Hydrological processes and phenomena

obligatory courses

The student should have elementary knowledge of geography, physics and chemistry.

The lecture is dedicated to the basic processes and phenomena occurring in the water environment. It covers issues such as: water circulation on a global and local scale, hydrodynamic and hydrochemical processes occurring in surface waters and in the zones of their contact with groundwater. Basic laws and factors governing the flow of water, types of fluid movement in open and closed channels, properties of fluids affecting the type of movement.

Current and urgent problems related to the water environment - variability of hydrological processes in the conditions of progressing climate change (drought, flood), human impact on water relations (agriculture, melioration, urbanization, hydrotechnical structures, mining). Methods of field and laboratory measurements, numerical research and spatial analysis to identify the components of the water balance in a river basin (precipitation, runoff, infiltration, evaporation, outflow, retention).

The lecture is intended to familiarize students with such issues as:

- Hydrological cycle and elements of water balance in environment,

- Laws and processes governing the flow of liquids - properties of liquids determining the type of flow, flow in open and closed channels, flow regime according to Reynolds and Froud criteria, laminar and turbulent flow, rapid (supercritical) and calm (subcritical) flow, Bernoulli's equation for an ideal and real fluid.

- Hydrodynamic and hydrochemical processes occurring in surface waters and in the zone of their contact with groundwater, the role of the hyporheic zone,

- The nature of hydraulic contacts within various hydrological objects: rivers, lakes and wetlands (groundwater-dependent ecosystems).

- Types of surface and groundwater interactions in various geomorphological and climatic conditions: river valleys, mountain areas, coastal zones of seas and oceans, karst, desert and dune areas.

- Seasonal variability of hydrological processes in temperate climate conditions and in the light of progressing climate changes (droughts and floods).

- The river basin as a system and as an elementary unit of hydrological research.

- Methods of field and laboratory measurements and calculations of the magnitude of processes such as: precipitation, infiltration, runoff, evapotranspiration, evaporation, retention.

- Human impact on water relations - the role of agriculture, melioration, urbanization (urban and industrial areas), hydrotechnical and flood protection structures and mining in transforming the quantity and quality of surface and underground waters and their natural relationships.

Classes are dedicated to the practical application of field, laboratory and digital methods for the quantitative assessment of selected elements of the catchment water balance.

- Application of graphical (GIS) and calculation methods to assess the amount of average annual precipitation in the catchment area (Thiessen method, isohet method),

- Determination of the amount of effective infiltration using the indicator method (GIS) and the groundwater table fluctuation method (field experiment at the WG station),

- Quantity assessment of underground runoff from the catchment area - hydrograph analysis method (BFI+, FlowComp programs), Kille method, Wundt method,

- Environmental flow assessment according to the hydrobiological criterion - Kostrzewa's method,

- Evaluation of field evaporation - methods of Konstantinow, Thornthwait, Turec,

- Hydrogeological laboratory - Reynolds experiment to assess the flow regime,

- Fieldwork in the Warsaw area (depending on organizational and technical capabilities) - flow rate measurements in the small river, assessment of the functionality of retention devices in the urban area.

K_W01 - understands physical and geological phenomena occurring in nature,

K_W02 - Knows, understands and interprets the processes and phenomena taking place in the past and present on the surface of the Earth and in its interior,

K_W03 - Knows and understands the connection between geological sciences and mathematical, physical, chemical and biological sciences,

K_W04 - Knows and understands the methods of determining the hydrogeological parameters of the aquifer and the chemistry of groundwater,

K_W10 - Has knowledge about the selection and performance of specialized laboratory and / or field tests to solve geological problems,

K_W13 - Knows the most important problems in the field of hydrogeology, engineering geology and environmental protection to which geophysical methods can be used,

K_U10 - Can identify aquifers, assess their abundance in groundwater, determine the physical and chemical parameters of water,

K_U12 - Can make a critical analysis of the results of measurements, observations or theoretical calculations along with a quantitative assessment of the accuracy of the results,

K_K04 - Is aware of responsibility for research, experiments or observation initiatives. understands the social aspects of the practical application of acquired knowledge and skills,

K_K05 - Is aware of the decisive role of the experiment, measurements, research in the verification of hypotheses.

Requirements:

- knowledge of the material presented in lectures,

- independent graphic and calculation studies developed during the exercises

Final grade in the course: the arithmetic mean of the grades obtained from: 1) a written test covering the issues raised during the lecture, 2) the final grade from the exercises obtained on the basis of individual graphic and calculation studies.

not required