PRECIPITATION

And fog
Water Vapour


Water vapour is H
2
0 in its gaseous state.

Solid (ice)

Liquid (water)

Vapour (water vapour)


It forms clouds and precipitation, determines atmospheric
stability and transfers heat.
3
PRECIPITATION
For large water droplets to form condensation must take
place on hygroscopic particles (nuclei) that are present in
the atmosphere.
Less than 0.1 mm in diameter: these cannot reach the
ground as they evaporate away on the way
downward.
Over 0.1 mm drizzle.

Over 0.5 mm rain (maximum size 5.5 mm).

Rain is usually described as being Frontal, Convectional
or Orographic, being associated with the
cloud type from which it falls.
Precipitation will occur when the cloud particles (water droplets
or ice crystals) grow to such sizes that the processes causing the
uplift can no longer support them.

Principal forms of precipitation are:

Drizzle water droplets with diameters over 0.1 mm

Rain - water droplets with diameters over 0.5 mm

Snow or snowflakes small ice crystals

Hail balls of ice of varying size

Sleet mixture of rain and snow
The increase in size of droplets is not caused by condensation
within the cloud.

In a cloud composed entirely of droplets whose temperatures are
greater than 0 deg C, the theory of coalescence applies.

A large droplet has a greater speed of descent compared with a
smaller one, so they collide and coalesce (join together).

Once the speed of the droplet exceeds the upward movement or air
(updraught), the droplet leaves the cloud.

That process occures in a warm cloud, and the type of cloud
determines whether drizzle or rain is experienced.
In a cold cloud, in which the air temperature is less than 0 deg
C in part, if not throughout the cloud, the Bergeron theory
applies.

- Water droplets are super-cooled
- The presence of freezing nuclei
- The super-cooled water droplet freezes on coming into
contact with the nuclei forming ice crystals
- At -22 deg C and below a cloud is composed entirely of ice
crystals
- Air currents within the cloud may cause the crystal to
fragment, and each fragment then forms a further nucleus,
thus increasing the number of crystals within the cloud.
- Collision and aggregation of ice crystals may occur,
particularly between 0 and -5 deg C, resulting in large
snowflakes.
When the snowflake is of such a size that its speed of descent
overcomes the updraught it will leave the base of the cloud.

Snow occurs when the surface air temperature is below 0 deg
C.

Between 0 and 3 deg C some of the snowflakes melt, resulting
in sleet.
Hail

This occurs when an ice crystal collides with a super-
cooled water droplet resulting in the instantaneous
freezing of the water on the ice crystal surface.

- Very unstable atmosphere, cumulonimbus cloud

The core of a hailstone is formed in the upper part of a
cumulonimbus by the freezing of super-cooled water
droplets on to the original ice crystal. When it has grown
heavy enough to overcome the force of the ascending air
currents the enlarged hailstone will start to fall through
the cloud, picking up a coating of clear ice from the
partial freezing of rain drops which it collides with on
the way.
Most hailstones will simply fall to ground at this stage but if
the updraughts are particularly violent they may get carried
back up again and the process is repeated, perhaps several
times, to form concentric shells (layers) of soft and clear ice
sometimes found in larger hailstones.
Freezing rain

Drizzle or rain may freeze on coming into contact with the
surface of the earth or any object standing above it, when it
is termed freezing drizzle or freezing rain.

The ice formed is termed glazed frost or black ice when
encountered on roads.
CONDENSATION NEAR/AT THE GROUND

Dew
Dew is formed by the condensation of water vapour onto a
surface cooled by radiation on a clear night, to below the dew
point of the air.

Frost is the solid deposition of water vapour from humid air. It is
formed when the temperature of solid surfaces are below the
freezing point of water and also below the frost point.


The frost point is similar to the dew point, in that it is the
temperature to which a given parcel of humid air must be cooled,
at constant barometric pressure, for water vapor to be deposited
on a surface as ice without going through the liquid phase.
Frost on a feather
Frost patterns on a
windshield
HOAR FROST
Hoar frost (also called radiation frost) refers to the white ice
crystals, loosely deposited on the ground or exposed objects, that
form on cold clear nights when heat losses into the open skies
cause objects to become colder than the surrounding air.
RIME
Rime is ice that forms when the water
droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces
of objects.
FOG
Causes of restricted visibility

Definitions of fog, mist and haze:

Composition Visibility RH

FOG water droplets less than 1000 m 95%

MIST water droplets more than 1000 m 95%

HAZE solid particles more than 1000 m less than
95%

A value of 95% is used to distinguish between mist and haze.

Radiation fog

occurs over land at night when radiation cooling of the earth's surface
has taken place, typically under good weather conditions when there is
little or no cloud cover.

the air close to the earth's surface is cooled by conduction to beyond its
dew point temperature and condensation takes place. If the air is very
still dew or hoar frost may develop.

A slight wind (3-7 Knots) causing turbulence will carry the cold
saturated air to higher levels and will bring to the surface drier air,
which in turn will be cooled and become saturated.








Temperature
Height
Inversion level
Very
light
wind
Surface cooled by radiation
A temperature inversion is often associated with radiation fog, which, acting
as a lid ensures the fog remains low down near ground level allowing it to
thicken.

Stronger winds will disperse the fog as will the heat from the sun, provided
the fog layer is not too thick.

In winter there is often insufficient heat to disperse the fog so it may persist
throughout the day, even several days in persistent anticyclonic conditions.

Advection fog

occurs over the sea when warm moist air passes (advects) over a
colder sea surface.

the air cools by conduction to beyond its dew point temperature and
condensation takes place.










if values of dew point temperature of the air and sea surface
temperature are plotted against time the likelihood of fog may be
predicted.
0000 0400 0800 1200 1600 2000
LMT
Temperature
DEW POINT TEMPERATURE
SEA TEMPERATURE
FOG
(C)
6
5
4
3
2
Sea fog is very common in the south-western approaches of
the UK in spring and early summer where a maritime tropical
air mass from the SW travels over a colder sea surface.
(At this time of year the sea will be at its lowest annual
temperature.)
Sea Smoke (Arctic Sea Smoke, Steam Fog)
Sea smoke occurs when cold air passes over a warmer sea surface.
Observations suggest that the air must be at least 9C colder than the
sea surface.
Evaporation takes place from the warmer sea surface.
As air rises from the surface it cools adiabatically and mixes with the
colder air above.
These processes cool the air to its dew point temperature and fog
forms.
Sea smoke is most common in the Polar Regions, hence the term
arctic sea smoke.
COLD DRY AIR
Very cold land (-12C)
Picks up
water vapour
Sea smoke
Relatively warm sea (0C)
Haze
At sea haze is usually the result of sand and dust being blown
from the land.
The most notable example is found off the Northwest coast of
Africa when the Harmattan wind blows offshore bringing
sand from the Sahara.
This wind blows between November and May.

Over the land, the number of dust particles present near the
surface can change with the atmospheric stability. As surface
temperature rises during the day and the air becomes unstable,
convection currents and turbulence lifts the dust from the
ground surface. This reduces the visibility.