THE PHYSICS OF

FALLING RAINDROPS IN DIVERSE

PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES
 INTRODUCTION

Within a planetary condensible cycle, precipitation is the transport of the condensible species in a
condensed phase (liquid or solid) through the atmosphere and, for terrestrial planets, to the
surface. Extensive vertical displacement relative to the local air mass distinguishes precipitation
from clouds. Because precipitating particles can fall far from the air mass where they form, they
redistribute both heat and the condensible species within an atmosphere. Precipitation is a
transient state, but though its effects are largely indirect, they have immense consequences for
planetary climate.
The behavior of precipitation is essential to setting planetary radiative balance. Precipitation's role
in transporting condensible mass from the atmosphere to the surface (or the deep atmosphere
on gaseous planets) exerts a strong influence on the relative humidity distribution

Despite the importance of precipitation, understanding its behavior in different planetary

environments remains a major theoretical challenge.
 UNIVERSAL PHYSICS

In general, our team’s model predicts that clouds on planets with stronger gravity typically
produce smaller raindrops.
However, after applying the equations given by astronomers to the atmospheres of a range of
planetary bodies both smaller and much larger than that of Earth, researchers discovered that all
liquid precipitation trends toward a radius similar to water rain, averaging only as wide as a few
millimeters per drop. This held true even when precipitation featured different condensibles.

For example, iron-based precipitation on the gas giant WASP 76b — the largest raindrops
identified in the study — averaged only about twice the radius of water raindrops on Earth.
 RAINDROP CHARACTERISTICS

In isolation, a precipitating particle does two things: (1) it falls and (2) it evaporates. To calculate the rate at
which a particle falls and evaporates requires knowledge of the relationship between particle mass and
shape. Unlike solid precipitating particles, whose forms vary widely, raindrops have equilibrium shapes that
can be uniquely calculated for a given mass of liquid condensible, air density, and surface gravity. A unique
shape allows us, in a known external environment, to describe a raindrop with only a single size variable.
Here, we use equivalent radius req, which is the radius a raindrop of mass m would have if it were spherical,
that is,

where ρc,ℓ is the density of the liquid condensible.

To better understand whether condensible composition or atmospheric
conditions had the larger effect on rainfall, researchers also used the model to
simulate how Earth’s water-based rain might behave if it developed and fell
through the atmospheres of other planets. According to the team’s equations,
Jupiter’s strong gravitational pull would force the size of water-based raindrops
down to nearly half of their size on Earth, while the weak gravity on Titan would
produce water droplets about three times as wide. However, Jupiter’s ammonia-
based raindrops and Titan’s methane-based raindrops are only about 11% and
26% smaller than Earth’s water-based raindrops, respectively, when they form on
their home planets.
The finding makes technical sense, Loftus explained. As liquids pass through
whatever gases make up the atmosphere in which they fall, drops that are too
small tend to evaporate, while drops that are too large tend to split into smaller
droplets.
“There’s a fairly small range of stable sizes that these different composition
raindrops can have,” Loftus said in a release. “They’re all fundamentally limited to
be around the same maximum size.”
 LEARNING ABOUT PLANETS THROUGH THEIR RAIN

Many of the same datapoints the model uses to predict the size of extraterrestrial raindrops can
help researchers infer their shape, terminal velocity, and evaporation rates, the study describes.
Shape, for example, is an expression of the condensible’s mass, the air density of the planet, and
its surface gravity, whereas evaporation rates depend on differences in temperature and
humidity between the drop and the air around it.
By considering these factors together, researchers can use the model to piece together a
comprehensive picture of a planet’s precipitation, a key component of understanding the
planet’s climate and nutrient cycles.
The researchers caution, however, that this model alone cannot provide definitive conclusions
about the climates of other planets. While the model reliably predicts how single raindrops
behave after they have formed, it does not consider the more complicated processes by which
condensibles accumulate in clouds before they become precipitation, how the quantity of
raindrops might affect behavior, or the behavior of solid precipitation. According to the study,
the team’s model represents “merely a first step toward a generalized theory of how
precipitation and condensible cycles operate in planetary conditions different from modern
Earth.”