Life depends on water and climate change severely impacts upon its availability and usage. Monsoons fail, rain patterns shift and fertile areas become barren.
Hydrology is the study of the world's water resources and the hydrologic cycle. It focuses on the distribution of water and its behaviour in the atmosphere, on the surface of the Earth and underground. Naturally, hydrologists tend to concentrate on fresh water and the main subjects of research are precipitation and evaporation.
Kipp & Zonen instruments such as scintillometers and net radiometers are used in hydrological applications around the world.