I'm sure we've all heard the term "evaportation". How about the term "evapotranspiration"? There are many definitions, but in general it means: The process in which water is discharged to the atmosphere as a result of evaporation from soil and transpiration by plants. Well...I think we have a lot of evapotranspiration going on here. Now that we are in the heart of the growing season, especially for corn, plants are beginning to transpire moisture from their roots into the atmosphere. Along with that, there have also been a few days where some regions have seen a pretty decent amount of rain, especially the areas surrounding northern Illinois. So...where am I going with this? Well, dewpoints so far this morning have made it into the lower 70s, which is more typical of the tropics than here in the Land of Lincoln. Temperatures play a big role in how much plants transpire, especially during the growing season. And since temperatures have been rising quickly through the morning, I would imagine the plants would be giving off more water vapor in response. And places to the south and west of Rockford have picked up more than their share of rain. Even though winds are not that strong today, we still have somewhat of a transfer of moisture. So those two things combined are going to make for a very sticky Tuesday afternoon! - CANDY
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Whole Lotta Moisture!
I'm sure we've all heard the term "evaportation". How about the term "evapotranspiration"? There are many definitions, but in general it means: The process in which water is discharged to the atmosphere as a result of evaporation from soil and transpiration by plants. Well...I think we have a lot of evapotranspiration going on here. Now that we are in the heart of the growing season, especially for corn, plants are beginning to transpire moisture from their roots into the atmosphere. Along with that, there have also been a few days where some regions have seen a pretty decent amount of rain, especially the areas surrounding northern Illinois. So...where am I going with this? Well, dewpoints so far this morning have made it into the lower 70s, which is more typical of the tropics than here in the Land of Lincoln. Temperatures play a big role in how much plants transpire, especially during the growing season. And since temperatures have been rising quickly through the morning, I would imagine the plants would be giving off more water vapor in response. And places to the south and west of Rockford have picked up more than their share of rain. Even though winds are not that strong today, we still have somewhat of a transfer of moisture. So those two things combined are going to make for a very sticky Tuesday afternoon! - CANDY
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5 comments:
I really appreciate the effort you take to provide educational material for us. Keep up the great work
That was good stuff Candy! Here, I was going to blame Eric for the hot and humid weather. Now I will just blame the corn fields.
Judy Rasmussen
Dixon, IL
Well...you can still blame him if you want to :)
(Just kidding, Eric)
That is so cool, that plants affect our weather. You always think about weather affecting plants but not the other way around.
Does it make a difference what kind of crops are growing? Like, is this effect different now that so much of the Midwest is planted in corn than it was back when, say, it was mostly prairie grass?
According to my brother-in-law who works at Farm Services in Harvard, more farmers are growing corn this year (because of the need for ethanol). A corn plant is larger than a bean plant and in turn soaks more moisture from the soil.
Until the corn starts drying out in late July and early August, the humidity levels will be heightened because of the plentiful supply of tall corn in the fields. -ERIC
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