Precipitation

Instructor: Dr. Meenu Ramadas

Contact: meenu@iitbbs.ac.in; +91 8763924703
Classes of Precipitation

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Precipitation
Three conditions that need to be met prior to precipitation process:
1 Cooling of the atmosphere
2 Condensation onto nuclei
3 Growth of the water/ice droplets

Mechanisms of cooling
• Cooling occurs during the uplift of air through the atmosphere.
• The cooler temperature leads to less water vapour being retained
by the air and conditions becoming favourable for condensation.

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Types of Precipitation
• The actual uplift of air may be caused by heating from the earth’s
surface (leading to convective precipitation),
• or an air mass being forced to rise over an obstruction such as a
mountain range (this leads to orographic precipitation),
• or from a low pressure weather system where the air is constantly
being forced upwards (this leads to cyclonic precipitation).
• Other mechanisms whereby the atmosphere cools include a warm
air mass meeting a cooler air mass, and the warm air meeting a
cooler object such as the sea or land (frontal precipitation)

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Condensation
• Condensation nuclei are minute particles floating in the
atmosphere which provide a surface for the water vapour to
condense into liquid water upon.
• They are commonly less than a micron in diameter. There are
many different substances that make condensation nuclei,
including small dust particles, sea salts and smoke particles.
• Cloud seeding: Artificial rain generation by releasing silver iodide
or potassium chloride particles, dropped from planes, to act as
condensation nuclei. However, it works only under certain
favourable situations

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Growth of Droplets
• The main mechanism by which raindrops grow within a cloud is
through collision and coalescence.
• Two raindrops collide and join (coalesce) to form a larger droplet
that may then collide with many more before falling towards the
surface as rainfall or another form of precipitation
• A large enough water droplet can overcome the gravity and fall as
precipitation

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Convective Orographic
Precipitation Precipitation

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Frontal Precipitation

Cyclonic Precipitation

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Precipitation Data
• Hyetograph

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Density of Rain Gauge Network
• In flat regions of temperate, mediterranean and tropical zones:
• Ideal: 1 station for 600-900 km2
• Acceptable- 1 station for 900-3000 km2
• In mountaneous regions of similar climate:
• Ideal: 1 station for 100-250 km2
• Acceptable- 1 station for 250-1000 km2
• In arid & polar regions:
• Ideal: 1 station for 1500-10000 km2

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Optimal Number of Rain Gauges
•

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Precipitation Data
• Hyetograph: plot of rainfall intensity (mm/h) versus time (h)
• Instrument for measuring rainfall- Rain Gauge
• Important points to consider:
• The ground must be level and in the open and the instrument must have a horizontal
catch surface.
• The gauge must be set as near the ground as possible to reduce wind effects but it
must be sufficiently high to prevent splashing, flooding etc.
• The instrument must be surrounded by an open fenced area of at least 5.5 m X 5.5 m.
No object should be nearer to the instrument than 30 m or twice the height of the
obstruction.

• Types:
• Recording Type (Tipping Bucket type, Weighing Bucket type, Natural Syphon type or
Float type)
• Non-recording Type (Symon’s rain gauge)
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RAIN GAUGES
Symon’s Non-recording Type
Weighing Bucket (Recording) Type
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 Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge

Working principle of a tipping bucket rain gauge:

1. funnel; 2. tipping bucket; 3. adjustment screws.
Float Type Rain Gauges

Disdrome
ter
Universal Gauge for Snow Measurement
 Snow Pillow
Snow Gauge
Use of Radars Radio Detection & Ranging (RADAR) data:
The strength of the pulse returned to the radar
depends on the size of the particles, how many
particles there are, what state they are in
(solid-hail, liquid-rain) and what shape they are.