Catchment Hydrology Flashcards
What impacts the flashiness of a catchment?
- Drainage basin shape
- Drainage density
- Land use
What is the water balance?
water input (precipitation) = water output - changes in water storage
How can you measure precipitation?
- Rain gauges
- Thiessen polygons
How do you measure evaporation.
- Atmometer
- Measures evaporation by monitoring loss of water from a porous surface
What is an atmometer?
- Measures evaporation by monitoring loss of water from a porous surface
How do you measure evapotranspiration?
- Lysimeter
- measures potential evapotranspiration by monitoring the weight of a isolated patch of vegitation with an unlimited water supply.
What is the equation for working out river discharge?
Discharge = area x velocity
Name 2 ways of measuring river discharge?
- Acoustic gauging
2. V-notch
What is an acoustic gauge?
gauges record time it takes for a sound to travel across a river at different depths
What is the discharge of the river Thames?
65 m3 s-1
What is the discharge of the rive Amazon?
175,000 m3 s-1
How is soil water content measured?
Loss of weight when heated/ electronic meter
How is ground water measured?
- Changing levels in wells
- measuring rock porosity
Define matrix flow.
Flow through the matrix of a soil
Define macropore flow.
Flow through connected pores less than 0.1mm in diameter
