Hydrologic Cycle

The water, or hydrologic, cycle describes the pilgrimage of water as water molecules make their
way from the Earth’s surface to the atmosphere and back again, in some cases to below the surface.
This gigantic system, powered by energy from the Sun, is a continuous exchange of moisture
between the oceans, the atmosphere, and the land.

Many processes work together to keep Earth's water moving in a cycle. There are five processes
at work in the hydrologic cycle: condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and
evapotranspiration. These occur simultaneously and, except for precipitation, continuously.

Together, these five processes - condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and

evapotranspiration- make up the Hydrologic Cycle. Water vapor condenses to form clouds, which
result in precipitation when the conditions are suitable. Precipitation falls to the surface and
infiltrates the soil or flows to the ocean as runoff. Surface water (e.g., lakes, streams, oceans, etc.),
evaporates, returning moisture to the atmosphere, while plants return water to the atmosphere by
transpiration.

Evapotranspiration is water evaporating from the ground and transpiration by plants.

Evapotranspiration is also the way water vapor re-enters the atmosphere.

Evaporation occurs when radiant energy from the sun heats water, causing the water molecules to
become so active that some of them rise into the atmosphere as vapor.

Studies have revealed that evaporation—the process by which water changes from a liquid to a
gas—from oceans, seas, and other bodies of water (lakes, rivers, streams) provides nearly 90% of
the moisture in our atmosphere. Most of the remaining 10% found in the atmosphere is released
by plants through transpiration. Plants take in water through their roots, then release it through
small pores on the underside of their leaves. In addition, a very small portion of water vapor enters
the atmosphere through sublimation, the process by which water changes directly from a solid (ice
or snow) to a gas. The gradual shrinking of snow banks in cases when the temperature remains
below freezing results from sublimation.

Transpiration occurs when plants take in water through the roots and release it through the leaves,
a process that can clean water by removing contaminants and pollution.

Together, evaporation, transpiration, and sublimation, plus volcanic emissions, account for almost
all the water vapor in the atmosphere that isn’t inserted through human activities. While
evaporation from the oceans is the primary vehicle for driving the surface-to-atmosphere portion
of the hydrologic cycle, transpiration is also significant. For example, a cornfield 1 acre in size can
transpire as much as 4,000 gallons of water every day.
After the water enters the lower atmosphere, rising air currents carry it upward, often high into the
atmosphere, where the air is cooler. In the cool air, water vapor is more likely to condense from a
gas to a liquid to form cloud droplets. Cloud droplets can grow and produce precipitation
(including rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, and hail), which is the primary mechanism for
transporting water from the atmosphere back to the Earth’s surface.

Condensation is the process of water changing from a vapor to a liquid. Water vapor in the air rises
mostly by convection. This means that warm, humid air will rise, while cooler air will flow
downward. As the warmer air rises, the water vapor will lose energy, causing its temperature to
drop. The water vapor then has a change of state into liquid or ice.

You can see condensation in action whenever you take a cold soda from the refrigerator and set it
in a room. Notice how the outside of the soda can "sweats?" The water doesn't come from inside
the can, it comes from the water vapor in the air. As the air cools around the can water droplets
form.

Precipitation is water being released from clouds as rain, sleet, snow, or hail. Precipitation begins
after water vapor, which has condensed in the atmosphere, becomes too heavy to remain in
atmospheric air currents and falls.

Under some circumstances precipitation actually evaporates before it reaches the surface. More
often, though, precipitation reaches the Earth's surface, adding to the surface water in streams and
lakes, or infiltrating the soil to become groundwater.

A portion of the precipitation that reaches the Earth's surface seeps into the ground through the
process called infiltration. The amount of water that infiltrates the soil varies with the degree of
land slope, the amount and type of vegetation, soil type and rock type, and whether the soil is
already saturated by water. The more openings in the surface (cracks, pores, joints), the more
infiltration occurs. Water that doesn't infiltrate the soil flows on the surface as runoff.

Precipitation that reaches the surface of the Earth but does not infiltrate the soil is called runoff.
Runoff can also come from melted snow and ice.

When there is a lot of precipitation, soils become saturated with water. Additional rainfall can no
longer enter it. Runoff will eventually drain into creeks, streams, and rivers, adding a large amount
of water to the flow. Surface water always travels towards the lowest point possible, usually the
oceans. Along the way some water evaporates, percolates into the ground, or is used for
agricultural, residential, or industrial purposes.

As you can see, many process are at work to give you the water you need. And these processes are
always at work. Just because Antarctica is frozen doesn't mean that evaporation is not taking place
(ice can turn directly to water vapor by a process called sublimation). And because the Sahara
Desert is so dry doesn't mean that precipitation is not happening (it evaporates before it makes it
to the ground).

Almost all of the water eventually flows into the oceans or other bodies of water, where the cycle
continues. At different stages of the cycle, some of the water is intercepted by humans or other life
forms for drinking, washing, irrigating, and a large variety of other uses.