|
Home | Calendar
| Course Outline | Announcements
| Syllabus | Study
Aids | Grades | Geog/Geol
Dept | UWSP |

Affected by:
amount of available water
sunlight
temperature
water vapor content of the air
saturation curve
wind
Global Average Evaporation Rate 1988-2000 Based on NCEP-R2 Data Set
Image credit: NASA/GSFC (2007) Global Modeling and Assimilation Office http://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/research/merra/climate.php

Vapor pressure: weight of the molecules of water vapor (mb)
saturation vapor pressure
Mixing ratio: grams of water vapor per kilogram of air (g/kg)
saturation mixing ratio
Relative humidity: ratio of the water vapor content of the air to the water vapor capacity of the air
content: the actual amount of water vapor present
capacity: the maximum amount of water that can be maintained in a gaseous state given the air temperature
Image credit: NASA/JPL (2006) New Global Maps Made from AIRS Data. http://airs.jpl.nasa.gov/News/Features/FeaturesNewGlobalMaps/
Image credit:
©Michael Collier. Image source: Earth Science World Image Bank http://www.earthscienceworld.org/images
Stratocumulous clouds, Monument Valley, Arizona
Condensation
clouds
fog
Dew point temperature
Cooling mechanisms
radiation cooling (contact cooling)
uplift
Precipitation
collision-coalescence process
Bergeron ice crystal process
Image credit: National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center (2002) NOAA, Mean annual precipitation 1979-1995. http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/wayne/annual.precip.html
Image credit: National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center (2002) NOAA, Mean annual precipitation 1979-1995. http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/precip/realtime/clim/annual/monthly/annual.html

Hydrologic cycle
Evaporation: sunlight, temperature, humidity, wind
saturation curve
Humidity: vapor pressure, mixing ratio, relative humidity
relative humidity varies with air temperature and water vapor content
Condensation: dew point temperature, clouds, fog
Precipitation
Image credit: Ralph F. Kresge, NOAA Photo Library, Historic NWS Collection http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/historic/nws/wea02054.htm