Water in

the Air
DE Project prepared by : Mrs. Jatinder Kaur
(SS Mistress)

GSSS Wadali Guru

 A Brief
In the air, water is found in the gaseous
form, i.e. water vapour.
It is the most valuable gas of the
atmosphere.
While it is present in large amounts in
low latitudes and over oceans, it is
less over polar areas and land.
The water vapour content of the
atmosphere is more in summer than in
winter.
 Various forms in which water
exists in Atmosphere
o Evaporation
o Humidity
o Condensation
o Dew
o Frost
o Clouds
o Precipitation
o Rainfall
o Snowfall
o Hail
 Evaporation

• The process of change in water from

liquid to a gaseous state is called
EVAPORATION.
• The rate of Evaporation is highest in
hot, dry and windy conditions.
• The rate of Evaporation is lowest in
cool, moist and calm weather.
 Humidity

• The amount of water vapour present in

the air is called HUMIDITY.
• A certain amount of air can hold at a
given temperature, only a fixed amount
of water vapour. So at this stage the air
is said to be SATURATED.
• If the amount of water vapour present
in the air is less than the amount it can
hold, the air is said to be
UNSATURATED.
 Condensation
• The change of water from gaseous into
liquid state is called CONDENSATION.
• For the different forms of Condensation
to occur, they have two things in
common:
• For any form of Condensation, the air must
be saturated.
• There must be a surface on which the water
vapour may condense.
 Forms Of Condensation
• Dew:
In cold, clear nights when comparatively
warm, moist comes in contact with cold
objects it cools down. As a result it’s
excess moisture condenses into
droplets of water called Dew.
• Frost:
In the case of dew formation, the Dew
Point is above freezing point (0° C).
Sometimes, the Dew Point is at or
below freezing point. In such cases,
dew gets frozen and is called Frost.
 Clouds
Condensation of water vapour in the
atmosphere results in the formation of
cloud.
Steps in the formation of clouds :-
• When moist air is lifted upwards, it starts cooling.
• As soon as the dew point is reached, the water
vapour condenses in the form of very tiny droplets
of water or ice crystals.
• Millions of tiny droplets of water hang in the air and
float with air currents.
• These visible aggregates of tiny droplets form clouds.
 Precipitation
Falling of solid or liquid water on the
earth’s surface is called precipitation.
When millions of cloud droplets join
together to form drops which are too heavy to
float in air, they come down as drops of water
or flakes of snow.
Different types of precipitation are:-
• Rainfall
• Snowfall
• Hail
 Rainfall
Falling of big drops of water from the
clouds is known as rain.
Due to ascent or drift to a cooler
region, the cloud may be cooled. As such
the cloud droplets become still colder
and come close together to form big
drops of water. These drops are so big
that they can no longer float in the air
so they fall on the earth’s surface. This is
called rain.
Types of Rainfall

• Relief rainfall

• Convectional Rainfall

• Cyclonic Rainfall
Relief Rainfall
• When the mountain
range lies in the path
of a rain-bearing
wind, it causes the
wind to rise along its
slope. As a result it
cools and gets
saturated. Further
cooling due to ascent
leads to rainfall.
Convectional Rainfall
• When land is heated the air
close to it is also heated.
The warm air then starts
rising. If the rising air is
moist, increase in height
leads to the cooling of the
air, condensation and
formation of the clouds.
Such clouds result in the
heavy rainfall
• This type of rain which is
associated with
convectional air current is
known as CONVECTIONAL
RAINFALL.
• It is common in the
equatorial region.
Cyclonic Rainfall
• When winds blow from
all sides towards the
centre of the low
pressure, they have a
spiral motion of great
speed. This causes the
whirling air to rise up. If
the air has moisture,
sudden uplifting of
warm air may lead to
rainfall.
• This kind of rainfall is
called CYCLONIC
RAINFALL.
• It is common in Mid-
Latitudes.
Snowfall
When condensation in
the air takes place at a
temperature below
freezing point, the water
vapour changes into
tiny ice crystals.
These crystals may
combine together to
form flakes of snow
which cannot remain
suspended in the air.
Falling of flakes of
snow from the clouds is
known as SNOWFALL.
 Hail
• Sometimes, powerful air currents may lift raindrops
to a greater height where temperature is below
freezing point.
This causes the rain drops to freeze.
As the frozen drops fall through the clouds, they
collect a coating of water.
The high velocity air currents may toss these
frozen drops up again.
The coating of water is frozen in a concentric layer
about the original nuclei.
This process is repeated several times till
hailstones grow so big and heavy that the air can no
longer hold them.
Then they fall to the ground as HAILSTONES.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. NCERT Books
2. Internet