PRECIPITATION EFFICIENCY UNDER VARYING ATMOSPH ERIC CON OITIONS

A strategic step in the assessment of water availability for a given location is the prediction of the amounts and temporal variability of precipitation. Considering the present state of the art, long-term meteorological forecasts of precipitation are not adequately accurate or reliable for predictive use. Since most predictions are based upon simple statistical analyses of past rainfall records, they are inherently unsatisfactory In that preci pitation production processes are ignored. Determination of the causes of spatial and temporal variations in the amount of precipitation produced by particular atmospheric systems in specific locations is important in assessing water availability. A valuable approach to this problem is based upon investigation of precipitation efficiency (PE). PE is the percentage of the average precipitable water vapor (PWV) above a station that is released and falls to earth as measurable precipitation (P) in a given time period