Hydrology

Document Type

Contribution to Book

Publication Date

2017

Publication Title

Oxford Bibliographies in Geography

DOI

10.1093/OBO/9780199874002-0119

Abstract

Hydrology is the study of water’s (i) movement, (ii) transport and storage of mass and energy, and (iii) distribution through, and exchange between, the biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere. The field of hydrology seeks to describe, model, and predict the water cycle (and its connections to other biogeochemical and climatological processes) across spatiotemporal scales. The International Association of Hydrological Sciences’ (IAHS) objectives state, as of 3 March 2015, that these efforts from the hydrology community “provide firm scientific bases for the optimal utilization of water resources systems, including the transfer of knowledge on planning, engineering, management and economic aspects.” Indeed, applying insights from hydrologic investigation has proven valuable since even before the seeds of the modern scientific experimental method. The Roman engineer Vitruvius and naturalist Pliny the Elder both discussed how vegetation may be managed to manipulate water resources before the conclusion of the 1st century. By 1922 hydrology was officially recognized as its own discipline by the establishment of the section of Scientific Hydrology in the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. In the time since, hydrology has produced numerous subdisciplines, including: hydrometeorology, hydrogeology, hillslope hydrology, ecohydrology, isotope hydrology, watershed hydrology, hydrochemistry, hydromorphology, hydroinformatics, and vadose zone hydrology. The object of this article is to provide a brief annotated bibliography of key books, articles, journals, software, data sets, and internationally recognized scientific organizations for the field of hydrology.

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