Last modified: 16 Oct 2025 16:16
This course aims to introduce students to key concepts and approaches used to understand, monitor and model rivers and river basins. It focuses on understanding the movement of water through river basins and the links between river flow regimes, habitats and ecosystems. Students are introduced to a number of important approaches used in modern day hydrology and the insights that these provide into how river basins are structured and function, both hydrologically and ecologically. The course involves a mixture of traditional lectures, dealing with state-of-the-art knowledge, and hands-on computer based exercises.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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The course will be delivered through a series of lectures, extending from background theory and concepts to the application of sophisticated, modern day monitoring and modelling approaches used to understand catchment hydrological behaviour. The course will also involve discussion sessions and practicals. It will draw upon wide a range of case study material, underpinned by staff research projects in the UK, across the Northern Hemisphere, Latin America and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using practical applications to address water management issues (such as drought, floods) we will explore how water moves at and below the surface, and the interlinkages with land use and water management.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Hydrology and land management practical/data response report worth 30% of the overall grade. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Analyse and explain how hydrological models can be used to help understand and predict natural processes and human impacts in catchments. |
| Factual | Understand | Understand how water moves through catchments (surface water and groundwater), where it is stored and when it is released. |
| Factual | Understand | Understand how water moves down river channels and how hydrologic and geomorphic conditions shape river ecosystems. |
| Procedural | Create | Apply the above knowledge to the design of appropriate and sustainable water resources management strategies. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Take-Home Exam worth 30% of the overall grade. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Analyse and explain how hydrological models can be used to help understand and predict natural processes and human impacts in catchments. |
| Factual | Understand | Understand how water moves through catchments (surface water and groundwater), where it is stored and when it is released. |
| Factual | Understand | Understand how water moves down river channels and how hydrologic and geomorphic conditions shape river ecosystems. |
| Procedural | Create | Apply the above knowledge to the design of appropriate and sustainable water resources management strategies. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 40 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Hydrological modelling practical/data response report worth 40% of the overall grade. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Analyse and explain how hydrological models can be used to help understand and predict natural processes and human impacts in catchments. |
| Factual | Understand | Understand how water moves through catchments (surface water and groundwater), where it is stored and when it is released. |
| Factual | Understand | Understand how water moves down river channels and how hydrologic and geomorphic conditions shape river ecosystems. |
| Procedural | Create | Apply the above knowledge to the design of appropriate and sustainable water resources management strategies. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback | ||||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Understand | Understand how water moves through catchments (surface water and groundwater), where it is stored and when it is released. |
| Factual | Understand | Understand how water moves down river channels and how hydrologic and geomorphic conditions shape river ecosystems. |
| Conceptual | Analyse | Analyse and explain how hydrological models can be used to help understand and predict natural processes and human impacts in catchments. |
| Procedural | Create | Apply the above knowledge to the design of appropriate and sustainable water resources management strategies. |
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