EXAM 1

Question 1

water storage and re-distribution on earth

Answer 1

a quantitative description of the ways in which water is temporarily stored and transported around the earth

Question 2

the water cycle compartments

Answer 2

-atmosphere
-at the surface (runoff, lakes, etc)
-wetting vegetation
-within vegetation
-soils
-groundwater

Question 3

the water cycle main processes

Answer 3

-transpiration-evaporation
-precipitation
-interception
-infiltration
-runoff
-sub-surface flow
-runoff

Question 4

transpiration

Answer 4

transformation from liquid to gas phase into the atmosphere

Question 5

percolation

Answer 5

flow from sub-surface into bedrock

Question 6

sub-surface flow

Answer 6

flow through the soil, later incorporated into percolation, evapotranspiration, or into feeding rivers or lakes

Question 7

runoff

Answer 7

channeled or unchanneled flow across the land

Question 8

infiltration

Answer 8

from ground surface into the ground

Question 9

interception

Answer 9

captured by foliage and typically evaporated

Question 10

steps to solve a water budget problem

Answer 10

1. what is your water budget question?
2. draw a picture
3. draw your schematic and identify compartment boundaries and processes
4. build your equation

Question 11

water budget problems practice

Answer 11

yay!!

Question 12

unit practice problem

Answer 12

yay

Question 13

precipitation

Answer 13

any form of water, such as rain, snow, sleet, hail, or freezing rain that falls to the earth’s surface

Question 14

what causes precipitation

Answer 14

a local portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor causing water to condense

Question 15

saturation

Answer 15

when air contains the maximum amount of water vapor that it can hold at a specific temperature and air pressure

Question 16

how is saturation caused

Answer 16

cooling of air masses or changes in the water vapor content of air

Question 17

adiabatic cooling

Answer 17

warm air rises due to lower density and expands due to lower pressures, this reduces the temperature of the air mass which may induce condensation

Question 18

hyetograph

Answer 18

chart showing the distribution of rainfall during a given time period

Question 19

precipitation over an area practice problems

Answer 19

yay

Question 20

storage meaning

Answer 20

total volume retained that will not drain

Question 21

transient storage

Answer 21

moving through vegetation, could drip off

Question 22

conditional storage

Answer 22

could be dislodged depending on conditions (ex: winds)

Question 23

residual storage

Answer 23

only can be removed by evaporation

Question 24

canopy storage factors

Answer 24

-vegetation (type, density, form)
-precipitation event characteristics (duration, intensity, temporal distribution)

Question 25

free throughfall

Answer 25

penetrates directly through gaps in the canopy

Question 26

released throughfall

Answer 26

moves by dripping once storage is exceeded

Question 27

stemflow

Answer 27

drainage of intercepted water down stems, branches, and tree trunks (effected by leaf, stems, and branches size)

Question 28

interception equation

Answer 28

interception = precipitation - throughfall - stemflow

Question 29

flux to soil equation

Answer 29

flux to soil = precipitation - canopy interception - litter