What is precipitation and what are is type?

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Precipitation can be liquid, solid, and mixed. Liquid precipitation includes rain and drizzle. Solid precipitation can be of more diverse forms. This article presents the peculiarities of liquid and solid forms of precipitation.

1. HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE – Vol. II - Types and Characteristics of Precipitation - I.I. Borzenkova
TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF PRECIPITATION
I.I. Borzenkova
Department of Climatology, State Hydrological Institute, Russia
Keywords: black frost, blood rain, color rain, convective precipitation, dew, drizzle,
form of precipitation, freezing rain, frontal precipitation, graupel, hail, monsoon
precipitation, orographical precipitation, rain, sleet, snow flurry, snow, types of
precipitation by annual variation, types of precipitation by origin, types precipitation by
diurnal variation.
1. Introduction
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2. Precipitation forms
2.1. Liquid Precipitation
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2.1.1 Rain, Drizzle and Freezing rain
2.1.2 Ground Liquid Precipitation (Dew and Liquid Deposit)
2.2. Solid Precipitation
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2.2.1 Snow
2.2.2 Hail, Snow Pellet, Ice Pellet, Snow Corns, Ice Needles
2.2.3 Solid ground precipitation (ground hydrometeors)
3. Characteristics of precipitation regime
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3.1. Total Precipitation Variability
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3.2. Duration and Rate of Precipitation.
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4. Classification of precipitation types by annual and daily variations
4.1. Classification of Precipitation by the Type of Annual Pattern
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4.1.1 The equatorial type of annual precipitation pattern
4.1.2 Tropical type
4.1.3 Mediterranean type
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4.1.4 Continental type of the middle latitudes
4.1.5 Maritime type of the middle latitudes
4.1.6 Monsoon type
4.1.7 The polar type
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4.2. Classification of precipitation by the type of daily variations
4.2.1 Continental type
4.2.2 Coastal type
5. Classification of precipitation by genesis
5.1. Frontal (cyclonic) precipitation
5.2. Orographic precipitation
5.3. Convective precipitation
5.4. Monsoon precipitation
6. Conclusion
Biographical Sketch
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2. HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE – Vol. II - Types and Characteristics of Precipitation - I.I. Borzenkova
Precipitation can be liquid, solid and mixed. Liquid precipitation includes rain and drizzle.
Solid precipitation can be of more diverse forms. This article presents the peculiarities of
liquid and solid forms of precipitation.
It describes the main types and classification of precipitation according annual and daily
variations. Annual precipitation variations depend both on the general atmospheric
circulation and local (topographic) conditions. We consider the main features of
equatorial, tropical, Mediterranean, monsoonal and mid-latitudinal types of annual
precipitation. As regards causes, precipitation is subdivided into cyclones (frontal),
convective, orographic, and monsoon.
1. Introduction
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Moisture entering the atmosphere as a result of evaporation from water and land surfaces
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is transported with air fluxes; it condenses and again falls as precipitation on the surface
of the Earth. Total atmospheric moisture is estimated at 12 to 14 km3, a volume that
would form a water layer 25 mm thick on the Earth’s surface.
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Up to 90% of water vapor is concentrated in the layer up to 5 km. It rapidly decreases with
altitude. Atmospheric moisture turnover is 9 to 10 days, so this relatively insignificant
amount of water plays an important role in processes occurring on the Earth’s surface.
During a year, about 580 000 km3 of water fall from the atmosphere in different forms of
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Precipitation is the water in a liquid or solid state falling from clouds or formed on the
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earth’s surface and ground objects due to condensation of airborne water vapor.
Depending on the mechanism of cloud development and structure, precipitation may be
continuous (temperate-intense) and produced predominantly from stratocumulus clouds,
heavy, from cumulonimbus, or drizzle, often from stratus clouds.
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Precipitation formed on the earth’s surface is called ground hydrometeors and includes
dew, different type of rime, hoarfrost, black and hard frost and glaze. At meteorological
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stations, precipitation is measured with rain gauges of different types, recording rain
gauges (pluviographs) or by radar, which allows estimation of both precipitation fall area
and its intensity.
2. Precipitation Forms
Precipitation is liquid or solid water falling from clouds to the Earth’s surface or formed
on different bodies as a result of atmospheric water vapor condensation. Precipitation can
be liquid, solid, or mixed. Liquid precipitation includes rain and drizzle. On the Earth’s
surface or on different objects, liquid precipitation can be formed as dew or liquid film.
Figure 1 shows the main types of precipitation.
©Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)

3. HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE – Vol. II - Types and Characteristics of Precipitation - I.I. Borzenkova
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Figure 1. The main types of the precipitation. 1 - snow; 2 - small hail; 3 - large hail; 4 - ice
pellets (graupel); 5 - snow pellets (ice needles, ice crystals); 6 - droplets of drizzle; 7 - rain
drops.
Solid precipitation can be of forms that are more diverse. It falls as snow, hail, snow and
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ice pellets, ice needles, and ice crystals. At lower surface temperatures ice forming on
solid objects are solid surface hydrometeors—frost, solid film, and ice. In free
atmosphere, an analogue of such phenomena is airplane icing, when super-cooled cloud
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drops or precipitation freeze on the surface of an airplane.
2.1. Liquid Precipitation
2.1.1 Rain, Drizzle and Freezing rain
The differentiation between rain and drizzle is to a certain extent arbitrary. These two
forms of liquid precipitation differ from each other only in the size of drops. The diameter
of raindrops is usually 5 to 6 mm, whereas drizzle drops are smaller (between 0.2 and 0.5
mm) and their terminal velocities are between 70 and 200 cm per second. Drizzle falls
mostly from low stratus clouds and is frequently accompanied with fog and poor
©Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)

4. HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE – Vol. II - Types and Characteristics of Precipitation - I.I. Borzenkova
The diameter of raindrops is usually larger than 0.5 mm, but they only rarely reach 6 mm
or more because larger raindrops are destroyed during falling. Small raindrops are of
almost spherical shape, but bigger ones are flattened when falling, especially in the lower
part of the cloud. The terminal velocities of rain drops range from two meters per second
for the smallest to about 10 meters per second for the largest.
During heavy rains, raindrops are considerably bigger than in light rain. The largest drops
of more than six millimeters in diameter appear only in heavy rains, especially at the start
of a rain storm.
When raindrops pass through cold air layers (below 0 °C), they become super-cooled, and
freezing rain or super-cooled drizzle occur. Freezing rain falls in liquid form but freezes
upon impact to form a coating of glaze on the ground and exposed objects. Often these
frozen raindrops form a very slippery and almost transparent “glazed” film which is
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dangerous for both pedestrians and transport.
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2.1.2 Ground Liquid Precipitation (Dew and Liquid Deposit)
Dew is the smallest water drop formed during condensation on the Earth’s surface, most
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frequently on grass during the warm period of a year. Dew arises mostly with clear and
calm weather in the evening hours and at night when there is no fog. Dew develops when
soil and vegetation (grass and leaves) cool to the temperature typical of the dew point.
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Dew can produce a large amount of precipitation. For example, in England on flat ground,
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dew produces 10 to 30 millimeter of precipitation a year. In the mid-latitudes of Europe
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this amount is about 10 millimeter a year, and in southern Africa 40 millimeter a year. In
warm, humid tropical regions, dew is so abundant that it can drip from roofs of buildings
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and tree leaves.
In Northern Europe (Finland), abundant dew can produce a water layer of 0.1 to 0.2 mm
each night. From the data measured by Divdevany’s dew meter at a number of Finnish
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stations during May to October in 1967 and 1968, the dew amount is about 10 mm, or 3%
of precipitation for the warm period of the year. In Northern Finland, the dew in warm
periods is as much as 1.5% of total precipitation for the same period.
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There is a relationship between the dates of dew appearance, cloudiness, and air humidity.
Dew mainly arises with a low cloudiness of 30 to 50% and relative humidity of 60 to 80%.
In northern and north-western Russia, dew falls with air temperature above 7 to 8 °C. In
southern regions of Russia, dew develops at temperatures above 5-6 °C. In some regions,
where the temperature is above 0 °C throughout the year, dew develops continuously.
The liquid film is a water layer arising on cold, mostly vertical, surfaces in gloomy and
windy weather. Liquid film arises from a cause different from dew. It is formed from
warmer and humid air advection after prolonged cold weather. It occurs where water
vapor condenses on cooled surfaces (e.g. buildings, walls, trees, and fences). The process
is most apparent on the windward sides of objects: as if they are misted when covered
©Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)

5. HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE – Vol. II - Types and Characteristics of Precipitation - I.I. Borzenkova
with tiny drops. A liquid film also forms under artificial conditions, such as when warm
and humid interior air condenses on the inside of cold windowpanes in a warm house.
2.2. Solid Precipitation
Solid precipitation is of more diverse forms than liquid ones. There include snow, snow
and ice pellets, hail, etc. In addition, as stated above, there is a great variety of surface
solid precipitation (surface hydrometeors).
2.2.1 Snow
Snow is solid atmospheric precipitation of different forms of ice crystals. Groups of ice
crystals form snowflakes in the shape of six-cone stars, needles or multiple combinations.
The size of snowflakes varies from one millimeter to a few centimeters depending on air
temperature: the higher the temperature and weaker the wind, the larger the flakes. The
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largest flakes fall with heavy precipitation.
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The diversity of snowflakes is endless. Mostly they are stars, columns, or their
combinations. The velocity of snowflake fall is a function of their shape and air
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temperature, being in the range of 0.1 to 2 meter per second in motionless air. Figure 2
shows the shapes of snowflakes according to the international classification.
Japanese researchers have shown a particular interest in snowflake shape. As long ago as
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the second half of the nineteenth century, Dai-Toshizura made a large number of delicate
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drawings of snowflakes of different shapes using a microscope. The artist reached a high
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level of accuracy with the original. His outstanding work remains unsurpassed.
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Wilson Bentley (1865-1931), in the US State of Vermont, took pictures of snowflakes for
many years and developed a big collection of different shapes. His album containing 300
photos of snowflakes was published in 1931, the year of his death.
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The Japanese researcher U. Nakaya (Hokkaido University) discovered when studying the
process of developing snow crystals under man-made conditions (in a chamber) that ice
crystals in the shape of stars develop only in the narrow temperature range of -14 to -17
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°C. At temperature above -7 °C (from –3 °C to –5 °C) only ice needles are formed. Plates
and columns are formed at temperatures form –10 °C to –22 °C.
Snow falls from clouds of different shapes, mostly strato-cumulus, high-stratus and
cumulo-nimbus, during the cold period of the year. By their size snowflakes are classified
as tiny (particles < 5 millimeter), small flakes (5 to 15 mm), or large flakes (> 15 mm).
Snowflake fall velocity ranges from < 0.1 meter per second (slow flying) to > 0.8 meter
per second. Plates and stars fall with velocity of 0.5 to 1 meter per second, needles and
columns – a few decimeters per second, and snow and ice pellets at 1 to 2.7 meters per
©Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)

6. HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE – Vol. II - Types and Characteristics of Precipitation - I.I. Borzenkova
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Figure 2: International classification of frozen precipitation. 1-Thin hexagonal plates; 2
-Dendritic crystals, 3-columns; 4-needles; 5-dendritic forms; 6-incorrect crystals; 7-snow
pellets (graupel); 8-freezing rain; 9-hail.
©Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)

7. HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE – Vol. II - Types and Characteristics of Precipitation - I.I. Borzenkova
The rate of snowfall is measured by precipitation amount in 1 mm water layers per unit of
time, mostly per hour or 24 hours. Weak snow has a rate of less than 0.1 mm/hour,
average snow – from 0.1 to 1 mm per hour, and heavy snow – more than 1mm per hour.
Vision in dense snow can be reduced to 1 km or less. The length of snowfall period is
usually inversely proportional to the rate of its fall. Dense snowfall rarely lasts more than
1 to 2 hours, and weak snow can last 24 hours or even longer.
At meteorological stations several types of snow are distinguished: snow with rain, rain
with snow, drizzle, and heavy snow. The later is sometimes called a snow shower. There
is also such an event as a snow storm (or snow charge), as well as snow under clear sky.
Rain with snow usually falls at positive surface temperature and represents rain with a
small amount of separate snowflakes. Snow with rain is a mixture of snowflakes and
raindrops occurring at the temperatures close to 0 °C.
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Overcasting snow falls mostly from stratocumulus or from high stratus clouds and can
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last for several hours continuously.
Pouring snow falls usually from cumulus-nimbus clouds at a temperatures close to 0 °C.
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This kind of snow falls due to a cold front and unstable air mass. A snow storm is formed
in an unstable stratified cold air mass passing over relatively warm underlying surface.
Sometimes colored snow occurs. The color is derived from mineral or organic admixtures.
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Colored snow is mostly of a brown or red shades due to dust settling on snow, or algae or
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bacteria reproducing on snow. Color snow mostly occurs in the high latitudes in spring
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when soil is partly bared and partly covered with snow.
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Kotlyakov B.M. (1994). World of snow and ice. 285 pp. “Nauka”, Moscow. [This book presents data about
snow and ice distribution]. (In Russian).
Glaciologial Dictionary. (1984). V.M. Kotlyakov (Ed.). 527 pp. Hydrometeoizdat, Leningrad. (In Russian).
[This dictionary contains much information about snow and ice]. (In Russian).
Geneve R. (1961). La grele. Paris. [This presents data about the origin of hail and its distribution]. (In
Karpenko V.N. (1974). The Dew. Hydrometeoizdat, Leningrad, 102 pp. [This book presents data about the
origin of dew and its distribution on the USSR territory]. (In Russian).
©Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)

8. HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE – Vol. II - Types and Characteristics of Precipitation - I.I. Borzenkova
Lamb H.H. (1972). Climate: Present, Past and Future. Vol.2, 613 pp. Methuen and Co. Ltd. London etc.
[This book presents information about past and present climate changes and climatic variability].
Khromov S.P., Petros’yants M.A. (1994). Meteorology and Climatology. Moscow Univ. Press. Moscow,
519 pp. [This is a textbook of meteorology and climatology for the higher school]. (In Russian).
Atmosphere Guidebook. (1991). Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad. [This guidebook presents factual
information about precipitation in different countries]. (In Russian).
Biographical Sketch
Irena I. Borzenkova, is the leader of the Climatology Scientific Research Department, for the State
Hydrological Institute, Russia. She has the following degrees: M.S. Meteologiya and Climatologiya.
Gidrometeorological Institute, 1960, Leningrad, Russia; Ph.D. Geographical Sciences (Physical
Climatology), 1966. (Thesis: “The heat balance of mountain regions”, Advisor: Prof. M. Budyko, and
Doctor of Sci., Geographical Sciences, 1991. Thesis: “Climatic change during the Cretaceous-Cenozoic”.
She has made about 40 speeches at national and International meetings and conferences.
Research areas: Global climate change in the present and the geological past, secular changes in global and
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regional temperature and precipitation, reconstructions of past climate, moisture conditions in past and
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She has published about 70 scientific papers and seven monographs, including:
Global paleoclimate of the Late Cenozoic. Ser. Developments in Paleontology. 12. Elsevier, Amst. etc.
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1990. 456 pp.
Anthropogenic climate change. (Co-authors M. Budyko, E. Butner, I. Karol, K. Kobak, A. Velichko et al.
1987. (in Russian). (Translated into English, Arizona Press, 1992).
Cambios anthropogenicos del clima en America del Sur. (Co-authors M. Budyko, G. Menzhulin, I.
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Shiklomanov). Buenos Aires, 1994.
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Climate change in the Cenozoic. 1992. St. Petersburg. 246 pp. (in Russian). An English translation was
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made under the auspices of Working Group VIII USA/Russia, 1995.
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