snow, ice, dew, mist, water in streams, lakes and oceans

•Below surface –soil moisture and groundwater

Hydrology of a region affected by

–Weather pattern

–physical factors related to topography, geology, vegetation

–Human activities (urbanization etc)

Climate and Weather

•Climate ?
–largely dependent on geographical position on the earth’s surface

–deals with long term conditions

•Important Climatic Factors: ?

–precipitation and its mode of occurrence, humidity, temperature and wind, all of which directly affect
evaporation and transpiration

–Weather ?

•Day to day variation of the climatic factors

Importance of meteorology and hydrology

•Estimation of water resources

•Study the processes such as precipitation, runoff, evaporation and their interactions

•Study problems such as floods and droughts and strategies to combat them

•weather forecasting

•preparation of cropping calendar

•determination of suitable cropping system

•irrigation designing

•construction of dam, culverts, reservoirs

•designing soil conservation practices

Before you go through in this course, it is necessary to understand first the water resources in the
Philippines.

Hydrologic Cycle
•natural circulation of water from the oceans and land surface to the air, air to land, and back to the ocean

•driving force -radiant energy of the sun

The hydrologic cycle describes the continuous recirculatory transport of the waters of the earth, linking
atmosphere, land, and oceans. The process is quite complex, containing many subcycles. To explain it
briefly, water evaporates from the ocean surface, driven by energy from the sun, and joins the
atmosphere, moving inland. Once inland, atmospheric conditions act to condense and precipitate water
onto the land surface, where, driven by gravitational forces, it returns to the ocean through streams and
rivers.

The total amount of water on the earth and in its atmosphere does not change but the
earth’s water is always in movement. Oceans, rivers, clouds and rain, all of which
contain water, are in afrequent state of change. This circulation and conservation of
earth’s water as it circulates from the land to the sky and back again is called the
hydrological cycle.