| Abstract | This course presents a process-based view of the hydrology of mountain streams. Students learn how to integrate process knowledge, data, and models to understand how landscapes regulate the fluxes of water, sediment, nutrients, and pollutants in streams, and to anticipate how streams will respond to changes in land use, water use, and climate. |
| Learning objective | Main learning objective: Describe the main elements and processes and their interlinkages of the water cycle in mountain catchments and analyze their characteristics and changes.
Objective 1: Identify and describe the important components of the water cycle and their influencing factors and discuss how changes in these influencing factors may affect different parts of the hydrological cycle.
Objective 2: Analyse, visualize, and interpret climate and hydrological time series data.
Objective 3: Explain how hydrological data are collected, how hydrological models work, how they are calibrated, and how they are evaluated. |
| Content | Streams are integrated monitors of the health and functioning of their surrounding landscapes. Streams integrate the fluxes of water, solutes, and sediment from their contributing catchment area; thus they reflect the spatially integrated hydrological, ecophysiological, biogeochemical, and geomorphological processes in the surrounding landscape. At a practical level, there is a significant public interest in managing upland landscapes to provide a reliable supply of high-quality surface water and to minimize the risk of catastrophic flooding and debris flows, but the scientific background for such management advice is still evolving.
Using a combination of lectures, field exercises, and data analysis, we explore the processes controlling the delivery of water, solutes, and sediment to streams, and how those processes are affected by changes in land cover, land use, and climate. We review the connections between process understanding and predictive modeling in these complex environmental systems. Practical problems to be considered include the effects of land use and climate on streamflow and water quality, illustrated with data from experimental watersheds in North America and Europe. |
| Lecture notes | Handouts will be available through moodle. |
| Literature | Recommended and required reading will be specified at the first class session (with possible modifications as the semester proceeds). |
Competencies | | Subject-specific Competencies | Concepts and Theories | assessed | | Techniques and Technologies | assessed | | Method-specific Competencies | Analytical Competencies | assessed | | Problem-solving | fostered | | Social Competencies | Cooperation and Teamwork | fostered | | Personal Competencies | Adaptability and Flexibility | fostered | | Creative Thinking | fostered | | Critical Thinking | assessed | | Self-awareness and Self-reflection | fostered |
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Performance assessment as a semester course