Download
1 / 8
90 likes | 405 Views
Hour 3. Precipitation. What is Precipitation?. Precipitation is any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth’s surface. Can come in the form of snow, rain, hail, sleet, or freezing rain. How is it measured?. Rain can be measured with a rain gauge or a measuring stick.
E N D
Hour 3 Precipitation
What is Precipitation? • Precipitation is any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth’s surface. • Can come in the form of snow, rain, hail, sleet, or freezing rain.
How is it measured? • Rain can be measured with a rain gauge or a measuring stick. • Snow is measured with a measuring stick, or by melting collected snow and measuring the depth of the water that it produces. • It is usually measured in centimeters and inches. • Light fluffy snow contains less water than heavy, wet snow. Rain Gauge: An open-ended can or tube that collects rainfall.
How to Use a Rain Gauge • 1. Measure the diameter of the top of the funnel and square it. • 2. Measure the diameter of the bottom of the jar and square it. • 3. Divide the first square by the second square. • 4. To find the actual depth of the rain that fell, divide the depth of water in the jar by the ratio from step 3.
Why is it important? • Precipitation helps maintain the atmospheric balance and without it, all the land on Earth would be dry. • Crops would be hard to grow.
What other information is needed to know? • Droughts are long periods of unusually low precipitation. • Cloud Seeding is a method used to modify precipitation.
