Catherine A. Carlson

Eastern Connecticut State University

I use these field labs in a required, junior-level hydrology course for majors, but they could be adapted for use at other levels.

The field labs cover a wide range of hydrologic concepts. Refer to each lab to determine the skills and concepts students need to complete the lab.

These field labs are incorporated throughout the semester. Used together, they provide students with an integrated approach to studying and understanding the hydrogeology of a field site.

The content/concept goals of these activities include stream discharge, seepage/baseflow, infiltration, field-saturated hydraulic conductivity, groundwater flow (direction, gradient, and specific discharge), and groundwater/surface-water interaction.

Thinking goals include design and collection of field data, data analysis, data interpretation, assessing multiple working hypotheses, well written reports, and integration of various hydrological concepts into a unified understanding of hydrological processes at work in a field site.

Other goals include experience with standard hydrological equipment and methods, basic surveying techniques, writing effective field notes, understanding the reliability and precision of field data, and teamwork.

Wetlands provide an ideal field hydrology laboratory because the water table is so close to the land surface. Eight field exercises, in which students generate their own data, are presented that demonstrate surface-water, vadose-zone, and groundwater hydrology concepts. Standard field equipment and methods are used to conduct investigations including measuring stream discharge, estimating groundwater seepage to a stream and/or pond, preparing a topographic profile showing the water-table configuration, measuring infiltration rates and estimating constant infiltration capacity, measuring field-saturated hydraulic conductivity, estimating hydraulic conductivity from slug tests, and determining the direction, hydraulic gradient, and specific discharge of groundwater. These labs compliment lecture material commonly covered in a first semester hydrology course.

Labs are graded based on completeness and correctness of the lab report. That is, the lab report must include concise text that answers all pertinent questions associated with "what did you do?" and "what did you find out?" as well as pertinent figures, tables, references, appendices, original field notes, and equipment list. The text usually represents at least 20% of the overall grade to emphasize the importance of communicating scientific results. The original field notes usually represent 10% of the overall grade to emphasize the importance of preparing complete and legible field notes that may become part of a permanent legal record. The remaining 70% or less is divided among the remaining required components (figures, tables, references, appendices, and equipment list); the specific percentages should be determined according to what is being emphasized in each specific lab and how many components are being required (e.g., if there are multiple figures, this component might carry more weight than other components).

Sanders, L.L., 1998, A Manual of Field Hydrogeology. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 381 p.

U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System (NWISWeb)