More precipitation falls on the windward side of hills and mountains than on the leeward side, which is in the rain shadow of the mountains. The cause for this difference is the orographic rainfall generation process: moisture-bearing air is transported by wind and forced to lift up as it flows over hills and mountains. As a result of this uplift the air pressure on the wet air is reduced, the air expands and cools down. As cool air stores less humidity than warm air, the saturation point can be reached and water condenses, causing rainfall. On the leeward side of the mountain the air humidity is less since surplus humidity is given off. As a result the rain amount at this site is less than on the luff windward site. The orographic rainfall is proportional to the wind speed up the slope and the amount of moisture in the air. The rain-shadow effect is especially marked as only few rainfall-producing circulation patterns exist in a particular region. This is the case mostly in maritime...
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© 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Schumann, A.H. (1998). Rain shadow: General. In: Encyclopedia of Hydrology and Lakes. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht . https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4497-6_182
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4497-6_182
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