Estimation of energy available in rain droplets from meteorological rainfall data

Abstract Even though the amount of rainfall is well documented in the reports of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the rainfall energy available in different parts of India is unknown to the best of our knowledge. This paper reports a theoretical framework to convert the meteorological rainfall data to rainfall energy. The amount of rainfall over the south-west Monsoon period of 2022 is first converted to an average rainfall rate. Using the information on rain droplet size distribution for a rainfall of a given rainfall rate, the total energy contained in the rainfall is derived. In this, both the kinetic and surface energies of rain droplets of different sizes are considered. Based on the developed theoretical framework, rainfall map of India is converted to rainfall energy map showing states/union territories with maximum and minimum rainfall energy. Furthermore, for selected states in India, the districts showing maximum and minimum rainfall energy are also highlighted. The framework developed in the present study would help attempts to develop efficient rain energy harvesting systems.