Definitions For Rivers Topic Flashcards
What is the watershed?
An area of ridge or land that separates waters flowing into different rivers, drainage basins or seas.
What is evapotranspiration?
The process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soul and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants.
Define precipitation.
Rain, snow, sleet or hail that falls to or condensed on the ground.
What is interception storage?
When precipitation from an event falls on vegetation which shelters the underlying ground and stops it from reaching the ground.
What is through fall?
The part of rain fall or other precipitation that falls to the forest floor through from the canopy.
What is stem flow?
The flow of intercepted water down the trunk or stem of a plant.
What is unimpeded fall?
When precipitation reaches the ground without being intercepted and with no obstructions.
Define infiltration.
The process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil.
What is overland flow?
The movement of water over the land, downslope towards the surface of a body of water.
Define percolation.
The process of a liquid slowly passing through a filter. When water flows through the ground through permeable rock.
What is through flow?
When water moved downhill slowly through the soil.
What is river run off?
Flow of rainwater away from where it has fallen.
What is the water balance?
Shows the balance of water going into and out of a drainage basin.
What is river discharge?
The volume of water passing a measuring point or gauging station in a river in a given time.
What is base flow?
The portion of stream flow that comes from ‘the sum of deep subsurface flow and delayed shallow subsurface flow’.
Define ‘runoff’.
All the water that enters a river and eventually flows out of the drama be basin. Can be quantified by measuring the discharge of a river.
What is a water budget graph?
A graph that shows the water budget of a particular location. Shows the relationship between temperature, precipitation and evaporation over a year.
What is a hydrograph?
A graph showing the rate of discharge versus time past a specific point in a river.