Undergraduate - UnitATS3545 - Environmental hydrology

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

print version

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Physical Geography
Offered	Not offered in 2013
Coordinator(s)	Associate Professor David Dunkerley

Notes

Previously coded GES3210

Synopsis

Movement of water in environment, and roles played by water in environmental processes, discussing behaviour of water from condensation in lower atmosphere through to groundwater and river flow. The role of vegetation in intercepting and redirecting water at surface. The processes of infiltration, percolation, groundwater flow, stormflow and baseflow production. Instances of major hydrological change, case studies of large-scale deforestation or desertification, habitat or biodiversity decline, including human use of water and landscape. Observation and measuring techniques employed in hydrologic research are introduced in Practical Class.

Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will:

understand the controls on global freshwater availability
be aware of risks to the security of global water supplies arising from human activity
understand hydrologic processes including precipitation, infiltration, overland flow, and groundwater flow
understand some of the hydrologic processes arising in a range of geographical environments, including drylands, urban areas, and tropical forests
develop experimental skills needed for laboratory measurements of hydrologic properties such as porosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity
understand the place of hydrologic considerations in debates about the management of logging, bushfire, and other forms of landsurface change