Moisture recycling

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In hydrology, moisture recycling or precipitation recycling refer to the process by which a portion of the precipitated water that evapotranspired from a given area contributes to the precipitation over the same area. Moisture recycling is thus a component of the hydrologic cycle. The ratio of the locally derived precipitation (P_{{L}}) to total precipitation (P) is known as the recycling ratio, \rho : \rho =P_{{L}}/P.

The recycling ratio is a diagnostic measure of the potential for interactions between land surface hydrology and regional climate.[1] Land use changes, such as deforestation or agricultural intensification, have the potential to change the amount of precipitation that falls in a region. The recycling ratio for the entire world is one, and for a single point is zero. Estimates for the recycling ratio for the Amazon basin range from 24% to 56%, and for the Mississippi basin from 21% to 24%.[2]

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