Key Definitions

Question 1

Anticyclone

Answer 1

A system of high pressure, causing high temperatures and unreasonably high evaporation rates

Question 2

Aquifer

Answer 2

A permeable or porous rock which stores water

Question 3

Convectional precipitation

Answer 3

Solar radiation heats the air above the ground, causing it to rise, cool and condense forming precipitation (often as thunderstorms)

Question 4

Cryosphere

Answer 4

The global water volume locked up within a frozen state

Question 5

Depression

Answer 5

• a system of low pressure, with fronts of precipitation where low and high pressure air masses meet

Question 6

Desublimination

Answer 6

The change of state of water from gas to solid, without being a liquid (opposite of sublimination)

Question 7

Drainage density

Answer 7

The total length of all rivers and streams divided by the area of the drainage basin

Question 8

Drainage basin

Answer 8

The aired of land drained by a river and its tributaries

Question 9

Drought

Answer 9

An extended period of deficient rainfall relative to the statistical average for the region

Question 10

Economic water scarcity

Answer 10

when water resources are available but insufficient economic wealth limits access to it

Question 11

ENSO cycles

Answer 11

El Niño southern oscillations - naturally occurring phenomena that involves the movement if warm water through the equatorial pacific

Question 12

Evapotranspiration

Answer 12

The combined total moisture transferred from the earth to the atmosphere, through evaporation and transpiration

Question 13

Frontal precipitation

Answer 13

When air masses of different temperatures meet at a front, one mass will be forced over another, causing precipitation beneath the front

Question 14

Global hydrological cycle

Answer 14

The continuous transfer of water between land, atmosphere and oceans. The earth is a closed system

Question 15

Ground water flow

Answer 15

Water moving horizontally through permeable or porous rock due to gravity

Question 16

Hydrologic drought

Answer 16

Insufficient soil moisture to meet the needs of vegetation at a particular time

Question 17

Infiltration

Answer 17

The movement of water vertically through the pores in soil

Question 18

Integrated drainage basin management

Answer 18

Establishing a frame of coordinated efforts between administrations and stakeholders to achieve balanced management of a basin

Question 19

Interception

Answer 19

Raindrops are prevented from falling directly onto the ground, instead hitting the leaves if a tree

Question 20

Meteorological drought

Answer 20

When long term precipitation trends are below average

Question 21

Monsoon

Answer 21

The drastic variation between wet and dry season for sub tropical areas, caused by a changing prevailing wind. Can lead to annual flooding

Question 22

Open system

Answer 22

A system affected by external flows and inputs

Question 23

Percolation

Answer 23

Water moving vertically from soil into permeable rock

Question 24

Physical water scarcity

Answer 24

A physical lack of available freshwater which cannot meet demand

Question 25

Relief precipitation

Answer 25

Precipitation caused when air masses are forced to rise over high land, determined by the relief/morphology of the kand

Question 26

River regime

Answer 26

The pattern of river discharge over a year

Question 27

Runoff

Answer 27

Water flowing over the surface if the ground e.g. after precipitation or snowmelt

Question 28

Salinisation

Answer 28

Where salt water contaminates freshwater stores or soils, creating saline conditions and reducing human use/consumption

Question 29

Saltwater encroachment

Answer 29

The movement of saltwater into freshwater aquifers or May be caused by seal level rise, storm surges or over extraction

Question 30

Smart irrigation

Answer 30

Providing crops with a water supply less than optimal, To make crops resistant to water shortages

Question 31

Storm hydrograph

Answer 31

Variation of river discharge over a short period of time (days)

Question 32

Sublimation

Answer 32

The change of state of water from solid to gas, without being a liquid

Question 33

Through flow

Answer 33

Water moving horizontally through the soil, due to gravity

Question 34

Transpiration

Answer 34

The process through which water evaporates through the stomata in plant leaves

Question 35

Water budget

Answer 35

The annual balance between inputs and outputs within a system

Question 36

Water conservation

Answer 36

Strategies to reduce water usage and demand

Question 37

Water recycling

Answer 37

The treatment and purification of waste water, to increase supplly

Question 38

Water scarcity

Answer 38

There are limited renewable water sources (between 500 and 1000 cubic metres per capita per year)

Question 39

Water security

Answer 39

The ability to protect and access a sustainable source to adequately meet demand

Question 40

Water transfer

Answer 40

Hard engineering projects, such as pipeline or aqueducts, that divert water between basins to meet demand

Question 41

Watershed

Answer 41

The boundary between neighbouring drainage basin