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Water > Water 1 Catchments > Flashcards

Water 1 Catchments Flashcards

1
Q

What is a digital elevation model (DEM)?

A

A model that shows the elevation of each pixel.

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2
Q

What is GIS?

A

a Geographical Information System.

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3
Q

What is topology?

A

The pattern of channel networks

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4
Q

what is geomorphology?

A

the origin of landscape and channels.

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5
Q

what is the drainage density?

A

the abundance of channels - how many channels there are in an area.

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6
Q

what is the equation for drainage density?

A

The length of all channels/ area
Ltot/ A

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7
Q

when do you get high drainage density?

A

areas with low soil conductivity and agricultural zones.

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8
Q

what does the dendritic pattern look like?

A

a tree

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9
Q

on what type of soil can you find a dendritic channel network?

A

homogeneous geological formation, either soil or rock. The river network has many tributaries.

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10
Q

What does a radial pattern look like?

A

When all the streams flow away from a central point.

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11
Q

Where can you find a radial channel pattern?

A

on mountains or volcanoes.

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12
Q

What does the trellis pattern look like?

A

Most complicated - a straight fiver flowing down with channel networks between parallel resistant ridges.

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13
Q

Where can you find the trellis pattern?

A

areas with folds in the earth crust.

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14
Q

What does the parallel channel network pattern look like?

A

lots of parallel rivers flowing straight down.

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15
Q

where do you find the parallel river network?

A

on steep slopes, where water flows down the fast. Often on harder rock.

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16
Q

what is the headwater?

A

the upstream part of a catchment.

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17
Q

how does the headwater behave differently from the main part of the river?

A

it often runs dry and overflows. The chemistry is determined by only natural conditions.

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18
Q

what is the source?

A

a point upstream in the river where it starts.

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19
Q

What is order numbering?

A

when you give orders to parts of the river - you start at the sources and work your way towards the outlet.

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20
Q

What are the most common losses of water in a system?

A

evapotranspiration (ET) or effective precipitation.

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21
Q

what is effective precipitation?

A

the precipitation that is no tintercepted or used for evapotranspiration but instead flows through a river.

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22
Q

what are the three most important fluxes in a catchment?

A

discharge, precipitation, evapotranspiraiton.

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23
Q

what are the forms of precipitation?

A

rain, snow, hail, fog, dew.

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24
Q

what are the two types of precipitaiton?

A

stratiform (or frontal)
convective

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25
Q

what is stratiform precipitation?

A

wide and relatively thin, homogeneous grey/ white.
prolonged periods of low precipitation intensity over large areas.

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26
Q

what is convective precipitation?

A

short term, intensive precipiation in local areas.
clouds are small and towering, vertical structures formed by upwards movement of water droplets.

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27
Q

what causes spatial variability in precipitation?

A

size and shape of clouds, downwind of water bodies/ rainforests and wetlands.

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28
Q

why is precipitation high on the windward side of mountains?

A

clouds are forced upwards, where air is cooler and particles condense.

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29
Q

what is the rain shadow?

A

the smaller quantity of precipitation on the leeward side of a mountain.

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30
Q

some common vocabulary about rain we use in every day speech?

A

precipitation events - showers and storms
dry spells.

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31
Q

what is a rain gauge?

A

a measuring device which collects precipitation in a reservoir. A tipping bucket gauge tips when a certain amount of water is held.

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32
Q

what can a weather radar sense?

A

location and severity of precipitation events.

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33
Q

evaporation, specific latent heat of vaporization, shortwave incoming radiation, albedo effect.

A

yes you know this.

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34
Q

What does total evapotranspiration account for?

A

transpiration, interception evaporation, soil evaporation, open water evaporation,

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35
Q

interception transpiration

A

evaporation of precipitation which falls on vegetation and evaporates directly

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36
Q

soil evaportation

A

evaporation from moist soil

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37
Q

open water evaporation

A

evaporation from lakes.

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38
Q

factors that control evapotranspiration

A

meteorological factors: temp, air humidity, high wind speeds
land use: vegetation
soil moisture

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39
Q

what is an evaporation pan?

A

a container with water and you measure how much water evaporates

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40
Q

what is a lysimeter

A

container filled with soil and local vegetation. The mass is recorded and with the change, evapotranspiration is calculated. It is $$$$$$

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41
Q

reference evapotranspiration

A

ET that could take place for actual meteorological conditions but with grass (not actual vegetation)

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42
Q

potential evapotranspiration

A

actual meteorological condtitions and local vegetation.

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43
Q

what is the equation for potential evapotranspiration?

A

ETref x crop factor

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44
Q

what is the crop factor?

A

a coefficient that tells you what percentage evaporates depending on the type of vegetation.

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45
Q

rainfall-runoff processes

A

the processes that determine the route taken from precipitation to surface water network.

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46
Q

interception

A

storage of precipitation water on leaves, stems, and branches of vegetation

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47
Q

throughfall

A

rainwater that is intercepted but cannot be stored in vegetation

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48
Q

stemflow

A

water that is intercepted but moves towards soil

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49
Q

interception capacity

A

maximum volume of water which the vegetation can intercept and store. This depends on the vegetation type

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50
Q

infiltration

A

downward movement of water from soil surface through the soil

51
Q

what does infiltration determine?

A

the distribution of precipitation between storage on the surface and surface run off.

52
Q

infiltration speed?

A

the speed at which water moves through the soil. m cubed per m aquared per time.

53
Q

infiltration capacity

A

maximum possible infiltration speed.

54
Q

how are precipitation intensity and infiltration capacity related?

A

when precipitation intensity is below infiltration capacity, all rain infiltrates. Otherwise, it stays on the surface.

55
Q

soil compaction

A

small soil particles are transported to and deposited on the soil surface, closing pores and hampering infiltration.

56
Q

On what does infiltration capacity depend?

A

land cover, soil type, wetness.

57
Q

when does infiltration capacity decrease?

A

during a rainfall event, the topsoil becomes wetter

58
Q

hydrophobic

A

hehe scared of water i.e. impermeable/ water resistant.

59
Q

soil matrix

A

the arrangement of soil particles

60
Q

pore space

A

area between soil particles that can fill with air or water

61
Q

porosity/ pore fraction

A

ratio between pore space to total volume.

62
Q

saturated zone of groundwater table

A

below groundwater table

63
Q

unsaturated zone

A

above groundwater table

64
Q

soil moisture/ water

A

water in the unsaturated zone above the groundwater table

65
Q

capillary fringe

A

the zone above the groundwater table which is completely saturated. This is a fairly thin zone.

66
Q

percolation

A

the flow of infiltrated water into the saturated zone due to gravity.

67
Q

capillary rise

A

when the groundwater table is shallow, water is sucked upwards by a negative pressure caused by evapotranspiration in the topsoil.

68
Q

macropores

A

cracks in clay soils or rocks and animal burrows. These speed up the process of percolation.

69
Q

what are the reasons for lack of infiltration

A

impermeable land surface
infiltration excess
saturation excess
seepage

70
Q

what is saturation excess?

A

All the soil is already saturated and further storage of water is no longer possible.

71
Q

Depression storage

A

when excess water that can not infiltrate is stored in ponds in relatively low lying areas.

72
Q

surface run off

A

water which flows overland during and just after a rain shower. This water ends up in channels

73
Q

saturation excess overland flow

A

surface run off flows overland when the soil is wet (usually close to a riveR)

74
Q

infiltration excess overland flow

A

surface run off due to high precipitation intensity.

75
Q

interflow

A

water infiltrates but cannot percolate due to low soil permeability close to the surface. The soil above this becomes saturated and the water follows teh slope of this semi-permeable layer. ‘This only occurs during and just after a rain shower as small water layer empties quickly.

76
Q

drainage

A

groundwater flows towards the surface water of a river. This is not visible to the eye.

77
Q

upward seepage

A

water enters an area via deeper soil layers and subsequently moves upward towards soil surface.

78
Q

downward seepage

A

water infiltrates in teh soil and is transported to another area via groundwater flow. Also infiltration.

79
Q

weirs

A

strucutres that block water flow

80
Q

brackish seepage

A

the upwelling of deep salty groundwater.

81
Q

salinization

A

the water becomes salty

82
Q

groundwater storage

A

the groundwater table rises, saturating part of the unsaturated zone and storing water in the soil. This happens after a rainfall event.

83
Q

specific storage

A

volume of water in the soil per unit of area. It is increased by infiltrating rain water percolating and decreaseed by evaporation.

84
Q

storativity

A

(storage coefficient) the ration between the change in specific storage and the change in groundwater level.

85
Q

equation for storage coefficient

A

mew = delta S/ delta h
= specific storage/ change in height of groundwater level.

86
Q

field capacity

A

the wetness of the upper soil layer when the soil has lost its surplus of water to the groundwater after a wet period.

87
Q

piezometer

A

(groundwater tube) measures the groundwater level.

88
Q

surface water systems that can store water?

A

river, brook, floodplains, natural and man-made lakes, retention basins, reservoirs.

89
Q

snow water equivalent

A

the amount of water there is in a certain volume of snow

90
Q

runoff (NOT surface runoff)

A

water flows through or over the ground to channels that drain the catchment.

91
Q

streamflow

A

channels transport water out of catchment

92
Q

formula for discharge

A

Q=va

93
Q

formula for velocity

A

v= C sqrt(S A/P)
S = slope
A = area
P - wetted perimeter
Q=AC sqrt(slope *A/P)

94
Q

stationary flow

A

water flow in an open channel does not change in time

95
Q

uniform flow

A

water flow in an open channel does not change in space

96
Q

Chezy constant

A

measure of the conductivity of the channel bed and banks

97
Q

hydraulic radius

A

the ratio between the cross sectional area and the wetted perimeter

98
Q

ADCP

A

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler
To measure discharge, sound waves are reflected off transported sediment and it’s super expensive.

99
Q

stilling wells

A

used to measure water level continuously and thus discharge. Vertical tubes connected to the river using horizontal tubes.

100
Q

rating curve, Q-h-relation, stage discharge relaiton

A

converts water level to discharge. accuracy is helped by a weir or flume.

101
Q

hydrograph

A

discharge time series, providing informationo about the behaviour of a catchment

102
Q

discharge dynamics

A

temporal variability of discharge

103
Q

attenuation

A

reduction of precipitation signal due to the catchment.

104
Q

mixed rivers

A

fed by snow and rain.

105
Q

baseflow

A

the minimum discharge. Mainly originates from groundwater in the catchment. It is a flow that responds very slowly to changes.

106
Q

recession

A

the slow reduction of baseflow during the drier season.

107
Q

perennial streams

A

carry water year-round

108
Q

ephermeral streams

A

streams that run dry part of the year.

109
Q

quickflow

A

the fast reaction in discharge due to events in the catchment.

110
Q

direct runoff

A

other term for quickflow

111
Q

why is quickflow so quick?

A

it flows over ground and therefore has a path with less resistance. Floods and inundations are caused by quickflow

112
Q

which factors increase the probability of quickflow?

A

steep topography
low infiltration capacity
high drainage density
hydrophobic soil
high precipitation intensity
uneven precipitation distribution (local soil saturation occurs)
wet initial conditions
rain on snow

113
Q

concentration time

A

time taken for surface water at the most upstream point to reach the catchment outlet.

114
Q

response time

A

time difference between a rainfall event and the resulting discharge peak. Also called lag time.

115
Q

width function of a channel network

A

plot of the number of network links as a function of distance to the catchment.

116
Q

what are retention basins used for?

A

store water during flood peaks and release it when the river water levels drop.

117
Q

water budget/ water balance.

A

total amount of water which moves in and out of a catchment in a period of time.

118
Q

what is the really long equation for water balance?

A

P - ET ± Q ± Us ± Ul ± X = delta S

119
Q

what do all the letters in the water balance equation stand for?

A

P - precipitation
ET - evapotranspiration
Q - inflow minus outflow of surface waters
Us - upward (+ve) or downward (-ve) seepage
Ul - lateral inflow (+ve) or outflow (-ve) of horizontal groundwater.
X - additional sources
delta S - storage change

120
Q

What is the simplified equation for water balance?

A

P - ET - Q = delta S

121
Q

balance area

A

like the catchment of a channel. The boundaries are chosen so that the inflows and outflows are easiest to measure.

122
Q

balance period

A

the time through which the water balance is measured. Usually, an entire year is used.

123
Q

when does the hydrological year start in Netherlands?

A

April 1st as soil is at field capacity. It depends on the country.

124
Q

what is the equaiton for residence time for water in a lake when inflow = outflow

A

Tr = V/ Qin = V/ Qout
Tr - residence time
V - volume of lake
Q in/ out - sum of all fluxes into and out of lake.

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