Rainfall is the fall of rain. The amount of rainfall is the amount of water that falls within a specific area in a specific period. It is essential to know why rainfall is so significant for humankind to understand the types. Rainfall is an important phenomenon. Many tangible and intangible needs are vital for the survival of humans, such as the generation of electricity, the irrigation of crops, etc.
Why Should We Know About Rainfall?
Rainfall is important not only as a raw material to humans but as a vital source of fresh water, without which humans cannot survive. As 70 percent of the human body is made up of water. Plants also greatly benefit from rainfall as they need that water to photosynthesize and grow from seedlings into mature plants.
In addition, rainfall is specifically important to forest plants with no alternative artificial water source. The only way to survive is to absorb water from the soil through their roots. Hence rainfall is significant to them to stay. Rainfall influences the Earth’s weather system and influences the movement of the oceans to produce moving currents rapidly.
It is a result of the water cycle which includes the evaporation of water from lakes, rivers, ponds or any major water body and the condensation of this accumulated water vapor in the form of rainfall to the Earth’s surface. Even though the rain has huge importance in our lives, it can also lead to a big disaster. Rain has made some irreplaceable losses on a large scale in the past.
To avoid this kind of tragedy, scientists had started predicting the rain before it began. To accurately guess the next rainy day, it is important to identify the reasons for rainfall.
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Types of Rainfalls
Knowing when the next rainfall will happen to extract full advantages is essential. For this, scientists have been studying the patterns and types of rainfalls.
There are three main types of rainfall;
- Relief
- Convectional
- Frontal
The geographical position of the land and its climate influence determine which type of rainfall can be experienced in the area. Some areas of the world experience all three, while some experience rarely any.
1. Orographic or Relief Rainfall
The rainfall, which occurs mainly on a hot day and brings a grey sky, dark clouds (cumulonimbus) and heavy, thundery showers, is called convectional rainfall. The concept behind this rainfall is a bit similar to the relief rain. This type of rain is also caused by the differences in hot and cold air properties. It is caused on very hot days when the scorching rays of the Sun heat the Earth’s surface.
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The rainfall, which occurs mainly on a hot day and brings a grey sky, dark clouds (cumulonimbus) and heavy, thundery showers, is called convectional rainfall. The concept behind this rainfall is a bit similar to the relief rain. This type of rain is also caused by the differences in hot and cold air properties. It is caused on very hot days when the scorching rays of the Sun heat the Earth’s surface.
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This type of rain occurs in the ocean or sea faces. They are named differently in different regions. Cyclones in the Middle and Western East, Typhoons in the East and Tornados in the West. This kind of rain happens when a difference in pressure and temperature takes place between big areas over the oceans.
When Does It Occur?
In this rain again, hot and cold air properties play an essential role. Frontal rain occurs when cold air from the North and South poles comes in contact with the warm air from the tropical areas.
The warm, tropical air rises over the cold, polar one because of its low density and is cooled as it rises into the atmosphere. This cooled and condensed tropical air forms a stratus cloud that precipitates rainfall when saturated with water vapor.
Where Does It Occur?
It is very common in the UK, Great Britain and Ireland. The location of these countries is such that they make the perfect point for the two breaths of air to intersect. Many coastal areas such as Indonesia, Japan, India etc., face cyclonic rainfall. They are also followed by high altitude waveforms that hit the coastal areas and impact the livings.
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Wrapping Up
Rainfall is important in so many ways. Keeping track of the amount of rainfall happening in the areas is very important. It helps plan the crops, electricity generation, and other important aspects of living. Knowing the rain pattern helps predict the countries’ productivity and GDP. Hence, understanding the types of rain becomes essential as one can plan and forecast rain by studying variables.
