OROGRAPHIC PRECIPITATION

▪ Abstract The influence of surface orography on patterns of precipitation gives rise to some of the most pronounced climate gradients on Earth, and plays a fundamental role in the interaction between the atmosphere and the rest of the Earth System on a wide variety of time scales. The physical mechanisms involved comprise a rich set of interactions encompassing fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and micron-scale cloud processes, as well as being dependent on the larger-scale patterns of the atmospheric general circulation. Investigations into orographic precipitation have pursued three parallel tracks of inquiry: observations, theory, and modeling. Significant advances have been made in each over the last few…