Reference no: EM132692151

Assignment: Global and Regional Climates and Water at the Earth's Surface

PART 1: Multiple-Choice Questions
Please answer the following questions by indicating the correct answer.
1. What is the most important factor in determining water need (Ep)?
a) Soil-water quantity
b) Precipitation
c) Water use
d) Temperature
2. The actual amount of water vapour returned to the atmosphere from the soil surface and vegetation is termed:
a) Water surplus.
b) Total evapotranspiration.
c) Actual evapotranspiration.
d) Actual water loss.
3. A series of related drainage systems forms a:
a) River system.
b) Drainage boundary.
c) Drainage divide.
d) Drainage basin.
4. Stream discharge will increase in response to a period of heavy rainfall. What is the most important factor in determining the lag time for this?
a) The size of the drainage basin feeding the stream
b) The number of drainage systems involved
c) The amount of precipitation dropped on the site
d) The steepness of the gradient of the drainage basin

5. The vast majority of water on the Earth is stored in:
a) Ice sheets and glaciers.
b) Freshwater lakes and streams.
c) The atmosphere.
d) The oceans.
e) Groundwater.
6. The measurable amount of water vapour that is in a definable body of air is:
a) Humidity.
b) Maximum humidity.
c) Hydrologic cycle.
d) Specific humidity.
e) Relative humidity.
7. The ratio between the measurable amount of water vapour that is in a definable body of air and the maximum amount of water vapour that a definable body of air can hold at a given temperature is:
a) Relative humidity.
b) Maximum humidity.
c) Hydrologic cycle.
d) Specific humidity.
e) Total humidity.
8. The dry adiabatic lapse rate is:
a) The average change in temperature of still air with altitude.
b) The change in temperature that occurs due to variations in air pressure.
c) The rate at which an unsaturated body of air cools while lifting or warms while descending.
d) The altitude at which water changes from the vapour to the liquid phase.
e) The rate at which a saturated body of air cools as it lifts.
9. The climate that has a greater daily temperature range than annual range is:
a) Marine west-coast.
b) Humid subtropical hot-summer.
c) Hot low-latitude desert.
d) Tropical rainforest.
e) Tropical savanna.
10. The climate of Yellowknife, Canada, shown below, is:

Assignment Figure 4.1: Climate of Yellowknife, Canada
a) Humid continental mild-summer.
b) Subarctic.
c) Arctic.
d) Tundra.
e) Ice cap.

PART 2: Soils, Groundwater, and Surface Water
Please answer the following questions.
You may wish to answer the following questions and quantitative problems in point form and use diagrams where appropriate. Avoid writing a simple précis or copying the glossary or textbook definitions; otherwise, your mark will be lower.
11. Infiltration capacities for three soils are given next. Express each of these capacities in centimetres (cm) per hour.
• 75 cm in 2 hours i._______________ cm per hour
• 400 mm in 300 minutes ii.______________ cm per hour
• 2.5 m in 10 hours iii.______________ cm per hour
12. In one short paragraph apiece, define and briefly discuss each of the following components of the soil-water balance:
a) Water surplus
b) Storage withdrawal
c) Soil moisture storage
d) Soil-water recharge
13. In one short paragraph apiece, define each of the following components of the groundwater subsystem:
a) Hydraulic head
b) Transmission
c) Artesian flow
d) Overland flow
e) Drainage basin

PART 3: Quantitative Exercise I-Soil-Water Budgets
14. For this question, you will graph and interpret soil-water budget data for the following two stations in different parts of British Columbia. Before you attempt this question, review the sections on soil-water budgets and surface water in British Columbia in Unit 6. In particular, re-examine Tables 6.1 to 6.3 and Figure 6.16 in Unit 6.
a) Using the raw data provided for P, Ea, Ep, and T for each month and a value of S for January only, calculate monthly values for G, R, D, and S, and complete the soil-water budget tables for the following stations:
i. Hedley, in the Similkameen Valley of southern British Columbia (Assignment Table 4.1)
ii. Comox, on eastern Vancouver Island (Assignment Table 4.2)
b) Using the tables you have just completed, construct soil-water budget graphs for both stations. Write a brief interpretation of both graphs (no more than 250 words). Be careful how you deal with G (+G, -G), R, and S for the winter and early spring.
c) Submit your completed tables, soil-water budget graphs, and the integrations.

PART 4: Quantitative Exercise II-Stream Discharge
15. For this question, graph and then interpret stream discharge data for the following two stations in different parts of British Columbia. Mean, maximum, and minimum stream discharge data (in m3 per second) are provided for the Similkameen River at Hedley (Assignment Table 4.3) and the Oyster River near Comox (Assignment Table 4.4). Choose the scale of your vertical axes carefully so that your graphs clearly show the seasonal differences in discharge.
a) Construct a hydrograph for the Similkameen River at Hedley.
b) Construct a hydrograph for the Oyster River near Comox.

c) Write a short interpretation of each hydrograph (150-200 words or one page for each hydrograph), and focus on:
• Explaining the annual trends in discharge.
• Commenting on the differences between mean, maximum, and minimum discharge.
• Comparing the two hydrographs for differences and similarities.
d) Comment on any relationship that you can discern between the annual soil-water budgets of Hedley and Comox (Part 3) and the hydrograph for each of the two stations. This part of your answer should be no longer than 150 to 200 words. You may reference key differences between climates.
e) Submit both hydrographs, and your interpretations and commentaries on the relationship between the hydrographs and the soil-water budgets.

PART 5: Review
Answer one of the following questions.

16. Explain, with examples, how air mass characteristics and source regions can be used for classification of climates. Your answer should be about 500 words.

17. Describe the Köppen classification climate system and explain how it is used to differentiate climate regions on Earth. Provide details on differences between two specific Köppen climates. (Your answer should be about 500 words.)

18. In a short essay of about 500 words, summarize the dominant factors other than soil texture that influence infiltration capacities in soils. You may illustrate and support your answer with diagrams, tables, and references.

19. In about 500 words, discuss some of the processes and factors that influence stream discharge. Relate your answer to patterns of surface water in British Columbia.

Attachment:- Global and Regional Climates and Water.rar