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Lecturer(s)
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Netopil Patrik, Mgr. Ph.D.
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Course content
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1. Water on Earth. The scope and tasks of hydrology, a brief history of the discipline. The hydrosphere and its components; global water resources and their distribution in time and space. The hydrological cycle and its driving forces. Water balance and its terms. The water cycle in the conditions of the Czech Republic. 2. Precipitation and surface runoff. Formation and types of atmospheric precipitation, measurement by rain gauges and radar, precipitation patterns in the Czech Republic. Generation of surface runoff and the factors controlling it. Infiltration, retention, interception; direct runoff and baseflow. 3. River systems and the hydrography of the Czech Republic. River network, catchment and divide, stream orders. Channel and floodplain morphology. Sea basins and main catchments of the Czech Republic; characteristics of the Elbe, Oder and Morava. Discharge, flow regime, hydrograph and its interpretation. 4. Standing waters and reservoirs. Origin and classification of lakes, thermal stratification and circulation. Lakes and historical fishpond systems of the Czech Republic. Types and functions of reservoirs, major Czech reservoirs. Eutrophication and assessment of the ecological status of standing waters. 5. Groundwater. Origin and occurrence of groundwater, unsaturated and saturated zones. Aquifer and aquitard, types of water-bearing structures (intergranular, fissure, karst). Springs and their regime. Hydrogeological zones of the Czech Republic, groundwater as a source of drinking water, pollution and protection. 6. Floods, drought and water management. Types and causes of floods, major flood episodes in the Czech Republic. Technical and nature-based flood protection. Types of drought and its manifestations in the Czech Republic. Water management in the Czech Republic, the Water Framework Directive, river basin planning.
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Lecture, Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Demonstration, Projection (static, dynamic)
- Attendace
- 36 hours per semester
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Learning outcomes
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The course provides a comprehensive understanding of the hydrosphere as an interconnected system and leads students to view water as the link between the abiotic and biotic components of the landscape. It proceeds from the global water cycle and water balance through rainfall-runoff processes, river systems and the hydrography of the Czech Republic, standing waters and groundwater, to floods, drought and water management. Particular attention is paid to the specific position of the Czech Republic on the main European divide, where precipitation is virtually the only input of water into the territory, and to the ecological consequences of hydrological processes, from thermal stratification and eutrophication of standing waters to the vulnerability of groundwater resources. Students gain the terminological and factual grounding required for follow-up courses, together with the ability to work with hydrological data and to navigate the national and European water policy framework.
Graduates of the course understand the hydrosphere as an interconnected system. They can explain how the physical and chemical properties of water govern its behaviour in the atmosphere, in soils, in watercourses and in standing waters, and how water and energy move between the individual components of the cycle. At the catchment scale, they work with the fundamental hydrological quantities precipitation totals, evaporation, discharge and water storage. They can construct a water balance from these, explain what determines it in a given territory, distinguish the pathways by which precipitation reaches a watercourse, and read catchment behaviour from a hydrograph. They relate this knowledge to the territory of the Czech Republic: its hydrography and the consequences of its position on the main European divide, the flow regimes of its rivers, thermal stratification and trophic status of standing waters, and the conditions of groundwater recharge, abstraction and protection. They are able to assess a flood or drought episode in terms of its causes, to compare technical and nature-based measures according to their effectiveness and their impact on ecosystems, and to place them within the current water policy framework. They can locate and critically use publicly available hydrological and climatological data.
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Prerequisites
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The course has no formal prerequisites. A general survey of natural science, especially the Earth sciences, at secondary school level is assumed: fundamentals of physics (phase changes, heat, pressure), chemistry (molecular structure, solutions) and physical geography (relief, climate zones, familiarity with the map of the Czech Republic). Students are expected to handle simple quantitative information reading graphs and tables, working with units and making order-of-magnitude estimates. No prior knowledge of hydrology or hydrogeology is required; the necessary concepts are introduced during the course.
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Mark, Written exam, Written exam
The course is completed by a written examination covering the full range of the lectured material. The test combines closed questions verifying knowledge of concepts and facts with open questions requiring an explanation of a process, work with simple graphical or numerical material (hydrograph, precipitation totals, water balance terms), and demonstration of the link between a hydrological process and its ecological consequences. A minimum score of 60 % is required to pass. Assessment covers not only correctness but also the ability to justify an answer and to use professional terminology. Attendance at lectures is not compulsory; independent work with the presentations and recommended reading is, however, expected.
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Recommended literature
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BLAŽEK, Vladimír; NĚMEC, Jan a HLADNÝ, Josef, ed. Voda v České republice. Praha. 2006.
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DAVIE, Tim a QUINN, Nevil W. (2019). Fundamentals of Hydrology. London.
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DINGMAN, S. Lawrence. (2015). Physical Hydrology. Long Grove.
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KOPÁČEK, Jiří; HEJZLAR, Josef a RULÍK, Martin. (2020). Voda na Zemi. České Budějovice.
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KRÁSNÝ, Jiří. (2012). Podzemní vody České republiky: regionální hydrogeologie prostých a minerálních vod. Praha.
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MOLDAN, Bedřich. (2015). Podmaněná planeta. Praha.
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MUSY, André a Christophe HIGY. (2011). Hydrology: a science of nature. New York, N.Y.
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PAVELKOVÁ CHMELOVÁ, Renata a Jindřich FRAJER. (2013). Základy fyzické geografie 1: hydrologie. Olomouc.
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PENNINGTON, Karrie Lynn a Thomas V. CECH. (2010). Introduction to water resources and environmental issues. New York, N.Y.
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POKORNÁ, Dana a Jana ZÁBRANSKÁ. (2008). Hydrologie a hydropedologie. Praha.
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ŘEHÁNEK, Tomáš a Vladislav KŘÍŽ. (2002). Cvičení z hydrologie. Ostrava.
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TRUJILLO, Alan P. a Harold V. THURMAN. (2017). Essentials of oceanography. Boston. Pearson.
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