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Unit - 3

Hydrologic Cycle

Learning Objectives

▶ To understand the status of water on the earth.

▶ To learn the basic concepts of Hydrologic cycle.
▶ To study the different components of hydrologic cycle.

Introduction present on the earth is about 326 million

cubic miles. It is hard to visualise this
Water is one of the most important massive quantity of water. Most of the
elements on earth. All plants and animals water on the earth is saline and is found in
need water for survival. Apart from drinking, seas and oceans. The salt water constitutes
water is required for domestic, agriculture, about 97.2% and the fresh water is only
industrial purposes etc. Water is very about 2.8%. Out of this 2.8%, about 2.2%
essential for carrying out almost all economic is available as surface water and the
activities. So, water is an indispensible remaining 0.6% as groundwater. From this
element without which life form on the earth 2.2% of surface water, 2.15% is available
is not possible. in the form of glaciers and icecaps, 0.01%
Water on the Earth in lakes and streams and the remaining
0.04% is in other forms. Only about 0.25%
About 71% of the earth's surface is of the total ground water of 0.6% can be
covered by water. The quantity of water

Others 0.9%

2.8%

97.2%

Water on the Earth

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economically extracted with the present Evaporation takes place from the surface
drilling technology. water and transpiration from the plants.
Water resources are useful or potentially Water vapour gets condensed at higher
useful to humans. Water in India is available altitudes by condensation nuclei and form
in three sources. They are precipitation, clouds (resulting in droplet growth). The
surface water and groundwater. clouds melt and sometimes burst resulting
Table 1: Estimated Volume of Water on the in precipitation of different forms. A part of
Earth’s Surface water from precipitation flows over the land
is called runoff and the other part infiltrates
Water Volume of Percentage
into the soil which builds up the groundwater.
Source water to Total
(Cubic Miles) Water Hydrologic cycle is a circulation of water.
Oceans, Seas, 321,000,000 96.54 It is a continuous process and takes place
& Bays naturally. The three important phases of the
Ice caps, 5,773,000 1.74 hydrologic cycle are: 1) Evapotranspiration,
Glaciers, & 2) Precipitation and 3) Runoff.
Permanent
Snow
Groundwater 5,614,000 1.69
Soil Moisture 3,959 0.001
Ground Ice 71,970 0.022
& Permafrost
Lakes 42,320 0.013
Atmosphere 3,095 0.001
Swamp 2,752 0.0008
Water
Rivers 509 0.0002 Hydrologic Cycle
Biological 269 0.0001
Water Components of Hydrologic
(Source: Shiklomanov, 1993) Cycle
There are six main components
Hydrologic Cycle or Water Cycle
in hydrologic cycle. They are:
Hydrology is the science which deals 1) Evapotranspiration, 2) Condensation,
with the various aspects of water such as its 3) Precipitation, 4) Infiltration, 5) Percolation,
occurrence, distribution, movement and and 6) Runoff.
properties on the planet earth. Availability
Evapotranspiration
of water on the earth is not uniform. Some
places are very rich in water resources while It is defined as the total loss of water
some other places are poor in water resources. from the earth through evaporation from
Hydrologic cycle is a global sun-driven the surface water bodies
process where water is transported from and the transpiration from
oceans to atmosphere, from atmosphere to vegetation. In cropped area,
land and from land back to oceans. The water it is difficult to determine
cycle can be considered as a closed system for the evaporation and
the earth, as the quantity of water involved in transpiration separately.
the cycle is invariable, though its distribution Therefore it is collectively
varies over space and time. called as evapotranspiration.

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The rate of evaporation

increases with
• Increase in wind speed
• Increase in temperature
• Decrease in humidity and
• Increase in areal extent of surface water
bodies.

Transpiration
Transpiration refers to the process by which
the water content in the plants are released into
the atmosphere in the form of water vapour.
Much of the water taken up by plants is released
Evapotranspiration through transpiration. The rate of transpiration
is also affected by the temperature, wind and
Evaporation
humidity. The soil water content and the ­ability
Evaporation refers to the process in of the soil to conduct water to the roots, the
which the liquid form of water changes nature of the plant parts including barks and
into gaseous form. Water boils at 100°C leaves also determine the transpiration rate.
(212°F) temperature but, it actually begins to In case of agriculture, the crop characteristics,
evaporate at 0°C (32°F); and the process takes its environment and cultivation practices also
place very slowly. Temperature is the prime affect the transpiration process.
element which affects the rate of evaporation.
There is a positive relationship between these Condensation
two variables. Areal extent of surface water, It refers to the process in which the
wind and the atmospheric humidity are gaseous form of water changes into liquid
the other variables which affect the rate of form. Condensation generally occurs in the
evaporation. atmosphere when warm air rises, cools and
Many studies reveal that the oceans, loses its capacity to hold water vapour. As a
seas, lakes and rivers provide nearly 90 % result, excess water vapour condenses to form
of the moisture in the atmosphere through cloud droplets. Condensation is responsible
evaporation and the remaining 10 % is for the formation of clouds. These clouds
contributed by plants through transpiration. produce precipitation which is the primary
On a global scale, the amount of water gets route for water to return to the earth’s surface
evaporated is about the same as the amount of in the water cycle. Condensation is the
water delivered to earth as precipitation. This opposite of evaporation.
process varies geographically, as the evaporation Forms of Condensation
is more prevalent over the oceans than
precipitation, while over the land, precipitation Dew, Fog and Clouds are the three major
routinely exceeds evaporation. The rate of forms of condensation
evaporation is low during the periods of calm a) D
 ew: It is a water droplet formed by the
winds than during windy times. When the air condensation of water vapour on a relatively
is calm, evaporated water tends to stay close to cold surface of an object. It forms when the
the water body. During windy, the water vapour temperature of an object drops below the
is driven away and is replaced by dry air which dew point temperature.
facilitates additional evaporation.
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Frost: The ice crystals formed by deposition Forms of Precipitation

of water vapour on a relatively cold surface
The form of precipitation in a region
of an object is known as frost. It forms
depends on the kind of weather or the climate
when the temperature of an object drops
of the region. The precipitation in the warmer
below the freezing point of temperature.
parts of the world is always in the form of rain
b) F
 og: Fog is the suspended tiny water or drizzle. In colder regions, precipitation
droplets or ice crystals in an air layer next may fall as snow or ice. Common types of
to the earth's surface that reduces the precipitation include rain, sleet, freezing rain,
visibility to 1,000 m or lower. For aviation hail and snow.
purposes, the criterion for fog is 10 km or Rain: The most common kind of
less. precipitation is rain. The precipitation in
Mist: Mist is the tiny droplets of water
 the form of water droplets is called rain.
hanging in the air. These droplets form The precipitation in which the size of rain
when the water vapour in the air is rapidly drops are <0.5 mm in diameter is known
cooled, causing it to change from invisible as drizzle and the rain drops with >0.5 mm
gas to tiny visible water droplets. Mist is in diameter is known as rain. Generally
less dense than fog. drizzle takes place from stratus clouds.
c) C
 louds: Clouds consist of tiny water Sleet: The precipitation which takes place
droplets/ice particles which are so small in the form of mixture of water droplets
and light in weight. Clouds are formed by and tiny particles of ice(5mm in diameter)
microscopic drops of water or by small ice is known as sleet. Sometimes raindrops
crystals. The size of the droplets generally fall through a layer of air below 0°C, the
range from a couple of microns to 100 freezing point of water. As they fall, the
microns. This is the limit beyond which raindrops freeze into solid particles of ice.
cloud drops become rain drops. So, the mixture of water droplets and ice
particles would fall on the earth surface.
• C ondensation occurs
Freezing Rain: At other times raindrops
when the air get saturated.
falling through cold air near the ground do
Warm air can hold more
•  not freeze in the air. Instead, the raindrops
water vapour than the freeze when they touch a cold surface.
cool air. This is called freezing rain and the drops
Saturation occurs when the
•  of water are usually greater than 0.5 mm in
temperature drops down. diameter.
Hail: The precipitation which consists of
Precipitation round pellets of ice which are larger than 5
mm in diameter is called hail or hailstones.
Precipitation refers to all forms of water
Hail forms only in cumulonimbus clouds
that fall from clouds and reaches the earth’s
during thunderstorms. A hailstone starts
surface. For the occurrence of precipitation,
as an ice pellet inside a cold region of a
cloud droplets or ice crystals must grow
cloud. Strong updrafts in the cloud carry
heavy enough to fall through the air. When
the hailstone up and down through the
the droplets grow large in size, they tend to
cold region many times.
fall. While moving down, by collecting some
small droplets, they become heavy enough to Snow: Often water vapour in a cloud is
fall out of the cloud as raindrops. converted directly into snow pieces due to
lowering of temperature. It appears like a

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powdery mass of ice. The precipitation in

the form of powdery mass of ice is known
as snowfall. It is common in the polar and Less infiltraon in
Precipitaon
high mountainous regions. non-porous soils and rock
More infiltraon in
porous soils and rock

River

Water table
RAIN SLEET Infiltration Process
Percolation

FREEZING RAIN

Percolation Process
HAIL SNOW
Percolation is the downward movement
Different forms of Precipitation of infiltrated water through soil and rock
layers. Infiltration occurs near the surface of
Infiltration the soil and delivers water from the surface
Water entering the soil at the surface into the soil and plant root zones. Percolation
of the ground is termed as infiltration. moves the infiltrated water through the soil
Infiltration allows the soil temporarily to profile and rock layers which leads to the
store water, making it available for plants use formation of ground water or become a part
and organisms in the soil. Infiltration is an of sub-surface run-off process. Thus, the
important process where rain water soaks into percolation process represents the flow of
the ground, through the soil and underlying water from unsaturated zone to the saturated
rock layers. Some of this water ultimately zone.
returns to the surface through springs or low Runoff
spots down hills. Some of the water remains Runoff is the water that is pulled by
underground and is called groundwater. gravity across land’s surface. It replenishes
The rate of infiltration is influenced by the groundwater and surface water as it percolates
physical characteristics of the soil, vegetative into an aquifer (it is an underground layer
cover, moisture content of the soil, soil of water-bearing rock) or moves into a
temperature and rainfall intensity. The terms river, stream or watershed. It comes from
infiltration and percolation are often used unabsorbed water from rain, snowmelt,
interchangeably.
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irrigation or other sources, comprising a surface runoff. The sub-surface runoff is

significant element in the water cycle as well usually referred as interflow.
as the water supply when it drains into a iii) Base Flow: It is a flow of underground
watershed. water from a saturated ground water zone
Runoff is also a major contributor to the to a water channel. It usually appears at a
erosion which carves out canyons, gorges and downstream location where the channel
related landforms. The amount of runoff that elevation is lower than the groundwater
can happen depends on the amount of rainfall, table. Groundwater provides the stream
porosity of soil, vegetation and slope. Only flow during dry periods of small or no
about 35% of precipitation ends up in the sea precipitation.
or ocean and the other 65% is absorbed into
the soil. Units of the Measurement
pertaining to Hydrology
• Evaporation /interception -
inches (or) cm
• Infiltration - inches (or) cm / hour
• Precipitation - inches (or) mm ( or) cm
• Run off - inches (or) mm (or) cm
• Run off rate - cubic feet per second
• Run off volume - acre feet (or) cubic feet
• Storage - cubic feet (or) acre feet

Recap
 ater is one of the most important elements
�W
Runoff Process on earth. All plants and animals need water
for survival.
Types of Runoff
 bout 71% of the earth's surface is covered
�A
Based on the time interval between the by water. Out of this, only about 2.8% is fresh
instance of rainfall and generation of runoff, water and the remaining 97.2% is saltwater
the runoff may be classified into following found in seas and oceans.
three types
 ydrological cycle is a global sun-driven
�H
i) Surface Runoff: It is the portion process where water is transported from
of rainfall, which enters the stream oceans to atmosphere, from atmosphere to
immediately after the rainfall. It occurs, land and from land back to oceans.
when the rainfall is longer, heavier and  ere are six main components in hydrologic
� Th
exceeds the rate of infiltration. In this cycle. They are evapotranspiration,
condition the excess water makes a head condensation, precipitation, infiltration,
over the ground surface, which tends to percolation, and runoff.
move from one place to another following
 e precipitation in the warmer parts of the
� Th
land gradient and is known as overland
world is in the form of rain or drizzle. The
flow. When the overland flow joins the
common types of precipitation include rain,
streams, channels or oceans, it is termed
sleet, freezing rain, hail, and snow.
as surface runoff or surface flow.
� I nfiltration occurs near the surface of the
Sub-Surface Runoff: The water that has
ii)  soil and delivers water from the surface into
entered the subsoil and moves laterally the soil and plant rooting zone. Percolation
without joining the water-table to the moves it through the soil profile and rock
streams, rivers or oceans is known as sub- layers to form groundwater.
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GLOSSARY
It is an underground layer of water - bearing permeable
Aquifer rocks, rock fractures or unconsolidated materials (gravel, நீர்கொள்பாறை
sand or silt)
It refers to the water lost through evaporation from the
Evapotranspiration நீராவியாதல்
water bodies and transpiration from vegetation
Infiltration the seepage of water into soil or rock நீர் ஊடுருவல்
Percolation the slow movement of water through the pores in soil நீர்க்கசிவு
falling products of condensation in the atmosphere, as
Precipitation மழை
rain, snow, or hail
Runoff overflow ஓடும்நீர்

6. Water that is good enough to drink is called

Evaluation a) Groundwater b) Surface water
c) Potable water d) Artesian water
II. Fill in the blanks.
I. C
 hoose the Correct
1. The degree of water vapour present in the
Answer. atmosphere is known as__________.
1. The process in which the 2. There are _____________ phases in the
water moves between the water cycle.
oceans, atmosphere and land is called
3. The falling of water towards the earth surface
a) River Cycle b) Hydrologic Cycle from atmosphere in any form is known as
c) Rock Cycle d) Life Cycle ____________.
2. The percentage of fresh water on the earth is 4. The precipitation with the rain drop
size of<0.5mm in diameter is known as
a) 71 b) 97
_______________.
c) 2.8 d) 0.6
5. Mist is denser than _______________.
3. The process of changing of water from
gaseous to liquid form is known as III. Match the following.
a) Condensation b) Evaporation 1. Vegetation Clouds
c) Sublimation d) Rainfall 2. Condensation Sleet
4. Water that flows in the sub-soil or through Snow and rain
3. At the surface
the ground into the streams, rivers, lakes drops
and oceans is termed as 4. Infiltration Transpiration
a) Condensation b) Evaporation IV. Choose the correct statement
c) Transpiration d) Runoff 1. Evaporation refers to
5. The evaporation of water from the leaves of I. The process in which the gaseous
plants is called form of water changes in to liquid
a) Transpiration b) Condensation form.
c) Water vapour d) Precipitation

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