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Water & energy budgt
For 330 Water and energy budgets, most from Chapin 2011
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Albedo | Fraction of the incident shortwave radiation reflected from a surface. |
Diffuse radiation | Shortwave radiation that is scattered by particles and gases in the atmosphere. |
Direct radiation | Radiation that comes directly from the sun without scattering or reradiation by the atmosphere or objects in the environment. |
Evapotranspiration | Water loss from an ecosystem by transpiration and surface evaporation; equivalent to latent heat flux, but expressed in water units. |
Latent Heat | Energy transferred between a surface and the atmosphere by the evaporation of water or the condensation of water vapor; equivalent to evapotranspiration, but expressed in energy units. |
Latent heat flux | Energy required to change a gram of a substance from a liquid to a vapor without change in temperature. |
Longwave radiation | Radiation with wavelengths of about 4–30 mm. |
Net radiation | Balance between the inputs and outputs of shortwave and longwave radiation. |
Relative humidity | Ratio of the actual amount of water held in the atmosphere compared to maximum that could be held at that temperature. |
Saturation vapor pressure | The maximum water vapor pressure contained in air for a given temperature; equivelent to dew point temperature. |
Sensible heat flux | Energy that is conducted from a warm surface to the air immediately above it and then moved upward to the bulk atmosphere by convection. |
Shortwave radiation | Radiation with wavelengths of about 0.2–4.0 mm, including ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared radiation. |
Specific heat capacity | Energy required to warm a gram of a substance by 1˚C. |
Transpiration | Water movement through stomata from plants to the atmosphere. |
Turbulence | Irregular velocities of air or water movement that can transport heat and materials much more rapidly than by diffusion. |
Vapor pressure | Partial pressure exerted by water molecules in the air. |
Vapor pressure deficit | Difference in actual vapor pressure and the vapor pressure in air of the same temperature and pressure that is saturated with water vapor. |