Kay's AS Geography |
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Drainage basins: hydrology and selected landforms |
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"The drainage basin operates as a system with inputs, flows, stores and outputs. Water and sediment move through the system. The characteristics of the system depend upon a range of physical and human factors." WJEC specification generalisation |
Virtual River by Geology Labs online (US) includes interactive exercises on river processes (river discharge, river flooding, glossary). Some of the interactive animations are really very good and this is the place to go to sort out the difference between velocity and discharge! http://vcourseware3.calstatela.edu/VirtualRiver
The Environment Agency is a non-departmental public body established by the Environment Act 1995 (England & Wales only). Responsible for issuing flood warnings. Took over the functions of the National Rivers Authority and pollution inspection. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk
It is usually best to connect to subsections from the homepage for this site. Thanks to floods 2000 the information on the site has been constantly changing. Includes the latest press releases. One of the best features of this site is My Backyard [last found at http://216.31.193.171/asp/introduction.asp ]. Type in your postcode (or placename) and a map is displayed showing polluting industries in your locality. A new added dimension is that you can now display a floodplain map too, showing areas most at risk. Link from the homepage. (This flood map page had 200,000 hits within 10 hours of launching on December 7th, 2000.) Flood modelling - the LIDAR airborne mapping technique is used to produce maps for assessing flood risk. Light Detection and Ranging uses a laser to measure the distance between the aircraft and the ground. This results in a cost-effective terrain map suitable for assessing flood risk. An l archive of LIDAR data files are available and is searchable using the downloadable database. The best way to find LIDAR is to go to the search page and put in the word "LIDAR". For Wales, including LEAPS Local Environment Agency Plans http://www.environment-agency.wales.gov.uk For Scotland - SEPA.
DEFRA is a government department which deals with aspects of flooding and flood defence strategies. http://www.defra.gov.uk/
National River Flow Archive Essential for those choosing a river or stream study for their field project. Annual tables of daily flow data for over 200 gauging stations in the UK, usually daily for the last four years (downloadable). River name, station name or click on the map. Best linked to from the CEH homepage. http://www.nwl.ac.uk
The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (formerly Institute of Hydrology) http://www.nerc-wallingford.ac.uk/ih |
Hyperlinks in Hydrology can be linked to from the CEH homepage. http://www.nwl.ac.uk/ih/devel/wmo |
For a list of all the rivers included in HiH above. http://www.nwl.ac.uk/ih/devel/wmo/hhcriv.html |
UK rivers described (along with photos) http://www.curriculumvisions.com/river/worldRivers/UKRivers |
BHS Chronology of British Hydrological Events (British Hydrochronology) web site. Ambitious project from Dundee University to create a public repository for hydrological facts of the type that come from texts rather than tables. Searchable by river basin. "Every hydrological circumstance from flood to drought, from instantaneous to prolonged, from rain reaching the ground to the return of runoff to the sea is to be covered." http://www.dundee.ac.uk/geography/cbhe
About Rivers and Dams The International Rivers Network is a group campaigning against very large dam schemes. The site provides details of dams, river planning strategies and the environmental impacts of dam schemes. http://www.irn.org/basics/ard/index.html
The River Book The support page for Brain Knapp's school textbook (complete with naff musical accompaniment). Has a number of links to topics such as braided rivers, deltas, flood control, gorge and meander. Really a GCSE or KS 3 site, but some nice photographs of classic features. http://www.curriculumvisions.com/river/riverNested.html
Meanders simplified. http://www.cangeo.ca/Landforms/Meanders.htm
Fluvial landforms on maps. http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/slaymaker/Geol10L/landforms.htm
For landform sources see landforms page.
The River Medway featured in news bulletins during the autumn 2000 floods. Some background information can be found at this site. http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~srmulti/medway/index.html Leigh Barrier Eight page pdf document from the Environment Agency on Medway flood defence scheme. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/105385/126554
Flood risk The Environment Agency, responsible for flood warnings, believes planners are ignoring flood risks. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2207924.stm
Colorado river A case study selection on the Water Resources page.
Water resources of the US A USGS site - links to streamflow data. http://water.usgs.gov
Northumbrian Rivers Project Work includes environmental, habitat improvements, fencing, riverbank protection, tree planting, watering points, wetland creation, regeneration clearance, instream work and bankside vegetation management. Includes Rivers Tyne, Coquet and Aln and involves local farmers. Overall project to be completed September 2001. http://www.northumbrianrivers.co.uk/
Keilder Water, Northumberland, is Europe's largest artificial lake. It is set within Keilder Forest in the Border country on the River North Tyne. http://www.kielder.org
Dundee's British Hydrochronology web site has descriptions of historic floods on the Tyne. http://www.dundee.ac.uk/geography/cbhe
| The River Tees Featured in Channel 4 Landforms series. http://www.4learning.co.uk | |
| Programme notes. | http://www.4learning.co.uk/netnotes/dsp_series.cfm?sectionid=100663299 |
| For photos. | http://www.freefoto.com/pictures/rivers/tees/index.htm |
For river flow data for Scottish rivers, the procedure is the same as for England and Wales. Link to the archive from the CEH homepage. http://www.nwl.ac.uk/ih
SEPA, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, answers to the Scottish Executive. It was established under the Environment Act 1995 and became fully operational from April 1996. SEPA regulates potential pollution of natural waters and the air and the storage, transportation and disposal of controlled waste and the keeping of radioactive materials. Flood warnings for Scottish rivers. http://www.sepa.org.uk/
Dundee's British Hydrochronology web site has good information about historic floods on the Tay. http://www.dundee.ac.uk/geography/cbhe
| Techniques: |
| Measuring River Cross-sections |
| How to produce a cross-section of a river channel. |
| Measuring River Velocity |
| How to measure river velocity. |
| Measuring River Discharge |
| How to calculate river discharge. |