Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LH Surface and Groundwater Hydrology
School	School of Engineering
Department	Civil Engineering
Module Code	04 34300
Module Lead	Xilin Xia
Level	Honours Level
Credits	10
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	Incoming students must have an understanding of basic concepts of forces, momentum and energy transfer, including Bernoulli’s equation, and concepts such as laminar and turbulent flow and Reynolds number.
Contact Hours	Lecture-22 hours Tutorial-11 hours Supervised time in studio/workshop-8 hours Guided independent study-59 hours Total: 100 hours
Exclusions
Description	This module will develop students' understanding of hydrological processes with a specific focus on the surface water and hydrogeological domains. It will illustrate the practical applications of hydrology and hydrogeology and will cover: The hydrological cycle and its components. Precipitation processes, types and measurement. Surface water flow. Hydrograph analysis. Rainfall runoff modelling and the Rational Method. Storage routing. Channel routing. Introduction to Groundwater flow. Darcy's Equation. Introduction to flow through aquifers. Introduction to well hydraulics. Confined and unconfined aquifers. Steady state well hydraulics. Pumping test analysis. This module provides students with the skills necessary to perform hydrologic modelling and water resources management by increasing students' quantitative analytical skills.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Explain the hydrologic cycle and its components Explain precipitation processes, surface water flow and hydrographs Understand the principals of rainfall-runoff modelling and apply the Rational method for designing culverts and channels Perform hydrologic and hydraulic flood routing Have a good understanding of the principals of Groundwater flow and Darcy's law Understand and solve problems of flow through confined and unconfined aquifers Calculate groundwater water levels by applying knowledge of well hydraulics Understand how to build a simple hydrologic model in a software (e.g. HEC-HMS) Learn the concept of model calibration and calibrate a hydrologic model.
Assessment	34300-01 : Module Mark : Mixed (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: Main assessment 50% by 2 hour written, unseen examination 50% by Coursework on using software to perform hydrologic modelling Reassessment: 2 hour written, unseen examination (50% for students who have submitted a CW, 100% for other students)
Other
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