GEO4340 – Fluvial Hydrology
Course description
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
The main aim of the course is to gain a basic understanding of the physical laws and forces that govern open channel flow. The course introduces the structure and properties of water, forces and mechanical energy, uniform flow in open channels, flow resistance, gradually and rapidly varied steady flow, flood zone mapping, gradually varied unsteady flow and flood routing (the Saint-Venant’s equations).?
The course addresses key questions related to flood management, such as how to estimate the inundated area for a given flood event, the speed by which a flood wave travels downstream and how to mitigate the impact of flooding.
Learning outcome
After the course, you will
- understand and be able to quantitatively describe the main forces and physical conditions that control the movement of water (velocity and depth) in open channels (river flow and overland flow)
- be familiar with the physically-based equations that describe the movement of water in open channels, including water-surface profile calculations and Saint-Vernant’s equations
- be able to perform, evaluate and present hydrological calculations
- have experience with fieldwork (discharge measurements) and the use of observations in hydrological calculations
- have detailed knowledge of a selected topic (summarise and present a scientific paper)
Admission to the course
Students admitted at UiO must?apply for courses?in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other master's degree programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
Nordic citizens and applicants residing in the Nordic countries may?apply to take this course as a single course student.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
Formal prerequisite knowledge
Recommended previous knowledge
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with GF243.
Teaching
2 hours of lectures and 2 hours of?exercise?per week. In addition, there will be a seminar where the students present?a scientific paper that counts towards the final grade.
There are three compulsory field excursions: one full-day excursion to Romerike with a focus on floods and landslides (jointly with GEO4171), a half-day visit to the Norwegian Water Resource and Energy Directorate (NVE) to learn about their flood forecasting, mapping and mitigation activities, and a half-day excursion to a nearby river to collect river flow data. Active participation is expected of all students.
Supervision will be given on how to write a scientific report based on given tasks, including collected river-flow data. The written report counts towards the final grade.
Four out of five?assignments have to be approved before you can sit the final examination.
Attendance at the first lecture is compulsory. Students who fail to meet are considered to have withdrawn from the course unless they have previously given notice to the Student?administration (studieinfo@geo.uio.no).
We reserve the right to change the teaching?form and examination of the course in semesters where 5 or fewer students have been admitted.
To attend the field trip / excursion it is required that the following course is passed:
You will need to provide documentation that you have passed HMS0504 when you attend the field trip/excursion.
As?the?teaching involves laboratory and/or fieldwork, you should consider taking out a separate travel and personal risk insurance.?Read about your insurance coverage as a student.
General information about excursions at the Department of Geosciences
Examination
If up to,?and including?15 admitted students:
- Four out of five assignments must be approved in order for a student to sit the final examination.
- A written report based on field data counts 40% towards the final grade.
- A seminar presentation of a scientific paper?counts 20% towards the final grade.?
- A final oral examination counts 40% towards the final grade.
- All the component parts have to be passed separately in order to pass the course.
If more than 15 admitted students:?
- Four out of five assignments must be approved in order for a student to sit the final examination.
- A written report based on field data counts 20% towards the final grade.
- A seminar presentation of a scientific paper?counts 20% towards the final grade.?
- A final written examination counts 60% towards the final grade.
- All the component parts have to be passed separately in order to pass the course.
Mandatory assignments are valid for 5 semesters starting from the semester they were approved the first time.
It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times.?If you withdraw from the exam?after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.
Examination support material
Any printed material, and an?approved calculator
Language of examination
Courses taught in English will only offer the exam paper in English.
You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F?is a fail. Read more about?the grading system.
Resit an examination
Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are?offered a postponed examination at the beginning of the next semester.
Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass, the original examination.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.