Vocabulary Flashcards
hydrosphere
all of the Earth’s water including surface water, ice, groundwater, and water vapor
runoff
water running off the land surface
evaporation
liquid water is heated and turns into water vapor
transpiration
water created from plants and trees enters the atmosphere
condensation
when water vapor cools, the particles slow down and get closer together turning it into a liquid
precipitation
when a cloud becomes full of water and the water droplets get too heavy they fall to the ground (snow, rain)
groundwater
water seeps into the ground and may become part of the water table
water table
the top surface of ground water
lithosphere
the crust and rigid mantle
biosphere
all living organisms on earth (plants, trees, insects, people, animals, etc)
barometer
measures air pressure (barometric pressure)
wind vane
points to the wind direction
one atmosphere
air pressure generally found at sea level (used as a unit of measurement for air pressure)
fronts
boundary where different types of air masses meet
cold front
cold air mass overpowers a warm air mass; can be violent
warm front
a warm air mass overpowers a cold air mass (gentle/average rain)
occluded front
a cold air mass catches up from behind to a warm air mass that is part of a warm front; this will “wedge” the warm air mass upwards between the two cold air masses and become a very violent storm
freezing rain
precipitation that falls as rain and then freezes when it comes into contact with an object
hail
when water droplets are supercooled due to an updraft in a storm (occluded or cold front) and forms balls of ice that will fall
sleet
when rain falls but is then frozen in the cold air and falls as little pellets of ice
sling psychrometer
measures humidity using a wet and dry bulb
air pressure
the amount of air particles in an area (high pressure=high density of particles)
capillary
a liquid’s ability to cling to sediment in order to creep upwards or outwards; the smaller the sediment, the more surface area for the liquid to cling to so this is a negative relationship (as the sediment size increase the capillarity decreases)
porosity
the amount of space between sediments
permeability
the ability to move through something
anemometer
measures wind speed
precipitation gauge
measures the amount of precipitation
gradient
change in field value over a given distance (field value may be elevation, temperature, air pressure, etc); same as slope; this equation is on the first page of the ESRT
isolines
a line showing that every value on that line is the same Ex: same elevation (contour lines), same air pressure (isobars), same temperatures (isotherms) etc.
