drainage basin and water budget

Question 1

what is the drainage basin?

Answer 1

the area drained by the river

Question 2

what is the edge of the drainage basin marked by?q

Answer 2

the water shed

Question 3

the drainage basin is an open system, how?

Answer 3

transfers of mass and energy

inputs and outputs

Question 4

describe the 3 different routes that water entering a drainage basin as precipitation could take to reach the river channel?

Answer 4

• surface run off
• throughflow
• groundwater flow

Question 5

why does all the water not reach the river?

Answer 5

• stored within the drainage basin

- evaporation and transpiration

Question 6

what is soil moisture utilisation?

Answer 6

when evaporation exceeds precipitation

Question 7

what is soil moisture recharge?

Answer 7

replenishment of stores of water used when evaoptranspiration has exceeded precipitation

Question 8

what is soil moisture defecit?

Answer 8

when evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation

Question 9

soil moirsture surplus ?

Answer 9

precipitatiopn exceeds potential evapotranspiration

Question 10

what is precipitation?

Answer 10

transfer of water from the atmosphere to the ground

form of rain hail snow etc

Question 11

what is evaporation?

Answer 11

transfer of water from liquid state to gaseous state

Question 12

what is condensation?

Answer 12

transfer of water from a gaseous state to a liquid state

Question 13

what is sublimation?

Answer 13

transfer of water from a solid state to a gaseous state

Question 14

surface run off?

Answer 14

transfer of water over the lands surface

Question 15

infiltration?

Answer 15

transfer of water from the ground surface to the soil where it may then percolate into underlying rocks

Question 16

through flow

Answer 16

water flowing through soil towards a river channel

Question 17

percolation?

Answer 17

water soaking into rocks

Question 18

ground water flow?

Answer 18

transfer of water very slowly through rocks

Question 19

channel flow

Answer 19

water flowing through the river channel

Question 20

stem flow

Answer 20

water making its way from the leaves of trees to the ground

Question 21

surface storage

Answer 21

the amount of water stored on the surface

Question 22

vegetation storage

Answer 22

plants remove water from the soil and store it in the structure of the plant

Question 23

what are the factors that affect hillslope hydrology?

Answer 23

precipitation
seasonal changes 
agricultural practices
urbanisation 
deforestation 
relief 
geology 
vegetation

Question 24

what is the soil water balance

Answer 24

shows the state of equilibrium between inputs and outputs

Question 25

what is a negative water balance?

Answer 25

occurs when evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation

Question 26

what is soil moisture budget?

Answer 26

the amount of water in the soil

Question 27

what is soil moisture surplus?

Answer 27

when precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration leading to greater surface run off

Question 28

what is soil moisture defecit?

Answer 28

when evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation leading to a drop in water levels