Liberated from the surface, water vapor enters the air where it can be transported to some other location. There, water vapor condenses into water releasing latent heat to the surrounding air. The release of heat fuels the uplift of air to help promote adiabatic cooling and further condensation. Precipitation returns the water to the earth's surface. Most of the water evaporated from the ocean returns directly back to the ocean.
Some water is transported over land before it is precipitated out.
As water reaches the surface in various forms of precipitation, it is intercepted by plants or falls directly to the surface. Precipitation that collects on the leaves or stems of plants is known as interception. The amount of water intercepted by a plant largely depends on plant form. Water is held on the leaf surface until it either drips off as through fall or trickles down the leaf stem finally reaching the ground as stem flow. Interception of falling rain buffers the surface against erosion.