Hydrometeorology bridges atmospheric sciences and hydrology, including formation and distribution of liquid and solid precipitation, floods, and drought, and impacts on water resources. Topics address the observing, modeling, and forecasting of fluxes, flow, and storage of liquid water, ice, and water vapor, including interactions between the land surface and atmosphere.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students: For graduate students, this course will complement training in synoptic, radar, and satellite meteorology, atmospheric physics, physical climatology, and applied climatology. It will serve as a graduate-level introduction in the atmospheric sciences to topics in applied climatology related to hydrology. Graduate students will have additional readings that will lead to a required research paper and oral presentation, likely using a case study format that examines the observation, evolution, and impact of a significant hydrometeorological event. Graduate students will also be expected to complete an additional essay component on each exam that addresses course topics in a synthetic fashion and requires application of course principles to situations not previously covered in class.
Athena Title
Hydrometeorology
Prerequisite
GEOG 1111 or GEOG 2110H or GEOG(ATSC) 1112 or GEOG(ATSC) 1112E or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
Students will establish a well-rounded background in the intersection of atmospheric and hydrologic sciences.
Students will learn the tools and methods for observation, modeling, and prediction of liquid and solid precipitation, soil moisture, snow/ice cover.
Students will understand the application of instrumentation for in situ and remotely sensed observations in hydrometeorology.
Students will demonstrate application of observations and tools to address the role of water in human activities, particularly those impacts associated with floods and drought at local and regional scales.
Topical Outline
• The Hydrological Cycle
o Processes comprising the hydrological cycle
o Global water balance
o Modeling the hydrological cycle
o Types and hazards of flooding and drought
• Precipitation
o Relevant physical laws governing water vapor distribution
o Vertical structure and transport of water vapor, lapse rates, stability, and convection
o Precipitation processes
o Organized and disorganized precipitation systems
• Evaporation and Transpiration
o Modeling potential evaporation
o Sensible and latent heat fluxes
o Approaches for estimating evaporation and transpiration
o Water circulation in the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum
o Soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer schemes in models
o Estimation of large-scale evapotranspiration and water storage
• Cryosphere
o Formation of snow
o Snow cover feedbacks
o Characteristics and evolution of snow and firn
o Melting and movement of water through snow and firn
o Glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheet dynamics
o Sea ice development and motion
o Permafrost
• Measurements and Instrumentation
o Point measurements of precipitation
o Measuring snow and hail
o Areal estimates of precipitation
o Radar and satellite measurements of rainfall
o Measurement of snowfall and snow cover
o Measurement of soil moisture
o Measurement of evaporation and evapotranspiration
o Remote sensing of clouds, precipitation, and soil moisture
• Flow Measurement: Basic Hydrometry
o Measuring storm discharge
o Stage-discharge curves
• Analysis and Forecasting of Precipitation and Floods
o Areal mean precipitation
o Estimating flood frequency
o Probable maximum precipitation, probable maximum flood
o Statistical distribution of rainfall frequency
o Nowcasting
o Precipitation in numerical models
o Flood consequences on human activities, policy mitigation strategies
• Drought
o Hydrologic, meteorological, agricultural drought
o Drought indices, including PDSI, SPI
o Predictability of drought
o Drought consequences on human activities, policy mitigation strategies
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
