Hydrology - treats of the water of the earth, their
occurrence, circulation and distribution, their
chemical ang physical properties, and their reaction with their environment, including their relation to living things. Thiessen method method of determining the average depth of precipitation that attempts to allow for nonuniform distribution of gages by providing a weighing factor for each gage. Soil Water the moisture region in the vadose zone penetrated by roots of vegetation, ranging to 30 ft below the soil surface which fluctuates in amount as vegetation removes moisture between rains. Frontal Precipitation results from the lifting of warm air on one side of a frontal surface over a colder, denser air on the other side. Water Table the locus of points (in unconfined material) where hydrostatic pressure equals atmospheric pressure Heavy rainfall over 0.30 in/hr (2.8 to 7.6 mm/hr) Moderate Rainfall from 0.11 to 0.30 in/hr (2.8 to 7.6 mm/hr) Light rainfall for rates of fall up to 0.10 in/hr (2.5 mm/hr) inclusive Capillary Fringe moisture region above the water table where it is raised by capillary action Zone of Saturation another term for Phreatic Zone Confined or Artesian Water groundwater that is overlain by an impervious stratum and is usually under pressure because of the weight of the overburden and the hydrostatic head. Perched groundwater local saturated zones that exist above an impervious layer of limited extent Tipping-bucket gage the water caught in the collector is funneled into a two compartment bucket; 0.01in or some other designed quantity of rain will fill one compartment aqnd overbalance the bucket so that it tips, emptying into a reservoir and moving the second compartment into place beneath the funnel. As the bucket is tipped, it actuates an electrical circuit. Warm-front precipitation formed in the warm air advancing upward over a colder air mass. Flowing Well - the discharge of the well if its piezometric level is above the ground level. Weighing-type gage weighs the rain or snow which falls into a bucket set on the platform of a spring or lever balance. The increasing weight of the bucket and its contents is recorded on a chart. Punched-tape recorder punches the amount of precipitation accumulated in the collector on a tape in digital code, which later can be run through a translator for adapting to computer evaluation of the record Cyclonic precipitation results from the lifting of air converging into a low pressure area or cyclone. Cyclonic cyclone maybe either frontal or non-frontal. Warm-front precipitation formed in the warm air advancing upward over a colder air mass. Reflectivity the ratio of the amount of electro reflected by a body to the amount incident magnetic radiation upon it Convective precipitation is caused by the rising of warmer, lighter air in colder, denser surroundings. Grid-point method averages the estimated precipitation at all points of superimposed grid. Phreatic Zone zone below the water table which is filled with water. Solar Constant the rate at which solar radiation reaches the upper limits of earths atmosphere on a surface normal to the incident radiation and at earths mean distance from the sun. Isohyets contours of equal precipitation Float recording gages the rise of the float with increasing catch of rainfall is recorded. Some gages must be emptied manually, while others are emptied automatically by self-starting siphons. Gravity water soil moisture present in larger soil pore spaces Hail precipitation in the form of balls of ice, produced in convective clouds, mostly cumulonimbus Rainfall refers to the amounts of liquid precipitation Rain consists of liquid water drops mostly larger than 0.5 mm in diameter. Glaze is the ice coating, generally clear and smooth, formed on exposed surfaces by the freezing of supercooled water deposited by rain or drizzle. Drizzle sometimes called mist, consists of tiny liquid water droplets, usually with diameters between 0.1 and 0.5 mm, with such slow settling rates that they occasionally appear to float. Snow composed of ice crystals, chiefly in complex, branched, hexagonal form, and often agglomerated into snowflakes. Hailstones maybe spheroidal, conical or irregular in shape generally composed of alternating layers of glaze and rime. Rime is a white, opaque deposit of ice granules more or less separated by trapped air and formed by rapid freezing of supercooled water drops impinging on exposed objects. Piezometric level level by which water will rise to be the artesian equivalent of the water table Hydrometeor any product of condensation of atmospheric water vapor formed in the free air or at earths surface. Vadose zone - the layer above the water table where soil pores may contain either air or water. Zone of aeration another name for vadose zone Soil Water the moisture region in the vadose zone penetrated by roots of vegetation, ranging to 30 ft below the soil surface which fluctuates in amount as vegetation removes moisture between rains.