Download Atmospheric Water

Water
Earth’s Water
• The atmosphere keeps Earth
warm enough for water to
exist in its liquid form.
• 75% of Earth is covered by
water.
– Hydrosphere – Earth’s water
environment: oceans, lakes,
rivers and other bodies of water.
– ONLY 2.5% of this is found as
fresh water.
• 70% of the fresh water locked in ice.
• 1% in liquid form
– ONLY .08% of fresh water in liquid
form, is available for domestic use.
Water Cycle
• The circulation of water within the atmosphere
– Powered by the sun
Condensation
Evaporation
Precipitation
Runoff
Evaporation
• The process by which a liquid water becomes a
gas, due to added heat.
– water to water vapor
• Transpiration - water loss from the leaves of plants.
• Humidity - The measure of the amount of water
vapor in the air.
Relative Humidity
– The amount of water vapor in a given volume of air,
compared to the total amount that it could hold at a given
temperature = relative humidity.
• Cold air = little moisture
– More dense and less volume
• Warm air = lots of moisture
– Less dense and greater volume
• Finding Relative Humidity
1. Use two types of thermometers and find the difference
between the two temperatures:
Dry Bulb - Wet Bulb = Wet-Bulb Depression
2. Use the chart to find the intersection of the dry bulb
temperature and the depression.
Relative Humidity
Dry Bulb
(F)
Wet Bulb
(F)
Depression
80
40
70
35
10
100
97
5
3
Relative
Humidity
(%)
61%
61%
90%
Condensation
• The process by which a gas becomes a liquid
or solid, through the loss of heat
– water vapor to water or ice
• clouds
• 3 Types of Clouds:
– Based on altitude
in the troposphere
1. Cumulus
2. Stratus
3. Cirrus
Stratus
• Below 2km
– Flat layers
• Strato = “spread out”
• Cover all or most of the
sky
• Nimbostratus =
Produce drizzle, rain or
snow
– Nimbo = rain
Cumulus
• 2km above ground
• Cumulus means “heap” or
“mass”
• Look fluffy, rounded piles of
cotton
– Indicate fair weather
• Cumulonimbus =
“thunderheads”
– Nimbus is Latin for “rain”
• 7km above ground
Cirrus
• Form only at high levels,
above 6km with low
temperatures
– Wispy, feathery
– Made of ice crystals
• Cirrocumulus look like
rows of cotton balls
– Indicate a storm is on its
way
Precipitation
• Any form of water that falls from clouds and
reaches Earth’s surface.
– ALWAYS comes from clouds!
• Types of Precipitation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Rain
Sleet
Freezing Rain
Hail
Snow
Precipitation Maps
Precipitation Map Analysis
1. What units were used to measure the annual
precipitation? inches
2. How much annual precipitation does Long Island
receive? 44 inches
3. What range of precipitation would Syracuse be in?
36-40 inches
4. Which location in NY State received the greatest
amount of annual precipitation? Catskills
– How much? 56-60 inches
5. Which location in NY State received the least
amount of annual precipitation? Champlain Lowlands
– How much? 28-32 inches