EESB04H3 Chapter 2: EESB04 chapter 2 detailed textbook notes
23 Oct 2015
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Precipitation as a process: precipitation the release of water from atmosphere to earth"s surface. Cover all forms such as: snow, hail, sleet & rainfall: major input of water to river catchment area, difficult to accurately measure rainfall. Precipitation formation: the ability of air to hold water vapour depends on the temperature: The cooler the air, the less water vapour retained. When warm & moist air is cooled, it becomes saturated with water vapour & condenses into liquid/solid water (ice droplets) Condensation nuclei- minute particles in the atmosphere, to which water/ice droplets form on. 3 conditions to forming precipitation: cooling of the atmosphere, condensation onto nuclei, growth of water/ice droplets usually too small to precipitate, needs to grow, in order to obtain enough mass to overcome uplifting force within clouds. Atmospheric cooling: there may be many diff mechanisms occurring independently/ simultaneously during atmosphere cooling, most common form of cooling: uplift of air through atmosphere.
