Opportunities in the Hydrologic Sciences -- Copyright -- Foreword -- Preface -- THE PROBLEM -- A COURSE OF ACTION -- Contents -- Summary and Conclusions -- SYNOPSIS -- WATER AND LIFE -- EARTH'S HYDROLOGIC CYCLE -- A DISTINCT GEOSCIENCE -- Continental water processes -- Global water balance -- SOME UNSOLVED PROBLEMS -- DATA ISSUES -- EDUCATIONAL ISSUES -- Graduate Education in the Hydrologic Sciences -- Undergraduate Education in the Hydrologic Sciences -- Science Education from Kindergarten through High School -- SCIENTIFIC PRIORITIES -- Priority Categories of Scientific Opportunity (Unranked) -- Chemical and Biological Components of the Hydrologic Cycle -- Scaling of Dynamic Behavior -- Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions -- Coordinated Global-Scale Observation of Water Reservoirs and the Fluxes of Water and Energy -- Hydrologic Effects of Human Activity -- Data Requirements -- Maintenance of Continuous Long-Term Data Sets -- Improved Information Management -- Interpretation of Remote Sensing Data -- Dissemination of Data from Multidisciplinary Experiments -- Education Requirements -- Multidisciplinary Graduate Education Program -- Experience with Observation and Experimentation -- Visibility to Undergraduate Students -- RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES -- Resources -- Research Grant Programs -- Fellowships, Internships, and Instructional Equipment -- Coordinated Field Experiments -- Long-Term Observations -- Access to Data Bases -- Strategies -- CONCLUSION -- 1 Water and Life -- WONDROUS WATER -- Elixir of life -- Climatic thermostat -- Global heat exchanger -- ROUND AND ROUND AND ROUND IT GOES -- WATER AS ENABLER AND SUSTAINER OF CIVILIZATION -- Water and Agriculture -- Water and Climate Change -- Water and the City -- WATER AS A HAZARD -- Floods -- Droughts -- Toxicity -- WATER AS A RESOURCE TO BE MANAGED.

History of Water Management in the United States -- Provision of Safe Drinking Water -- Contemporary Water Resources Management Problems -- Emerging Water-Related Problems -- SOURCES AND SUGGESTED READING -- 2 The Hydrologic Sciences -- THE UNIQUENESS OF WATER ON THE EARTH -- THE EARTH'S HYDROLOGIC CYCLE -- THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER ON THE EARTH -- EARLY SCIENTIFIC INSIGHTS -- THE AGE OF APPLICATIONS -- THE STRUGGLE FOR SCIENTIFIC RECOGNITION -- THE MODERN AGE OF HYDROLOGIC SCIENCE -- STATUS OF UNDERSTANDING -- Reservoirs and Fluxes of Water -- Flux of Sediments -- Flux of Dissolved Solids -- Involvement of Biota -- Summary -- HYDROLOGIC SCIENCE AS A DISTINCT GEOSCIENCE -- SOURCES AND SUGGESTED READING -- 3 Some Critical and Emerging Areas -- OVERVIEW -- HYDROLOGY AND THE EARTH'S CRUST -- Introduction -- Some Frontier Topics -- The Role of Ground Water in Tectonic Processes -- Fractured Geologic Media -- Spatial Variability and Stochastic Simulation -- Dealing with the Complexity of Reactive Solutes -- Contamination of Ground Water Flow Systems -- HYDROLOGY AND LANDFORMS -- Introduction -- Some Frontier Topics -- Prediction of Landscape Evolution -- Development of Drainage Basins and Channel Networks -- Three-Dimensional Network Geometry and Hydrologic Basin Response -- Interpreting Records of Environmental Change -- HYDROLOGY AND CLIMATIC PROCESSES -- Introduction -- Some Frontier Topics -- Diagnostic Study of the Global Water Balance -- Surface-Atmosphere Interaction -- HYDROLOGY AND WEATHER PROCESSES -- Introduction -- Some Frontier Topics -- Land Surface-Atmosphere Interaction -- Models for Mesoscale Convective Systems and Applications to Flash Flooding -- Stochastic Modeling of Space-Time Variability in Rainfall -- HYDROLOGY AND SURFICIAL PROCESSES -- Introduction -- Some Frontier Topics.

Characterization of Spatial Variability of Soil Properties and Its Relation to Infiltration -- Runoff Production by Precipitation -- River Basin Evaporation -- Surface and Subsurface Water in a Freezing Environment -- Hydrology of Snow-Covered Areas -- Evaporation from Large Water Bodies -- HYDROLOGY AND LIVING COMMUNITIES -- Introduction -- Some Frontier Topics -- Physiological Explanation of Boundaries of Major Vegetation Formations -- Optimality Constraints on Vegetation Communities -- Microbial Transformations of Ground Water Contaminants -- HYDROLOGY AND CHEMICAL PROCESSES -- Introduction -- Some Frontier Topics -- Effects of Acid Rain -- Precipitation Chemistry -- Snowpack Chemistry -- Fate of Acid Deposition in the Soil Environment -- Contaminant Fate and Transport -- Global Chemical Cycles -- HYDROLOGY AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS -- Introduction -- Some Frontier Topics -- Scaling and Multiscaling Invariance in Spatial Variability of Hydrologic Processes -- Stochastic-Dynamical Analysis of Hydrologic Time Series -- Nonlinear Dynamics and Predictability of Hydrologic Phenomena -- SOURCES AND SUGGESTED READING -- Hydrology and the Earth's Crust -- Hydrology and Landforms -- HYDROLOGY AND CLIMATIC PROCESSES -- HYDROLOGY AND WEATHER PROCESSES -- Hydrology and Surficial Processes -- Hydrology and Living Communities -- Hydrology and Chemical Processes -- Hydrology and Applied Mathematics -- 4 Scientific Issues of Data Collection, Distribution, and Analysis -- NEED FOR COLLECTION OF HYDROLOGIC DATA AND SAMPLES -- Need to Collect Data at Varying Scales -- Need to Develop Accurate Hydrologic Data Bases to Improve Scientific Understanding -- Need to Collect Long-Term Hydrologic Data -- Understanding Hydrologic Behavior and Hydrologic Change -- Identifying Extreme Events -- Need to Collect Data Worldwide to Address Global Hydrologic Issues.

Spatial and Temporal Issues in Hydrologic Problems -- Collection and Archiving of Selected Water Samples -- STATUS OF HYDROLOGIC DATA -- Availability of Hydrologic Measurements -- Fluxes and Reservoirs of Water, Solutes, and Sediment -- Rainfall -- Snow Accumulation and Ablation -- Surface Runoff -- Soil Moisture -- Subsurface Water below the Vadose Zone -- Evapotranspiration -- Fluxes of Energy -- Radiation -- Sensible and Latent Heat Exchange -- Surface and Subsurface Data -- Topography -- Land Cover -- Subsurface Information -- SOME OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE HYDROLOGIC DATA -- Coordinated Experiments -- Scientific Development and Achievements -- Frontiers and Challenges -- Remote Sensing -- Remote Sensing of Hydrologic Parameters -- Future Advances -- Opportunities for Effective Use of Current and Planned Sensors -- Remote Sensing below the Surface -- Isotope Geochemistry -- Paleohydrology and Long-Term Records -- Data Accessibility and Management -- Data Management in the First ISLSCP Field Experiment -- Data Storage and Access -- Issues to Resolve -- Challenges in Measuring Water Quality -- Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment -- Scientific Issues and Challenges -- Use of Biological Methods in Water Quality Analysis -- SOURCES AND SUGGESTED READING -- 5 Education in the Hydrologic Sciences -- GRADUATE EDUCATION IN THE HYDROLOGIC SCIENCES -- STRUCTURING THE GRADUATE PROGRAM -- UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION IN THE HYDROLOGIC SCIENCES -- SCIENCE EDUCATION FROM KINDERGARTEN THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL -- WOMEN AND ETHNIC MINORITIES IN THE HYDROLOGIC SCIENCES -- SOURCES AND SUGGESTED READING -- 6 Scientific Priorities -- THE PROCESS -- 1. Expected contribution to scientific understanding -- 2. Support of a viable scientific infrastructure -- 3. Contribution to problem solving -- THE PREMISES.

It is not possible to make rational priority judgments among very specific research questions. -- If the number of priority research areas is kept small, the list need not be ranked. -- In selecting the priority areas only the primary criterion should be used. -- The questions with the greatest potential for a contribution to understanding lie at the least-explored scales and in… -- Hydrologic science is currently data-limited. -- PRIORITY CATEGORIES OF SCIENTIFIC OPPORTUNITY (UNRANKED) -- Chemical and Biological Components of the Hydrologic Cycle -- Scaling of Dynamic Behavior -- Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions -- Coordinated Global-scale Observation of Water Reservoirs and the Fluxes of Water and Energy -- Hydrologic Effects of Human Activity -- DATA REQUIREMENTS -- Maintenance of Continuous Long-Term Data Sets -- Improved Information Management -- Interpretation of Remote Sensing Data -- Dissemination of Data from Coordinated Experiments -- EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS -- Multidisciplinary Graduate Education Program -- Experience with Observation and Experimentation -- Visibility to Undergraduate Students -- SOURCES AND SUGGESTED READING -- 7 Resources and Strategies -- RESOURCES -- Research Grant Programs -- Fellowships, Internships, and Instructional Equipment -- Coordinated Field Experiments -- Campaigns -- Base-Line Studies -- Observation of Transients -- Long-Term Observations -- Access to Data Bases -- STRATEGIES -- SOURCES AND SUGGESTED READING -- Appendixes -- A Funding for Research in the Hydrologic Sciences -- Background -- Summary of Information Provided -- Discussion -- B Profiles of the Hydrologic Community, 1960 and 1988 -- Comment on Possible Bias -- C Contributors to the Report, Opportunities in the Hydrologic Sciences -- D Biographical Sketches of Committee Members -- Index.