Watershed Management 1 (WSHD1) Practice Test

These questions are part of the practice quiz. Start practicing

• Which of the following is a direct phase change associated with the hydrologic cycle?
• Addition and subtraction of water on Earth is described as which of the following?
• Which statement best describes field capacity?
• Which option best describes the factors influencing interception by trees addressing both amount and timing?
• Transpiration occurs in trees when ____ are open in ____, which can ____ flows in creeks and rivers.
• In a canopy interception water balance, throughfall is calculated as TF = P - I - SF. If I = 1.2, P = 3.1, and SF = 1.0, what is TF (to the tenth place)?
• Why is condensation nuclei important for condensation?
• How is the relative proportion of the watershed covered by each delineated area calculated in an Isohyetal?
• In the return interval equation, which option correctly identifies n?
• How does rain form?
• Which condition leads to the formation of a self-sustaining channel that erodes deep enough to reach groundwater, allowing water to remain for some or all of the year?
• Hydraulic head drives Darcian flow and is the sum of which components?
• The planetary theory posits that Earth's water originated from asteroids and meteorites delivering small amounts of ice over long periods of time. Which option correctly reflects this?
• Which of the following is NOT a method to average precipitation?
• Which factor is a determinant of interception by trees?
• The dominant resisting force in saturated soil is
• Latent heat release during condensation causes the warm air to do what?
• Another assumption of Darcy's law about the fluid.
• Which factors influence evaporation?
• What is the final step in estimating rainfall for the whole watershed using the Thiessen method?
• In the return interval equation t = 1/P = (n+1)/m, what does m represent?
• From what surfaces can evaporation occur?
• In saturated soil, what is the dominant resisting force to water movement?
• Isohyetal method is considered the most accurate because it accounts for terrain and measured rainfall.
• Which factor most directly influences the moisture availability for precipitation formation?
• Which process moves water from the surface into the soil, contributing to groundwater recharge?
• Snow-water equivalent (SWE) indicates what?
• What force pulls raindrops downward to Earth?
• Which type of soil water is water that remains tightly bound to soil particles and is not readily available to plants?
• Which of the following is a component of global wind patterns?
• What is the main advantage of Dual Polarization Radar?
• La Niña is characterized by which of the following?
• Which two processes contribute to water vapor entering the atmosphere from land surfaces?
• How is climate defined?
• Which term describes water reaching the ground after canopy processes?
• Why do clays and silts release water slowly?
• What is created after identifying midpoints in the Thiessen method?
• Which statement best reflects Darcy's Law soil assumptions?
• The cycle of precipitation described is driven by which atmospheric process?
• What term describes water in soil that is held so tightly that plants cannot use it?
• What term describes the horizontal movement of air due to pressure differences that helps transport storms around the globe?
• What happens to soil water after rainfall if drainage occurs under gravity?
• Which of the following is NOT one of the three primary factors responsible for the general distribution of precipitation in North America?
• Which method prevents zero or 100% probability predictions and is more reliable for small data sets?
• Elevation head is defined as what component of hydraulic head?
• Which statement about dew formation is correct?
• In a canopy interception water balance, throughfall equals precipitation minus interception minus stemflow. If interception is 1.2, precipitation is 3.1, and stemflow is 1.0, what is the throughfall to the tenth place?
• Which factor is not listed among soil retention properties?
• What best describes loams in terms of composition and water retention characteristics?
• Darcy's law is most valid under which combination of conditions?
• El Niño is associated with heavy rainfall in which region?
• Infiltration occurs when water is absorbed by the ground and becomes soil moisture or groundwater. Which option best represents this process?
• Which statement about transpiration is true?
• Surface runoff occurs when infiltration cannot keep up with rainfall, leading to pools or runoff as sheet flow, rivulets, or channels. Which statement is correct?
• Which statement about condensation is true?
• Isohyetal method has a disadvantage described as:
• Which expression correctly gives the area of a circle with radius r?
• Which concept includes major wet and dry air masses, jet streams, and Coriolis effect?
• What do capillary forces do in unsaturated soils?
• Which of the following is not listed as a factor influencing how a stream looks and behaves?
• Sheetflow usually occurs in which terrain?
• Which of the following is a major biome listed?
• What drives Darcian flow in saturated soils?
• Which property describes the ease of water movement through a material, given pore connectivity?
• In the interception water balance, what does the variable T denote in I = P - S - T?
• Which statement best describes snow formation?
• Which process describes water held by the plant canopy and evaporated rather than reaching the ground?
• Which type of precipitation forms when snowflakes melt into rain and refreeze before reaching the ground?
• The weight of a sphere increases with?
• What is hydrology the study of?
• Water is added to Earth primarily by which sources?
• In snow measurement, which method uses remote sensing deployed from above to measure snow?
• In cold climates, snow stored on vegetation can return to the atmosphere via which process?
• Climate cycles are driven by which factors?
• Which factors influence the fall rate of raindrops?
• What is snow?
• In the Thiessen rainfall averaging method, what is the first step?
• Which set of factors best describes influences on how a stream looks and behaves?
• Which technology combines active and passive sensors to measure precipitation from space?
• What does hydraulic conductivity affect in soils?
• Which sequence leads to rain from condensation?
• To estimate a 100-year rainfall event, you need to have 100 years of data.
• Which statement describes one prevailing theory for the origin of Earth's water?
• What is stemflow?
• In unsaturated soils, what happens to capillary suction when pores become more filled with water?
• Which statement best describes permeability?
• If a dry soil is re-wetted and pores begin to fill, how does this affect the overall suction in the soil?
• Which of the following is NOT a main factor influencing precipitation distribution?
• What drives the process of evaporation?
• How do hailstones form?
• Tube gauges for snow measurement are described as which of the following?
• Evaporation can occur from which surfaces?
• Which property is most closely related to the connectivity of pore spaces?
• What is evaporation?
• Which soil type has large particles with connected pore spaces and low water holding capacity?
• Do larger raindrops fall faster or slower than smaller raindrops?
• What best defines a biome?
• What can be a low point of drainage for water in unsaturated soils?
• Which option correctly lists the Darcy's Law assumptions about soils, fluid, ground, and groundwater flow?
• Elevation head is the potential energy due to height above a chosen datum. Elevation head is defined as?
• One assumption of Darcy's law regarding fluid flow.
• Which statement best describes the neutral phase of the climate cycle?
• Higher wind speeds _____ evaporation at a given air temperature and humidity.
• Climate cycles have three phases. Which option lists all three phases?
• What can occur if soil becomes sufficiently dry?
• Which method explicitly considers terrain and measured rainfall distribution?
• The sampling cylinder has an inside diameter of 11 cm. What is its radius in meters?
• Rivulets are formed when water flow concentrates into small channels and has enough energy to erode the underlying material. Which option best describes rivulets?
• Which soil feature most strongly retains water at field capacity?
• Which set correctly lists common forms of precipitation?
• What happens to pressure head as soil dries?
• Which term describes the circulation cell near the equator?
• Air traveling toward the equator curves in which direction?
• Condensation can form what?
• Water is removed from surface processes by which mechanism?
• What is the depth of water per meter of snow in the provided example?
• Sheetflow is limited to even, low sloped terrain. True or false?
• What is the strongest indication that precipitation has exceeded soil infiltration?
• Which statement is an assumption about the fluid in Darcy's Law?
• The Coriolis effect results from latitudes spinning at different speeds because the Earth's diameter changes with latitude.
• In Darcy's law, which condition is typically assumed for the soil?
• Which statement best describes the relationship between hydraulic head and flow in saturated soils?
• Which statement best describes the hydrologic cycle?
• Due to curved motions, hurricanes spin. In the Northern Hemisphere, hurricanes rotate in which direction?
• Isohyetal lines are used to represent areas of the watershed that receive what?
• Which property describes how easily water moves through a medium?
• Which factor is a driver of evaporation?
• El Niño is associated with warming of the central and eastern Pacific. This pattern typically brings heavy rainfall to which region?
• Which statement best defines porosity?
• Which factors determine hydraulic conductivity (K) in soils?
• Which process primarily causes a soil to reach field capacity after rainfall?
• What is the water retention characteristic of clays and silts?
• Which statement best describes sublimation in the context of glaciers?
• What term describes the soil water content after gravity-driven drainage has occurred?
• What happens to pores in unsaturated soils as they are wetted?
• Condensation varies with which factors?
• What is GPM?
• What best defines precipitation?
• Hadley and Ferrel cells are driven by atmospheric convection.
• Which statement correctly describes condensation when the air cools past the dew point?
• Low Relative Humidity affects condensation by
• Transpiration can affect streamflow by lowering flows when stomata are open during the day. Which option reflects this concept?
• High Relative Humidity affects condensation by
• Which formula correctly defines SWE?
• Which rainfall measurement device uses two small buckets that tip to dump into a collector bucket?
• Where are Hadley cells located on Earth?
• Precipitation occurs when?
• What is the primary mechanism by which cattle grazing on rangelands reduces soil infiltration?
• Which soil texture generally has higher field capacity due to abundant micropores?
• Darcy's law is typically applied to saturated flow; unsaturated flow is not described by the law.
• What is defined as the difference between field capacity and wilting point?
• Which characteristic does Hazen method address in small data sets?
• Field capacity is commonly expressed as a volumetric water content:
• Condensation varies with which factor?
• Which precipitation averaging method considers actual terrain and measured rainfall distribution?
• What is the density of the snow sample in kilograms per cubic meter?
• Under natural and imposed conditions, hydrology can affect and be affected by which land characteristics?
• If rainfall surpasses the soil's infiltration capacity, which is most likely to occur?
• What is done with the relative proportions of the watershed covered by each polygon?
• How are areas of the zones in an Isohyetal determined?
• In glaciology, which processes contribute to ablation (ice loss)?
• What happens during condensation?
• Surface runoff occurs when?
• The weight of a sphere is proportional to which quantity?
• Pressure head is driven by the height of water above a point in the saturated soil.
• What is elevation head?
• What happens when condensing water binds to nuclei?
• The Coriolis effect results from latitudes on Earth spinning at different speeds due to the Earth's diameter decreasing with distance moving both north and south away from the equator.
• How is weather defined?
• What is precipitation?
• Compute the snow water equivalent (SWE) for a snowpack depth of 3.0 m, using a circular sampling cylinder with an inside diameter of 11 cm, cylinder mass 0.50 kg, and total weight of snow plus cylinder 2.3 kg. Give the SWE to the hundredth place.
• What does isotropic mean in the context of Darcy's law?
• Where are Ferrel cells located on Earth?
• Relative Humidity is defined as
• If a soil has a field capacity of 0.25 m3/m3 and a wilting point of 0.12 m3/m3, what is the available water capacity?
• What forces dominate water movement in dry to moist soils?
• Which statement best defines permeability?
• What is condensation nuclei?
• Which factors primarily determine how much water soil can hold at field capacity?
• In the SWE calculation, the sample area is best described as what?
• The snow water equivalent (SWE) depth for the provided snow sample is approximately what value in meters?
• What does the Thiessen method ultimately provide for rainfall estimation?
• Why is watershed hydrology important for managing landscapes and rivers?
• Volcanism adds water to the atmosphere in which form?
• What process moves water deep underground as oceanic crust subducts under continental crust?
• The amount of water accessible on Earth changes with which geologic processes?
• Volcanism contributes water to the atmosphere in the form of which?
• Which set of components is typically included in canopy interception water balance?
• Which method uses a flat surface placed on the snow to measure snow?
• How does sleet form?
• Which statement best describes sands in terms of water retention and release?
• Calculate S (stemflow) given I = 1.2 inches, T = 2.3 inches, and P = 4 inches.
• Which of the following best lists the factors that influence interception by trees (affecting both the amount captured and the timing)?
• Air traveling away from the equator curves in which direction?
• What does homogeneous mean in the context of Darcy's law?
• Which soil property most influences field capacity?
• What does the hydrologic cycle explain?
• What is NEXRAD primarily used for?
• Raindrops are generally spherical. True or false?
• Transpiration occurs when
• What force can pull water downward in unsaturated soils?
• Which instrument continuously records data by weighing collected water and converts to depth using water density?
• Which statement is an assumption about the ground in Darcy's Law?
• Which soil type is described as having 50% sand, 20% clay, and 80% silt?
• Water not accessible to humans or ecosystems is subtracted from the total volume available. Which option best describes this concept?
• When rising air reaches the dew point, what process occurs that releases latent heat?
• Changes between saturated and unsaturated flow in soil occur during what?
• Which statement best describes erosion and landslide examples of hydrology in relation to land features?
• Old growth redwood can transpire approximately how many gallons per day in summer?
• What type of pore spaces do clays and silts have?
• The retention properties of soils include their slope, texture, structure, organic content, and erodibility. True or false?
• In the water balance equation I = P - S - T used for interception, which term represents stemflow?
• Field capacity is primarily associated with water held in which pore size range?
• Which of the following is a typical low point of drainage for water in unsaturated soils?
• Which statement is an assumption about groundwater flow in Darcy's Law?
• Interception of rainfall by plants affects infiltration and delivery to soils in which way?
• Where are Polar cells located on Earth?
• Sheetflow is defined as:
• Which of the following are impacts associated with climate cycle drivers?
• Which parameter in the SWE example represents the thickness of the snowpack?
• Isohyetal lines delineate areas with what property?
• Which statement best describes when precipitation occurs?
• Available Water Capacity is defined as:
• What is a disadvantage of the Thiessen Polygon method for averaging precipitation?
• Which statement about condensation and clouds is most accurate?
• What does the rainfall averaging technique (averaging) do?
• Which statement best explains the cause of glacier retreat?
• What is the mass of the snow alone (in kilograms) in the given setup?
• Compute the SWE for the snowpack with a depth of 2.0 m and a cylinder of 11 cm diameter weighing 1.5 kg (including the cylinder).
• Dew Point Temperature (DPT) is defined as
• Which of the following is NOT a method used to measure snow?
• Which source adds water to Earth via space materials such as micrometeorites?
• True or False: Larger raindrops fall faster than smaller ones under the same conditions.
• In precipitation distribution, what does orographic mean?
• What does sublimation involve?
• Which statement about sublimation is true?
• Which of the following is NOT a dominant process in the hydrologic cycle?
• La Niña is associated with stronger nutrient upwelling.