Section 2:

Precipitation
Precipitation (rainfall, snow, dew) forces the land component of
the hydrologic cycle. This section examines the physical factors
affecting precipitation and how we measure it

• Water in the atmosphere

• Adiabatic cooling and atmospheric stability
• Small and large-scale mechanisms that produce rainfall
• Measurement of rainfall
• Estimation of catchment rainfall
 Precipitation is the process by
The which atmospheric water vapour
Atmosphere condenses into a liquid or solid
phase which falls under the
action of gravity to the earths
surface.

Source of Atm. water:

evaporation and trasnpiration.

Water

Shaw fig 1.2

2-2
 Some Physical Properties

For many practical purposes, the air in the lower

atmosphere can be considered as a mixture of perfect
gases.

In the present context these may conveniently be assumed

to be dry air (of constant composition) and water vapor.

2-3
 Water Vapour Pressure

e e
ρ v= = ideal gas law
RvT 1.609 RT

ρ v = water vapour density (g/m3)

T = air temperature (oK)
e = water vapour pressure (mb; note 1millibar=100Pa)
Rv = gas constant for water vapour
R = dry air gas constant (2.88x10-3 mb m3/oK g).

Note that we use R v = 1.609 R = R (because air is a mixture of

0.622
water vapour and dry air).

MW water vapour
0.622 = (MW=molecular weight)
MW dry air
2-4
 Atmospheric Water Vapour
es(T) = saturated vapour
pressure at temp T (in mb).
⎛ 7.5T ⎞
⎜ ⎟
⎝ T + 237.3 ⎠
e s (T) = 6.11x10
where T is in oC
air saturated
with water vapour

Vapour pressure deficit = es(T) - ea(T)

where es(T) = saturated vapour
pressure at temp T es

and ea(T) = actual vapour pressure at under saturated

temp T with water vapour
ea

Td=dew point temp at vapour pressure ea

= temperature at which air mass with
vapour pressure ea becomes saturated T

2-5
 Relative Humidity

Actual water vapour pressure at temperature T

r=
Saturated water vapour pressure at temperature T
ea (T)
=
es (T)

es

ea

2-6
 Specific Humidity
density of water vapour mass water in a unit volume of air
q= =
density of moist air mass air + water in a unit volume air
ρv
= ρv
q=
ρd + ρv
ρd + ρv
e
p= total pressure exerted by moist air
= 1.609 RT
p−e e e= water vapour pressure
+ p-e= partial pressure exerted by dry air
RT 1.609 RT
0.622e 0.622e
= ≈
p − 0.378e p

2-7
 Quantifying Rainfall Rates
Rainfall is commonly expressed in two, interchangeable ways:

Rainfall Rate or Rainfall Intensity I (m/s)

I = depth of rainfall falling on the catchment surface per unit time

Rainfall Mass Flux F (kg m-2 s-1)

F = mass of water rainfall per unit area per unit time
= ρwI where ρw is the density of water (1000 kg m-3)

1 kg/m2/s of rainfall flux ≡ 0.001 m/s rainfall intensity

1
1 mm/hr rainfall intensity ≡ m/s rainfall intensity
3600x1000

2-8
 Depth of Precipitable Water

Mass of water in an atmospheric air column with unit area

and height between z1 and z2
z2

M = ∫ ρ v dz
z1

Assume hydrostatic pressure distribution ( dp = − ρ g dz )

p2 p1
dp q
M = − ∫ ρv = ∫ dp
p1
ρ g p2 g
If the pressure p is in mb and q (specific humidity) is in
g/kg then the depth of water in a 1m2 air column is
D = 0.1M ( mm )
2-9
 Radiosonde
temperature, pressure, and humidity

Depth of precipitable water can be evaluated as

0.1 p2 0.1 N qn −1 + qn
D= ∑
g p1
q Δ p = ∑ ( n−1 n ) 2
g n =1
p − p

Can also use models of

atmospheric water distribution

Total precipitable water D is the max possible

precipitation under unreal assumption
of total condensation

2-10
 Latitudinal Distribution of Precipitation

General circulation of the

atmosphere produces belts of
high precip in the equator and
low precip. near 30o lat. (great
deserts)
Equator: warm westerly winds
from both hemispheres carry
moisture evap. from tropical
oceans (intertropical
convergence zone ITCZ).
Dingman, 1994
2-11
 Adiabatic Cooling
Adiabatic cooling is the dominant mechanism which is responsible for
cooling of moist air masses leading to precipitation.

Suppose a parcel of unsaturated air is lifted by some meteorological

process
• collision of air masses with different densities eg fronts
• orographic lifting
• convergence
• convection

As parcel is lifted it experiences a reduced pressure. It therefore

expands and cools.

2-12
 Scale of Air Parcel Lifting Mechanisms

Meteorological process which can lift air parcels:

Micro-scale (1-10 km)
Convection; thunderstorms
Meso-scale (10-100 km)
Orographic lifting

Synoptic scale (100-1000 km)

Collision of air masses with different densities eg fronts
Convergence

2-13
 Uplift due to Convection
(Atmospheric Stability)
Environmental lapse rate
(ELR) say 6.5oC/km

Unstable displacement: At condensation level

air becomes saturated and cools at saturated
adiabatic lapse rate SALR (αs =5.8oC/km) Æ If
SALR < ELR air parcel remains warmer than
ambient air and thus keeps rising faster and
faster whilst cooling

Stable displacement DS: Warmer air

parcel less dense than ambient air Æ
Rises and cools at dry adiabatic lapse rate
αd =9.8oC/kmÆ At S it has same temp as
ambient air Æ Stops rising

Point D: Air parcel comes

in contact with heated
Dingman 4-7
earth surface Æ Temp
rises from To to T1
2-14
Lifting Air Masses: Convective Storms
Environmental lapse rate

Convective storm cells (of the order

of a few kms) develop under
Unstable unstable atmospheric conditions
displacement

Stable
displacement

Shaw (3rd ed) Fig 1-11 2-15

 Classification of Air Masses

Shaw, 1994
2-16
 Lifting Air Masses: Frontal Lifting

Shaw, 1994
2-17
Lifting Air Masses: Convergence

L
L

BoM and SMH, 9 Feb 2002 2-18

 Tropical Cyclones (Hurricanes):

Occur in late summer when the sea surface temperatures are greatest.
Tropical cyclones start in a hot moist air mass over the ocean. They are
responsible for extreme precipitation causing flooding, tidal surges and
strong winds. NE and NW coasts of Australia are in the path of tropical
cyclones

Monsoons
Monsoons are large-scale quasi-steady wind regimes that last for
several months and are characterized by a seasonal reversal of wind
direction. They are associated with major changes in jet stream
movements and a meridional shift of the rain-bringing inter-tropical
convergence zone.
Blowing from sea to land in summer and reversing in winter they
produce a wet-dry seasonal cycle.
2-19
Measuring Precipitation= Rain Gages

Rain gages measure point rainfall

Diameter = 203mm
Read daily at 9am
Data useful for long term rainfall statistics
Little use for storm rainfall intensity

Dunne, 1978
2-20
 Pluviographs
Continuous record of rainfall
500 pluviographs in Australia with >10yrs record

Tipping bucket tips when it fills with a specified

volume of water (e.g. 0.5mm)
Electric switch trips and data is recorded
with data logger.

Dunne, 1978 Shaw, 1994

2-21
 Factors Affecting Rainfall Catch

Dingman, 1994
2-22
Shaw, 1994
 Raingauge Network Density

Type of rainfall analysis

Terrain
orographic effects are usually
significant and strong rainfall gradients
may exist. Denser network needed in
mountainous regions

Storm type
Areal rainfall errors (%) obtained over a
catchment of 500km2 with 10 gages.
convective storm cells ( ~10km) and frontal
storm (~100km)
denser network required in areas where
convective cells are main type of precipitation
Shaw, 1994
2-23
Effect of Gauge Density on Areal Rainfall Calcs

Primary network

Cooperative network

Dingman, 1994
2-24
 Errors in Areal
Estimation – Gauge
Density
Primary network

Cooperative network

Differences
Dingman, 1994
2-25
 Satellite (IR) Estimation of Rainfall
Only means of systematically measuring
rainfall over oceans
Used in long term assessment of climate
change
Employs infrared (IR) to sense
temperature of cloud tops and then infers
rainfall

Maidment, 1993
2-26
 Radar

Works by relating reflected beam

intensity to rainfall intensity
Has some limitations, e.g.:
•Decreasing power with distance
•Topography (mountains can block)
•Other aerial targets (e.g. birds)
•Does not detect above 3000m
•intensity of drizzle may be
underestimated because of the lack Cyclone Thelma 1998
of large droplets
2-27
Estimating Catchment Rainfall

In hydrology often need areal average rainfall; that

is, average rainfall over a catchment or selected
area

Typically have several point measurements of

rainfall

Several common methods:

• Arithmetic mean
• Thiessen polygon
• Isohyetal method

Lindsley, 1982
2-28
Arithmetic Average

Lindsley, 1982
2-29
 Thiessen Polygons

Inside polygon points closer
to 68.3 than any other gauge
Perpendicular bisector
between 75.7 and 127.0
Lindsley, 1982
2-30
Isohyetal Method

(533)

Lindsley, 1982
2-31
Errors Due to Gauge Density

Lindsley, 1982
2-32
 Errors Due to Gauge Density
decrease with increasing duration
of precip.
Increase with increasing areal
mean precip.

decrease with increasing area

sampling errors decrease with increasing network density Lindsley, 1982

2-33
Detecting Inconsistency: Double Mass Curve

(totals multiplied by 0.95/1.16)

Dunne, 1978
2-34