GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -As defined by the AMS Glossary of Meteorology, soil moisture is “the total amount of water, including the water vapor, in an unsaturated soil.” Soil moisture-sometimes also called soil water-represents the water in land surfaces that is not in rivers, lakes, or groundwater, but instead resides in the pores of the soil.

Detailed explanation-2: -The unsaturated soil zone is also termed as the vadose zone. Soil moisture in the vadose zone serves as the source of land-based water for the atmosphere, and it provides water for plant transpiration and bare soil evaporation, together termed as evapotranspiration.

Detailed explanation-3: -Groundwater is found in two zones. The unsaturated zone, immediately below the land surface, contains water and air in the open spaces, or pores. The saturated zone, a zone in which all the pores and rock fractures are filled with water, underlies the unsaturated zone.

Detailed explanation-4: -The vadose water is further subdivided into three zones, i.e., soil water zone, intermediate zone and capillary zone.