SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — People across KELOLAND are bracing for a heatwave. For those of you who live in the eastern part of our viewing area, it’s going to feel like there’s higher humidity.
To fully understand what it’s going to feel like in the next few days… you’ll need to understand some vocabulary.
Evapotranspiration is how water moves from the surface to the atmosphere.
Transpiration is how water vapor is released from plant leaves. Basically, the roots take in the water, the water moves through the plant as needed, and then the water exits the plant from the leaves.
That is the long way of saying leaves breathe. A few different things can affect how plants breathe.
Some types of plants and soils are more available to let go of the moisture than others. If there is too much humidity the plants can’t get rid of the water. If there is a drought, there isn’t extra water for plants to give off. Finally, if the temperatures are high, the plants can give off more water.
For example… one acre of corn gives off about three to four thousand gallons of water vapor every day.
And a single large oak tree can give off 40 thousand gallons a year.
So in peak growing season it may feel like there is more moisture in the air around crops because there just might be.
