Water Flashcards
What are the 5 spheres in which water is stored?
- Cryosphere
- Atmosphere
- Hydrosphere
- Biosphere
- Lithosphere
Give the definitions to these key words;
- Fossil water
- Aquifer
- Stem flow
- Adiabatic cooling
- Dew point
- Fossil water = Ancient deep groundwater from former pluvial ( wetter ) periods.
- Aquifer = a permeable or porous rock which stores water.
- Stem flow = when water trickles along twigs and branches and then down the trunk
- Adiabatic cooling = when the volume of air increases but there is no addition of heat
- Dew point = the temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated with water vapour
Give definitions of these words;
- Watershed
- Catchment
- Watershed = The highland which divides and separates
waters flowing to different rivers - Catchment = The area of land drained by a river and its
tributaries
What does the human factor ( which influences the drainage basin system; specifically precipitation ) cloud seeding mean?
Cloud seeding = Introduction of silver iodide pellets, or ammonium nitrate, to act as a condensation nuclei to attract water droplets. The aim is to increase rainfall in drought-stricken areas
When talking about water budgets what formula can we use to work out drainage basin water budgets?
P = Q + E +/- S
P = Precipitation Q = Discharge (stream flow) E = Evapotranspiration S = Changes in storage
What are the three main components of interception?
- Interception loss
- Throughfall
- Stem flow
List the human and physical factors which affect the drainage basin system (specifically the stores and flows)
Physical factors;
- Climate
- Soils
- Geology
- Relief
- Vegetation
Human Factors
- Deforestation
- Urbanisation
- Cloud seeding
- Dam construction
What are the 4 types of drought?
- Meteorological drought
- Hydrological drought
- Agricultural drought
- Famine drought
Why are wetlands important and what are some of its key functions ?
- They act as temporary stores within the hydrological cycle, thus mitigating river floods downstream
- Chemically wetlands act like huge water filters by trapping and recycling nutrients helping maintaining water quality
- High biological productivity and support a very diverse food web like nursery areas for fish
- Providers of resources, of services in terms of hydrology within the water cycle, and as a carbon store
What are some examples of local water stores ?
- Soil moisture
- Interception
What are the short term meteorological causes of drought?
- Air Pressure
In areas of high pressure, evaporated water has difficulty rising high enough to
condense, and so in areas of high pressure there is often little precipitation which
could lead to drought. - Warm and Cold fronts
Remember cold air follows a cold front and warm air follows a warm front
When talking about about drainage basin systems and as far as the hydrological system is concerned one of the key factors is variability what are the three types of variability?
- Secular Variability - happens long term, e.g. as a result of climate change trends
- Periodic Variability - happens in an annual, seasonal, monthly or diurnal context
- Stochastic Variability - results from random factors, e.g. in the localisation of thunderstorm within a basin
When talking about River Regimes what are some factors that influence the character of the regime of the resulting stream or river?
- The size of the river where measurements are taken in the basin
- The amount, pattern and intensity of precipitation
- The geology and overlying soils and their permeability and porosity
- The amount and type of vegetation cover: wetlands can hold the water and release it very slowly into the system
What is the UN definition of a drought?
‘drought is defined as an extended period - a season, a year, or several years - of deficient rainfall relative to the statistical multi-year average for a region’
Remember drought is a chronic hazard and a creeping hazard (slow onset)
What are the 3 Index’s we can use to measure drought?
- Palmer Drought Severity Index
- Crop Moisture Index
- Palmer Hydrological Drought Index
