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.