Operation of the Hydrological Cycle at a local scale

Question 1

River regime

Answer 1

The annual variation in discharge or flow of a river at a particular point or gauging station, usually measured in cumecs

Question 2

Rising Limb

Answer 2

The part of a storm hydrography in which the discharge starts to rise

Question 3

Peak discharge

Answer 3

The time when the river reaches it’s highest flow

Question 4

Lag time

Answer 4

The time interval between peak rainfall and peak discharge

Question 5

Falling or recessional Limb

Answer 5

The part of a storm hydrograph in which the discharge starts to increase

Question 6

Base Flow

Answer 6

The normal day-today discharge of a river

Question 7

Available soil water

Answer 7

The amount of water that can be stored in the soil and is available for growing crops

Question 8

Water Budget

Answer 8

The annual balance between precipitation, evapotranspiration and runoff.

Question 9

How is water budget calculated?

Answer 9

P= E + R +/- S
P= precipitation
E= evapotranspiration
R= runoff
S= changes in storage

Question 10

What do water budgets indicate at national/regional scale?

Answer 10

The amount of water available for human use.

Question 11

What do water budgets indicate at a local scale?

Answer 11

The availability of soil water, which is useful to farmers as they know when irrigation is needed and how much of it. Soil water availability varies between climates.