CHAPTER III: PRECIPITATIO

PHASES OF HYDROLOGIC CYCLE

PRECIPITATION
Precipitation is the falling of water from the sky in different
forms. They all form from the clouds which are raised
about 8 to 16 kilometers (4 to 11 miles) above the ground
in the earth’s troposphere. The (clouds) crystallized ice
may reach the ground as ice pellets or snow or may melt
and change into raindrops before reaching the surface of
the earth depending on the atmospheric temperatures.
Precipitation takes place whenever any or all forms of
water particles fall from these high levels of the
atmosphere and reach the earth surface. The drop to the
ground is caused by frictional drag and gravity. When one
falling particle drops from the cloud, it leaves behind a
turbulent wake, causing faster and continued drops. The
(clouds) crystallized ice may reach the ground as ice
pellets or snow or may melt and change into raindrops
before reaching the surface of the earth depending on the
atmospheric temperatures.
Precipitation occurs when the
atmosphere has sufficient moisture.
There must be sufficient nuclei (salt
particles, products of combustion, etc) in
the atmosphere to make condensation
happen.
TYPES OF PRECIPITATION
Cyclonic Precipitation
A cyclone is a region in the atmosphere with large low
pressure having circular wind motion. The cyclonic
precipitation is caused by the movement of moist air mass
to this region due to the difference in pressure. Cyclones
can be of two types frontal and non-frontal precipitation.
Frontal Precipitation -A frontal is called as the hot moist air mass
boundary. This precipitation is caused by the expansion of air near the
frontal surface.
Non-Frontal Precipitation -This is a cold moist air mass boundary
that moves and results in precipitation.
Convective Precipitation
The air above the land area gets heated up by
some cause. The most warmer air rises up and
cools and precipitates. Convective precipitation is
showery in nature. This type of precipitation
happens in varying intensities. The areal extent of
convective precipitation is small in the range of
less than 10km in diameter.
Orographic Precipitation
Moving air masses have chances to strike barriers like
mountains. Once they strike, they rise up which causes
condensation and precipitation. The precipitation is greater in
the windward side of the barrier compared to the leeward side of
the barrier.
Forms of Precipitation
Rainfall
Precipitation  in form of water of size later than 0.5mm is
called rainfall. The maximum size of raindrop is about
6mm. Any drop larger than this size tends to breakup into
drop of smaller size during its fall from the cloud. On the
basis of its intensity rainfall can be classified as
TYPE OF RAINFALL Intensity (mm/h)
LIGHT Trace to 2.5
MODERATE 2.5 – 7.5
HEAVY >7.5
Snow
Snow is another important form of
precipitation consisting ice crystal usually combined to form
flukes. Snow is white in color and fluffy while touching and falls
in cold region where usually temperature is low for most part of
year and where temperature goes below 0'C.
DRIZZLE
A fine sprinkle of numerous water droplets of size
less than 0.5mm and intensity less than 1mm/hr is
known as drizzle. In drizzle, drops of water are so
small that they appear to float in air.
GLAZE
When rain or drizzle comes in contact with cold
ground at around 0'C, the water drop freeze to form
an ice coating called glaze and freezing rain.
SLEET
It is frozen rain drops of transparent grains which
forms when rainfalls through air at sub
freezing temperature. In Britain, sleet denotes
precipitation of snow and rain simultaneously.
HAIL
It is showery precipitation in
form of irregular pallets of size
more than 8mm. hail occurs
in violent thunderstorm in
which vertical current very
strong.
Frost or dew 
Consolidation that occurs at
the ground surface at night
Precipitation forms differently depending on whether it is
generated by warm or cold clouds. Warm clouds are defined
as those that do not extend to levels where temperatures are
below 32°F (0°C), while cold clouds exist at least in part at
temperatures below 32°F (0°C). Temperature decreases with
height in the lower atmosphere at a moist adiabatic rate of
about 3.3°F per 3,281 ft (1.8°C per 1,000 m), on average. High
clouds, such as cirrus, are therefore colder and more likely to
contain ice. As discussed below, however, temperature is not
the only important factor in the formation of precipitation.
Only rain is the precipitation happen in the Philippines because we are a tropical country.
The tropical rains typically occur in the form of downpours or thunderstorms in the
afternoon, except during tropical storms and typhoons, which can last for a few days and
are accompanied by strong winds.

The first snow in the Philippines! In Manila, the heat is 42

degrees, and only 5 hours drive from the capital in the
mountains snow fell. Benguet Highlands is 5 hours drive
from north of Manila.
Snow is a very rare occurrence in the Philippines. This one
looks more like pieces of ice. The snowfall in Benguet,
Philippines is an anomalous phenomenon. Benguet is a
landlocked province of the Philippines located in the
southern tip of the Cordillera Administrative Region on the
island of Luzon. Its capital is La Trinidad.
To be precise, these mountains are called the Central
Cordillera, and occupy these picturesque mountains one
sixth of the largest Philippine island of Luzon.
ARTIFICIALLY INDUCED PRECIPITATION
Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that aims to
change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds
by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud
condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical
processes within the cloud. The usual intent is to increase
precipitation (rain or snow), but hail and fog suppression are also
widely practiced in airports where harsh weather conditions are
experience.
July 23, 2010 MANILA, Philippines - Clouds suitable for seeding operations to bring rain to
ease Metro Manila’s water shortage are not easy to find since satellite cameras often miss
the right cloud formations, GMANews.TV reported yesterday. He said that meteorologists
taking part in seeding operations should be able to spot clouds that are suitable for seeding.
Angat dam, whose water level has been below critical over the past weeks, supplies most of
Metro Manila’s water needs. The first cloud seeding sortie of the BSWM over the Angat
watershed finally pushed through yesterday afternoon. Blessie Concepcion, a representative
of the BSWM that is attached to the Department of Agriculture (DA), said they finally spotted
enough seedable clouds to start operations. She said that a total of 300 kilos of salt had been
sprayed over the Angat watershed, which is part of the 1,200 bags of salt delivered by a
container truck at the Plaridel Airport. The salt was sprayed over thick cumulonimbus clouds
near the Angat watershed to create rainfall that will replenish the dwindling water reserve at
the dam that supplies 97 percent of Metro Manila’s potable water requirement. Concepcion
said that their operations were delayed by lack of seedable clouds. Concepcion said that
BSWM is ready to conduct 70 hours of cloud seeding operations over the Angat watershed
alone. He said the whole country would experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain
showers and thunderstorms.
MEASUREMENT OF PRECIPITATION
RAIN GAUGES
measure precipitation amounts at a given location. Oftentimes
measurements from an individual rain gauge are used to represent
precipitation conditions across larger areas, i.e., between gauge sites.
However, that isn’t always the best assumption. The reality is that
precipitation may fall more- or less-intensely at the location of the gauge—
or it may miss the gauge entirely. Damage or obstructions to a gauge or the
presence of strong winds can also introduce error.
Cylindrical Rain Gauges (Figures 6.1 and 6.2)
As this type of rain gauge can also be used to measure snow, it is
alternatively known as a cylindrical
rain/snow gauge. It consists of a cylindrical vessel with a uniform diameter
from top to bottom and an
orifice at the top. It does not have a funnel.
ORDINARY RAIN GAUGES (Figure 6.3)

Ordinary rain gauges are the type used at non-automated

observatories. With such devices, the
observer takes measurements using a rain-measuring glass at regular intervals.
SIPHON RAIN GAUGES
A siphon rain gauge enables automatic, continuous measurement
and recording of precipitation.
TIPPING BUCKET RAIN GAUGES
This type of rain gauge generates an electric signal (i.e., a pulse) for each unit of
precipitation collected, and allows automatic or remote observation with a recorder or a
counter. The only requirement for the instrument connected to the rain gauge is that it
must be able to count pulses. Thus, a wide selection of configurations and applications is
possible for this measuring system. Solid precipitation can also be measured if a heater is
set at the receptacle.
TIPPING BUCKET RAIN GAUGE RECORDER
This recorder counts
and records pulses
(signals) from a tipping
bucket rain gauge,
anemometer, etc. For
each pulse counted, an
electromagnet rotates a
gear by one step,
causing an eddy-type
cam on the same shaft
of the gear to drive a
recording pen and mark
a trace on the recording
paper of a clock-driven
drum.
GROUND-BASED WEATHER RADARS
Ground-based weather radars emerged during
World War II and have since been used to
observe precipitation, mostly over land.
Ground-based radars send out pulses of
microwave energy in narrow beams that scan in
a circular pattern. When the microwave pulse
encounters precipitation particles in the
atmosphere, the energy is scattered in all
directions, sending some energy back to the
radar. These measurements are used to
estimate intensity, altitude, precipitation type
(e.g., rain, snow, hail), and motion. Obtaining
continuous measurements of precipitation from
ground-based systems (e.g., from rain gauges
Set up on a ranch in Rutherford County, N.C., NASA's Dual-frequency,
and radar systems) presents a challenge due to Dual-polarization, Doppler Radar (D3R) is one of several ground radars
large gaps between monitoring sites on land measuring rain as it falls from clouds. It has the same two frequencies
as are on the GPM Core Observatory Satellite. Photo credit: David Wolff
and huge gaps over the ocean.
EARTH-OBSERVING SATELLITES
Earth-observing satellites can provide frequent estimates of precipitation at a
global scale. To do this, satellites carry instruments designed to observe specific
atmospheric characteristics such as cloud temperatures and precipitation particles,
or hydrometeors. These data are extremely useful for filling in data gaps that exist
between rain gauge and ground-based radar sites and offer insights into when,
where, and how much precipitation is falling worldwide. Satellite data also provide
a unique vantage point. While ground-based instruments can directly measure or
estimate how much precipitation falls to the ground, satellite instruments estimate
the amount of electromagnetic radiation (or energy) that is emitted or reflected
either from the tops of the clouds or from the rain droplets themselves, providing a
top-down view. Spaceborne radar instruments can even observe the three-
dimensional structure of precipitation. Such satellite observations are detailed
enough to allow scientists to distinguish between rain, snow, and other
precipitation types, as well as observe the structure, intensity, and dynamics of
storms.
TRMM
The Tropical Rainfall Measurement
Mission (TRMM), a joint mission
between NASA and the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA),
was launched in 1997. TRMM measured
heavy to moderate rainfall over tropical
and subtropical regions for over 17
years, until the mission ended in April
2015. Measurements from TRMM
advanced our understanding of tropical
rainfall, particularly over the ocean, and
provided three-dimensional images of Image showing TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR) and
the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) instrument
storm intensity and structure from
resolving the intensifying thunderstorms near a tropical
space using the first satellite-borne cyclone Magda’s eyewall off the northwest coast of
weather radar. Australia on January 21st, 2010.
GPM
TRMM’s successor is another joint NASA-JAXA mission called the Global
Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, launched on February
28, 2014 from the Tanegashima Space Center, in Japan. The Core Observatory
carries two instruments—the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) and
GPM Microwave Imager (GMI)—collecting observations that allow scientists
to dissect storms. Like a diagnostic CAT scan, the DPR provides a three-
dimensional profile that shows the intensities of liquid and solid precipitation.
The GMI provides a two-dimensional view to look in depth at light rain to
heavy rain and falling snow—like an X-ray. The Core Observatory is part of an
international constellation of domestic and international satellites that
together provide global observations of precipitation from space—called the
GPM mission. Together, the constellation observes rain, snow, and other
precipitation data worldwide every three hours.
THANKYOU

PRESENTED BY: GIEXANE R. BACLIG

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