PRECIPITATION

FORMS OF PRECIPITATION
 Rain
 Snow
 Drizzle
 Glaze
 Sleet
 Hail
RAIN
• Rain is the principal form of
precipitation.
• When the size of the water drop is
larger than 0.5 mm, it is called
rainfall.
• The maximum size of a raindrop is
about 6 mm. Any drop larger than
this size tends to break down into
drops of smaller sizes during its
fall from the clouds.
• Based on its intensity, rainfall may
be classified as light, moderate,
and heavy.
ASSIFICATION OF RAINFALL
SNOW
• Snow is another form of precipitation.
• Snow consists of ice crystals which usually combine to form
flakes.
• When fresh, snow has an initial density varying from 0.06 to
0.15 g/cm3 and it is usual to assume an average density of 0.1
g/cm3
DRIZZLE
• A fine sprinkle of
numerous water droplets
of size less than 0.5 mm
and intensity less than 1
mm/hr is known as a
drizzle.
• In this, the drops are so
small that they appear to
float in the air.
 SLEET

• It is frozen raindrops of
transparent grains which
form when rain falls through
air at subfreezing
temperature.
• Sleet denotes precipitation of
snow and rain
simultaneously.
GLAZE
• When rain or drizzle comes at contact with the cold ground at
around 0°C.
• This water drops freeze into form an ice coating called glaze
or freezing rain.
HAIL
• It is showery precipitation in the form of irregular pellets of
ice of size more than 8 mm.
• Hails occur at violent thunderstorms in which vertical
currents are very strong.
 TYPES OF PRECIPITATION

 Cyclonic Precipitation
 Convective Precipitation
 Orographic Precipitation
CYCLONIC PRECIPITATION
• Cyclonic precipitation is caused by the
lifting of an air mass because of the pressure
difference.
• If low pressure occurs at an area, air will
flow horizontally from the surrounding area,
causing the air at the low-pressure area to
lift.
The cyclonic precipitation may
be divided into two part:
• Frontal Precipitation
• Non-Frontal Precipitation
ONTAL PRECIPITATION
• When two air masses, because of contrasting
densities and temperatures, clash with each
other, precipitation and condensation, occur in
the surface of contact.
• The surface of contact is called a ‘Front‘ or
‘Frontal Surface,’ and the precipitation is
called frontal precipitation.
ONTAL PRECIPITATION
• When a cold air mass drives out
a warm air mass, it is called a ‘
Cold Front,’ and if a warm air
mass replaces the retreating cold
air mass, it is called a ‘Warm
Front.’
•On the other hand, if both air masses
are drawn simultaneously towards a
low-pressure area, the front
developed is stationary and is called
a ‘Stationary Front.’

Warm Front
• Cold Front causes intense precipitation in
Cold Fron comparatively small areas, while the
t precipitation due to the warm front is less
intense but is spread over a larger area.
Cold fronts move faster than warm fronts.
N-FRONTAL PRECIPITATION
• In the case of non-frontal precipitation, the
moist warm air mass is stationary, and the
moving cold air mass meets it.
• Thus, due to the lightness of the warm air
mass, there is a passive ascent of warm air
over cold air owing to this active
undercutting.
• When this lifted warm air cools down at
higher altitude, precipitation occurs.
CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION
• Convective Precipitation is caused by the natural rising of
warmer lighter air at colder, denser surroundings.
• The difference in temperature can result from unequal
heating in the surface, unequal cooling in the top of the air
layer.
• Generally, kind of precipitation occurs in tropics, where, on
a hot day, the ground surface gets heated unequally,
causing this warmer air to lift up, as the colder air comes to
take its place.
• The vertical air currents develop tremendous velocities and
are hazardous to aircraft.
• Convective precipitation is spotty, and its intensity vary
from light showers to cloud bursts.
CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION
OROGRAPHIC PRECIPITATION
• Orographic precipitation is caused by moist air masses.
Which strikes some natural topographic barriers like
mountains, causing, rise, condensation, and precipitation.
• This greatest amount of precipitation falls on the windward
side, and the leeward side often has very little precipitation.
 MEASUREMENT OF
PRECIPITATION
• All the forms of precipitation are measure based
on vertical depth of water that would accumulate
on a level surface of precipitation remained
where it fell.
• In metric system, precipitation is measure in
millimeters and tenths.
• Any open receptacle with vertical side can be
used as a gauges for measuring rainfall.
• These refined receptacles with vertical side can
be used as a gauges for measuring rainfall.
RAIN GAUGE
A rain gauge (also known as
a pluviometer, udometer,
ombrometer, hyetometer ) is
a type of instrument used
by meteorologists and hydrol
ogists to gather and measure
the amount of
liquid precipitation over a set
period.
For setting up a rain gauge, the
following considerations are
important:
1. The ground must be level and in the open and
the instrument must present a horizontal catch
surface.
2. 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.
3. The instrument must be surrounded by an open
fenced area of at least 5.5 m x 5.5 m.
Rain gauge can be classified into two
categories:
1. Non-Recording rain gauges
2. Recording rain gauges
Non-Recording rain gauges
Non-recording rain gauges are commonly used. They do
not record the data and collect only rain, and this
collected rain is then measured in a graduated cylinder.

Depth of rain = volume of rain collected in cm3/area of

aperture of gauges in cm3

This type of gauges measures precipitation for only a

specified period. Any open receptacle with vertical sides
may be used for precipitation measurement but because
of varying wind and splashing effect. The measurements
are not compatible unless the receptacles of same size,
shape and exposed in a similar manner.
Recording rain gauges
• Are those which automatically record rainfall without
any bottle reading.
• The worker is not required to record the reading, but
instead mechanical arrangements are there by which
total rainfall is recorded automatically on graph paper.
• A graph of total rainfall VS time which is known as
mass curve of rainfall is plotted by the gauges.
• Its three types commonly used are:
1. Tipping bucket gauges
2. Weighing type gauges
3. Float recording gauges
Tipping bucket
gauge
Weighing type
gauge
Float recording
gauge
 END OF
PRESENTATION.