Hydrometeorology

(meteorology) That part of meteorology of direct concern to hydrologic problems, particularly to flood control, hydroelectric power, irrigation, and similar fields of engineering and water resources.

The study of the occurrence, movement, and changes in the state of water in the atmosphere. The term is also used in a more restricted sense, especially by hydrologists, to mean the study of the exchange of water between the atmosphere and continental surfaces. This includes the processes of precipitation and direct condensation, and of evaporation and transpiration from natural surfaces. Considerable emphasis is placed on the statistics of precipitation as a function of area and time for given locations or geographic regions.

Water occurs in the atmosphere primarily in vapor or gaseous form. The average amount of vapor present tends to decrease with increasing elevation and latitude and also varies strongly with season and type of surface. Precipitable water, the mass of vapor per unit area contained in a column of air extending from the surface of the Earth to the outer extremity of the atmosphere, varies from almost zero in continental arctic air to about 6 g/cm² in very humid, tropical air.

Although a trivial proportion of the water of the globe is found in the atmosphere at any one instant, the rate of exchange of water between the atmosphere and the continents and oceans is high. Evaporation from the ocean surface and evaporation and transpiration from the land are the sources of water vapor for the atmosphere. Water vapor is removed from the atmosphere by condensation and subsequent precipitation in the form of rain, snow, sleet, and so on. The amount of water vapor removed by direct condensation at the Earth's surface (dew) is relatively small. See also Hydrology; Meteorology; Precipitation (meteorology).

Hydrometeorology is a branch of meteorology and hydrology that studies the transfer of water and energy between the land surface and the lower atmosphere.

Hydrometeorology is the science that is used to predict Climate Change.

See also

• Hydrological transport model
• Hydrometry

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