water cycle

• what is the water balance equation


  precipitation = evapotranspiration + streamflow +- storage
• inputs of water in the amazon rainforest


  prevailing wind directions are linked to ocean currents

  • trade winds from trans-atlantic
  • convection rainfall
  • wind moves clouds west towards the andes
• outputs of water in the amazon rainforest


  • the average of water into the atlantic ocean by the amazon is approximately 175 000 metres cubed per second, or around one fifth of the total discharge into the oceans and all of the world's rivers
  • the water discharged into the atlantic ocean is actually only about a third of the water that falls in the amazon basin as rain. the rest goes back into the atmosphere by evapotranspiration
• recycling of water in the amazon rainforest


  • about 50% of all the rain that falls is returned to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration
  • of the rainfall that is evapotranspired back into the atmosphere, 48% falls as rain again
  • only 30% of rainfall actually reaches the sea, the rest is in a constant loop
• flows of water in the amazon rainforest

  • evapotranspiration
  • precipitation
  • throughflow
  • stem flow
  • evapotranspiration from soil
• stores of water in the amazon rainforest


  • atmospheric moisture
  • water in plant tissue
  • surface storage
  • soil moisture
  • interception storage