Hydrology

A teaching demonstration by:

Engr. Peter Paul Silva, MSc-HWR

 Outline
 Introduction
 The Water Cycle
 The Water Balance
 Hydrology and Climate
 Objectives
 By the end of this presentation, you should be able to:
 Understand basic hydrology
 Know the amount of Water on Earth
 Identify the types of Climate
 Understand how precipitation develops
 Know why do Philippines have frequent typhoons
 Hydrology as a Science
 Hydrology is the science which deals with terrestrial
waters, their occurrence, circulation and distribution on
our planet, their physical and chemical properties and
their interaction with the physical and biological
environment, including the effects on them of the activity
of man. - UNESCO(1964)
 The Water Cycle

Condensation

Precipitation Evaporation
The World’s Water Budget
 The Water Balance
 Watershed / Catchment Area / River Basin / Catch Basin
/ Drainage Basin
 P – ET – Q = S
 P = Precipitation
 ET = Evapotranspiration
 Q = Surface Runoff
 S = Change in Storage
 Hydrological Components
 Precipitation – Rainfall, Sleet, Drizzle, Hail, Snow
 Evaporation – Open Water Evaporation, Evaporation
through Transpiration, Soil Evaporation
 Surface Runoff – River Flow, Floods
 Groundwater Storage – Seasonal Variations
 Hydrology and Climate
 Five Climate Types based on annual and monthly
Temperature and Precipitation
 Humid Tropical Type, High annual P and T
 Dry Climate, Semi-Arid (Steppe) or Arid (Desert)
 Humid Mid-Latitude, Warm dry summers, Cool wet winters
 Continental Type, Low P, Variable T
 Cold Climate Type, T>0 for 4 months per year
Hydrology and Climate
Atmospheric Circulation
 Precipitation System (Mechanisms)
 Convection – due to vertical instability of air
 Orographic Lifting – air is forced to rise due to mountains
 Frontal Lifting – Uplift of low pressure air due to
depression
 Cyclones, Tropical Depressions, Hurricanes
 Convergence – warm air rises and converges in the Inter
Tropical Convergence Zone
 Types of Evaporation
 Evaporation
 Free Water Surface (Ocean)
 Bare Soil
 Interception by plants and trees
 Transpiration
 Transfer of water vapour into atmosphere through the plant’s
stomata
 Evapotranspiration
 Combination of transpiration and evaporation (for a vegetated
surface)
 Take Home Messages
 Precipitation is not just rainfall but also snow, hail, etc.
 Groundwater is the world’s largest fresh water reserve for
human consumption
 The Philippines has a tropical type of climate which
receives high amount of rainfall every year which (some)
results to flooding
Thank You.

Silva, P. P. (2018) Hydrology, A teaching demonstration by

Peter Paul Silva