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


NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Passes Major Review

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created 21 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's effort to deploy the first satellite mission to advance global precipitation observations from space moved closer to this goal when agency officials approved critical elements for the Global Precipitation ...


NASA's TRMM satellite sees Tropical Storm Cleo form in southern Indian Ocean

NASA's TRMM satellite sees Tropical Storm Cleo form in southern Indian Ocean

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created 23 hours ago | popularity 2.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite captured the birth of Tropical Storm Cleo in the southern Indian Ocean today, December 7.





Search results for rainfall


Gravestones Talking through Time

Gravestones Talking through Time

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created 18 hours ago | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A visit to your local graveyard can provide not only a history lesson, but a science lesson as well. Historians know that gravestones can reflect the lives of people whose memories are lost ...



List of search results for rainfall