Precipitation

Precipitation
• Precipitation – all forms of water
falling from the atmosphere to
the Earth surface.
• Virga – a precipitation that
evaporates before reaching the
earth surface.
• Precipitation takes the form as
rain, snow, sleet and hail.
• Rain is the predominant form of
precipitation that cause runoff
resulting to floods. Source: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/09/02/climate/02cli-rain-
1/merlin_194043204_8083ca05-83d4-45a7-a508-84628b14d1b0-
articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale
Formation of Precipitation
Cloudy weather does not necessarily mean
that it will rain or snow.

How does precipitation forms?

1. enough moisture present in the

atmosphere;
2. presence of condensation nuclei to aid
condensation;
3. convenient environment for continuous
condensation process;
4. condensation product must reach the
Earth. Relative sizes of raindrops, cloud droplets, and
condensation nuclei, with diameters shown in
micrometers (μm).
Formation of Precipitation
How does precipitation occurs?

Collision and Coalescence Process Ice-Crystal (Bergeron) Process

(Warm Clouds) (Cold Clouds)
Forms/Types of Precipitation
• Rain – common form of
precipitation in the tropical
region. It is termed as rainfall PAGASA Rainfall Intensity Classification and Color Code
that describe precipitation
falling as liquid droplets with
sizes larger than 0.5mm.

• The largest size of a possible

rainfall is 6mm, larger sizes
tends to break up into smaller
sizes during the fall.
Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/PAGASA-Rain-
Rate-Classification-and-Color-Representation-of-Threshold-
Lines-in-the-Rain_tbl1_327650532
Forms/Types of Precipitation
• Snow – ice crystal when combine
will form flakes.

• Fresh snows have an initial

density ranging from 0.06 to 0.15
g/cc.

• Snow occurs at higher latitudes

and at higher altitudes. Source: https://cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2010/01/04/5d444caa-
a642-11e2-a3f0-
029118418759/thumbnail/640x450/a9566cea4bc82a3ebf83fd1592dd6b
dd/image6054876.jpg
Forms/Types of Precipitation
• Drizzle – fine sprinkle of water
droplets of sizes less than 0.5mm
and falls slowly (i.e., intensity of
less than 1mm/hr).

• Drizzles are so small that they

appear to float in the air.

• This form of precipitation usually Source: https://akm-img-a-

comes from stratus clouds in.tosshub.com/indiatoday/images/story/201707/drizzle
-647_072717054006.jpg?size=770:433
Forms/Types of Precipitation
• Glaze – supercooled rain drops
falling in a thin subfreezing layer
and freeze upon contact with the
cold objects.

• The formed ice coat is called

glaze or freezing rain.

Source:
https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/c83pyb1Ysrd7yybUVh
puw7dkPHI=/768x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(1500
00):strip_icc()/GettyImages-550752037-
56e0a3d75f9b5854a9f85b1d.jpg
Forms/Types of Precipitation
• Sleet – frozen raindrops of
transparent grains which forms
when rain falls through air at
subfreezing temperature.

• Sleet are cold raindrops and

refreezes while falling as it
passes through a deep
subfreezing layer in the air.
Source: https://whyfiles.org/wp-
content/uploads/2011/11/feature_sleet.jpg
Forms/Types of Precipitation
• Hail – showery precipitation in
the form of irregular pellets or
lumps of ice with sizes more than
8mm .

• Hail usually occurs in violent

thunderstorm in which the
vertical currents are very strong.
Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gftlFeNfCMc/maxresdefault.jpg
Weather Systems for Precipitation
• Fronts – an interface between two distinct
air masses.
• Precipitation forms due to uplift along
weather fronts

Source: http://www.pmfias.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/weather-
along-a-stationary-front-.jpg
Weather Systems for Precipitation
• Ascent of air due to convergence of
air, an example is cyclone.

• Cyclone – large low pressure area

with circular wind motion (tropical
cyclones and extratropical cyclones).

• In America, the strongest cyclone is

know is called hurricane and in Asia it
is called typhoon.
Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/t
humb/0/04/Hurricane_Isabel_from_ISS.jpg/1200px-
Hurricane_Isabel_from_ISS.jpg
Weather Systems for Precipitation
• Convective Precipitation – forms
when air is warmer than its
surroundings due to localize heating
which then rises because of its light
density.
• Surface heating causes the air to rise
(free convection)
• The rising of warm moist air forms
towering clouds which then produces
precipitation
Weather Systems for Precipitation
• Orographic Precipitation – precipitation
cause by lifting of air due to a barrier
(e.g., mountain).

• The rise of air to higher altitudes

undergoes cooling, condensation then
precipitation.

• In mountain ranges, windward

experiences heavy precipitation and on
the leeward side (i.e., rain shadow area)
has lesser precipitation.
 Spatial Distribution of Rainfall

Mean Annual Precipitation (mm/day) for the Mean Annual Precipitation (mm/day) for the
Period 1991-1995 Period 1991-1995
Precipitation in the Philippines
• Rain is the most common form
precipitation in the Philippines.

• Rainfall in the country are associated to

thunderstorms, monsoons, cold front,
tropical cyclone, orographic rainfall, sea
breezes.

• Rainfall is also use to classify the climate

of the Philippines.
Tropical Rainfall Induce over Philippines (Bagtasa, G.
(2017). Contribution of Tropical Cyclones to Rainfall in
the Philippines. Journal of Climate)
Measurement of Precipitation
• Precipitation is expressed in terms of unit
depth, i.e., mm, inch.

• Raingauge – a device use to collect and

measures the amount of rainfall.

• Raingauges are also known as pluviometer,

ombrometer and hyetometer.
Measurement of Precipitation
• Raingauge – cylindrical vessel that are open to collect
rain.

• As a standard, raingauges should be installed in open

area free from boulders or obstructions to represent
the rainfall over an area.

• A 1m above the ground is the standard height to which

the raingauge is installed, increasing the height will
affect its measurement due to the effect of wind.

• Lower height may also affect its measurement due to

splashing and floods.
Measurement of Precipitation
• A standard rain gauge consists of a funnel-shaped collector
attached to a long measuring tube.
• The cross-sectional area of the collector is 10 times that of
the tube hence, rain falling into the collector is amplified
tenfold in the tube.
• A wooden scale, calibrated to allow for the vertical
exaggeration, is inserted into the tube and withdrawn and
the wet portion of the scale indicates the depth of water.
• For example, 10 in. of water in the tube would be
measured as 1 in. of rainfall.
• This amplification permits rainfall measurements to be as
precise as one-hundredth (0.01) of an inch.
Measurement of Precipitation
• An amount of rainfall less than one-hundredth of an inch is
called a trace.
• The measuring tube can only collect 2 in. of rain.
• Rainfall of more than this amount causes an overflow into
an outer cylinder.
• Here, the excess rainfall is stored and protected from
appreciable evaporation.
• When the gauge is emptied, the overflow is carefully
poured into the tube and measured.
Measurement of Precipitation
• Non-recording rain gauges – a rain gauge that measures
rainfall amount and is not automatically recorded.
• Eight inch standard rain gauge is commonly used in the
Philippines. It has a collector diameter of 20.32 cm (8
in).
• The 8-inch standard rain gauge is a simple non recording
gauge consisting of four major components:

1. Measuring Stick
2. Overflow Can
3. Collector Funnel
4. Measuring Tube
Recording Rain gauge
• Recording rain gauge – measures
rainfall continuously over time, thus
it provides date on the rainfall rate
(rainfall intensity) and rainfall
duration.

• Most common recording rain gauges

are tipping bucket type.

• Other recording gauges are weighing Source:

https://www.weathershack.com/images/tipping-
bucket, natural syphon type. bucket-rain-gauge.gif
Recording Rain gauge
• Tipping bucket has a receiving funnel
leading to two small metal collectors
(buckets) attached to each other and
mounted on a pivot.
• The bucket beneath the funnel
collects the rain water and when it
accumulates the equivalent of one-
hundredth of an inch of rain, the
weight of the water causes it to tip
and empty itself.

The tipping bucket rain gauge. (a) Each time one of the
two buckets mounted on a pivot fills with one-hundredth
of an inch of rain, it tips (b), sending an electric signal to
the remote recorder.
Recording Rain gauge
• As the first bucket turns on the pivot, the
second bucket immediately moves under
the funnel to catch the water then when it
fills, it also tips and empties itself, moving
the other direction on the pivot, and the
original bucket moves back beneath the
funnel.
• Each time a bucket tips, an electric contact
is made, causing a pen to register a mark
on a remote recording chart.
• Adding up the total number of marks gives
the rainfall for a certain time period.
The tipping bucket rain gauge. (a) Each time one of the
two buckets mounted on a pivot fills with one-hundredth
of an inch of rain, it tips (b), sending an electric signal to
the remote recorder.
 Remote Sensing: Radar Radio
detection and ranging
- it gathers information about storms and precipitation in otherwise
inaccessible regions
- It is used to examine the inside of a cloud in much the same way that
physicians use X rays to examine the inside of a human body.
How radar works
1. Radar unit consists of a transmitter
that sends out short, powerful
microwave pulses.
2. When this energy encounters a
foreign object—called a target—a
fraction of the energy is scattered
back toward the transmitter and is
detected by a receiver.
3. The returning signal is amplified
and displayed on a screen,
producing an image, or echo, from
the target. A microwave pulse is sent out from the radar
transmitter. The pulse strikes raindrops and a
fraction of its energy is reflected back to the radar
unit, where it is detected and displayed,
How radar works
4. The elapsed time between
transmission and reception indicates
the target’s distance.
5. The brightness of the echo is directly
related to the amount (intensity) of
rain, snow, or both falling in the
cloud.

The radar screen shows not only where

precipitation is occurring, but also how
intense it is.
Measuring Precipitation from Space
• specialized satellites can also be used
to observe precipitation from space.
• Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission
(TRMM) satellite - gathered a massive
amount of three-dimensional data on
precipitation (1997-2015).
• Global Precipitation Mission (GPM)
satellite replaced TRMM, and
gathering precipitation data over a
much larger area.

GPM is able to gather more detail on lighter precipitation than TRMM, and it includes a dual-polarization
radar that can deduce the sizes of raindrops, hailstones, and other precipitation elements.
Measurement of Precipitation
• Rainfall Intensity - The rate of rainfall which is also similarly
expressed in linear measures per unit time, usually millimeters per
hour.
• Trace - An amount of rainfall less than one-hundredth of an inch (0.01
in) or one-tenth of a millimeter (0.1mm).
Raingauge Networks
• Raingauges are installed strategically in an area to represent the rainfall for the
location.
• WMO recommends the following raingauge densities for a specific location:
1. Flat regions of temperate, Mediterranean and tropical zones
ideal --- 1 station for 600-900 km2
Acceptable --- 1 station for 900-3000 km2
2. Mountainous regions of temperate, Mediterranean and tropical zones
ideal --- 1 station for 100-250 km2
Acceptable --- 1 station for 250-1000 km2
3. Arid and polar zones: 1 station for 1500-10000 km depending on the feasibility
Raingauge Networks
• The adequacy of raingauge network will reduce the errors and will have better
rainfall representation of the area, e.g., catchment basin.
• For an area with existing raingauge stations, we can determine the optimal
number of stations to have an assigned percentage of error in the estimation of
mean rainfall using,

𝐶𝑣
2 Where: 𝑁 – optimal no. of stations
𝑁= 𝜀 – allowable degree of error in the estimate of the mean
𝜀
rainfall, usually taken as 10%.
𝐶𝑣 - coefficient of variation of the rainfall values at the
existing stations (%)
Raingauge Networks
For a given area with m stations, the coefficient or variation can be calculate as,
100 × 𝑆𝐷
𝐶𝑣 =
𝑃
𝑖=𝑚 2 0.5
𝑖=1 𝑃𝑖 − 𝑃
𝑆𝐷 =
𝑚−1
𝑖=𝑚
1
𝑃= 𝑃𝑖
𝑚
𝑖=1
Where, 𝑆𝐷 – standard deviation of the precipitation data
𝑚 – number of existing station in the area
𝑃𝑖 - precipitation for station I
𝑃 - mean precipitation
Raingauge Networks
There are 6 existing rainguge network in a particular basin. In a
particular year, the annual rainfall (in cm) record in each station were
as follows:
Station A B C D E F
Rainfall 82.6 102.9 180.3 110.3 98.8 136.7

If we let a 10% error in the estimation of mean rainfall, determine

whether the network is enough. If not, determine the optimum
number of raingauges to be installed.
Station A B C D E F
Rainfall 82.6 102.9 180.3 110.3 98.8 136.7

2
𝐶𝑣
𝑁=
𝜀

100 × 𝑆𝐷
𝐶𝑣 =
𝑃
𝑖=𝑚 2 0.5
𝑖=1 𝑃𝑖 − 𝑃
𝑆𝐷 =
𝑚−1

𝑖=𝑚
1
𝑃= 𝑃𝑖
𝑚
𝑖=1
 𝑖=𝑚
1
𝑃= 𝑃𝑖
𝑚
𝑖=1
82.6 + 102.9 + 180.3 + 110.3 + 98.8 + 136.7
𝑃= = 118.6𝑐𝑚
6
𝑖=𝑚 2 0.5
𝑖=1 𝑃𝑖 − 𝑃
𝑆𝐷 =
𝑚−1 𝑃𝑖 − 𝑃 𝑃𝑖 − 𝑃 2
0.5
82.6 − 118.6 = −36 −36 2 = 1296
6137.92 102.9 − 118.6 = −15.7 −15.7 2 = 246.49
𝑆𝐷 =
6−1
180.3 − 118.6 = 61.7 61.7 2 = 3806.89
0.5
6137.92 110.3 − 118.6 = −8.3 −8.3 2 = 68.89
𝑆𝐷 =
5 98.8 − 118.6 = −19.8 −19.8 2 = 392.04
136.7 − 118.6 = 18.1 18.1 2 = 327.61
𝑆𝐷 = 35.04 𝑖=𝑚
2
𝑃𝑖 − 𝑃 = 6137.92
𝑖=1
 100 × 𝑆𝐷 100 × 35.04
𝐶𝑣 = = = 29.54%
𝑃 118.6

𝑆𝐷 = 35.04
𝑃 = 118.6𝑐𝑚

2 2
𝐶𝑣 29.54
𝑁= = = 8.7 ≈ 9
𝜀 10

It means that the area has insufficient number of station to represent the mean
rainfall with an allowable error of 10%. By increasing it by 3 more stations, we can
ensure that the mean rainfall is expected to only have a 10% error.
End