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As a scientific discipline, hydrology is only a few hundred years old. To understand hydrology, it must be seen in conjuction with the basic sciences such as mathematics, chemistry, physics and biology. It also requires knowledge of geography, geology and meteorology, among other fields of study. Likewise, it is impossible to comprehend the real stakes, in terms of water management, without awareness of the social, legal and political issues that surround water in the modern world. Hydrology is a little of all of these disciplines, combined.
This purpose of the book is to give a comprehensive overview of this very broad and complex field, giving priority to the water cycle, its various components and its interactions with the environment in which it develops and interacts.
General Introduction
Historical approach
The modern concept of water
Organizations involved with water
Legal aspects: the case of Switzerland
Objectives and organization of this book
The Hydrological Cycle and the Water Balance
Introduction
Water, the element
Detailed analysis
The distribution of water
Related cycles
Conclusions
The Watershed and its Characteristics
Definitions
Topographic watershed and effective watershed
Hydrological behaviour
Physiographic characteristics of a watershed Agro-pedo-geological characteristics
Digital information and numerical models
Conclusions
Precipitation
Basic definitions
Classification of clouds
Mechanisms of precipitation formation
Precipitation regimes
Measuring precipitation
Observation networks and publication of data
Analysis of point measurements
Regional evaluation of precipitation
Conclusions
Evaporation and Interception
Introduction
Evaporation
Evapotranspiration from soil covered by vegetation
Interception
Conclusions
Flows and Infiltration
Introduction
Infiltration
Flows
The concept of sediment transport
Conclusions
Service Intercommunal de Gestion (SIGE), Vevey, Switzerland
