hydrology Flashcards
The total amount of water available to the earth is finite and conserved. Although the total volume of water in
the global hydrologic cycle remains constant, the distribution of this water is continually changing on
continents, in regions and local catchments.
WATER BALANCE
is the average duration for a water
molecule to passthrough a water body. It can be derived
by dividing the volume of water by the flow rate.
RESIDENCE TIME
Is an extent of land where water from rain or
snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean.
CATCHMENT
a logical unit of focus for studying the movement of water within the hydrological cycle
CATCHMENT
One of the most important and fundamental processes of the natural world
EVAPORATION
is a process by which water gets converted from a liquid form to vapor form
EVAPORATION
it is a combination of two seperate processes, evaporation and transpiration
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
is the process in which plants release the water the water inside it in the form of moisture or water vapor
TRANSPIRATION
mean inflow- outflow water
relationship in Groundwater System. It
is the rate of flow of a property per unit
area
FLUX
is continuously emitted from all bodies at rates linked with
their surface temperature
RADIATION EMISSION
is the partial pressure contributed by water vapour
WATER VAPOUR PRESSURE E
When the
pressure is in equilibrium, it is called
SATURATED VAPOUR PRESSURE Es
does
not have units and it depends on temperature.
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
is used to vaporise liquid water into water vapour
LATENT HEAT
refers to heat you can feel, or sense. It is responsible for liquid water
temperature change
SENSIBLE HEAT
Is part of atmosphere water and derived from water vapour
PRECIPITATION
Basically just water
RAIN
Balls of ice
HAIL
Molten, falling snow
that refreezes,
forming ice pellets
SLEET
Rain that suddenly freezes
upon contact
FREEZING RAIN
Snow pellets
GRAUPEL
Forms when water vapor
condenses directly into
snow crystals
SNOW
is the driving force for the hydrological cycle
SUN
aerosols act as freezing
nuclei. Ice crystals grow in
size and fall to ground. They
tend to melt before
hitting the ground surface
ICE CRYSTAL PROCESS
small cloud droplets increase
their sizes due to
contact with other droplets
through collision
COALESCENCE PROCESS
is a device that measures the amount or quantity of something and shows the amount
measured
GAUGE
An instrument that automatically records the
amount of precipitation collected as a function of
time
RECORDING GAUGE
only display the
amount of rain that has fallen
NON RECORDING GAUGE
is usually used to check the data quality of a specific rain gauge
DOUBLE MASS CURVE
Precipitation in a specific area expressed as an
average depth of liquid water over the area
AERIAL RAINFALL
is the process of water penetrating from the ground surface
into the soil and begins to soak into the soil and rock layers underneath.
INFILTRATION
s the volume of void space to the total volume, typically
expressed as a percentage
POROSITY
It is between the land surface and the
water table
VADOSE ZONE
is an equation that describes the flow of a fluid through a porous medium.
DARCY’S LAW
is a device used to measure
the rate of water infiltration into soil or other
porous media.
INFILTROMETER
is a zone within the earth that restricts the flow of groundwater from one aquifer to another
AQUITARD
it is an aquifer with the water table as its upper boundary
UNCONFINED AQUIFER
Is an underground layer of water- bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well
Aquifer
is the level at which the groundwater pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure
water table
it is an aquifer found between two impermeable layers
confined aquifer
it is a confined aquifer containing groundwater that will flow upward through a well
artesian well
is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging
water well
is the portion of the stream flow that comes from groundwater
base flow
