ABSTRACT
Various forms of energy drive water transport through the hydrological cycle. Radiant energy, originating from the sun, provides the input energy for the cycle. Once matter absorbs this energy, it is converted into sensible heat that elevates the temperature of the air and the ground, and latent heat that causes evaporation, driving thereby the cycle against the pull of gravity. Further transport is generated by kinetic energy and pressure energy of the moving air masses. Translocation of vapor is accompanied by continuous interchanges among radiant, thermal, kinetic, and pressure energy. Large amounts of latent heat are released when water condenses in the clouds and falls as precipitation on the earth surface. It carries kinetic energy while flowing through watersheds. Vertical movement and percolation through the earth’s crust finally causes changes in potential and pressure energies.
