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What happens to the rain?
Author(s) -
Keen B. A.
Publication year - 1939
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49706528002
Subject(s) - acre , transpiration , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , movement (music) , vegetation (pathology) , meteorology , geography , agroforestry , geology , geotechnical engineering , medicine , philosophy , botany , photosynthesis , pathology , biology , aesthetics
An annual rainfall of 30 in. means that 3,000 tons of water fall on an acre of land. In the course of the year this all disappears, by run‐off, evaporation, transpiration through vegetation, and by downward percolation. The relative importance of these factors in British and overseas conditions is discussed. Many of the traditional beliefs among farmers and gardeners were based on a theory of water movement that was attractively simple to understand—but incorrect. It is only in recent years that the true picture of the movement of water in the soil has been built up. In consequence, some of the traditional practices need revision, while others now have a different explanation. The new work has also clarified some of the concepts used in hydrology.