ENVI 591: Hydrogeology

Syllabus

Instructor

David Kahler
Center for Environmental Research and Education
Office: Fisher 333A
Lab: Fisher 339A

Class Time and Location

Class	Time	Location
Lecture	Tuesday and Thursday 11-12:15	Fisher 214
Field	TBA	Frick or Schenley Park

Office Hours

Current office hours are available on the Courses page.

Course Description

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.

Textbook

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.

Course Website

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.

Objectives

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.

Evaluation

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

Course policies that cover academic integrity, academic accommodations, and class procedures is available on the course website.

Topics

Week 1

Fundamental concepts
- Hydrologic cycle
- Where and for how long is water
- Water balance
- Watersheds: Streamstats
- Environmental flow analysis
Atmospheric water

Week 2

Earth’s energy budget
Atmospheric boundary layer
Atmospheric fluxes
- Evapotranspiration

Week 3

Atmospheric fluxes
- Turbulent fluxes
- Precipitation
Areal precipitation
- Arithmetic mean
- Inverse power
- Thiessan polygons
- Using GIS for areal precipitation calculations

Week 4

Surface water
- Streamflow
- Baseflow
- Hydrographs, unit hydrograph
- Groundwater/surface water interaction
- Flow measurement: Manning’s, weirs, gages, etc.

Field trip

Current meter
Infiltration

Week 5

Surface water
- Frequency analysis
Infiltration
- SCS Curve number
- Green and Ampt

Week 6

HEC-HMS introduction

Week 7

Midterm exam (may switch with week 6 depending on the semester)

Week 8

Overland flow
Aquifers (qualitative)

Week 9

Hydrostatics

Week 10

Solid matrix properties

Week 11

Flow in porous media

Week 12

Flow testing
- permeability
- using a permeameter

Week 13

Flow testing
- breakthrough curves, slug tests

Week 14

Groundwater contamination

Final exam

scheduled by registrar