NR 320- Midterm Exam Questions and
Answers 2025-2026 A+ Graded.
Watershed - ANS-Geologic area in which water, sediment, and dissolved materials drain to a
common outlet.
Watershed Management - ANS-Practical application of hydrology to natural resource
management for the protection and rehabilitation of natural resources and toward the beneficial
uses of water. Managing for: wildlife, land use, water supply, erosion control, water storage.
Hydrology - ANS-Science that deals with the processes governing the depletion and
replenishment of the water resources of the land areas of the earth.
Formation of Rain - ANS-1) Mechanism to produce cooling of the air- orographic effect,
topography, cold front (cold air pushes warm air up, warm air cools because with higher
elevation there is less pressure, the air column expands and cools).
2) Condensation of water vapor- air mass needs to become saturated and thus must be at a
specific pressure and temperature. Condensation nuclei form to begin the formation of water
droplets.
3) Small droplets bump together and unite, will start to fall when they have enough mass
4) Mechanism for the accumulation of moisture- There must be enough precipitation to
overcome evaporative losses between the cloud and ground
Cloud Seeding - ANS-creating probability for rain by introducing silver iodide into the cloud
Non-recording rain gages - ANS-Only give rainfall for specific period (your standard rain gage)
Recording rain gages - ANS-Need to catch at better temporal resolution than daily. Example:
tipping bucket
Errors in Rain Measurement - ANS-Wind effects, the placement of the rain gage reduces error
Reasons to measure snow - ANS--Frozen water represents 80% of all the freshwater on earth
-Snow melt runoff is the major source of water to rivers and groundwaters over middle and high
latitude areas
-Earth's radiation budget is influenced by snow and ice because of the high albedo of snow and
ice relative to most other land and sea surfaces
-10% of the Earth's surface is covered by glacial ice, with snow covering the glacial ice.
Answers 2025-2026 A+ Graded.
Watershed - ANS-Geologic area in which water, sediment, and dissolved materials drain to a
common outlet.
Watershed Management - ANS-Practical application of hydrology to natural resource
management for the protection and rehabilitation of natural resources and toward the beneficial
uses of water. Managing for: wildlife, land use, water supply, erosion control, water storage.
Hydrology - ANS-Science that deals with the processes governing the depletion and
replenishment of the water resources of the land areas of the earth.
Formation of Rain - ANS-1) Mechanism to produce cooling of the air- orographic effect,
topography, cold front (cold air pushes warm air up, warm air cools because with higher
elevation there is less pressure, the air column expands and cools).
2) Condensation of water vapor- air mass needs to become saturated and thus must be at a
specific pressure and temperature. Condensation nuclei form to begin the formation of water
droplets.
3) Small droplets bump together and unite, will start to fall when they have enough mass
4) Mechanism for the accumulation of moisture- There must be enough precipitation to
overcome evaporative losses between the cloud and ground
Cloud Seeding - ANS-creating probability for rain by introducing silver iodide into the cloud
Non-recording rain gages - ANS-Only give rainfall for specific period (your standard rain gage)
Recording rain gages - ANS-Need to catch at better temporal resolution than daily. Example:
tipping bucket
Errors in Rain Measurement - ANS-Wind effects, the placement of the rain gage reduces error
Reasons to measure snow - ANS--Frozen water represents 80% of all the freshwater on earth
-Snow melt runoff is the major source of water to rivers and groundwaters over middle and high
latitude areas
-Earth's radiation budget is influenced by snow and ice because of the high albedo of snow and
ice relative to most other land and sea surfaces
-10% of the Earth's surface is covered by glacial ice, with snow covering the glacial ice.
