Fundamentals of Small Catchment Hydrology

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of hydrological processes relevant at the catchment scale, and it also identifies areas where environmental isotopes have assisted the study of such processes. It outlines the general components of the water balance equation and reviews the salient physical principles associated with each component. It discusses the related issue of spatial and temporal scale in small catchments. It reviews a survey of the use of isotopes in examining the nature of hydrological processes and discusses some suggested issues for future research. The chapter also highlights the dominant processes operating in small catchments, methods used to study these processes, and some of the ways in which isotopes have been used to improve the understanding of small catchment hydrology. Small catchments provide a convenient framework within which to examine hydrological processes, and the water balance equation forms the backdrop for the examination of most if not all of these processes. Many of the applications of isotopes to small catchment hydrology have assumed spatial and/or temporal homogeneity of the isotopic signature of water. The degree to which these assumptions hold, and the implications of these assumptions for the conclusions drawn from applications of isotopes to hydrological research need to be examined.

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