Chapter 1

1.Introduction
In this chapter, the term hydrology is defined, and the hydrological cycle is explained
and illustrated graphically. The purpose of analysis hydrology is also explicated.

Outcomes

At the end of this chapter the following will be covered

• Hydrology definition
• Purpose of hydrology analysis
• Hydrological cycle

1.1 Defining hydrology

Hydrology is literally the science of water that deals with the aspects of the cycling of
water in the natural environment that relate specifically with the:

• continental water processes, namely the physical and chemical processes

along the various pathways of continental water (solid, liquid and vapor) at all
scales, including those biological processes that influence the water cycle
directly;

and with

• the global water balance, namely the spatial and temporal features of the water
transfers (solid, liquid and vapor) between all compartments of the global
system, i.e. atmosphere, oceans and continents, in addition to stored water
quantities and residence times in these compartments.

In simple terms the hydrology subject deals with the occurrence, circulation and
distribution of water of the earth and the earth’s atmosphere.

In Civil Engineering hydrology is applied in projects such as:

• Water supply projects

• Irrigation schemes
• Dams and hydroelectric power projects.

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1.2 Purpose of hydrology
Studying hydrology enables us to identify the following:

• The occurrence, quantity and frequency of water yield from a catchment. This
knowledge is necessary for the design of dams, municipal water supply,
waterpower, river navigation, etc.
• The groundwater development, which requires the knowledge of the area’s
hydrogeology which apply to the formation of the soil, recharging facilities such
as reservoirs, rainfall patterns, streams, climate, etc.
• The amount of natural evaporation taking place in a catchment. To determine
the natural evaporation in a catchment the following parameters need to be
known; the air temperature, solar radiation, vapor pressure, wind and
atmospheric pressure of the concerned catchment.
• The catchment’s maximum storm intensity and frequency, this knowledge can
be used for the drainage design.
• The maximum probable flood that occurs in a catchment and its frequency. The
maximum probable flood information is paramount when designing drains,
dams, reservoirs, channels, culverts and other flood control structures.

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1.3 Hydrological cycle

Figure 1: Sketch of the main processes of the hydrological cycle.

The hydrological cycle acts like an enormous global pump that is driven mainly by two
forces; solar energy and gravitation pull. Humans have ingeniously utilized this global
and free pump to get irrigation water and to draw power from the enormous amount of
energy that this cycle represent. The hydrological cycle is also referred to as the water
cycle. The hydrological cycle/water cycle is defined as the movement of water in
nature. The water moves from its different phases through the atmosphere, over and
through the land to the ocean and back to the atmosphere.

When atmospheric water vapor condenses and precipitates over land, initially it
moistens the surface and some amount of it is stored as interception, which later
evaporates. As precipitation continues, a part of it flow over the surface in a form of
overland flow or surface runoff, a part of the surface runoff or overland flow may enter
the soil as infiltration.

The surface runoff than collects locally in puddles or small ponds as depression
storage or collects in larger channels where it continues as stream flow. The stream
flow ultimately ends up in a larger water body such as a lake or the ocean. The

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infiltrated water may flow rapidly through the near-surface soil layers to exit into
springs or adjacent streams, or it may percolate more slowly through the profile to join
the groundwater, which sooner or later seeps out into the natural river system, lakes
and other open water bodies. A part of the infiltrated water is retained in the soil profile
by capillarity and other factors, where it is available for uptake by the roots of
vegetation.

Soil layers and other geologic formations, whose pores and interstices can transmit
water is called aquifers. When an aquifer is in direct contact with the land surface, it is
referred to as unconfined. The locus of points in an unconfined aquifer, where the
water pressure is atmospheric, is called the water table. Although the water table is
not a true free surface separating a saturated zone from a dry zone, it is sometimes
assumed to be the upper boundary of the groundwater in an unconfined aquifer. The
partly saturated zone in an unconfined aquifer, between the water table and the ground
surface, is sometimes referred to as the vadose zone. In an unconfined aquifer, the
term groundwater refers usually to the water found below the water table; soil water
or soil moisture refers to the water above the water table. A water bearing geologic
formation, that is separated from the surface by an impermeable layer, is referred to
as a confined aquifer. Streamflow is fed both by surface runoff and by subsurface flow
from riparian (i.e. located along the banks) aquifers. The streamflow, resulting from
groundwater outflow is often called base flow.

The hydrologic cycle also constitutes of the evaporation process, which returns the
water, while in transit in the different flow paths and stages of storage along the way,
back into the atmosphere. The energy for evaporation of water from streams, ponds,
oceans and other open water bodies come from the sun. When evaporation takes
place through the stomates of vegetation, it can be referred to as transpiration. Direct
evaporation from open water or soil surfaces and transpiration of biological water from
plants are not easy to separate; therefore, the combined process is sometimes called
evapotranspiration. Evaporation of ice is commonly referred to as sublimation. While
these distinctions are useful at times, the term evaporation is usually adequate to
describe all processes of vaporization.

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1.4 Description of the hydrological cycle with reference to Figure 1
The incoming solar energy forces water to evaporate from both land and sea. Much of
this vapour condensates and falls directly over the sea surface again. The remainder
of the rainwater falls over land, and it falls as precipitation (rainfall, snow, and or hail).
This forms runoff as creeks, rivers, and lakes on the soil surface. A major part,
however, infiltrates through the soil surface and forms soil water (water in the upper
soil layers above the groundwater table, also called the unsaturated zone) that may
later percolate (deeper infiltration) down to the groundwater (groundwater zone also
called the saturated zone) level.

In the ground, water can also be taken up by plant roots, and evaporate into the
atmosphere through transpiration (evaporation through the plant leaves by plant
respiration) or by direct evaporation from the soil. The total evaporation from both soil
and plants is called evapotranspiration.