1c. The carbon and water cycles have distinctive processes and pathways that operate within them Flashcards
What is the water balance?
A method for understanding the flows of water cycling through a system
Equation for the water balance?
Precipitation = evaporation + streamflow +/- storage
P = E + Q +/- S
What are the main flows in the water cycle?
Evaporation
Transpiration
Condensation (+ cloud formation)
Precipitation
Interception
Ablation
Run-off
Infiltration
Percolation
Throughflow
Groundwater flow
What is evaporation?
- Process of water changing from a liquid to a water vapour
- Energy itself does not heat the water, but transfers into latent heat (the heat required to cause a change in state, without change of temperature), this is then released when condensation occurs
What is transpiration?
- Transfer of water vapour from vegetation to the atmosphere
- Occurs mostly via stomata
- 10% of atmospheric water originates from transpiration
What is condensation?
- Involves water vapour returning to a liquid state
- When water vapour reaches dew-point (temperature when the air becomes saturated) water droplets and clouds appear
What are the three main types of cloud?
- Cumuliform clouds
- Stratiform clouds
- Cirrus clouds
What are cumuliform clouds?
- Have flat bases and considerable vertical development
- Most often form through convection
What are stratiform clouds?
- Layer-type clouds
- Most often form through advection
What are cirrus clouds?
- Wispy clouds that do not produce precipitation
- Form at a high altitude and consist of tiny ice crystals
What are the types of cloud formation (and rainfall)?
Convectional
Relief
Frontal
Advection (not a type of rainfall)
What is convectional formation?
- Air is warmed by contact with the ground or sea surface, subsequently rises through the atmosphere
- As the air rises and pressure falls the air cools via adiabatic expansion, forming clouds
What is relief formation?
Air masses rise as they cross a mountain barrier or as turbulence forces their ascent
What is frontal formation?
- Warm and cool air meet
- Warm air forced upwards, then cools to form clouds
What is advectional formation?
Air masses move horizontally across a relatively cooler surface
What is environmental lapse rate (ELR)?
- Vertical temperature profile of the lower atmosphere at any given time
- On average temperature falls by 6.5 degrees celsius for every kilometre of height gained
What is dry adiabatic lapse rate (DALR)?
- Rate at which a parcel of dry air (less than 100% humidity so that condensation is not taking place) cools
- Cooling, caused by adiabatic expansion, is approximately 10 degrees celsius per kilometre
What is saturated adiabatic lapse rate (SALR)?
- Rate at which a saturated parcel of air (one in which condensation is occuring) cools as it rises through the atmosphere
- Since condensation releases latent heat, the SALR, at around 7 degrees celsius per kilometre, is lower than the DALR
What is adiabatic expansion and why does it occur?
- What happens to a parcel of air as it rises, as air pressure decreases, volume increases and temperature decreases
- As air rises, it decreases in temperature and expands
- Same amount of air has a larger volume due to less air pressure and less compression, which leads to expansion
- When air expands, less interactions between the molecules, therefore temperature falls
What is absolute atmospheric instability?
- When graphed, dry adiabatic lapse rate is to the right of environmental lapse rate (DALR is higher than ELR), means that the parcel of air is warmer than the surroundings
- This then causes the parcel of air to rise, then cool at a rate of 10 degrees celsius per kilometre
- This air continues to rise until it reaches the dew point, where the air becomes saturated
- This then causes the air to begin to cool at 7 degrees celsius per kilometre as latent heat is released due to condensation
- This continues until the temperature of the parcel of air is the same temperature, or cooler, than the surroundings
What is absolute atmospheric stability?
- When graphed, environmental lapse rate is to the right of the dry adiabatic lapse rate (ELR is higher than DALR), means that the air is cooler than its surroundings, therefore does not rise unless obstacle present to force it to do so
- If obstacle forces the air to rise, the air will return to the ground if dew point has not been reached once the obstacle has been cleared
- Clouds could form if dew point is reached (and obstacle is still present), but if temperature of parcel of air is lower than surroundings still, it will sink
- As soon as the obstacle has been passed, the air will sink back down
What is conditional atmospheric instability?
- When graphed, environmental lapse rate is to the right of the dry adiabatic lapse rate (ELR is higher than DALR), means that the air is cooler than its surroundings, therefore does not rise unless obstacle present to force it to do so
- If obstacle forces the air to rise, the air will return to the ground if dew point has not been reached once the obstacle has been cleared
- If the obstacle is still present and dew point has been reached, clouds may form due to the lowered lapse rate (7 compared to 10), parcel of air could become warmer than surroundings
- If the parcel of air becomes warmer than its surroundings, it will then rise freely which results in atmospheric instability
- Atmosphere is stable until the parcel of air becomes warmer than its surroundings
What is precipitation?
- Any form of water that falls from the atmosphere to the land or oceans
- Duration of rainfall affects the speed of transfer through the drainage basin
- Long periods of rainfall leads to soil becoming saturated, subsequent increase in surface runoff
- Short periods of rainfall usually absorbed by soil and vegetation
What is interception?
- Temporary storage of water on the surface of plants and buildings before it reaches the surface