Precipitation |
This page provides information on the weather element known as Precipitation. |
What is Precipitation?
Precipitation is moisture that results from the condensation of water vapour in the atmosphere returning to Earth. This moisture can return to earth in a variety of different forms of precipitation including rain, hail, sleet and snow. The video on the right explains how THE WATER CYCLE works, this shows how water vapour gets into our atmosphere to come back to Earth as precipitation. |
|
How is it Measured?
Precipitation is measured using a RAIN GAUGE, an example of which can be seen on the right: A RAIN GAUGE should be partially buried and located in open space, away from trees and buildings. The rain gauge will also have a measuring cylinder in it for the collection of water and to read the data collected, a funnel sits on top of this in order to feed the precipitation into in. |
WHAT IS THE UNIT OF MEASUREMENT?
The unit of measurement for precipitation is MILLIMETRES (mm).