Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Water potential is the potential energy of water per unit volume relative to pure water in reference conditions. Water potential quantifies the tendency of water to move from one area to another due to osmosis , gravity , mechanical pressure and matrix effects such as capillary action (which is caused by surface tension ).
This shows the net movement of water down its potential energy gradient, from highest water potential in the soil to lowest water potential in the air. [1] The soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC) is the pathway for water moving from soil through plants to the atmosphere. Continuum in the description highlights the continuous nature of water ...
The water cycle is essential to life on Earth and plays a large role in the global climate system and ocean circulation. The warming of our planet is expected to be accompanied by changes in the water cycle for various reasons. [24] For example, a warmer atmosphere can contain more water vapor which has effects on evaporation and rainfall.
Evapotranspiration (ET) refers to the combined processes which move water from the Earth's surface (open water and ice surfaces, bare soil and vegetation) into the atmosphere. [ 2 ] : 2908 It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies , and water bodies) and transpiration (evaporation that occurs ...
Within the atmospheric sciences, atmospheric physics is the application of physics to the study of the atmosphere.Atmospheric physicists attempt to model Earth's atmosphere and the atmospheres of the other planets using fluid flow equations, radiation budget, and energy transfer processes in the atmosphere (as well as how these tie into boundary systems such as the oceans).
Atmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science in which the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets is studied. It is a multidisciplinary field of research and draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteorology, computer modeling, oceanography, geology and volcanology and other disciplines.
View of Amazon basin forest north of Manaus, Brazil. The term “biotic pump” infers a circulation system driven by biological processes. This concept shows forests as being the major factors in manipulating atmospheric processes to cycle rainfall taken up by trees throughout all continents and back to the atmosphere for further cycling. [4]
The liquid water path also contributes to important cloud properties. As the value of the liquid water path increases, so does the albedo of the cloud. This increase in albedo is seen most quickly at the lower end of the liquid water path spectrum, that is, the smaller the amount of total water, the quicker the albedo increases.