Robert Elmer Horton (May 18, 1875 - April 22, 1945) was an American ecologist and soil scientist, considered by many to be the father of modern hydrology. May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (139th in leap years). ... 1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... April 22 is the 112th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (113th in leap years). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... (Ecology is sometimes used incorrectly as a synonym for the natural environment. ... Soil science deals with soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical, chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils per se; and these properties in relation to the use and management of soils. ... Water covers 70% of the Earths surface. ...

Born in Parma, Michigan, he earned his B.S. from Albion College in 1897. After his graduation, he worked for his uncle, George Rafter, a prominent civil engineer. Rafter had commissioned a weir study, the results of which Horton analyzed and summarized. In 1900, he was appointed New York District Engineer of the United States Geological Survey. Parma is a village located in Jackson County, Michigan. ... Albion College campus quad Albion College is a small, private liberal arts college located in Albion, Michigan. ... 1897 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The bridge and weir mechanism at Sturminster Newton on the River Stour, Dorset. ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki (R) Official languages None (English is de facto) Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. ...

During his studies of New York streams, Horton determined that the degree to which rainfall could reach the aquifer depended on a factor he called the infiltration capacity of the soil. He analyzed and separated the water cycle into the processes of infiltration, evaporation, interception, transpiration, overland flow, etc. Horton was the first to designate and refine these now-familiar components of the cycle. Rain falling For other uses see Rain (disambiguation). ... An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, or permeable mixtures of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, silt, or clay) (see also groundwater). ... Infiltration capacity, in soil science, is the measure of a soils permeability and ability to admit water. ... Evaporation is the process whereby atoms or molecules in a liquid state (or solid state if the substance sublimes) gain sufficient energy to enter the gaseous state. ... Transpiration is a continuous process caused by the evaporation of water from leaves of plants and its corresponding uptake from roots in the soil. ...

Horton is well-known for his study of maximum runoff and flood generation. His concept of maximum possible rainfall, limiting the effect of rainfall in specific regions, has had a major effect on meteorology. His studies of overland flow aided in the understanding of soil erosion, and provided a scientific basis for soil conservation efforts. Run-off, composed of a mixture of water and soil along with any other organic or inorganic substances that may exist in the land, is the product of precipitation, snowmelt, over-irrigation, or other water coming in contact with the earth and carrying matter to streams, rivers, lakes, and other... Look up Flood on Wiktionary, the free dictionary A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ... Satellite image of Hurricane Hugo Meteorology is the scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, or movement in response to gravity. ...

Having realized early in his career that the physical character of terrain played a large role in determining runoff patterns, he had attempted to isolate the physical factors affecting runoff and flood discharge. These, he believed, included drainage density, channel slope, overland flow length, and other factors. However, late in his career, he began to advocate a very different mechanism of "hydrophysical" geomorphology, which he believed better explained his prior observations.

Horton detailed his theory in a landmark paper published in 1945 (only a month before his death) in the Bulletin of the Geological Society of America. He summarized his conclusions with four laws: the law of stream numbers, the law of stream lengths, the limits of infiltration capacity, and the runoff-detention-storage relation. His results demonstrate that the salient factor in aqueous soil erosion is the minimum length of overland flow necessary to produce enough runoff to effect erosion. 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Horton is the namesake of the Robert E. Horton Medal, awarded by the American Geophysical Union to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of hydrological geophysics. The American Geophysical Union (or AGU) is a nonprofit organization of geophysicists, consisting (as of 2004) of over 41,000 members from 130 countries. ... Water covers 70% of the Earths surface. ... Geophysics, the study of the earth by quantitative physical methods, especially by seismic reflection and refraction, gravity, magnetic, electrical, electromagnetic, and radioactivity methods. ...

External links

• Biography
• Robert E. Horton's perceptual model of infiltration processes