Engineering

Permeable pavements to help mitigate flood disasters

This year has seen one of Australia's worst flood disasters on record in the eastern states, with 23 people killed, thousands left homeless, and a damage bill expected to top $1.5 billion.

Computer Sciences

A better statistical model for environmental data

By clarifying inconsistencies in published theories and devising a flexible statistical model, KAUST researchers have established a more informed and reliable basis for selecting the most suitable statistical model for environmental ...

Computer Sciences

Modeling rainfall drop by drop

Using a network of a newly introduced type of rain gauge that can measure rainfall with drop-by-drop precision, KAUST researchers have developed a high-frequency rainfall model to improve understanding of rainfall/runoff ...

Rain

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.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA