Contents


Preface

The importance of the science of water, commonly called "the hydrologic science," is increasing day by day as the resources of water are depleting and becoming scarcer. The depletion problem is not that the amount of total water available on this planet is reducing with time, but that the amount of sweet water, potable water, arable water, usable water, and water suitable for human usage and consumption is depleting every day in contrast to the rapid population growth on this planet. This is happening because the resource is being polluted by humankind itself, rendered unsuitable due to negligence and mismanagement, or its quantity is fast diminish-

With this state of affairs, in recent times, knowledge of the science of water has gained an importance many times its original scale; and with that, its acquisition, expansion, research, advancement, and dissemination have become equally or more important. With so many dimensions of hydrology, any contributory work on the science of water, now available for exploration, research, and technological advancement, is more than welcome. This book will play its part in furthering the knowledge of the science of water and will prove useful reading for various cross-sections of academia in training institutions, researchers in laboratories, and

This voluminous book is the outcome of the consistent work of authors, researchers, engineers, and scientists from various continents across the globe. It consists of seven chapters covering various dimensions of hydrology. The first chapter jointly authored by myself and Ms. Laila Khalid, "Hydrologic science—where we stand today?," presents the journey of progress of hydrology through the ages, culminating in the present-day state of knowledge, research, and application of hydrologic science. The next chapter titled "The hyporheic zone" by Vanessa J. Banks introduces the key concepts of the hyporheic zone with an emphasis on the importance of understanding streambed sediments and their architecture to assess hydraulic functioning and modeling of such a zone. The third chapter by Mikhail Burakov discusses the accuracy of hydrogeological calculations and forecasts, and presents a method to make assessments of flow parameters. The fourth chapter authored by Faye Cheikh tries to assess the impacts of climate change on the water resources of the Gambian River Basin. In Chapter 5 "Analysis of non-rainfall periods and their impacts on soil water regime," Milan Gombos investigates significant non-rainfall periods, their periodicity, and statistical characteristics in the region of the eastern Slovak lowlands. The sixth chapter written by Amin Shaban, "Striking challenges on water resources of Lebanon," investigates the existing physical and anthropogenic challenges faced by water resources in Lebanon, even though there is no visible shortage of water in the region. The seventh chapter by Nawa Raj Pradhan, "Process modeling of soil thermal and hydrological dynamics," explains the simulation of soil thermal state effects on hydrological response, soil thermal regime, frozen soils, and permafrost simulation capability of a model developed at a permafrost

ing due to exhaustive extraction and consumption.

engineers working in the field.

laboratory.
