Glossaire de A à Z


Habitat

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens technique

Environment defined by specific abiotic and biotic factors in which a species lives at any stage of its life cycle. A natural habitat is distinguished by geographic, abiotic and biotic entirely natural or semi-natural.

Source
according to European Commission

Habitat of community interest

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens commun

Endangered habitat or having a reduced range or constituting a remarkable example of characteristics specific to one or more of the biogeographical areas listed in Annex 1 of the habitats directive and for which some special areas of conservation (SACs) must be designated.

Source
According to Poitou-Charentes Regional Council

Halieutic

Updated on 05/03/2019
Définition
Sens commun

Qualifies activities related to fishing in all its forms, professional or recreational, in freshwater or marine areas.

Source
d'après OIEau

Hand fishing

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens commun
It is an activity practiced along the shore for gathering fish without using a boat. Hand fishing can be either a recreational activity (we also speak of "sport fishing") or a professional activity (which mainly concerns bivalves).
Source
According to Ifremer

Hatching/Hatchery

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens commun
Repopulation of fresh water by introducing fry, practiced by people for fishing or fish farming.
Source
according to the Larousse dictionary

Hazard

Updated on 19/06/2018
Définition
Sens commun
Nature, occurrence, intensity and duration of a threatening phenomenon.
Source
According to SOeS

Hazard-prone area

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens commun
Area exposed or that could be exposed to hazards or potentially dangerous events (flood, pollution, natural disaster, industrial accident) and where human, economic or environmental issues are involved.
Source
according to the Ministry of the Environment

Hazardous priority substances

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens technique

Toxic, persistent and bioaccumulative priority substance whose discharge and loss into the environment should be stopped.

Source
According to the Ministry for the Environment and OFB

Hazardous Substance

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens commun
Substance which, at certain concentrations in water, presents a risk to public health, animal health or living beings and ecosystems in general. Certain substances and their effects are relatively well identified (heavy metals, some micro-pollutants). For others, the risk to public health and ecosystems is difficult to assess, thus deeming it prudent to use the
Source
According to the Ministry for the Environment and OFB

Headward erosion

Updated on 20/07/2020
Définition
Sens technique

Phénomène d’érosion qui se propage de l’aval vers l’amont d’un cours d’eau : dans le cas d’un déficit sédimentaire sur un tronçon aval, le cours d’eau, pour retrouver sa pente d’équilibre, va prélever en amont les sédiments nécessaires. Cette dynamique de rééquilibrage, souvent causée par la rectification du cours d’eau ou l’extraction trop importante de granulats dans son lit, se poursuit tant que le cours d’eau n’a pas retrouvé une pente d'équilibre, et peut provoquer un phénomène d‘incision. S'oppose à l'érosion progressive.

Source
d'après Jura Natura Services

Health risk

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens technique
More or less likely danger or inconvenience (immediate or long-term) to which public health is exposed. The identification and analysis of risks related to a phenomenon (flooding, contamination, etc) usually allows predicting its impact on public…
Source
According to the Ministry for the Environment and OFB

Heavily modified water body (HMWB)

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens technique
A body of surface water which, as a result of physical alterations by human activity, is substantially changed in character. Due to these changes, the water body cannot achieve good status. If the activities cannot be questioned for technical or economic reasons, the water body can be designated as heavily modified and the objectives to be achieved, in accordance with the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC…
Source

Heavy metals

Updated on 04/07/2018
Définition
Sens commun
Metals with a density greater than 4.5 g/cm3 (Protocol on heavy metals of the Geneva Convention). Heavy metals are toxic elements and pollutants mainly in the form of organic compounds found in the food chain. These are lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, copper, chromium and nickel. They come from the combustion of coal, petroleum, household refuse ... and specific industrial processes.
Source
According to Ademe

Hedonic pricing method

Updated on 19/06/2018
Définition
Sens technique
Method consisting in isolating the part related to environmental quality in real estate transactions. For example, the price of a property depends on its features, some of which are related to the quality of the environment.
Source
According to the Ministry for the Environment and IOWater

Helophyte

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens commun
It is a semi-aquatic plant whose leaves and flowers are emerged at least partly. The helophytic plant grows on the banks or the bottom of aquatic environments, when the water depth is sufficiently low and when the bottom and weak current allow the fixation of the roots. For example, the common reed is a helophytic species
Source
according to OFB

Helsinki Convention

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens technique
Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment in the Baltic Sea Area, signed in 1974 and entered into force in 1980. In 1992, the Helsinki Convention was replaced by a new one, which entered into force in 2000. It aims to prevent and control the pollution of transboundary rivers and international lakes through international cooperation.
Source
according to the European Union

Herbicide / weed killer

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens commun
Pesticide used to control, repel or destroy unwanted plants.
Source
according to Wikipedia

High-flow

Updated on 25/02/2019
Définition
Sens commun

Flow, or relatively high level of water, and also the highest of the year, as measured by the water level or flow. During a period of high flow, the river takes its floodplain.

Source
according to the Ministry of Environment

Homogeneous coastal zone

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens technique
Coherent unit for coastline management which, like the catchment areas of rivers, is an optimal geographical working scale for an integrated approach to the management, restoration and use of the coastal fringe.
Source
According to Rhone-Mediterranean and Corsica Water Agency

Humus

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens commun
Blackish matter composed of organic matter, resulting from the partial decomposition of plant debris, which is formed in the soil. The evolution of humus depends for a large part on the oxygenation of the environment. In an oxygenated environment, it can produce sludge (more or less dependent on the underlying soil, its pH, and the nature of the foliage that feeds it); in a non-oxygenated environment, it can give more or less acid and anoxic peats.
Source
according to IFREMER

Hydraulic equipment

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens commun
Equipment or infrastructure used for the abstraction, storage, treatment, conveying or transfer of water.
Source
according to the Corsican Hydraulic Equipment Office

Hydraulicity

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens technique
Ratio between the monthly (or annual) flow rate and its multiannual mean. Hydraulicity can simply compare the flow rate of a given year or month to one year or a month considered "normal".
Source
According to SCHAPI

Hydraulics

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens commun
A branch of fluid mechanics that deals with the flow of water (or other liquids) through pipes, open channels and other structures.
Source
according to UNESCO

Hydro-ecological area

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens technique

Homogeneous area in terms of geology, topography and climate. This is one of the main criteria used in typology and delimitation of surface water bodies. Continental France can be divided into 21 major hydro-ecological areas.

Source
According to the Ministry for the Environment and OFB

Hydro-geological basin

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens technique

Collecting area extending from an outlet or a set of outlets and with a border inside which are gathered the waters flowing underground to that outlet. The limit is the groundwater watershed.

Source
According to BRGM

Hydro-morphology

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens commun
Study of the morphology and dynamics of rivers, including the evolution of longitudinal and cross profiles, and of the planimetric layout: capture, meanders, anastomosis, etc.
Source
According to the Ministry for the Environment and OFB

Hydrobiology

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens commun
Science that studies the life of aquatic organisms.
Source
According to OFB

Hydrodynamics

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens commun
Branch of fluid mechanics which concerns the motion of fluids, whether liquid or gaseous. Hydrodynamics focuses on the properties of fluids, including velocity, viscosity, density, pressure, and temperature, as a function of space and time.
Source
according to the Larousse dictionary

Hydroelectric potential

Updated on 04/07/2018
Définition
Sens commun

Development potential of electricity generation processes in hydropower plants.

Source
According to Rhine-Meuse Water Agency

Hydroelectric turbine

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens commun

Machine capable of producing mechanical energy from water and then converting it into electricity. The turbine is the main component of a hydropower plant.

Source
d'après OFB

Hydrogeological domain

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens technique
Reference spatial domain that may contain a wide variety of fields, from the view point of lithology of stratigraphy, in which aquifer systems may or may not be individualized. The hydrodynamic conditions at the boundary of a hydrogeological domain are not necessarily defined.
Source
According to the Ministry of Ecology

Hydrogeology

Updated on 27/02/2019
Définition
Sens commun

Groundwater science, included in the Earth sciences. Hydrogeology combines knowledge of the geological and hydrological conditions and physical laws governing the origin, presence, movements and properties of groundwater, as well as the application of this knowledge to human actions on groundwater, including their prospection, their capture and their protection.

Source
d'après BRGM

Hydrographic area

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens technique
The hydrographic division includes all four parts of the French territory hierarchized according to increasing drainage systems: Hydrographic Region (1st order), hydrographic Sector (2nd order), hydrographic Sub-sector (3rd order), hydrographic area (4th order). A sector is cut into a maximum of 10 sub-sectors and a sub-sector is cut into a maximum of 10 hydrographic areas.
Source
According to OFB and IOWater

Hydrographic network

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens commun
All aquatic environments (bodies of water, watercourses, groundwater, wetlands, etc) found on a given territory; the term network explicitly referring to the physical and functional links between these environments.
Source
According to Adour-Garonne Water Agency

Hydrographic region

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens technique
Part of a river basin, and the first order of the hydrographic division of the French territory. This division indeed includes all four parts of the French territory hierarchized according to increasing drainage systems: Hydrographic Region (1st order), hydrographic Sector (2nd order), hydrographic Sub-sector (3rd order), hydrographic area (4th order). A sector is cut into a maximum of 10 sub-sectors and a sub-sector is cut into a maximum of 10 hydrographic areas.
Source
According to OFB and IOWater

Hydrographic sector

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens technique
Part of a hydrographic region and the second order of the hydrographic division of the French territory. This hydrographic division indeed includes all four parts of the French territory hierarchized according to increasing hydrographic areas: Hydrographic Region (1st order), hydrographic Sector (2nd order), hydrographic Sub-sector (3rd order), hydrographic area (4th order). A sector is divided into a maximum of 10 sub-sectors and a sub-sector is cut into a maximum of 10 hydrographic areas.
Source
According to OFB and IOWater

Hydrographic sub-sector

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens technique
Part of a hydrographic sector and the third order of the hydrographic division of the French territory. This hydrographic division indeed includes all four parts of the French territory hierarchized according to increasing hydrographic areas: Hydrographic Region (1st order), hydrographic Sector (2nd order), hydrographic Sub-sector (3rd order), hydrographic area (4th order). A sector is divided into a maximum of 10 sub-sectors and a sub-sector is cut into a maximum of 10 hydrographic areas.
Source
According to OFB and IOWater

Hydrography

Updated on 24/06/2020
Définition
Sens commun

Part of physical geography that deals with oceans, seas, lakes and streams. Hydrography also designates all the rivers and lakes in a territory.

Source
According to International Office for Water

Hydrological balance

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens technique
Accounting of the changes in water resources (stream flows, groundwater level, effective rainfall) of an area (for example a catchment area) based on meteorological, piezometric or hydrological information.
Source
according to OFB

Hydrological drought

Updated on 08/07/2019
Définition
Sens commun

Type of drought affecting water levels in environments: lakes, rivers or groundwater show abnormally low levels. It depends on precipitation but also on the state of the soil affecting runoff and infiltration.

Source
according to Météo France

Hydrological gauging station

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens technique
Measuring station located on streams with natural flow regime (including glacial or groundwater regimes). Watercourses, even strongly influenced, also fall into this category. Non-hydrological gauging stations are those located on rivers whose regime is totally artificial (irrigation
Source
According to SCHAPI

Hydrological profile

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens technique
Methodology, based on the study of stream flows, which allows assessing the water inflow that is specific to any section of the river.
Source
according to Michel Deshaies (geographer)

Hydrological regime

Updated on 19/06/2018
Définition
Sens technique
All changes in the status and characteristics of an aquatic environment which regularly recur in time and space and go through cyclical variations, e.g. seasonal variations.
Source
According to Rhone-Mediterranean and Corsica Water Agency

Hydrology

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens commun
Study of the physical, chemical and biological properties of waters located on the surface of the Earth and under ground, especially in terms of their formation, movement, distribution in time and space and their interaction with the inert and living environment. Continental hydrology studies the streams, wetlands and bodies of water, groundwater and solid water bodies on land masses, while marine hydrology is identified with oceanography.
Source
According to Météo France

Hydrolysis

Updated on 19/06/2018
Définition
Sens technique
Chemical reaction in which a chemical bond is broken. The reaction is induced by a water molecule.
Source
According to Ifremer

Hydrometric station

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens technique
Measuring station at which data on water in rivers, bodies of water or reservoirs are obtained on one or more of the following elements: water depth, flow rate, sediment transport and deposit, water temperature and other physical properties of water, characteristics of ice cover and chemical properties of water.
Source
According to BRGM

Hydrometry

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens commun
Science that aims to measure the physical properties of water, especially the flow of surface water and groundwater.
Source
according to the Larousse dictionary

Hydrophile

Updated on 16/01/2023
Définition
Sens technique

Showing a strong affinity for water. Attracts, dissolves in or absorbs water.

Source
according to OiEau

Hydrophobic

Updated on 16/01/2023
Définition
Sens technique

Shows a strong repulsion to water, repels water.

Source
according to OiEau

Hydrophyte

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens commun
It is an aquatic plant whose leaves and flowers are submerged. The hydrophytic plant grows attached to the bottom of aquatic environments or floating freely in areas of low current. For example, watercress, water lilies or duckweeds are hydrophytic plants.
Source
according to OFB

Hydropower

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens commun
Energy produced by the movement of water in all its forms (waterfall, watercourse, marine current, tide, wave). This movement can be directly used, e.g. with a watermill, or more commonly be converted, for example, into electricity in a hydroelectric plant.
Source
according to Wikipedia

Hydropower dam

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens commun
A structure built on a watercourse for creating a water reservoir to ensure a constant production of electricity. The impounded water of the reservoir is conveyed by pipes to the power plant.
Source
according to the French Committee of Dams and Reservoirs

Hydropower plant

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens commun
Facility that produces electricity by the force of moving water.
Source
according to OFB
Sens technique
Hydroelectric facility transforming hydraulic energy into electricity, whose power usually varies from a few kW to 4,500 kW.
Source
according to IFREMER

Hydrosphere

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens commun
All the world's waters, including oceans, seas, lakes and rivers, as well as groundwater and ice.
Source
according to BRGM and OFB

Hydrosystem functioning

Updated on 13/07/2018
Définition
Sens technique

All physical and biological phenomena (water, erosion, etc), and their interactions within the river system or hydrosystem. Thus the great diversity of plant and animal communities (Living communities) is expressed only by river dynamics (alternating low and high-flow levels, deposits and erosion, etc). These phenomena are influenced by the different uses and can contribute to meet the latter.

Source
According to the Ministry of Ecology

Hydroxide sludge

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens technique
Sediment resulting from the physico-chemical treatment of industrial wastewater. Hydroxide sludge, generated by surface treatment of metal parts, is considered to be hazardous.
Source
according to the South-Pyrenean Waste Observatory

Hygrometry

Updated on 06/09/2018
Définition
Sens commun
The branch of meteorology that characterises the humidity of the air, i.e. the amount of water in gaseous form present in moist air (or in some other gas, in some industrial applications). Hygrometry does not take into account water present in liquid or solid form.
Source
according to Wikipedia

Hypochlorite

Updated on 16/01/2023
Définition
Sens technique

Bodies containing the CIO- radical, hypochlorites can replace chlorine in its applications in water disinfection. Two forms are used after dilution or dissolution in water:

° sodium hypochlorite NaClO (or bleach)

° calcium hypochlorite Ca(ClO)2

Source
according to OiEau

Hyporheic zone

Updated on 26/10/2022
Définition
Sens technique
All water saturated sediments, located beneath and alongside a stream, containing a certain amount of surface water. If the stream flows over impermeable bedrock, it will not develop a hyporheic zone. The hyporheic zone may exclusively consist of surface water (case of streams perched above the alluvial groundwater) or characterized by a mixture of surface water and groundwater (when there are exchanges with groundwater). These different configurations are found along the same stream,
Source
According to OFB

Hypothetical bias

Updated on 19/06/2018
Définition
Sens technique
Bias induced during an investigation, when in a situation of fictitious market the respondents have some difficulty in expressing their preferences. Indeed, in the field of the environment, the lack of reference will result in responses far from the choices they would make in a real situation.
Source
According to the Ministry for the Environment and IOWater