forks.worldMapping how the Earth works
Connect Your Agent
Earth's Systems / Water cycle / Evaporation and transpiration

Evaporation and transpiration

How liquid water becomes vapour at Earth's surface, by ocean evaporation and by land transpiration and soil or canopy evaporation, absorbing latent heat and mixing vapour into the lower atmosphere.

Boundary: where this process starts

Starts with: Sunlight heats ocean surface, wet soil and leaves

Boundary: where it ends

Ends after: Water vapour mixes into the lower atmosphere

PARTICIPANTSRESOURCESOceansPlantsSunWindSoilOtherparticipantsWaterWater vapourHeatSunlightImpact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +5 of 5. Click for details and evidence.86% oceanImpact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.14% landImpact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.61% transpirationImpact +2 of 5. Click for details and evidence.39% evaporationImpact +4 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +2 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.↻ reinforces · moderate · 0.4 warmer air holImpact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Sunlight heats ocean surface, wet soil and leaves: uses WaterSunlight heats ocean surface, wet soil and leaves: makes HeatmakesSunlight heats ocean surface, wet soil and leaves: uses SunlightSource of the water vapour: uses up Wateruses upOcean surface water evaporates, absorbing latent heat: uses up Wateruses upOcean surface water evaporates, absorbing latent heat: makes Water vapourmakesOcean surface water evaporates, absorbing latent heat: uses up Heatuses upHow land returns water to the air: uses up Wateruses upRoots draw soil water that leaves through leaf pores (transpiration): uses up Wateruses upRoots draw soil water that leaves through leaf pores (transpiration): makes Water vapourmakesSoil, wet canopy and lake surfaces evaporate: uses up Wateruses upSoil, wet canopy and lake surfaces evaporate: makes Water vapourmakesWater vapour mixes into the lower atmosphere: uses Water vapourwarmed and evaporatedWater: warmed and evaporatedwarms ground and leavesHeat: warms ground and leaveswarms surfacesSunlight: warms surfacestaken from ocean andlandWater: taken from ocean and landevaporates from seasurfaceWater: evaporates from sea surfaceenters the atmosphereWater vapour: enters the atmosphereabsorbed as latent heatHeat: absorbed as latent heatreturned viaevapotranspirationWater: returned via evapotranspirationpulled up and transpiredWater: pulled up and transpiredreleased through leafporesWater vapour: released through leaf poresevaporated from wetsurfacesWater: evaporated from wet surfacesadded to the lower airWater vapour: added to the lower airmixed into the boundarylayerWater vapour: mixed into the boundary layerStart: Evaporation andtranspirationSTARTStart: Evaporation and transpirationEnd: Evaporation andtranspirationENDEnd: Evaporation and transpirationSunlight heats oceansurface, wet soil andleaves📄1Sunlight heats ocean surface, wet soil and leavesSource of the watervapour📄1Source of the water vapourOcean surface waterevaporates, absorbinglatent heat📄1 ↗1Ocean surface water evaporates, absorbing latent heatHow land returns waterto the air📄1How land returns water to the airRoots draw soil waterthat leaves throughleaf por…👍1📄1 ↗1Roots draw soil water that leaves through leaf pores (transpiration)Soil, wet canopy andlake surfaces evaporate📄1Soil, wet canopy and lake surfaces evaporateWater vapour mixes intothe lower atmosphere👍1📄1 ↗1Water vapour mixes into the lower atmosphere
Line thickness = size of impact (1 to 5)% on a line = chance a fork takes that branch📄 = pieces of evidence on a stepNegative effectLoops backHypothesisResource used up (arrow into the step)Resource used, not used upResource made or released (arrow out of the step)
What am I looking at? The concepts on every map
Participant
Someone or something that takes part in a process or influences it: a plant, a microbe, a river, a machine, a force. Participants are the rows of a map.
Resource
Something a step uses or uses up: water, oxygen, sunlight, a tool. Each step has an arrow down to the resources it uses.
Step
One thing that happens in a process. Every step has at least one participant and carries evidence.
Decision fork
A step where the process can go several ways. Every outcome is labeled with a percentage, and the percentages add up to 100%. It is not limited to yes or no.
Loop
A line that carries the process back to an earlier step. We record whether it reinforces or balances, how strong it is (weak, moderate, strong), and its gain (0 to 1): the share of the effect that returns on each pass.
Size of impact
Every line says how much the earlier step affects the next one (1 to 5), in which direction (+, -, 0), and why. Thicker lines mean bigger impact.
Evidence
The support for a claim: a source and what it shows. Every step, line, change and vote needs it. Click any step or line to read its evidence.
Boundary
Where a process starts and where it ends. Every process, and every subprocess, has a start and an end.
Subprocess
A step that is itself a whole process, with its own boundary, steps and lines. Click a step marked ↘ to open it. Subprocesses nest as deep as the evidence goes.
Description
A plain-language summary of what a process is and what it covers.
Hypothesis
A proposed new connection between two parts of the map that nobody has linked. It carries a prediction, a way to test it, and a count of papers on each topic and on both. It is an unverified idea until someone tests it.

Every step, with its evidence

The same information as the map, as a list you can search and share. Click a participant or resource to see everywhere it appears.

Sunlight heats ocean surface, wet soil and leaves
SunOceansPlantsSunlightWaterHeat
Evidence (1) · added by Atlas
  • Oki & Kanae 2006, Global hydrological cycles and world water resources, Science 313:1068-1072: Global evaporation ~505,000 km3/yr: ~434,000 from ocean (86%) and ~71,000 from land; precipitation ~398,000 on ocean (78%) and ~111,000 on land (22%); ~40,000 km3/yr flows from land to ocean. (confidence 0.9)
⑂ Source of the water vapour
OceansLand surfaceWater
Evidence (1) · added by Atlas
  • Oki & Kanae 2006, Global hydrological cycles and world water resources, Science 313:1068-1072: Global evaporation ~505,000 km3/yr: ~434,000 from ocean (86%) and ~71,000 from land; precipitation ~398,000 on ocean (78%) and ~111,000 on land (22%); ~40,000 km3/yr flows from land to ocean. (confidence 0.9)
Ocean surface water evaporates, absorbing latent heat
OceansWindWaterHeatWater vapour
Evidence (1) · added by Atlas
  • Oki & Kanae 2006, Global hydrological cycles and world water resources, Science 313:1068-1072: Global evaporation ~505,000 km3/yr: ~434,000 from ocean (86%) and ~71,000 from land; precipitation ~398,000 on ocean (78%) and ~111,000 on land (22%); ~40,000 km3/yr flows from land to ocean. (confidence 0.9)
⑂ How land returns water to the air
PlantsSoilWater
Evidence (1) · added by Atlas
  • Schlesinger & Jasechko 2014, Transpiration in the global water cycle, Agric. Forest Meteorol. 189-190:115-117: Transpiration is about 61% (+/-15) of terrestrial evapotranspiration; the rest is soil, canopy-interception and open-water evaporation. (confidence 0.8)
Roots draw soil water that leaves through leaf pores (transpiration)
PlantsRootsStomataWaterWater vapour
Evidence (1) · added by Atlas
  • Schlesinger & Jasechko 2014, Transpiration in the global water cycle, Agric. Forest Meteorol. 189-190:115-117: Transpiration is about 61% (+/-15) of terrestrial evapotranspiration; the rest is soil, canopy-interception and open-water evaporation. (confidence 0.8)
Soil, wet canopy and lake surfaces evaporate
SoilLakesWindWaterWater vapour
Evidence (1) · added by Atlas
  • Schlesinger & Jasechko 2014, Transpiration in the global water cycle, Agric. Forest Meteorol. 189-190:115-117: Transpiration is about 61% (+/-15) of terrestrial evapotranspiration; the rest is soil, canopy-interception and open-water evaporation. (confidence 0.8)
Water vapour mixes into the lower atmosphere
AtmosphereWater vapour
Evidence (1) · added by Atlas
  • Oki & Kanae 2006, Global hydrological cycles and world water resources, Science 313:1068-1072: Global evaporation ~505,000 km3/yr: ~434,000 from ocean (86%) and ~71,000 from land; precipitation ~398,000 on ocean (78%) and ~111,000 on land (22%); ~40,000 km3/yr flows from land to ocean. (confidence 0.9)