Factors necessary for the formation of precipitation

Following four conditions are necessary for the production of precipitation.

A lifting mechanism to produce cooling of the air. A mechanism to produce condensation of water
vapors and formation of cloud droplets. A mechanism to produce growth of cloud droplets to size
capable of falling to the ground against the lifting force of air. A mechanism to produce sufficient
accumulation of moisture to account for observed heavy rainfall rates.

1- Lifting Mechanism (Cooling of air)

When the air ascends from near the surface of the Earth to upper levels in the atmosphere,
pressure reduction takes place. Due to this pressure reduction air crosses through the colder
layers and this is the only mechanism capable of producing the degree and rate of cooling
needed to account for heavy rainfall.
1-Classification of precipitation based on lifting mechanism
Convectional rainfall:
Air on being heated, becomes light and rises up in convection currents. On rising it expands and loses
heat and condenses to form cumulonimbus clouds. With thunder and lightening, heavy rainfall takes
place but this does not last long. Very common in the equatorial regions and interior parts of the
continents. Cloud cumulus type. Area: Equatorial and Tropical

Orographic/ relief rainfall: Occurs more frequently where mountains or hills are situated near or
parallel to the coast. Warm, humid air strikes on orographic barrier (a mountain range) starts ascending
along the slope and gets cooled. Orographic precipitation occurs along the windward slope.
Cyclonic/ Frontal Rainfall
Caused by the lifting of an air mass because of the pressure difference. If low pressure occurs on an
area, air will flow horizontally from the surrounding area, causing the air of the low pressure area to lift .
Cyclonic precipitation are of two types:
Frontal Precipitation: Line of demarcation between cold and warm air is sharp. As the warm air rises,
it cools, and the moisture present in it condenses to form clouds altostratus clouds.
Non-Frontal Precipitation: Moist warm air mass is stationary and the moving air cold mass meets
2- Condensation/ Formation of Cloud Droplets:
Condensation of water into cloud droplets takes place on hygroscopic nuclei (cloud seeds) having affinity
for water. The source of these condensation nuclei is the particles of sea salt or such products of
combustion of certain sulfurous and nitrous acids. Sufficient hygroscopic nuclei are found always
present in the atmosphere. For Ice Crystals, Freezing nuclei is required. Condensation happens at dew
Point (temperature at water become fully saturated (100% relative humidity) Forms of Condensation
( Dew, Frost, Fog, mist and Clouds) Condensation is caused by the loss of heat
i)Forms of Condensation ( Dew, Frost, Fog, mist and Clouds)
Dew:
Tiny drops of water that form on cool surfaces at night, when atmospheric vapor condense
Condition: Clear skies (cloud free) and calm air.Long winter night so that the radiation cooling can
take place. Appreciable quantity of moisture in the air that means high humidity in the lowest layers of
air . The temperature of the substance must reach the dew point (0c). Contact with any cold substance
(Green grass, leaves, metal wires are substances that collect dew)

Frost:
Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing
atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting
in a phase change from water vapor to ice as the water vapor reaches the freezing point.

Condition: The temperature of the substance must reach below the dew point (0c).
Fog/Mist:a thick cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth's
surface which restricts visibility. Defined when visibility < 1 km. Condensation on less active nuclei . Fogs
form when air saturates (its relative humidity reaches around 100 percent), and the water vapor within
the air mass condenses on small particles in the air to form liquid cloud droplets.
Mist: Mist is defined as When there is such obscurity, and the associated visibility is equal to or
exceeds 1000 mi. Mist and fog are often used interchangeably - and they are closely related - but there
is a key difference which depends on how far you can see through them. The defining difference
between mist and fog is visibility; if it is less than 1 Km we call it 'fog' and if visibility is greater than 1 Km
we call it 'mist'.

4- Growth of Cloud droplets:

For occurrence of precipitation over an area it is necessary that cloud elements must be grown in size to
overcome:
1-Coalescence of cloud droplets
Cloud droplets are usually smaller than 50µm in diameter, due to different diameters of droplets they
fall with varying fall velocities. As the bigger cloud elements are heavier, having more fall velocity, hence
they collide with smaller droplets. Smaller droplets join the bigger droplets and in this way the size of
cloud droplets increases.
2-Co-existence of cloud droplets & ice crystals
If in a layer of clouds there is mixture of water droplets and ice crystals. As the saturation vapor pressure
over ice is lesser than over water. As a result of this difference, there results evaporation of water drops
and condensation of much of this water on ice crystals.

Types of Precipitation:
1-Rain: is the most common type of precipitation in our atmosphere. Rain is when liquid droplets fall
to the surface of the Earth. There are two different forms of rain, either in the form of . A shower is a
mode of precipitation characterized by an abrupt start and end and by rapid variations in intensity.
Often strong and short-lived, it comes from convective clouds, like cumulus congestus. Drizzle consists
of tiny liquid water droplets, usually with diameters between 0.1 and 0.5 mm and its intensity is less
than 0.01 mm per hour.
2-Sleet: Sleet consists of transparent, globulin, solid grains of ice formed by the freezing of raindrops
falling through a layer of subfreezing air near the earth’s surface.
3- Snow: Snow is composed of ice crystals primarily in complex hexagonal form and often aggregated
into snowflakes which may reach several millimeters in diameter 100 mm) Snowfall is precipitation in
the form of Snow The density of freshly fallen snow varies greatly 125 to 500 mm. The average density
(specific gravity) is often assumed to be 0
4- Hail: Hail is lumps of ice or hailstones, produced in convective clouds Hailstones may be spherical,
conical or irregular is shape, and range from about 5 to over 125 mm in diameter.
Measurement of precipitation :
• Amount of Precipitation:
The amount of precipitation means the vertical depth of water that would accumulate on a level
surface, if the precipitation remains where it falls. The amount of precipitation is measured in length
units (inches, ft., cm, etc.). • Intensity of Precipitation: Amount of precipitation per unit time is called
the intensity of precipitation or rate of precipitation. Both the amount and rate of precipitation are
important in hydrologic studies.
Methods for measuring Precipitation:
A rain gauge is an instrument used by meteorologists and hydrologists to gather and measure the
amount of liquid precipitation over a predefined area, over a period of time. It is used for determining
the depth of precipitation that occurs over a unit area and thus measuring rainfall amount

Measurement of Precipitation:
1-Non Recording Rain Gauge

• Symons Gauge:
• They do not record the rain gauge but collects the rain. • In case of snow fall, the bottle and funnel is
removed and snow is collect in the outer metallic body. When the snow fall is melted, the depth of the
water was measured. • Depth of the rainfall = Volume of water collected/ Area of the gauge.

• Sources of error: Rainfall measured by the rain gauge might have some errors. • For example,
some water is used to wet the surface of instrument. • The rain recorded may be less than the actual
rainfall due to the direction of the rainfall as affected by wind. • Dents in the collector and tube may also
cause error. • Some water is absorbed by the measuring stick. • Losses due to evaporation can also take
place. • The volume of stick replaces some water which causes some error.

2-Recording Rain Gauge: • An instrument that automatically records the amount of

precipitation collected as a function of time.

Tipping Type: 1. This type of gauge used at some Weather Bureau First Order Stations, is equipped
with a remote recorder located inside the office which is away from the actual site. 2. The gauge has two
compartments pivoted in such a way that one compartment receives rain at one time. 3. A certain
amount of rain (usually 0.25 mm fills one compartment and over balances it so that it tips, emptying into
a reservoir and bringing the second compartment of the bucket into place beneath the funnel of
receiver. 4. As the bucket is tipped by each 0.25 mm of rain it actuates an electrical circuit, causing a pen
to mark on a revolving drum. This type of gauge is not suitable for measuring snow without heating the
collector. Plotting is similar to that of other recording rain gauges. 5. Such gauge can be installed in hilly
area or inaccessible places so that they can supply measurements directly to the station. 6. It also
records intensity of the rainfall but does not provide/produce mass curve graph.

Source of error: A. Dents in the collector. B. Moistening of inside-surface of the funnel and the
tube. C. Rain drops splashing from the collector. D. For very intense rain some water is still pouring into
the already filled bucket. E. Inclination of the gauge may result in catching less or more rain than the
actual amount. F. Error in measurement due to wind.

Weighing bucket Type: 1. The weighing type rain gauge consists of a receiver, a bucket, a
spring balance and some recording arrangement. 2. The weighing type gauge weighs the rain or snow
which falls into a bucket which is set on a spring balance. 3. The weight of the bucket and content is
recorded on a chart by a clock driven drum. 4. The record is in the form of a graph, one axis of which is
in depth units and the other has time. 5. The records show the accumulation of precipitation. 6.
Weighing type gauges operate from 1 to 2 months without stopping. But normally one chart is enough
only for 24 hours. 7. This type of rain gauge has advantage of measuring snow also.

Float/ Natural-syphon Type:

1. This type of rain gauge also has a receiver and a float chamber along with some recording mechanism
or arrangement. 2. In this type the rain is led into a float chamber containing a light, hollow float. 3. The
vertical movement of the float as the level of water rises is recorded on a chart with the help of a pen
connected to float. 4. The chart is wrapped around a rotating clock driven drum. To provide a
continuous record for 24 hours the float chamber has either to be very large, or some automatic means
are provided for emptying the float chamber quickly when it becomes full, the pen then returning to the
bottom of the chart. 5. This is usually done with some sort of siphoning arrangement. This arrangement
activates when the gauge records a certain fixed amount of rain (mostly 10 mm of rainfall.). 6. Snow can
not be measured by this type of rain gauge.

Measurement of precipitation by Radar:

This is a modern technique for measurement of rainfall rate. The electromagnetic energy released and
received back by radar is a measure of rainfall intensity. The measurement is appreciably affected by
trees and buildings. However, extent of rainfall can be estimated with reasonable accuracy. Use of radar
is useful where number of rain gauges installed in an area is not sufficient.

Rain gauge Network:

1. The number of rain gauges and their distribution affect the nature of collected precipitation data.
2. The larger the number of rain gauges the more representative will be the data collected. 3. But on the
other hand, we have to observe other factors also, like economy of the project, accessibility of certain
areas and topography of the area. 4. So, one has to look for some optimum solution. In this regard the
World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has made following recommendations for minimum number
of rain gauges in a catchment: 1. In comparatively flat regions of temperate, Mediterranean and Tropical
Zones, Ideal is at least one station for 230 — 345 sq. miles. Acceptable one station for 345 — 1155 sq.
miles. 2. In comparatively mountainous regions of temperate, Mediterranean and Tropical Zones, Ideal
is at least one station for 35 — 95 sq. miles. Acceptable one station for 95 — 385 sq. miles. 3. In
comparatively Polar regions of temperate, Mediterranean and Tropical Zones, Acceptable one station
for 575 — 3860 sq. miles

Analysis of Precipitation Data:

Point Data Analysis
❑Point precipitation data refers to precipitation of a station. ❑This data could be in form of hourly
record, daily record, monthly precipitation or annual precipitation. ❑Depending upon the nature of
catchment and its area, there could be as many gauging stations as feasible. Before using records from a
rain gauge we should check its continuity and consistency. ❑Record may not be continuous and
consistent due to many reasons. ❑This section deals with estimation of any missing records at a
particular gauging station, checking consistency of data and its adjustment accordingly.

Estimation of Missing Precipitation Method

❖Some precipitation stations may have short breaks in the records because of absence of the observer
or because of instrumental failures. ❖It is often necessary to estimate this missing record. ❖In the
procedure used by the U.S. Weather Bureau, the missing precipitation of a station is estimated from the
observations of precipitation at some other stations as close to and as evenly spaced around the station
with the missing record as possible.

There are two methods for estimation of missing data .

1. Arithmetic mean method

2. Normal ratio method.• The station whose data is missing is called interpolation station and gauging
stations whose data are used to calculate the missing station data are called index stations. • If the
normal annual precipitation of the index stations lies within ±10% of normal annual precipitation of
interpolation station, then we apply arithmetic mean method to determine the missing precipitation
record otherwise the normal ratio method is used for this purpose

DOUBLE MASS CURVE ANALYSIS

• In using precipitation in the solution of hydrologic problems, it is necessary to ascertain that time
trends in the data are due to meteorological changes. • Quite frequently these trends are the result of
the changes in the gauge location, changes in the intermediate surroundings such as construction of
buildings or growth of trees, etc. and changes in the observation techniques. • Due to such changes
the data might not be consistent. The consistency of the record then is required to be determined and
the necessary adjustments be made. This can be achieved by the method called the double mass curve
technique.• The double mass curve is obtained by plotting the accumulated precipitation at the station
in question along Y-axis and the average accumulated precipitation of a number of other nearby stations
which are situated under the same meteorological conditions along X-axis. • If the curve has a constant
slope, the record of station "X" is consistent. However, if there is any break in the slope of the curve,
the record of the station is inconsistent and has to be adjusted by the formula.

How to calculate

𝑷𝑶 = 𝑺𝒂/ 𝑺𝑶 × 𝑷𝑶

Po=Adjusted Precipitation. Pa= Observed Precipitation. Sa= Slope prior to the break in curve. So=
Slope after to the break in curve