Water Balance Flashcards
What is the principle of mass conservation?
That in a closed system, mass remains constant over time
Is the water cycle a closed system?
Yes, as not much water being added or removed over time
What is the water balance equation?
flux in- flux out +/- storage change
What is a flux?
In hydrology- is water moving through some component of the hydrological cycle
What are the units of a flux?
should be volume/time
What are the seven fluxes in the hydrological cycle?
evaporation
precipitation
runoff
percolation/ground water flow
transpiration
convection
advection
What is storage in the water cycle?
It’s an accumulation of water within any part of the water cycle
What are the five stores in the water cycle?
lakes
aquifers
soil water
snowpack
glaciers
What are the two different equations for water balance?
P +/- E +/- S +/- Q = 0
P +/- E +/- Q = S
How is earth’s water divided?
96.5% is in oceans, 2.5% is freshwater
Of the freshwater, 68.7% of it is glaciers and ice caps and 30.1% of it is groundwater and 1.2% is surface freshwater, of the surface freshwater 69% of it is ground ice and permafrost and 20.9% of it is lakes.
What is a river basin?
Is an area of land where surface water flows to a single point, is the most common spatial unit in hydrology, it is a flexible spatial unit
What is a watershed?
Is a term that refers to a point where all water drains to another body of water.
What scales do we normally develop water balance equations for?
drainage basins and water sheds
