PRECIPITATIO
N
WHAT IS PRECIPITATION?
FORMATION
DIFFERENT TYPES
RAINFALL CHARATERISTICS
POINT RAINFALL MEASUREMENTS
PRECIPITATION
Precipitation is a crucial component of the Earth’s water
cycle and includes all forms of water, liquid or solid, that
fall from clouds and reach the ground. It plays an
essential role in replenishing fresh water resources and
affects the climate, weather patterns, ecosystems, and
human activities. Common types of precipitation include
rain, snow, sleet, hail, and drizzle.
• Precipitation is any liquid or
frozen water that forms in
the atmosphere and falls back
to the earth. It comes in many
forms, like rain, sleet, and
snow. Along
with evaporation and condensa
tion, precipitation is one of the
three major parts of the
global water cycle.
FORMATION OF
PRECIPITATION
1. Evaporation and Condensation
• Evaporation: Water from oceans, lakes,
rivers, and other bodies of water
evaporates into the air, turning into water
vapor.
• Condensation: As the air rises, it cools.
The cooling causes the water vapor to
condense into tiny droplets or ice crystals,
forming clouds. This happens when the air
reaches its dew point, the temperature at
which air becomes saturated with moisture.
2. Cloud Formation
• Clouds are made up of millions of tiny
water droplets or ice crystals. These
droplets are too small to fall to the
ground on their own, so they remain
suspended in the atmosphere.
3. Coalescence
• Within clouds, tiny water droplets collide
and combine (a process called
coalescence) to form larger droplets.
The larger the droplets, the more likely
they are to fall to the Earth as
precipitation.
4. Precipitation
When the water droplets in a cloud grow large enough that the
upward air currents can no longer keep them suspended, they
begin to fall to the ground as precipitation. Depending on the
temperature, this can take different forms:
• Rain: When the temperature is above freezing, water
droplets fall as liquid.
• Snow: If the temperature is below freezing,
the droplets freeze into ice crystals and fall as snow.
• Sleet: If raindrops freeze before reaching
the ground, they turn into small pellets of ice.
• Hail: In strong thunderstorms, updrafts
carry droplets into very cold areas of the
atmosphere, causing them to freeze and
accumulate layers of ice, forming hailstones.
5. Other Factors
• Temperature: The temperature of the air and the
ground plays a crucial role in determining what
kind of precipitation will form.
• Humidity: High humidity means the air is more
saturated with water vapor, increasing the chances
of precipitation.
• Air Pressure: Low pressure systems
often bring clouds and precipitation,
while high pressure systems tend to bring
dry, clear weather.
DIFFERENT TYPES
OF PRECIPITATION
There are different types of precipitation:
Rain
Snow
Sleet
Freezing rain
Hail
RAIN
Rain happens when
water falls from the
atmosphere to the
surface of the Earth.
The temperature on
Earth needs to be well
above freezing for rain
to fall as liquid water.
This then created
nimbus and
cumulonimbus clouds.
SNOW
Instances wherein water
vapor from the
atmosphere freezes into
crystals result in snow.
The formation of snow
occurs when it is below
freezing temperature in
the clouds. Factors such as
temperature, humidity,
and wind result in
different kinds of
snowflakes.
SLEET
If rain or melted snow
hits a cool pocket of air
forms another type of
precipitation called sleet.
This can freeze into tiny
ice pellets and are
typically light and
bounce off the ground.
FREEZING RAIN
When rain supercools
on impact with the
surface, it
forms freezing rain.
Warm air close to
clouds and thin cold air
above the surface are
needed as the rain falls
to Earth.
HAIL
Balls from frozen
water formed in the
cumulonimbus clouds
are known as hail. It is
produced by strong
updrafts and
additional water
droplets. For a large
hail to occur, updrafts
should be at a
minimum of 56 mph.
RAINFALL CHARACTERISTICS
(DEPTH, DURATION,
INTENSITY,
HYETOGRAPH)
RAINFALL CHARATERISTICS
Rain Characteristics Rain is a
form of precipitation that occurs
when water droplets in clouds
become too heavy to remain
suspended and fall to the Earth's
surface. The characteristics of
rain can be classified based on
different aspects, including
formation, intensity, duration,
DEPTH
• This refers to the total amount of rainfall
that falls over a given area, usually
expressed in millimeters (mm) or inches.
• It is measured using a rain gauge. The
depth is the height of water accumulated in
the gauge after a rainfall event.
• The depth indicates the total volume of
water that has fallen in a specific location. It
is important for understanding water
availability, flood forecasting, and
agricultural planning.
DURATION
• Rainfall duration refers to the
length of time over which a
rainfall event occurs, typically
from the beginning to the end
of the rainfall period. It is
usually measured in hours,
minutes, or days depending
on the specific event.
INTENSITY
Intensity of Rain The intensity of rainfall is
usually measured in millimeters per hour
(mm/hr) and categorized as: Light Rain: Less
than 2.5 mm/hr, often misty and drizzling.
Moderate Rain: Between 2.5 mm/hr and 7.6
mm/hr. Heavy Rain: Greater than 7.6 mm/hr,
often associated with storms. Meteorologists
use rain gauges to measure rainfall intensity
and accumulation.
HYETOGRAPH
• A hyetograph is a graphical representation
of the rainfall intensity (or depth) against
time. It shows how the intensity of rainfall
changes during the course of a particular
event.
• A hyetograph helps visualize the pattern of
rainfall during an event, showing when the
rain starts, the peak intensity, and when it
subsides. It is an essential tool in
hydrological studies, flood prediction,
and design of drainage systems.
Example of Hyetograph
POINT RAINFALL MEASUREMENTS
The measurement of rainfall at a single, specific location, providing
data on the precipitation depth at that exact point
This measures:
• intensity of precipitation
• raindrop size distribution
• time of beginning and ending of precipitation
All forms of precipitation are measured on basis of vertical depth of
water in mm and tenth (10.1mm, 2.50mm)
INSTRUMENT USED
FOR MEASURING
RAIN
RAINGAUGE
• instrument used by
meteorologists and hydrologists to
gather and measure the amount
of liquid precipitation over an area
in a predefined period of time.
• Also known as hyetometer.
• cylindrical-vessel assembly kept in
the open to collect rain.
TYPES OF RAIN GAUGE
Non recording rain gauges
- a rain gage which
does not provide the
distribution of amount of
precipitation in a day. It
simply gives the amount of
precipitation after 24 hours
(daily precipitation)
- Symon’s Rain Gauge
TYPES OF RAIN GAUGE
Recording rain gauges
These rain gauges are also called integrating rain gauges
since they record cumulative rainfall. In addition to the
total amount of rainfall at a station, it gives the times
of onset and cessation of rains (thereby gives the duration
of rainfall events).
TYPES OF RECORDING
RAIN GAUGE
TIPPING BUCKET GAUGE
It measures the rainfall with a least count
of 1 mm and gives out one electrical
pulse for every millimeter of rainfall.
Rainfall character is decided by the total
amount of rain that falls in a set period
(usually 1 hour) and by counting the number
of 'clicks' in a 10 minute period the
observer can decide the character of the
rain.
Advantage: The character of the rain is
easily obtained (light, medium, heavy)
TYPES OF RECORDING
RAIN GAUGE
Weighing Type Gauge
It weighs rain or snow which falls into a
bucket, set on a platform with a spring or
lever balance and recorded on a chart.
The record shows accumulation of
precipitation.
These gauges are more expensive and
requires more maintenance.
Advantage: it does not underestimate
intense rain, and it can measure other
forms of precipitation, including rain, hail
and snow.
TYPES OF RECORDING
RAIN GAUGE
Float Recording Gauge
It records precipitation base on the rise of
float with increasing catch of rainfall is
recorded.
Manually emptied or automatically using self-
starting siphons
In most gauges oil or mercury is the float and
is placed in the receiver, but in some cases
the receiver rests on a bath of oil or mercury
and the float measures the rise of oil or
mercury displaced by the increasing weight
of the receiver as the rainfall catch freezes.
TYPES OF RECORDING
RAIN GAUGE
Optical Rain Gauges
new technology that measures rainfall
rate as proportional to the disturbance
by raindrops to an optical beam
between a light source and an optical
receiver
This type of gauge is expensive and
mainly used for research
