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Hydrology

hy-DROL-uh-jee
Water Science

The study of fresh water on and under land: rivers, lakes, groundwater and the cycle that moves water between the ocean, the air and the ground. The field turned from philosophy to measurement in the seventeenth century, when Pierre Perrault gauged rainfall, runoff and the drainage area of the Seine's basin and showed that rainfall alone was enough to account for the river's flow, the first time the water cycle had been demonstrated by numbers rather than argued from first principles. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Central Question
Hydrology is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets. 1
Scope
Hydrology studies the movement, distribution and quality of water on and beneath Earth's land surface, including rivers, lakes, groundwater and the water cycle. 1
Significance
Hydrology underlies flood forecasting, water resource management and the design of dams, wells and irrigation systems. 1
FAQs

What is the difference between hydrology and hydrogeology?

Hydrology covers water movement across the whole land surface and atmosphere; hydrogeology narrows that to groundwater held in soil and rock.

Hydrology is the broader science of water movement, distribution and quality across the Earth's surface and atmosphere, covering rivers, lakes, rainfall and the water cycle as a whole. Hydrogeology is the narrower specialty within it that focuses specifically on groundwater, the water held and moving through soil and rock beneath the land surface. A hydrologist studying a river's flow and a hydrogeologist studying the aquifer beneath it are often working on the same watershed from different sides of the ground surface.
Connections

Associated With

Glaciology integrates hydrology among its neighboring Earth sciences.

Source Glaciology (Wikipedia)

Has Scientist

Includes

Source Burn (landform) (Wikipedia)

Safe drinking water and water contamination are a core environmental-health measure that hydrology studies.

Source Environmental Health (Wikipedia)
Evaporation, Phenomena

Read from this phenomenon's own Wikipedia article (Evaporation); earth5 pass discipline judgment: Hydrology.

Source Evaporation (Wikipedia)
Flood, Phenomena

Read from this phenomenon's own Wikipedia article (Flood); earth5 pass discipline judgment: Hydrology.

Source Flood (Wikipedia)
Porosity, Concepts
Source Porosity (Wikipedia)
Source Rapids (Wikipedia)
Source Water Cycle (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Hydrology (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    Hydrology (from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) 'water' and -λογία (-logía) 'study of') is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability.
  • History section
    By measuring rainfall, runoff, and drainage area, Perrault showed that rainfall was sufficient to account for the flow of the Seine.
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Rapids (Wikipedia)
Includes: Rapids, Lead paragraph
Quote, Includes: Rapids, Lead paragraph
Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence
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Burn (landform) (Wikipedia)
Includes: Burn (landform), Lead paragraph
Quote, Includes: Burn (landform), Lead paragraph
In local usage, a burn is a kind of watercourse
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Porosity (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Porosity, Lead paragraph
Quote, Includes: Porosity, Lead paragraph
Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure the "accessible void", the total amount of void space accessible from the surface (cf. closed-cell foam).
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