WATER CYCLES definitions Flashcards
(51 cards)
Anticyclone
- A system of high pressure, causing high temperatures and unseasonably high evaporation rates.
Aquifer
- A permeable or porous rock which stores water
Antecedent
Moisture already present
Channel flow
Water flowing in a rivulet, stream or river
Convectional precipitation
Solar radiation heats the air above the ground, causing it to rise, cool & condense forming precipitation (often as thunderstorms)
Cryosphere
The global water volume locked up within a frozen state (i.e. snow and ice)
Depression
A system of low pressure, with fronts of precipitation where low and high pressure air masses meet.
Desalination plant
The conversion of seawater to freshwater, suitable for Human consumption
De sublimation
The change of state of water from gas to solid, without being a liquid (the opposite process to sublimation)
Drainage basin
The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries
Drainage density
The total length of all rivers & streams divided by the area of the drainage basin.
Drought
An extended period of deficient rainfall relative to the statistical average for the region (UN)
Economic water scarcity
When water resources are available but insufficient economic wealth limits access to it.
ENSO cycles
El Nino Southern Oscillations - naturally occurring phenomena that involves the movement of warm water in the Equatorial Pacific.
Evapotranspiration
The combined total moisture transferred from the Earth to the atmosphere, through evaporation and transpiration
Frontal precipitation
Where air masses of different temperatures meet at a front, one mass will be forced over another, causing precipitation beneath the front
Global hydrological cycle
The continuous transfer of water between land, atmosphere and oceans. The Earth is a closed system.
Groundwater flow
Water moving horizontally through permeable or porous Rock due to gravity.
Hydrological drought
Insufficient soil moisture to meet the needs of vegetation at a particular time
Infiltration
The movement of water vertically through the pores in soil.
Integrated drainage basin management
Establishing a frame of coordinated efforts between administrations (e.g. local government) and stakeholders (e.g businesses) to achieve balanced management of a basin (World Bank))
Interception
Raindrops are prevented from falling directly onto the ground, instead hitting the leaves of a tree.
Meteorological drought
When long-term precipitation trends are below average
Monsoon
The drastic variation between wet and dry seasons for sub-tropical
areas, caused by a changed prevailing wind. Can lead to annual flooding.
