School of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Hydrology / Geophysics

Hydrology is the study of water and its flow above, on and beneath the surface of the Earth.  It is commonly subdivided into surface water hydrology and groundwater hydrology, also known as hydrogeology. However, important processes of the water cycle take place in the atmosphere (precipitation, evaporation) and at the interface between the surface and subsurface (springs, wetlands).  Changes in land use caused by development and urbanization have large impacts on streamflow, flood recurrence, drought, and groundwater discharge.  Many of these impacts are particularly important in urban areas like New York City.

Hydrogeology is the study of the flow of groundwater in the subsurface, and the properties of different geologic materials through which it flows. Hydrology is a very important field because many people in the US and around the world rely on groundwater for drinking, agricultural and industrial use. In addition to geology, hydrology encompasses aspects of numerical simulation using computer codes, and water chemistry to understand groundwater quality issues and groundwater contamination problems.

Surface geophysics is an important tool to investigate the materials that make up shallow aquifers, and downhole geophysics can be used to investigate the materials immediately around the borehole wall.  The local office of the U.S. Geological Survey has cooperated with SEES in downhole geophysical well logging.

SEES faculty members are involved in the following research areas:

• hydrologic transformations in urbanized watersheds (T. Eaton)
• salinity intrusion and tidal variations in alluvial estuaries (T. Eaton)
• Using scaled sand tank models to study groundwater flow (T. Eaton)
• Delineation of buried stream channels using ground resistivity and GPR (T. Eaton)
• Dynamics of nutrients and hypoxia in Long Island Sound (Y. Zheng, G.Stewart, T. Eaton)
• Arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh (Y. Zheng)