TOPIC-HYDROLOGY

Hydrology is the scientific study of water in the Earth's system, including its movement,
distribution, and quality. Hydrology involves studying the interactions between water and
various components of the Earth's system, including the atmosphere, oceans, rivers, lakes,
groundwater, and the biosphere.

Hydrologists use a variety of tools and techniques to study water, including remote sensing,
computer modeling, field measurements, and laboratory experiments. They also analyze data on
rainfall, evaporation, runoff, and groundwater recharge to better understand the water cycle and
its impact on the environment.

Hydrology has many practical applications, such as predicting floods and droughts, managing
water resources, designing water supply systems, and assessing the environmental impacts of
human activities on water quality and quantity. It is also an important field of study for
understanding the effects of climate change on the Earth's water resources.

Hydrology cycle

The hydrologic cycle, also known as the water cycle, is the continuous movement of water on,
above, and below the surface of the Earth. The cycle involves the processes of evaporation,
transpiration, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and subsurface flow.

The cycle begins with the sun’s energy, which heats the Earth’s surface and causes water to
evaporate from oceans, lakes, and rivers. As water vapor rises into the atmosphere, it cools and
condenses into clouds. Eventually, the water droplets in the clouds become heavy enough to fall
back to Earth as precipitation, which can take the form of rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Once precipitation falls, it can follow several paths. Some of it may be absorbed into the soil
through infiltration, where it can be taken up by plants or enter into the groundwater system.
Some of it may run off the surface of the land into rivers, streams, or lakes, and eventually into
the ocean.

Plants also play an important role in the hydrologic cycle through transpiration, which is the
process by which water is taken up by plants and released into the atmosphere as water vapor.

Overall, the hydrologic cycle is essential for maintaining the Earth’s water supply and regulating
the climate. However, human activities such as deforestation, urbanization, and pollution can
disrupt the natural cycle and have significant impacts on water availability and quality.
Hydrological Cycle Process

Evaporation, condensation and precipitation are three major components of the water cycle.
However, we will discuss all the stages of the water cycle in a summarized manner.

Evaporation

Rivers, oceans, lakes etc., are the water bodies in which water exists as a liquid. However, the
sun’s heat or radiation turns this liquid water into the gaseous state, i.e. water vapours. We have
seen in our daily lives that a film of vapours forms on the top of the lid after boiling water.
Likewise, sunlight heats the surface of water bodies, which leads to the formation of water
vapours.
Eventually, water vapour goes upward from the water surface. The molecules of water vapours
move freely in the atmosphere or exist as independent water molecules. Water vapours are part
of the earth’s atmosphere, which combine with other gaseous forms (fog and mist). After
nitrogen and oxygen, water vapours constitute a small portion of the atmosphere.

Solar energy breaks hydrogen bonding between water molecules in the liquid state, thereby
forming water vapours. Temperature plays a critical role in influencing evaporation, and more
temperature influences more vapourization. Humid weather holds many vapours, whereby 100%
of humidity would indicate rain.

Transpiration

It also contributes to the water cycle. Vegetation (trees and grasses) releases water vapours (97-
99.5%) from leaves through transpiration and guttation. Plants primarily absorb the water
through roots and transfer it to other parts. Plants harness a minute quantity of water to undergo
growth and metabolism.
Condensation

It is the phase transition of water from a gaseous to a liquid or solid phase through convection.
In addition, buoyancy or upward force drives humid air higher. Eventually, the warm air parcel
enters the condensation nuclei and condenses onto tiny particles (dust, pollen, sea salts,
pollutants etc.). After reaching a certain height (20 km above the ground), the air becomes cool
below its dew point or the point of saturation.

As a result, the warm air parcel (containing water vapour) becomes cold and condenses back
into a liquid state (liquid droplets). At high altitudes, vapours directly condense into ice crystals
through deposition or gas-to-solid phase transition. In this way, the condensed water droplets or
ice crystals clump to facilitate cloud formation in the sky. Condensation may occur high in the
atmosphere or at ground level. Clouds at ground level are called fog.

Precipitation

Clouds move around the globe through wind, resulting in a collision between the cloud particles.
It occurs when the condensation reaches its maximum, or the atmosphere becomes wholly
saturated with condensed vapours. As a result, clouds grow in size, and all forms of water
particles fall out of the sky as precipitation.
The coalescence process and ice-crystal process are the two subprocesses involved in
precipitation. In the coalescence process, water droplets attain a critical size and fall as raindrops
through gravity and frictional drag.

The smallest drop falls faster and combines with the leading drop. In the ice-crystal process, ice
crystals attain a critical size and fall as snow or ice pellets. Besides that, water also precipices as
sleet and hail.

Depending upon the type of cloud particles, precipitation occurs in four different forms, as
mentioned in the diagram below. Hence, water enters the lithosphere (including terrestrial and
water bodies).

Runoff

Let us discuss some significant sources of precipitated water runoff. The precipitated water that
goes into the oceans or onto the land is called surface runoff or streamflow. Snowmelt is water
that flows overland due to the melting of snowpacks during the summer. Some portion of the
surface water infiltrates deep into the ground or enters the saturated soil subsurface through soil
porosity, and the process is called infiltration.
Percolation is the mechanism resulting in a movement of water across the water table through
pores of the subsurface. The movement of water in percolation is comparatively slower than the
infiltration mechanism.

Groundwater is the water behind the water table. Groundwater flow is the stage during which
the groundwater seeps back into the stream (marine or freshwater). In other words, groundwater
flow or discharge is the process in which groundwater exits the ground. Eventually, each
component reaches the stream channels and contributes to the total runoff or base flow.

Storage

In the planetary water cycle, water is typically stored in three regions. Atmospheric storage
temporarily preserves a small fraction (0.001%) of water in the form of water vapours. Surface
storage occurs in oceans, lakes, reservoirs etc. Underground storage occurs in the soil,
aquifers, and empty spaces of rock formations.

Conclusion

Therefore, the hydrological cycle describes the storage and continuous recycling of water from
one reservoir to another via different mechanisms. Biosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere and
hydrosphere are the following pools or reservoirs. Evaporation, condensation, precipitation,
deposition, infiltration, and percolation effectively facilitate water flow within different pools.

We can conclude that the water cycle is the water recycling process within and above the earth in
a cyclic manner. During this trip, water goes through its three physical states (gas, liquid, and
solid). Nature replenishes the earth’s water supply through the water cycle.