Climate: Energy

EQUATIONS: ENERGY

Once water is introduced to the system as precipitation, the available energy, specifically solar radiation, exerts a major control on the movement of water in the land phase of the hydrologic cycle. Processes that are greatly affected by temperature and solar radiation include snow fall, snow melt and evaporation. Since evaporation is the primary water removal mechanism in the watershed, the energy inputs become very important in reproducing or simulating an accurate water balance.