Keywords Flashcards
Precipitation:
moisture falling from the atmosphere in the form of something such as rain or snow.
Infiltration:
the absorption and downward movement of water into the ground.
Interception:
capture of rainfall on buildings or by vegetation, e.g rainforest.
Stem flow:
flow of precipitation along the stems of a plant to the ground.
Surface runoff:
flow of water across the surface of the ground.
Transpiration:
loss of moisture from vegetation.
Groundwater flow:
movement of water through rocks.
Throughflow:
roughly horizontal movement of water through rocks.
Evaporation:
transfer from liquid to a gas.
Condensation:
transfer from gas to a liquid.
What is an acquifer?
an underground layer of water bearing permeable rock, rock fractures or unconsolidated materials (like chalk or sandstone) where 30% of freshwater is held.
What is soil moisture budget?
the balance of water fluxes into and out of a defined area over a defined time period.
What is the water table?
upper layer of saturated rock which fluctuates in response to groundwater flow, water abstraction by people or additional recharge needs to be a constant state of equilibrium.
Radiation fog:
heat radiating from the surface, cools the bottom air until it reaches saturation at night.
Ablation:
natural removal of snow/ice from the surface of a glacier. It can occur through melting or sublimation or near the front.
Equilibrium line:
the altitude where annual accumulation and removal are equal.
Tributary:
small river connected to a main river.
Confluence:
the point where two rivers meet and join.
Mouth of the river:
where a river meets a lake or the sea.
Source:
the area where the river begins.
Watershed:
the boundary between two drainage basins marked by a ridge of highland.
Drainage basin:
the area which is drained by a river and its tributaries.
Drainage density:
the total length of all the streams in the basin divided by the total area of the basin.
Baseflow:
groundwater flow that feeds into rivers and through the river beds and banks.
Interflow:
is water flowing downhill through permeable rock above the water table.
River discharge:
the volume of water passing a given point, a measurement of runoff at a certain time.
