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title: ENVI 591: Hydrogeology
---Syllabus
David Kahler
Center for Environmental Research and Education
Office: Fisher 333A
Lab: Fisher 339A
| Class | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture | Tuesday and Thursday 11-12:15 | Fisher 214 |
| Field | TBA | Frick or Schenley Park |
Current office hours are available on the Courses page.
Hydrology (literally, the study of water) in the environment considers the water cycle, including the atmosphere (boundary-layer movement and mixing of heat and water vapor), surface water (river flow, overland flow, surface-ground interactions), and groundwater (Darcy’s Law, diffusion, media characteristics). This course will cover these topics with a special focus on groundwater and interactions in the subsurface. Special applications include contaminant transport and groundwater remediation. Computational hydrologic models will also be introduced.
Required
- Applied Hydrogeology
- By C. W. Fetter
- Fourth edition
- Waveland Press, Inc
- ISBN: 978-1-4786-3709-7
Useful, but not required
- Applied Hydrology
- By Chow, Maidment, and Mays
- McGraw Hill
- ISBN: 0-07-100174-3 or any available
- Physical Hydrology
- by S. Lawrence Dingman
- Waveland Press, Inc
- Second edition 1-57766-561-9 or third edition 1-4786-1118-9
- Contaminant Hydrogeology
- By C. W. Fetter
- Waveland Press, Inc.
- ISBN: 1-57766-583-X
Students also must have access to a Windows computer for the hydrologic models.
Blackboard is the official course website as it is the official method of communications at the University; however, this website and associated blog will be the primary source of information. Box will also be used to share datasets. This syllabus is subject to change; the updated syllabus will be available on the course website.
Students will:
- have a strong working knowledge of the concepts and terminology used for describing various fluxes and stores within the hydrologic cycle;
- be able to apply mathematical methods to estimate hydrologic processes;
- critically analyze model applications and results for planning purposes (e.g., environmental flow); and
- recognize, determine data requirements, and analyze field and model data for typical groundwater contamination.
- 15% Exam #1
- 15% Exam #2
- 15% HEC-HMS Project
- 15% Infiltration lab report
- 15% Permeameter lab report
- 25% Homework
Homework will be due in class on the due date. Late homework may only earn half credit and will not be accepted more than three school days late. Exceptions to any due dates or exams must be arranged well in advance and via e-mail. See instructor for family or personal emergencies.
Course policies that cover academic integrity, academic accommodations, and class procedures is available on the course website.
- Fundamental concepts
- Hydrologic cycle
- Where and for how long is water
- Water balance
- Watersheds: Streamstats
- Environmental flow analysis
- Atmospheric water
- Earth's energy budget
- Atmospheric boundary layer
- Atmospheric fluxes
- Evapotranspiration
- Atmospheric fluxes
- Turbulent fluxes
- Precipitation
- Areal precipitation
- Arithmetic mean
- Inverse power
- Thiessan polygons
- Using GIS for areal precipitation calculations
- Surface water
- Streamflow
- Baseflow
- Hydrographs, unit hydrograph
- Groundwater/surface water interaction
- Flow measurement: Manning's, weirs, gages, etc.
- Current meter
- Infiltration
- Surface water
- Frequency analysis
- Infiltration
- SCS Curve number
- Green and Ampt
- HEC-HMS introduction
- Midterm exam (may switch with week 6 depending on the semester)
- Overland flow
- Aquifers (qualitative)
- Hydrostatics
- Solid matrix properties
- Flow in porous media
- Flow testing
- permeability
- using a permeameter
- Flow testing
- breakthrough curves, slug tests
- Groundwater contamination
scheduled by registrar