3 - Moisture in the Atmosphere

Question 1

Relative humidity (RH)

Answer 1

amount of water relative to total amount of water at saturation (%)
Combo of cooling and moisture addition

Question 2

How will RH change if we heat a bubble of air (without change in moisture content)?

Answer 2

Decreases RH

Question 3

Adiabatic

Answer 3

no additional energy

Question 4

Why is there high rainfall for coastal areas?

Answer 4

Land triggers rainfall, but most rain falls at mountains

Question 5

Why is there high precipitation over forested areas east of Utrecht?

Answer 5

Moisture supply through transpiration

Question 6

Potential evapotranspiration (PET)

Answer 6

max water flux that can be taken up by the atmosphere. Depends on humidity of air
Warm and dry air can take a lot of water

Question 7

Why is AET large in the tropics and forested areas? *

Question 8

How is evaporation measured?

Answer 8

Eddy-covariance (EC) technique. Measures air movement by speed and direction together with concentration of water to derive water flux. Can also be used for other gasses