MTMG44-Hydrology and global environmental change

Module Provider: Meteorology
Number of credits: 10 [5 ECTS credits]
Level:7
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Prof Richard Allan
Email: r.p.allan@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module covers topics in hydrology and global environmental change.

Aims:

• To develop an understanding of the physical processes involved in the hydrological cycle and their importance both meteorologically and in a wider context;


• To understand the methods of measurement and estimation of key parameters in the hydrological cycle and have a critical appreciation of the limitations of these methods;


• To understand basic techniques used in modelling hydrological processes and have a critical appreciation of the limitation of these methods;


• To develop an awareness of the relationship between global environmental change and hydrological systems.

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of this module students should be able to:

• Describe the physical processes which give rise to the transport of water through the hydrological cycle;


• Give order of magnitude estimates of global stocks, rates of transport and residence times for stages within the cycle;


• Describe instrumentation and methods of measurement or estimation for the various components of the hydrological cycle;


• Write down equations describing the surface water bud get on a global and local scale.


• Describe the significance of the hydrological cycle in the context of both local and global energy budgets.


• Describe simple, hydrological catchment models and discuss their limitations and areas of application.


• Discuss how the hydrological cycle is dealt with in meteorological models.


• Explain the significance of the hydrological cycle in the context of climate and climate change.

Additional outcomes:

Students will improve their skill in problem solving and data analysis.

Outline content:

• Introduction: scope and importance of the hydrological cycle on a global and local scale. Outline of the components of the cycle. Fluxes and stores of water on a global scale.


• Precipitation: measurement by gauges, radar and satellite. Variations in space and time. Area estimates. Extreme values.


• Evaporation: physics of evaporation. Actual and potential evaporation. Interception. Methods of measurement. Methods of calculation (e.g. Penman, Bowen ratio).


• Soil moisture: characterisation of soils. Physics of water movement in soils. Infiltration and percolation.


• Run off and river flow. Streamflow generation; flow measurement. Effect of human interventions on hydrological regimes


• Links between atmosphere, oceans and the hydrological cycle on land Catchment modelling: Simulating river flows from rainfall and evaporation


• Climate and weather models: water budget modelling for climate and weather simulation.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Lectures and problem classes.