Short Term Changes To The Water Cycle

Question 1

What’s monitored

Answer 1

Close monitoring through satellite technology and remote sensing

Global air temps, sea surface temps, sea ice thickness, rates of deforestation

Question 2

Diurnal changes

Answer 2

Within 24 hours in the water cycle

Evaporation and transpiration are lower at night due to lower average temperatures

Downpours in the afternoon because of conventional heating are a feature in global climates can affect infiltration rates

Conventional precipitation is dependant on on direct heating of the ground surface by the sun, often falling in the afternoon when temperatures have reached their maximum - particularly in climatic regions where bulk precipitation is from conventional storms.

Question 3

Seasonal changes

Answer 3

Controlled by variations of solar radiation

Impacts rates of evapotranspiration and precipitation

Driest parts of lowland England, 80% of precipitation can be lost to evapotranspiration, exhausting the soils river flows are normally at their lowest durning summer

Question 4

Remote sensing

Answer 4

NOAA polar orbiters - measure cloud liquid water and total precipitable water

ICESAT - measures the surface height of ice sheets