General hydrology
[BIRE2103]
[30h + 22.5h] 5 credits
This course is taught in the 1st semester.
Teacher(s):
Language: French
Level: Second
Aims
- to understand the issue of water management at the scale of the local scale (the field parcel) and the scale of the catchment ;
- to describe the different processes and the different terms of the hydrological cycle at the scale of a pedon, the field parcel and the catchment, and to understand the equations used for describing these processes ;
- to describe the functioning, the advantages and disadvantages of hydrological measurement devices ;
- to interpret basic hydrological measurements (rainfall, evapotranspiration, drainage and run-off);
- to calculate, by means of simple hydrological models, the rainfall runoff relationship at the field and catchment scale;
- to justify the choice of a hydraulic device to control the surface water flow at the field and catchment scale; and
- to write a synthetic report on the practical work and to analyse critically the obtained results.
Main themes
- Hydrological cycle (rainfall, infiltration, run-off, drainage, hypodermic flow, evapotranspiration) : processes, mathematical description, measurement methods and interpretation.
- Hydrological modelling at the field and catchment scale
- Hydraulic control of surface water flow
Content and teaching methods
- Introduction. Issues of hydrology at different scales
- Rain- Infiltration
- Evapotranspiration
- Run-off
- Hydrological modelling
- Hydrological control
Practical work
The theoretical aspects are illustrated by means of practical work in the laboratory and computer class room around 2 hydrological projects : the design of a storm bassin in a catchment and the calculation of the hydrological balance of a field parcel. An excursion allows to illustrate concepts of hydrometry and hydrological control.
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)
Evaluation Report on the practical works and the excursion. Oral examination
Support - Transparencies of the theoretical course (www.icampus.ucl.ac.be)
- Syllabus (www.icampus.ucl.ac.be)