Here on this magnificent Earth, we live by upholding a balance between the needs and actions of human civilization and those of the greater and more mysterious forces of nature. Weather and the elements have always been of great interest to humans -- that the elements have served as central symbols in our arts stands as a kind of testament to our emotional, spiritual and practical relationship to the elements. The element with the greatest effect on humans is undoubtedly water. We simply couldn't live without it. It is our friend when we're thirsty, our enemy in times of flood, and a benevolence always taken for granted, as 60% of the average adult's body is composed of water.
No wonder, then, that there is a science that deals specifically and exclusively with water - its composition, its effects on land and life, its physical behavior, and the best way of mediating our sensitive relationship with it. The name of that science is hydrology, meaning literally, "the study of water." Applied hydrology helps us to understand how water works, and how we can better work with water.
Hydrology - What is it?
To define hydrology, it is the broad term for a variety of scientific branches of study concerning water. Translated from the Greek, hydrology means "the study of water." Hydrology is an essential field of science since everything - from tiny organisms to individuals to societies to the whole of civilization - depends so much on water.
Applications of Hydrology
Hydrologists are not merely working in the ether of theoretical science - far from it. Hydrology, in the professional world, largely equals 'applied hydrology.' Hydrologists are of paramount importance to the general public because, by their understanding of water, they are able to predict flood conditions and such.