Moisture in the Climate System

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Moisture in the Climate System

• The Hydrosphere
• The Hydrologic Cycle
• The Global Water Budget
• The Surface Water Budget
• Chapters 4.0 and 5.4

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Moisture in the Climate System
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• The Hydrosphere
• The hydrosphere includes water on the Earth in
  all its forms

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The Hydrosphere
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• Atmosphere
• Soil profile
• Vegetation
• Oceans
• Cryosphere

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The Climate System
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The Hydrosphere
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• The hydrosphere consists mostly of ocean
  saltwater (97.2)
• The remaining percent consists of fresh water
  (2.8)

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The Hydrosphere
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Not in Book
Strahler and Strahler Introducing Physical
Geography
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The Hydrosphere
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• Most of the fresh water is stored as ice sheets,
  glaciers, and ground water
• Only 0.02 of the total water on the Earth
  remains for use by plants, animals and humans

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The Hydrosphere
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Strahler and Strahler Introducing Physical
Geography
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The Hydrosphere
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• A very small percentage (0.001) of water are
  held as vapor and cloud water droplets in the
  atmosphere
• While small, this reservoir of water is of
  enormous importance

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The Hydrologic Cycle
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• The hydrologic cycle traces the various paths of
  water form oceans, through the atmosphere, to
  land, and its return to the oceans

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The Hydrologic Cycle
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Relates to Figure 4.1
Strahler and Strahler Introducing Physical
Geography
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The Hydrologic Cycle
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• Evaporation
• Evapotranspiration
• Condensation
• Precipitation
• Infiltration
• Runoff
• Storage

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The Hydrologic Cycle
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Relates to Figure 4.1
Strahler and Strahler Introducing Physical
Geography
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The Global Water Budget
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• The global water budget is a quantitative view of
  the hydrologic cycle
• While the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere
  is a small fraction of the total amount of water
  in the hydrosphere, the absolute quantities in
  the atmosphere are quite large

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The Global Water Budget
____________________________
Not in Book
Strahler and Strahler Introducing Physical
Geography
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The Surface Water Budget
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• Simply
• Input Output Net Quantity
• More Detailed
• Precipitation Evaporation ? ? Storage
  Runoff
• P E ? ? S R

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The Surface Water Budget
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• P E ? ? S R
• Implications of changes in the components of the
  water budget
• Precipitation versus Evaporation?
• Storage?
• Runoff?

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The Surface Water Budget
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• P E ? ? S R
• Actual Evaporation (AE)
• Potential Evaporation (PE)
• When P gt PE, then moist climate
• When P lt PE, then dry climate

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The Surface Water Budget
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• Human Influences on AE versus PE
• Irrigation
• Lake/Dam Construction
• In dry areas, results in AE approaching or
  reaching PE
• Modification of local climate

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