Catchment hydrology

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Catchment hydrology, is the study of the hydrology in drainage basins.

Water balance

Main article:Water balance Catchment hydrology is based on the principal of continuity, which is used to perform a water balance on a catchment:

I - O = dS/dt,

where I = inputs (P, precipitation + OW, occult water), O = outputs (ET, evapotranspiration + R, runoff), and dS/dt = the change in catchment storage over time.

Neglecting the minor inputs of occult water, the water balance can be revised to

P - R - ET = dS/dt.

Finally, considering a catchment on a long time scale, typically a year or more, removes the storage component from the equation:

P - R = ET.[1]

(For more information see water balance)

Terminology

There are many terms involved with and related to catchment hydrology. These basic ones are taken from the glossary of terms in Kendall and McDonnell, 1998:

References

  1. Kendall and McDonnell, 1998. Isotope Tracers in Catchment Hydrology. Elsevier

See also