earth 280

Collision coalescence

require high liquid content in cloud, strong updraft, large range of cloud droplet sizes, cloud must be thick enough so that droplets have enough time to gather surrounding droplets 

Beregerson process

small ice crystals form (needs the presence of the ice nuclei) at cold temperatures, liquid evaporates and recondenses on the ice particles making it heavy enough to fall 

geosphere

solid earth, crust, mantle and core (tectonic plates, rocks, minerals and mountains) 

hydrosphere

all water on, under, above the earth's surface

Atmosphere

layer of gas that provides oxygen (contains the ozone layer)

Biosphere

all living organisms

Hydrosphere & atmosphere

heat exchange and moisture transfer (water cycle: the solar energy evaporates ocean water into the atmosphere) 

Atmosphere and biosphere

gas exchange (plants absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen & all animals consuming O and exhaling CO2) 

Geosphere and hydrosphere

weathering/erosion/sedimentation 

biosphere and geosphere

 decomposed plants and animals enrich the soil 

Troposphere

the lowest point in earths atmosphere (where weather is present)

potable water

Safe drinking water comes from glaciers, icecaps, groundwater, and surface water (more prone to pollution because of waste and agricultural pathogens)

Groundwater pumping

• Causes the clay and silt sediment layers to compress causing the ground to sink, after they sink an aquifer can no longer hold the same volume of water 

• Lowers the water table (where all the gaps and cracks in rocks and soil are completely filled with water) (looses porous structure) 

• Intercepts groundwater that would discharge into streams and wetlands

quants

sloping underground channels that are dug near the water table so that water can be transported to towns and fields for irrigation 

Aqueduct

 picks up water from a higher elevation water source and transports it through the use of gravity to lower elevation city 

the gallatin report and america going “canal crazy”

A period during the 19th century where infrastructure expanded and there was a plan to build interconnected roads and canals over the span of 10 years 

• Individual states built canals for economic profit

• canals are easily be polluted by urban runoff and is high maintenance

water properties and hydrogen bond

has electrostatic attraction and hydrogen bonding

• can dissolve ionic substances and create hydration shells

• can easily transport env pollutants in groundwater systems and aquatic habitats

melting (fusion)

solid into liquid

• absorbs latent heat

freezing

liquid into solid

• releases latent heat

vaporization (evaporation/boiling)

liquid to gas/vapor

• absorbs latent heat

condensation

water vapor into liquid

• releases a large amount of latent heat

deposition

water vapor into ice

condensation in troposphere

occurs when rising warm air cools to its dew point

• drives cloud formation, weather patterns and storms

relative humidity

water vapor that the air holds at a certain temperature

• how full the air is of moisture compared to the current temperature

dew point temperature

temperature that the air has cooled down to, to have 100% saturation (true humidity measurement)

• excess moisture

• explains wet grass/cement, fog, and clouds!

fog

forms when air saturates and when relative humidity is at 100%

radiation fog

generally forms when the air near the surface cool to the saturation temperature due to radiation cooling at night when the sun has set

advection fog

warm air moves over a cool surface and cools the bottom to its dew point

upslope valley fogs

special cases of advection fogs but particular in hilly terrain, form when air cools to condensation

circo cloluds

mostly made of ice crystals

stratus > circus (curly) > circo cumulus (lumpy) > cumulonimbus (produce precipitation

stratus

alto stratus > alto cumulus > strato cumulus > stratus

low clouds

nimbostratus > cumulus

collision coalescence

process by which microscopic water droplets in warm clouds grow large enough to fall as rain

beregerson process

small ice crystals form at cold temperatures, water vapor from liquid droplets to the ice crystals

• deposition occurs

• ice crystals and supercooled water droplets exist together

cyclonic precipitation

occurs when warm and cold air masses meet on a weather front and the warmer air is forced to rise over the dense cold air

• prolonged rainfall that can last days or hours

convective precipitation

intense solar heating warms the earth surface and the air near the ground becomes warm, less dense and rises into the atmosphere

• produces short lived but intense downpours

• thunder and lightning

orographic precipitation

when air encounters a topographic barrier like a mountain and is forced upward

• creates heavy precipitation on the upwind side and dry rain shadow effect on the downwind side

gross precipitation

total rainfall or snow measured in the open unaffected by trees or plants

net precipitation

portion of water that actually reaches the soil surface after passing through the plant canopy

cloud seeding

Generators spray silver iodide into the clouds, droplets of supercooled water attach to silver iodide and freeze, heat releases as the droplets freeze and boosts updrafts which pull moist air into the cloud making more precipitation

how soil forms from weathering

decomposition of rocks

results in regolith, soil, or dissolved ions in water

Infiltration

the process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil

• When it rains the water ___ the soil and can produce nutrients but also contaminants 

• Depends on viscosity and permeability

Viscosity

 a fluids resistance to flow (honey has high viscosity and water has low viscosity) 

Permeability

 how easily fluids flow through porous material like rock, soil, or sand 

Infiltration rate

the constant speed at which water moves into the soil after it becomes nearly saturated 

• Rate decreases as soil becomes saturated 

• increases with vegetation buffers and conservation tillage

vegetation buffers

remove and slow down surface water, run off and erosion

• water instead soaks into the ground

P=ET+R

precipitation = evapotranspiration + runoff

tau = S/Q

residence time = water stored in / water that leaves

• low residence time means water doesnt stay in long enough to interact with mineral sources so it has low salinity