Hydrosystems Engineering
EACEE 3250/4250
Instructor – Shaina Kelly, [email protected]
Teaching Assistant – TBD
Textbook – Introduction to Hydrology by Margulis
https://forms.gle/GVKvZSKHwfFDcRFn7
Grading will be based on 4-5 homework assignments (50%), one midterm
(20%), a final exam (25%), and PollEverywhere participation (5%)
Background/Motivation
Basic definition:
Hydrology is the science that describes and predicts:
- spatial/temporal characteristics of water (in all phases) in terrestrial,
atmospheric, and oceanic reservoirs of the global system
-fluxes of water between these reservoirs and the physical processes that affect
movement
Motivation for studying hydrology:
➢ Fundamental/Societal/Economic: Water required for life (environmental
and civil engineers support human life! How can we sustainably manage water?)
➢ Scientific: Water plays key role in Earth system: climate/weather processes,
landscape evolution, biogeochemical processes, etc. (e.g. How/why does it rain
more in Northern CA vs. Southern CA? Mountains vs. lowlands? Why clouds
regulate climate?)
➢ Engineering: Need for water resource systems (water supply, hazard
mitigation); manage/allocate water resources (e.g. How do we get water from
where it is to where it is needed? How do we manage it sustainably?).
The Hydrologic Cycle
Course Outline
Introductory Concepts
• The Hydrologic Cycle & Basic Hydrological Concepts
Surface-Atmosphere Water and Energy Exchange
• Atmospheric Thermodynamics
• Radiation Processes
• Atmospheric Circulation
• Precipitation Processes
• Snow Processes
• Evaporation
--Spring Break--
Course Outline (cont’d)
Surface-Subsurface Water Movement
• Characterization of Water in Soils and Porous Media
• Unsaturated Flow and Infiltration
• Groundwater Flow - Saturated Porous Media
• Groundwater Flow - Well Hydraulics
• Solute/Contaminant Transport
• Runoff and Streamflow
Tools for Hydrosystems Engineering
• Spatial and Numerical Hydrologic Analysis / Watershed Models
• Concepts of Probability in Hydrology
Textbook & Resources
Introduction to Hydrology by S. Margulis. This electronic
textbook has been made freely available by the author. It
can be downloaded at the following link: https://margulis-
group.github.io/teaching/
Icebreaker Introductions
Professor Kelly
• How do water and other fluids flow within complex submicron to
subsurface environments?
• Our group investigates and optimizes the interplay between transport phenomena and fluid-
rock/mineral interactions in geologic and engineered porous media.
• Kelly Lab: https://kellylab.engineering.columbia.edu/
TA: To be determined!
• TA office hours are held weekly in 1-2 open sessions
(times and room to be announced) or, in special cases,
by appointment with the TA.
Office Hours
• You are encouraged to attend the TA office hours.
• Instructor office hour slots are also available by appointment.
Please book calendar appointments at the following link:
https://calendar.app.google/DP4u1w1453VDuU9b7
Syllabus
Review
• See Courseworks
(EACEE 3250/4250)
https://coursework
s.columbia.edu/
• Please review
Syllabus before
next class.
Let’s set up Poll Everywhere!
Go to PollEv.com/sakelly (recommended)
OR
Audience texts SAKELLY to 22333 to join the session
If using the text option…
• Be sure to
register your
phone number
(under Settings)!
• If you do not
register, your
response will not
be linked to your
name (e.g., no
credit)
• You may need to
certify your
phone number
Let’s answer some questions!
• Go to PollEv.com/sakelly (Poll Everywhere)
Gradescope – HW assignments
& Exams
Ok, let’s begin learning:
The Hydrologic Cycle & Basic
Hydrological Concepts
❑ Motivation
❑ Water’s unique properties
Some basic questions you should be able to
answer by the end of Chapter 1 (The Hydrologic
Cycle):
What is hydrology? Why is it important?
What is the “hydrologic cycle”?
What are the key reservoirs/fluxes involved in the hydrologic
cycle?
What are some properties of water that make it so important?
What do we mean by “mass balance” in hydrology?
What is the average rate of the global hydrologic cycle?
What are the relative average residence times in the various
global reservoirs?
What is a “watershed” and why is it important?
What key watersheds provide the majority of water in Southern
California?
Conceptual Picture
1. Precipitation a) Where?
b) When?
c) How?
d) How much?
2. Then what?
How do land surface
characteristics
impact response?
Interannual variability
Chennai India, Nov-Dec. 2015
Floods (~$3-14 billion in
damage) Chennai India, 2019
View of flooding from the rainstorm-swollen
Sacramento and American Rivers, near
downtown Sacramento, California, U.S.
January 11, 2023. REUTERS/Fred Greaves
Ave. L.A. consumer: ~150-200 gal/day/person Ave. L.A. precip.: ~15 in./year [~90 gal./day/person]
Goal:
Focus on basic physical understanding of processes in the “hydrologic cycle” so
we can answer some of these questions/address these problems.
No water created! The Hydrologic Cycle
Spatial-Temporal Hydrologic Processes
Hydrology is interdisciplinary
Hydrologic Reservoirs – Storage
A more detailed breakdown…
Special Properties of Water
Water as a polar molecule
→ Very specific properties
Water is Unique
Ex.: Water Density
Ex.: Water surface tension
Surface tension produces the
phenomenon of capillarity, which
affects soil-water distribution by
pulling water into dry soils and
holding soil water against the pull of
gravity
Source: https://www.grainsa.co.za/soil-the-producers-most-important-asset-
→ Water has a higher surface -part-11-ground-water?print=1
tension than most other liquids
source: https://www.britannica.com/science/xylem
Source: https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/soil-water-from-
molecular-structure-to-behavior-122155909/
Phase Diagram for Water
Three phases
Other important properties of water:
(i) Highest heat capacity, (ii) largest latent heat of vaporization, fusion,
sublimation
Other important properties of water:
(i) Highest heat capacity, (ii) largest latent heat of vaporization, fusion,
sublimation
Earth – Goldilocks Zone for Liquid Water
Example 1.4.1
• How much energy would be released if all the
atmospheric water vapor were condensed?
Example 1.4.2
• If the energy released in the previous example
was adsorbed by the global oceans how much
of a temperature change would that be?
❑ Mass Balance, Fluxes, and Units
❑ Global Hydrologic Cycle and
Average Mass Balance
❑ Watershed Mass Balance
Fluxes between reservoirs
Control Volumes
• A conservative
substance/property
is one that cannot
be created or
destroyed within CVs do not have to be
the system spatially continuous
(i.e., world’s glaciers)
• Mass, momentum,
and energy
Mass (water) Balance:
Control surface
O(t)
I(t)
S(t) Extensive
Extensive property
property leaving
entering control
control volume
volume
dS/dt = I-O
Steady state: I=O
Control Volume Equations – simplified
At steady state, dS/dt = 0
Flux Density
Volume Flux Density
The volume flux density is a common way of expressing fluxes in
hydrology.
For example, the annual average rainfall in Los Angeles is 15
inches/year, which is implicit over a given area.
To get the actual volume flux would require multiplying this flux
density by the surface area of Los Angeles over which the flux density
occurs.
Water-Energy Fluxes
where t he unit s of W m -2 are t he most commonly used for relevant fluxes are shown below:
energy fluxes (act ually flux densit ies) in h ydrology.
Example 1.5.1
E X A M P LE 1 . 5 . 1
A golf course has request ed a p erm it t o inst all a
40,000 ft 2 p ond t o enhance t he b eauty of it s
facilit ies. It is hy p ot hesized t hat due t o high
evap orat ion rat es, t he w at er in t he p ond w ill
have t o b e supplem ent ed w it h pum p ed
groundwat er. T here is a sm all creek t hat
discharges an average of 0.0005 m 3 / s int o t he where t he mass balance for t he p ond can b e wr
p ond. T he out let v alve from t he p ond releases an
dS pond
average rat e of 0.0003 m 3 / s t o keep t he p ond = P +Qin +G in - E -Qout
from get t ing st agnan t . P recipit at ion on t he p ond dt
is 260 m m / y ear, and t he annual evap orat ion is
E X A M P LE 1 . 5 . 1 ( C O N T I N U E D ) T he st eady-st at e form can b e invoked in which
est im at ed t o b e 105 inches/ year. T he p ond w ill st orage change would be zero so t hat :
b e lined w it h concret e t o prev ent any drainage or
x.
seepage from t he b ot t om . U sing a w at er balance,
nt w hat volum e ( on average) of groundw at er ( in
cubic m et ers) m ust b e added t o t he lake each
year t o keep t he p ond at a st eady -st at e lev el?
-2
T he first st ep t o any mass balance is t he definit ion of a
cont rol volume. For t his problem t he cont rol volume and
relevant fluxes are shown below:
where t he unit s of W m -2 are t he most commonly used for relevant fluxes are shown below:
energy fluxes (act ually flux densit ies) in h ydrology.
Example 1.5.1
E X A M P LE 1 . 5 . 1
A golf course has request ed a p erm it t o inst all a
40,000 ft 2 p ond t o enhance t he b eauty of it s
facilit ies. It is hy p ot hesized t hat due t o high
evap orat ion rat es, t he w at er in t he p ond w ill
have t o b e supplem ent ed w it h pum p ed
groundwat er. T here is a sm all creek t hat
discharges an average of 0.0005 m 3 / s int o t he where t he mass balance for t he p ond can b e wr
p ond. T he out let v alve from t he p ond releases an
dS pond
average rat e of 0.0003 m 3 / s t o keep t he p ond = P +Qin +G in - E -Qout
from get t ing st agnan t . P recipit at ion on t he p ond dt
is 260 m m / y ear, and t he annual evap orat ion is
E X A M P LE 1 . 5 . 1 ( C O N T I N U E D ) T he st eady-st at e form can b e invoked in which
est im at ed t o b e 105 inches/ year. T he p ond w ill st orage change would be zero so t hat :
b e lined w it h concret e t o prev ent any drainage or
x.
seepage from t he b ot t om . U sing a w at er balance,
nt w hat volum e ( on average) of groundw at er ( in
cubic m et ers) m ust b e added t o t he lake each
year t o keep t he p ond at a st eady -st at e lev el?
-2
T he first st ep t o any mass balance is t he definit ion of a
cont rol volume. For t his problem t he cont rol volume and
relevant fluxes are shown below:
Global average (steady-state) mass balance
TERRESTRIAL MARINE
ATMOSPHERE ATMOSPHERE
4.5 11
Wind
Precipitation 36
107 Evaporation &
transpiration
71
Evaporation
Precipitation 434
398
ICE & SNOW
43,400
SURFACE WATER
360
Rivers, TOTAL OCEAN STORAGE
discharge 1,400,000
36
GROUNDWATER
15,300
LAND OCEAN
Time-Averaged Properties
Residence Times
Spatial and temporal scales
Watershed as a hydrologic control volume
Topography can be a main driver of surface flow; topography
often digitized in form of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs)
Basic question: If standing in a stream channel, from what
upstream area is the water coming from?
“outlet”
A watershed (or river basin or catchment) is the
topographically derived set of points that drain to a specified
“outlet”; boundaries formed by topographic ridgelines; all
water falling within boundary will eventually drain to outlet.
outlet
Instantaneous Watershed Mass Balance
Watersheds covering the continental U.S.
Watersheds relevant to CA Water Supply
Watersheds relevant to CA Water Supply
CA Water Supply System
Some basic questions you should be able to
answer by the end of Chapter 1 (The Hydrologic
Cycle):
What is hydrology? Why is it important?
What is the “hydrologic cycle”?
What are the key reservoirs/fluxes involved in the hydrologic
cycle?
What are some properties of water that make it so important?
What do we mean by “mass balance” in hydrology?
What is the average rate of the global hydrologic cycle?
What are the relative average residence times in the various
global reservoirs?
What is a “watershed” and why is it important?
What key watersheds provide the majority of water in Southern
California?
Check in: Any “muddy” points?
