Nature provides a charm of beauty that cannot be described by anything. We can enjoy its beauty with our sense of sight, both those around to those that are far outside planet Earth. Of the many beauties, not infrequently some of them are very difficult to be able to enjoy every day or only occur at certain times such as total solar eclipse, total lunar eclipse, the phenomenon of the rainbow river, twin sun, the appearance of Halley’s comet, and many more. We can enjoy other natural beauty only in certain places such as the phenomenon of mountain caping, the phenomenon of the equinox, the culmination of the sun, and many more.
Beauty and natural phenomena do not necessarily have to occur at a particular time or place. There are still many other events that we can enjoy every day or we often experience ourselves such as changes of day and night, the process of the rainbow to the process of rain. Speaking of rain, maybe most of us will define rain as a grain of water falling from the sky.
The definition is not wrong and rain itself is part of a cycle to maintain equilibrium on the Earth. In meteorology and climatology, rain is described as part of the precipitation process. The term precipitation refers to all forms of water vapor condensation found in the Earth’s atmosphere. In the atmosphere of water, vapor will always be available even though not in the form of clouds. Precipitation will occur when there is the cooling of the air until it finally causes condensation.
At least there are 3 factors that cause precipitation, first water vapor has a mass, second, there is the core of condensation such as salt crystals, dust, and so on, and the last occurring is air cooling due to air orographic, cyclonic, and convective removal. The precipitation process itself is divided into 3 types, including:
- Orographic precipitation: Precipitation due to the rising air and caused by a mountain or mountain obstruction.
- Cyclonic precipitation: This precipitation occurs due to rising air and then concentrated in a low-pressure direction. If seen based on cooling, cyclone precipitation is divided into frontal cyclonic and non-frontal cyclonic.
- Convective precipitation: Precipitation occurs as a result of hot air moving up towards a layer of air that is located higher and is quite cold.
As mentioned above, rain is a form of liquid precipitation. Actually, precipitation itself can be in the form of solids such as hail and snow and also in the form of gases or aerosols such as fog and dew. Then what is precipitation?
Precipitation can be said as a liquid or solid that comes from condensation of water vapor or the result of a condensation process that falls from the clouds until finally, it reaches the surface of the Earth. Forms of precipitation include rain and drizzle, hail, snow, hoar frost, rime, fog, and so on.
As we know, the rain will form if there is lots of water that come from the clouds and then fall to the Earth. Did you know that not all rain will always fall to the ground or Earth? Some will return to evaporate when they fall through dry air. This type of rain is known as rain virga.
There are several types of rain if seen from the grain size, among others:
- Drizzle: This type of rain has a water point diameter of less than 0.5 mm.
- Ice rains: This rain is usually in the form of ice rock that falls when the weather is hot and the ice rock comes from clouds with temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius.
- Snowfall: This rain consists of ice crystals which have below 0 degrees Celsius.
- Heavy rain: Rain that comes from clouds with temperatures above 0 degrees Celsius. This heavy rain has a diameter of approximately 7 mm.
For this discussion, it will be explained in detail about the process of drizzle. As mentioned above, the drizzle is one form of rain consisting of very small drops of water, most of which look the same and are close to each other, and have a diameter of less than 0.5 mm.
Drizzle is caused by the presence of Stratus clouds. There are also characteristics of the drizzle including precipitation or sediment seen almost floating in the air and its movement can still be seen by the eye even though the air moves weakly. Drizzle is commonly found in mountainous areas or beaches that have cold temperatures, and the rate of rainfall collection is no less from 1.5 mm per hour.
Drizzle is divided into 3 types, namely:
- Light drizzle, characterized by the shape of water droplets that look small and separate from one another, a collection of deposits or precipitations is absent.
- Drizzle is medium; has characteristics of the resulting sediment will look clearer and more regular when compared to a light drizzle, when falling on the surface of the glass, will form a flow.
- Drizzle is dense; the characteristics of the rainfall that falls can be calculated or measured. It can result in reduced visibility for the eyes.
The process of forming the drizzle is caused by a cloud of Stratus and also a cloud of Stratocumulus. These clouds consist of small dots or particles of water found in the air. At some point, the cloud eventually turns back into particles of water and then falls to the surface of the Earth. However, not all of these water particles fall to the Earth, most of them will evaporate before falling to the surface of the Earth. Until finally the particles fall in a small size or better known as a drizzle.
That is the explanation about the process of drizzle. Hopefully, this information can be useful to you.
More articles:
- 3 Types of Water Cycle and the Descriptions
- 9 Components of the Hydrological Cycle and their Descriptions
- Effects of Weather and Climate on Life
- 6 Benefits of Surface Water for Human Life
- 5 Impacts of Water Pollution on Everyday Household Activities