Why These Courses With Hydrology Certificate Online Are Worth The Money?

Best Hydrology Courses
Disclaimer: Fully supported by its users, TangoLearn earns a commission every time you make a purchase via our site. This does not influence the price you pay nor it affects our ratings, course selection methodology or partners.
Reading Time: 12 minutes

Hydrology involves studying the movement and distribution of water both below and on the Earth’s surface and the impact of human activities on water conditions and availability.

 

Often considered a complex subject, it is not so, provided you receive the proper guidance and support. To get trained in this subject, you can consider enrolling in online hydrology courses and learning more on this topic. There is no shortage of such classes online. Below, we will address the top nine such courses.

 

9 Best Courses to Learn About Hydrology

  1. Hec-RAS and ArcGIS for Hydrologic Engineering – [Udemy]
  2. Learn the basics of ArcGIS for hydrology – [Udemy]
  3. Basic Hydrology – [Udemy]
  4. Groundwater Potential Zones GIS – Complete Project ArcGIS – [Udemy]
  5. Groundwater Hydrology – [MIT OpenCourseWare]
  6. Water in the Western United States – Offered by University of Colorado Boulder – [Coursera]
  7. Natural Attenuation of Groundwater Contaminants: New Paradigms, Technologies, and Applications – Offered by Rice University – [Coursera]
  8. Hydrology – [Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering]
  9. Basic Hydrologic Sciences Distance Learning Course – [Meted UCAR]

 

How Did We Select The Courses?

We browsed the web looking for the top hydrology courses and found 100s of options. We screened and compared them on five parameters:

 

  1. The course offerings
  2. Ratings and reviews on the class
  3. The instructor’s experience and knowledge
  4. If there is a hydrology certificate online?
  5. Is it paid?

 

Then we narrowed down the list to the top 20 hydrology sessions online and presented the same to pro experts who helped us arrive at the below-listed best nine classes. Let us address them one by one.

 

9 Best Courses to Learn About Hydrology

1. Hec-RAS and ArcGIS for Hydrologic Engineering – [Udemy]

Hec-RAS and ArcGIS for Hydrologic Engineering
 

About the course

 

Rating 4.2
Who should take this class? These online hydrology courses will benefit:

  1. Students or graduates in degrees associated with management of the territory or the environment
  2. Geologists, architects, engineers, environmental sciences experts, geographers, etc.
  3. Professionals or consultants who wish to study territory management, hydraulic management, or natural hazards
Enrolled 894 students
Duration 2 hours of on-demand video
Instructor AulaGEO Academy and Antonio Gallegos Reina
Paid Yes
Certification Yes
Return or refund policy 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Cons It is one of the best . But, there are multiple errors in written English. It makes it challenging for the students to follow.

 

These are practical hydrology classes online. They start from scratch and take you step-by-step through the process of understanding hydrology. You will find multiple practical exercises and examples in the session to help you comprehend the essential fundamentals of Hec-RAS management.

 

Having the Hec-RAS, you can perform flood studies and assess flood areas. It will also help you integrate land planning and urban land planning.

 

One thing that helps this course to  stand out is that it does not rely solely on explaining technical knowledge. Instead, it also offers a detailed and straightforward description of the different steps you must follow from the time to start the flood till the final presentation.

 

What will you learn?

 

In this hydrology certificate online, you will discover the following:

  1. Download and installation of Hec-RAS and Hec-GeoRAS
  2. Introduction to Hec-RAS and Hec-GeoRAS: interface and structure
  3. Parameterization in Hec-RAS: import geometry, bridges, and tubing
  4. Familiarity with ArcGIS 10
  5. Analyzing the Hec-RAS
  6. Visualization of results in Hec-RAS and Hec-GeoRAS
  7. Performing hydraulic studies of artificial and natural channels
  8. Assessing areas of flooding of streams and rivers
  9. Calculating flow rate according to return period
  10. Construction of Geometry in Hec-GeoRAS
  11. Planning the territory according to the areas of hydraulic public domain and flooding
  12. Conducting simulations of hydraulic structures or channels
  13. Incorporating the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to better and streamline hydraulic studies

 

What do you need?

As such, there are no prerequisites associated with this Udemy’s one of the top-liked online hydrology courses. However, for this session, you will need:

 

  1. No prior technical knowledge, but if you know, it can be beneficial to facilitate the rapid progression of the course.
  2. Previous experience with ArcGIS or another GIS, but not mandatory
  3. ArcGIS 10 installed
  4. Activating the Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst extensions in your system
  5. Eagerness and discipline to learn

 

Review Rajvardhan P.

Yes, Excellent Experience.

 

 

2. Learn the basics of ArcGIS for hydrology – [Udemy]

Learn the basics of ArcGIS for hydrology
 

About the course

 

Rating 3.6
Who should take this class? This hydrology certificate online will benefit:

1. Beginners in GIS

2. Hydrology technicians

3. GIS students

4. GIS entrepreneurs

5. ArcGIS students

If you need one of the free online hydrology courses, this may not be the pick for you. So, only learners who are ok with paying for a hydrology session should opt for this class.

Enrolled 1,496 students
Duration 3.5 hours of on-demand video
Instructor Alonso Gonzalez, Konrad Hafen, and Paul Nicoara are an instructor for these hydrology classes online.
Paid Yes
Certification Yes
Return or refund policy 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Cons The instructor goes by too fast that it gets challenging to understand.

 

It is one of the comprehensive Udemy online hydrology courses that take you from the beginner level in ArcGIS to having the ability to download the data and perform elementary functions. You can work along with this session and ask questions if you have any doubts.

 

 What will you learn?

 

In this hydrology certificate online, you will learn the following:

  1. ArcGIS concepts
  2. Performing elementary and advanced processing actions in ArcGIS
  3. Exporting to AutoCAD
  4. Using the geoprocessing tools
  5. Representing the analysis on a map
  6. Performing tasks related to hydrology, such as Calculate Flow Direction And Flow Accumulation
  7. Conducting Watershed Delineation, Stream Segments, And Catchments, Spatial Join To Catchments, as well as map layout with elements
  8. Making a map from beginning to the end

 

What do you need?

For these hydrology classes online, you require the following:

  1. Knowledge of using the Windows software
  2. A personal computer
  3. ArcGIS software on your computer

 

Review Dr Rahul U.

its a great learning platform. Easy to understand, simple step by step process towards your learning goal.

 

 

3. Basic Hydrology – [Udemy]

Basic Hydrology
 

About the course

 

Rating 4.8
Who should take this class? It is one of the most recommended free online hydrology courses for:

  1. Soil and water district technicians with an experience of 0-2 years, hoping to learn to model small watersheds for stormwater management structures and conservation.
  2. Entry-level engineers who work in transportation, civil/site, and agricultural disciplines 
Enrolled 17,764 students
Duration 2hr 28min of on-demand video
Instructor Tim Clark
Paid No
Certification No
Cons Given the vast range of technical jargon and terms, it can barely classify as an elementary session.

 

Next, we have another Udemy hydrology certificate online. You will learn three hydrological methods in this session – the rational method, TR-20/TR-55, and EFH2. There is a blend of by-hand analysis and GIS methods.

 

For the GIS portions, the parallel workflows are for QGIS and ArcGIS, the HydroCAD software is for urban hydrology, and the EFH2 software is for rural hydrology. There is a culmination of two design examples to help students implement their acquired knowledge in this class.

 

What will you learn?

In another Udemy’s one of the top-favorite online hydrology courses, you will learn the following:

  1. Finding the peak runoff rates for rural watersheds
  2. Determining the peak runoff rates for urban watersheds
  3. Delineating watersheds with ground truthing
  4. Studying the difference between the three most popularly employed hydrology models

 

What do you need?

For this hydrology certificate online, you will require:

  1. An ability to download and install NRCS software
  2. Ability to download and install the HydroCAD Sampler
  3. ArcGIS Desktop Advanced with Spatial Analyst Extension
  4. Open source QGIS

 

Review Mr. Ankush T.

it was great and i learned so many things with such interactive lectures, learning was amazing experience.

 

 

4. Groundwater Potential Zones GIS – Complete Project ArcGIS – [Udemy]

Groundwater Potential Zones GIS - Complete Project ArcGIS
 

About the course

 

Rating 4.4
Who should take this class? It is one of the most in-demand online hydrology courses for:

1. GIS Student

2. GIS Professionals

3. Professors

4. Scientists

5. Master Student of Remote Sensing and GIS

6. Ph.D. Research Scholars

7. Groundwater Exploration Engineers

8. Irrigation Engineers

9. Water Resource Engineers

10. Students of WRDM

11. Govt Policy Makers

12. Ministry of Earth Science

However, you must opt for this hydrology certificate online only if you know the GIS basics. In addition, you should have used the Landuse image before proceeding with this course.

Enrolled 1,000 students
Duration 4 hours of on-demand video
Instructor Lakhwinder Singh
Paid Yes
Certification Yes
Return or refund policy 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Cons This class will not be suited for beginners and demands some base-level knowledge before progressing.

 

Next, we have another one of the top online hydrology courses. It covers everything from fundamental to advanced levels. The class commences from Google search data download and functions data till the outcome. There is no need to go anywhere outside your room to run this project.

 

Fortunately, if you have the observation data, you can even generate your fluctuation map, but it is an optional aspect of this project.

 

Moreover, by employing GIS, you can conveniently generate groundwater maps sans groundwater data. However, that data is not readily accessible. Overall, you get a gist about the groundwater and several advanced GIS tasks with this class, such as DEM mosaic, data re-project, cutting of study area, and soil map generation.

 

What’s more? Across these hydrology classes online, the instructor is responsive. So, you can get a quick revert on your queries.
 

What will you learn?

In this course, you will learn the following:

  1. Identifying the groundwater-potential zones or the drought-prone areas
  2. Performing a flood risk map
  3. Identifying soil properties
  4. Working with the rainfall data
  5. Generating a soil map
  6. Employing online data sources to prepare groundwater
  7. Data Interpolation
  8. Delineating Watershed

 

In addition, it is also one of the top online hydrology courses to learn the following:

 

  1. Drainage Maps and Density
  2. Data plotting
  3. Area calculation from pixels
  4. Mosaic of Digital Elevation Model
  5. Data Reproject and Data Reclassification
  6. Yield fluctuation maps to identify good aquifer
  7. Adding data from Excel to the GIS environment
  8. Data management in GIS
  9. Map generation, data extraction, and calculation
  10. Perform GIS data calculations
  11. Calculation with Raster Data
  12. Tools employed for Site suitability analysis
  13. Adding data from Excel to the GIS environment
  14. Working with CDF file

 

What do you need?

For these hydrology classes online, you will require:

  1. Land use map
  2. Basic GIS
  3. Any version of ArcGIS

 

These classes are in full HD 1080 p. For a top-notch viewing experience, use headphones.

 

Review Boddeti Laxmi L.

Excellent teaching , easily understandable. thank you sir for immediate response .

 

 

5. Groundwater Hydrology Online Courses – [MIT OpenCourseWare]

Groundwater Hydrology Online Courses
 

About the course

 

Next, we have another one of MIT’s most excellent recommendations and one of the top-liked hydrology courses. The session has several computer demonstrations and lab experiments. In this class, you will study with a pro-MIT instructor Professor Charles Harvey.

 

What will you learn?

In this hydrology certificate online, you will study the following:

  1. Fundamentals of subsurface flow and transport
  2. Role of groundwater in the hydrologic cycle
  3. Relation of groundwater flow to geologic structure

 

 

6. Water in the Western United States – Offered by University of Colorado Boulder – [Coursera]

Water in the Western United States – Offered by University of Colorado Boulder
 

About the course

 

Rating 4.8
Who should take this class? It is not one of the free online hydrology courses. So, if you seek a free one, this may not be the pick. However, beginners, sans any background, can enjoy this session.
Enrolled 2,457 students
Duration Approx. 24 hours to complete
Instructor Eric Gordon and Anne U. Gold
Paid Yes
Certification Yes
Return or refund policy 14-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Cons One of the biggest concerns with this course is that it is a little too vast. It may disinterest the learners.

 

Water is pivotal for us all. It connects people via community, memory, and place. However, the water may be divisive and contentious in places like the Western United States that suffer from water scarcity.

 

So, in this situation, how do we overcome the challenges associated with aggravating water scarcity while simultaneously honoring the diverse perspectives of people who depend significantly on shared water?

 

In these Coursera hydrology classes online, you will learn the following:

  1. Water and climate in the Western United States
  2. Insight into the significant cultural, political, and legal issues that make water complex in the region
  3. Impact of the individual water footprints
  4. Unique aspects of demand issues and water supply in the western US and how water systems have adapted to them
  5. Elucidating scientific and historical issues around water management in the Western US
  6. Describing ways in which scientists study research questions associated with water and climate in the western US
  7. Understanding the water sources of water supplies in the Western US

 

What do you need?

It is a beginner-friendly hydrology certificate online. So, you need no background in hydrology for this session.

 

Review JS.

This is an excellent course and a good overview of the situation. I would like to see more classes on this kind of topic.

 

 

7. Natural Attenuation of Groundwater Contaminants: New Paradigms, Technologies, and Applications – Offered by Rice University – [Coursera]

Natural Attenuation of Groundwater Contaminants: New Paradigms, Technologies, and Applications
 

About the course

 

Rating 4.8
Who should take this class? These hydrology classes online will benefit all individuals who work in the environmental remediation industry.
Enrolled 15,327 students
Duration Approx. 28 hours to complete
Instructor Pedro Alvarez, David Adamson, and Charles Newell
Paid Yes
Certification Yes
Return or refund policy 14-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Cons The class is incredibly challenging and complicated.

 
In this Coursera’s one of the most in-demand online hydrology courses, you study about the struggle between finding cost effective and efficient methods to clean up underground water.

 

Further, as you progress with this class, you will build upon the environmental engineering systems and sciences to discover the correct way to use Monitored Natural Attenuation as a solution for groundwater toxicity.

 

Next, in these hydrology classes online, you will also study the history behind it and the new directions for this technology. In this class, the instructor employs computational exercises, readings, and lectures to accentuate your implementation and knowledge of MNA. Once you finish this session, you will understand the practical tools you can apply to all MNA sites.

 

Review UC.

This course is very informative and very good for environmental engineers . It gives the insight of the natural attenuation of groundwater.

 

 

8. Hydrology – [Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering]

Hydrology
 

About the course

 

Next, we have one of the top online hydrology courses at Johns Hopkins. It is a hands-on class with several case studies. Across the session, the instructor follows a quantitative approach in which mathematical descriptions of hydrological phenomena will frequently be objective.

 

What will you learn?

In this session, you will study the following:

  1. Fundamental physical principles are necessary to understand water’s distribution, occurrence, and circulation near the Earth’s surface.
  2. Introduction to hydrological data acquisition and analysis
  3. Familiarity with the global hydrological cycle and near Earth’s surface
  4. Influence of climate, geology, and human activity
  5. Processes of precipitation and evapotranspiration
  6. Surface water flow, floods, and storage in artificial reservoirs and natural reservoirs
  7. Familiarity with the groundwater flow
  8. Whole-cycle catchment hydrology
  9. Water-quality and water resources management issues

 

What do you need?

You require knowledge of fluid mechanics or an equivalent course in Fluid flow or hydraulics for this class.

 

 

9. Basic Hydrologic Sciences Distance Learning Course – [Meted UCAR]

Basic Hydrologic Sciences Distance Learning Course
 
It is a comprehensive class with a hydrology certificate online. It comprises orientation, two case studies, and eight foundation topics. In the first part, you will receive an overview of all the course concepts in the hydrologic sciences. You will also go through the specific areas associated with hydrologic sciences, assumptions and critical processes, and terminologies of hydrologic forecasters.

 

Next, you integrate the foundation material into realistic forecast situations as you progress to case study modules.

 

You will then study the seven key topics, which involve a learning experience of eight to ten hours. After this, you will bag a certificate of completion. To receive a course completion certificate, you must complete the seven core topics, which take about eight to ten hours.

 

Who should take this class?

These hydrology classes online will benefit:

  1. People with no formal training in hydrology
  2. Non-hydrologists who work with hydrologic data
  3. Those in the flood forecasting department

 

What will you learn?

This class will offer a complex interaction between the waters of the land and the atmosphere and will educate you further on this subject.

 

Further, it will offer an understanding of the basic concepts behind hydrology and help develop skills in applying primary tools and methods of hydrologic forecasting.

 

Other things covered in these sessions are:

  1. Understand the elements of the hydrologic cycle
  2. Recognizing the effects of river ice on flood occurrences.
  3. Explaining the rainfall-runoff process.
  4. Familiarity with the snowmelt runoff process
  5. Using the unit hydrograph for forecasting flows
  6. Applying flash flood guidance, taking into account the uncertainties in the product
  7. Getting well-versed with hydrologic modeling methods currently in use
  8. Application of statistical methods to assess the flood risks

 

 

Related: Land Surveyor Courses
 
Conclusion
 

So, these are the top nine best paid and free online hydrology courses. In this guide, we have included all information about these sessions. However, if you wish to know about any of the above-listed classes, you can click on the annexed link and read further.

 

These are all top-notch sessions, but we find the – Water in the Western United States – Offered by the University of Colorado Boulder – [Coursera], the best of the lot.

 

It is vast and covers everything step-by-step. Also, since it is presented to you by the University of Colorado, it is highly reliable.

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *