4.8 Hydrological Cycle

Hydrological Cycle
Prepared by: Capt. Nitin Pathak

Reviewed 12th July 2019
Hydrological Cycle
Hydrological Cycle
• Three main stages of a Hydrological Cycle:
• Evaporation
• Condensation
• Precipitation
Hydrological Cycle
• Evaporation: is the transformation of water into
W.V. It is accelerated if the air is warm & dry (has
low Rel. humidity). Since about 3 Qtr. Of the
surface of earth is covered by water, enormous
qty. of W.V. form daily, from the sea surface.
• During evaporation, Latent heat is absorbed from
the surrounding air & from the water surface. It
is this latent heat that provides the energy
required for TRS & thunderstorms.
Hydrological Cycle
• Condensation: is the transformation of W.V. into
water. It is the opposite of evaporation. During
condensation, Latent heat is given off to the
surrounding air.
Condensation occurs if air is cooled below its Dew pt.
This is usually the result of:
• Contact with cold surface of land or sea.
• Adiabatic cooling when air rises.
• Contact with colder masses of air.
• Radiation of heat into space from upper layers of air.
Hydrological Cycle
• If condensation is caused by contact with cold land
surface. However, if a light wind is blowing over the cold
land surface, or if condensation is caused by any of the
other causes mentioned above, the water droplets form
on dust or minute salt particles and are so small that
they remain suspended in the air. The droplets have a
radius of < 10 microns (million microns = 1 mtr.). Large
qtys. Of such droplets near each other are visible to the
human eye. If these droplets are very near ground level,
they are called mist (or fog) and if they are well above
the ground level, they are called clouds.
Hydrological Cycle
• As many as millions of such droplets have to join
together to become one drop of water large
enough to fall towards the ground.
• Precipitation: is the name given to water drops
from a cloud, which fall towards the ground. Whilst
falling through different layers of water, the water
drops may freeze into soft ice (snow) or into hard
ice (hail). Mist & fog are not called precipitation
because the water droplets remain suspended in
the air & not to fall.
Hydrological Cycle
• Sometimes, precipitation evaporates completely,
during its transit through the atmosphere, and does
not reach the ground. It may then be visible as
vertical streamers below clouds & is called “Virga”.
• The hydrological cycle is thus the continuous process
whereby water from the sea surface evaporates,
precipitates & returns to the sea by way of rivers &
streams . Short circuits in the system do take place.
Evaporation takes place directly during precipitation
& also from the streams, rivers, lakes vegetation &
soil. Precipitation takes place over sea also.
Hydrological Cycle
• The most important point in the Hyd. Cycle is
that during evaporation, salt & other
impurities are left behind & hence water
obtained through precipitation is very pure.
However, in industrial areas the impurities
present in the air (air pollution) can be
absorbed by precipitation before it reaches
the ground.
Hydrological Cycle
• Condensation near the ground:
• Dew: When water vapour condenses into exposed surfaces on
or near the ground, it is called “ dew”.
• On clear nights, land gives off its heaat into space very quickly.
If clouds are present they reflect much of the escaping heat
back towards te earth’s surface & hence cooling is much
slower. By late night or early morning the surface of the land
gets very cold & hence the air in contact with it may get cooled
below its dew pt., resulting in the formation of dew. Dew can
also be formed at other times of the day if a warm moist wind
blows gently over cold land surface. The presence of water or
ice particles on the surface speeds up the formation of dew.
Hydrological Cycle
• Hoarfrost: A greyish-white crystalline deposit of
frozen water vapour formed in clear still weather on
vegetation, fences, etc..
• Under clear frosty nights in winter soft ice crystals
might form on vegetation, exposed surfaces on or
near the ground , when any object that has been
chilled below freezing. In this case, W.V. directly
turns into ice without becoming water. This deposit
of ice crystals is known as hoar frost and may
sometimes be so thick that it might look like snow.
Presence of ice particles on the surface quickens
the formation of hoarfrost.
Hydrological Cycle
Hydrological Cycle
• When W.V. directly turns into solids without
becoming liquid, it is called “Sublimation” in
Metrology.
• Hoarfrost should not be confused with frozen
dew. In case of frozen dew, the W.P. becomes
water & then freezes
Hydrological Cycle
• Glazed Frost: A glassy coating of ice, typically
caused by rain freezing on a surface whose
temp. below Freezing pt. Glazed frost can also
form if a warm moist current of air blows over
very cold surface.
• In UK, glazed frost is also called “Black Ice” as
it cannot be distinguished against a black road
surface It is dangerous to walk or drive on
glazed frost as it is very smooth & slippery.
Hydrological Cycle
Hydrological Cycle
• Rime should not be confused with hoardfrost.
Rime forms only on the windward side of
objects by freezing of water & is non-
crystalline. Hoarfrost froms on all sides of
objects by sublimation & ice is in the form of
Crystals.
Hydrological Cycle
• Rime: If the temp. of Water particles in a flog is below 0°,
they are said to be cooled droplets of water. When super
cooled water droplets in a fog come into contact with very
cold solid objects such as Ship’s mast, superstructure etc..
Whose temp. is below freezing pt., they freeze almost
immediately & remain struck to the object in the form of
ice. This white deposit of ice is called rime.
• Since these fog particles are carried by the wind, rime
forms only on the windward side of the objects. With
continuous super-cooled fog, rime can grow at the sate of
one cm. thickness per day. It is initially soft but can freeze
later into hard ice.

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Hydrological Cycle

Prepared by: Capt. Nitin Pathak

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