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

Hydrologic Cycle & Water Budgets

---

Definitions

1. What is direct precipitation?
2. What is interception?
3. What is throughfall?
4. What is stemflow?
5. What is infiltration?
6. What is permeability?
7. What is porosity?
8. What is the zone of aeration?
9. What is throughflow?
10. What is percolation?
11. What is the water table?
12. What is the zone of saturation?
13. What is groundwater flow?
14. What is an aquifer?
15. What is overland flow (surface runoff)?
16. What is actual evapotranspiration?
17. What is potential evapotranspiration?
18. What is field capacity?
19. What is a surplus?
20. What is a deficit?

---

Content

1. What can happen to precipitation once it reaches the earth's surface?
2. Why is stemflow and throughfall important?
3. How are permeability and porosity related?
4. What specific characteristics of the earth's surface affect what happens to precipitation once it reaches the surface, and how do these characteristics affect what happens to precipitation?
5. What can happen to water once it soaks into the soil?
6. What distinguishes the zone of aeration from the zone of saturation?
7. Where does the water in aquifers come from?
8. Where does the water supply for Stevens Point come from?
9. How is potential evapotranspiration different from actual evapotranspiration?
10. What kinds of climates (from the last lecture outline) will have high potential evapotranspiration?
11. What kinds of climates (from the last lecture outline) will have high actual evapotranspiration?
12. What climatic characteristics lead to low rates of actual evapotranspiration?
13. What kinds of climates (from the last lecture outline) have a seasonal moisture balance?
14. What kinds of climates (from the last lecture outline) are moisture limited?
15. What kinds of climates (from the last lecture outline) are moisture abundant?
16. Based on information provided in water budgets, how are water budgets from dry climates distinguished from water budgets from humid climates?
17. What types of soil have high field capacities? What types of soils have low field capacities?
18. Under what conditions will a surplus occur? Why is it important to know when or where surpluses may occur?
19. How do we determine the intensity of a surplus at a place?
20. Under what conditions will a decit occur? Why is it important to know when or where deficits may occur?
21. Under what conditions will soil moisture recharge occur?
22. Under what conditinos will soil moisture utilization occur?
23. What soil texture is most likely to experience lots of surplus? Why?
24. What soil texture is most likely to experience lots of deficit? Why?
25. What climate types (fromt the last lecture outline) are most likely to experience surpluses? Deficits? Where are these climates located?
26. In a water budget, what are the three places precipitation can go to? Which of these places gets top priority?
27. In a water budget, what are the two sources of moisture for evaoptranspiration?