Rain

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Rain is liquid precipitation. On Earth, it is the condensation of atmospheric water vapor into drops heavy enough to fall, often making it to the surface. Rain is the primary source of fresh water for most areas of the world, providing suitable conditions for diverse ecosystems, as well as water for hydroelectric power plants and crop irrigation. However, not all rain reaches the surface; some evaporates while falling through dry air. This is called virga, a phenomenon often seen in hot, dry desert regions. The METAR code for rain is RA.

Rain is also known or suspected on other worlds. On Titan, Saturn's largest moon, infrequent methane rain is thought to carve the moon's numerous surface channels. On Venus, sulfuric acid virga evaporates 25 km from the surface. There is likely to be rain of various compositions in the upper atmospheres of the gas giants, as well as precipitation of liquid neon and helium in the deep atmospheres.

For more information about Rain, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with rainfall


Laurence still causing warnings and watches in northern west Australia

Laurence still causing warnings and watches in northern west Australia

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created 2 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Although the center of Tropical Cyclone Laurence has been over land for two days, it's still holding together and bringing heavy rains and gusty winds to the northern coastal areas of West Australia and will ...


Tropical Cyclone Laurence menaces Northern Australia

Tropical Cyclone Laurence menaces Northern Australia

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created 23 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Laurence is still a tropical cyclone even though the storm has made landfall in northern West Australia and is moving over land. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite noticed some powerful ...





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NASA Calculates a Carbon Budget for California

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 2.8 / 5 (9) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- While world organizations struggle to find a benchmark and tracking standards for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, NASA has been supporting California’s new carbon emissions inventory report, using its satellite ...



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