EESB03H3 Chapter 4: Chapter 4 Humidity
8 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Humidity: humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. Water vapor in the atmosphere is very important because it effectively absorbs longwave radiation, making the earth warmer. Most of the water in the atmosphere is composed of water vapor. Water transforms between vapor, liquid and solid forms and interacts with the hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and anthrosphere. The atmosphere is constantly circulating and is connected to other earth systems through the hydrological cycle. The main components of the hydrological cycle are evaporation, transpiration, condensation and precipitation of water. Evapotranspiration incorporates both evaporation and transpiration and represents the total flow of water into the atmosphere. P = e + r + change in s. Where p = precipitation, e = evapotranspiration, r = groundwater recharge, and s = storage. Potential evapotranspiration (pe) expresses the evaporation that would occur is water were readily available in the soil.
