The Hydrological Cycle Influences Water Budgets And River Systems At A Local Scale Flashcards
What are water budgets?
Show the annual balance between the inputs (precipitation) and the outputs (evapotranspiration)
What is the equation for precipitation?
Runoff + evapotranspiration + or - storage
What is green water?
Water evaporated from the soil or transpired from plants as water vapour
What is blue water?
Water in liquid form in rivers, lakes and groundwater
What parts of the water budget equation are blue or green water?
Run-off and storage are BLUE WATER
Evapotranspiration is GREEN WATER
What happens to water balance throughout a year?
It will change as it is affected by overall climate of the area near to the river/catchment
What is positive water balance?
When precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration
What is negative water balance?
When evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation (can lead to drought)
What are the worlds climate zones?
Tropical zone
Temperate zone
Polar region
What areas of the globe have a positive or negative water balance?
Polar regions have a positive as do the temperate areas close to the poles
Central temperate zone has a negative water balance
The tropical zone has a positive water balance
What is soil moisture recharge?
When precipitation is greater than evapotranspiration the pores in the soil are refilled with water
What is soil moisture surplus?
When the soil becomes saturated exceeds water will have difficulty infiltrating into the ground
What happens when water cannot infiltrate the soil?
It will run over the surface as overland flow
What is soil moisture utilisation?
When evapotranspiration is greater than precipitation there is a reduction in the amount of water stored with the soil
What is soil moisture deficit?
Eventually all the available water stored in the soil will have been used up