units

ATS2545

Faculty of Science

18 September 2017 22 November 2024

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This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 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.

Monash University

6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Science

Organisational Unit

School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment

Coordinator(s)

Associate Professor David Dunkerley

Offered

Clayton

  • First semester 2016 (Day)

Notes

Previously coded GES2210

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:

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

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 70%
Exam: 30%

Workload requirements

Two 1-hour lectures per week and one 2 hour practical class per fortnight

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

Associate Professor David Dunkerley

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Geographical science
Human geography

Prerequisites

A first-year sequence in Geographical Science or a gateway unit in Geography, Climate and Physical Environments or permission of the unit coordinator.

Prohibitions

ATS3545