atmometer
Americannoun
noun
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An instrument that measures the rate of evaporation of water into the atmosphere. Atmometers usually measure the evaporation of water from a free water surface (such as a pan of water set into the ground so that the water's surface is even with the ground's surface) or from a porous, water-saturated surface (such as filter paper placed over a graduated cylinder of water). In the first type, the difference between the ground surface and the water level is used to calculate the volume of water that has evaporated in a given period of time. In the second type, the water volume is read directly from the graduated cylinder.
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Also called evaporimeter
Other Word Forms
- atmometry noun
Etymology
Origin of atmometer
Example Sentences
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Atmometer, at-mom′e-tėr, n. an instrument for measuring the rate of evaporation from a moist surface.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
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