Scribd
Upload
55 views16 pages

Understanding Rainfall and Its Processes

Precipitation forms through condensation of water vapor onto small particles in the atmosphere called condensation nuclei. Droplets first form and are suspended by air currents, then combine through collision or electric attraction to grow large enough to fall as rain. Rainfall disposal on a watershed involves surface storage in soil and detention areas at first, followed by infiltration and flow into streams. Engineering design of drainage systems considers extreme rainfall events defined by their expected return periods.

Uploaded by

Hamza Cali
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
55 views16 pages

Understanding Rainfall and Its Processes

Precipitation forms through condensation of water vapor onto small particles in the atmosphere called condensation nuclei. Droplets first form and are suspended by air currents, then combine through collision or electric attraction to grow large enough to fall as rain. Rainfall disposal on a watershed involves surface storage in soil and detention areas at first, followed by infiltration and flow into streams. Engineering design of drainage systems considers extreme rainfall events defined by their expected return periods.

Uploaded by

Hamza Cali
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

PRECIPITATI

ON
(RAINFALL)
Precipitation Formation and Types
Even though precipitation includes rainfall, snowfall, hail, The formation of water droplets in clouds is illustrated in
and sleet, our concern in this book will relate almost entirely Figure 7.2.1.
to rainfall.

Condensation takes place in the atmosphere on condensation nuclei, which are very small particles ð10 3 10 mmÞ in the
atmosphere that are composed of dust or salt. These particles are called aerosols.
2
Precipitation Formation and
Types
During the initial occurrence of condensation, the droplets
or ice particles are very small and are kept aloft by motion
of the air molecules.

These droplets tend to repel one another, but in the presence


of an electric field in the atmosphere they attract one another
and are heavy enough ( 0.1 mm) to fall through the
atmosphere.
Some of the droplets evaporate
in the atmosphere, some of the
droplets decrease in size by
evaporation, and some of the
droplets increase in size by
impact and aggregation.

4
“
Basically, the formation of
precipitation requires lifting of
an air mass in the atmosphere; it
then cools and some of its
moisture condenses.
5
There are three main mechanisms of air
mass lifting:
▸ frontal lifting
▸ orographic lifting
▸ convective lifting

6
Frontal lifting Orographic lifting

7
▸ Convective lifting
8
Disposal of Rainfall on a Watershed
A watershed is the area of land draining into a stream at a particular location. The
various surface water processes in the hydrologic cycle occur on a watershed.
Figure 7.2.12 is a schematic illustration of the disposal of rainfall during a storm
on a watershed. This figureillustrates the rate (as a function of time) at which
water flows or is added to storage for each of the processes.

9
Disposal of Rainfall on a Watershed
At the beginning of a storm, a large proportion of
rainfall contributes to surface storage, and as water
infiltrates, the soil moisture storage begins.
Both retention storage and detention storage
prevail. Retention storage is held for a long
period of time and is depleted by evaporation,
whereas detention storage is over a short time
and is depleted by flow from the storage
location.

10
Design Storms

The determination of flow rates in streams is one of the central tasks of


surface water hydrology.
For most engineering applications, these flow rates are determined for
specified events that are typically extreme events.

11
Design Storms
A major assumption in these analyses is that a certain return period storm results in the same return period flow rates from
a watershed. The return period of an event, whether the event is a storm or a flow rate, is the expected value or the
average value measured over a very large number of occurrences. In other words, the return period refers to the time
interval for which an event will occur once on the average over a very large number of occurrences.

12
13
14
89,526,124$
That’s a lot of money

185,244 users
And a lot of users

100%
Total success!
15
Our process is easy
20XX 20XX 20XX 20XX

Lorem Ipsum Lorem Ipsum Lorem Ipsum Lorem Ipsum


Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetur adipiscing. consectetur adipiscing. consectetur adipiscing. consectetur adipiscing.

16

You might also like