This is part of the U.S. Geologic Survey's Water Science for Schools website. It consists of a set of links to other parts of the site dealing with groundwater-related topics such as groundwater flow and distribution, trends in groundwater use, importance of groundwater, and groundwater quality. Graphic illustrations and photographs are provided.

This lesson focuses upon the scientific phenomenon of El Nino. Learners will also explore the possible link between human-induced global warming, and El Nino as a possible distributor of global warming's extra energy. Links to related sites are included.

This activity will allow the student to look at real-time satellite, radar, and derived imagery to study the growth and development of thunderstorms.

Global land precipitation has increased during the 20th century, especially at the mid and high latitudes, according to a paper published in the November 1997 issue of the Journal of Climate. The paper, written by scientists Drs. Inez Fung, Anthony Del Genio, and Aiguo Dai, is based on a recalibrated compilation and analysis of data from 1900-1988 and confirms previous speculation that land precipitation is increasing. The new research shows a global land trend of a 2.4 mm per decade increase in annual precipitation amounts. Multiplied by almost nine decades, this means that there is about 22 mm more rain falling now each year than there was at the turn of the century -- rainfall as a global mean has risen by slightly more than two percent.

The term rainfall anomalies means the differences in rainfall from a normal year.

This is a monthly global rainmap from January, 1979 to January, 2001. The movie correlates 22 years of data from a combination of remote sensing data and ground based sources.

This animation shows rain accumulation from Hurricane Isabel from September 6 through 20, 2003 based on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis. The accumulation is shown in colors ranging from green (less than 50 mm of rain) through red (200 mm or more). The TRMM satellite, using the worlds only space-borne rain radar and other microwave instruments, measures rainfall over the ocean.

This animation shows rain accumulation between Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Ivan. The green path is the path Hurricane Frances took between August 25, 2004, and September 9, 2004. The red path is Hurricane Ivan from September 2, 2004, to September 19, 2004.

This animation zooms down to TRMMs view of Hurricane Ivan on September 13, 2004. It looks underneath of the storms clouds to reveal the underlying rain structure. Blue represents areas with at least 0.25 inches of rain per hour. Green shows at least 0.5 inches of rain per hour. Yellow is at least 1.0 inches of rain and Red is at least 2.0 inches of rain per hour.

This animation shows the daily rain accumulation between September 2 and 28, 2004. Areas of red show where at least 3 inches of accumulated rain were recorded. Areas of yellow show 1 inch of accumulated rain. The green path represents the track of Hurricane Frances from August 25, 2004 till September 9, 2004. The red line represents the track of Hurricane Ivan from September 2, 2004 till September 23, 2004. Purple is Hurricane Jeanne from September 13, 2004 till September 28, 2004.

This is a 23-page educator's guide organized around three questions: How are rainfall rates measured? How is the intensity and distribution of rainfall determined? How can you study rain?

This is a side-by-side image of Marylands Liberty Reservoir. The image on the left is a Landsat image from July 1997. The image on the right is also a Landsat image, but it was taken in July of 1999 after two consecutive years of drought.

This site provides background information on the effects of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, the 1950s drought, and the 1987-1989 drought in the Great Plains of the American Midwest. It features discussions of the extent of each drought and the economic damage incurred, using text, photographs and graphic illustrations. A link to a discussion of the Palmer Drought Severity Index is included.

Monthly average precipitation anomalies over North America as measured by TRMM for January 1997 through February 1998

The purpose of this activity is to determine the amount of moisture input to the local environment by measuring rain and snowfall and to measure the pH of precipitation. To do so students use a rain gauge and a snowboard to measure the daily amount of precipitation. Special pH measuring techniques for precipitation are used to determine the pH of rain and melted snow. Intended outcomes are that students will understand that precipitation is measured in depth and this depth is assumed to apply to a large area, that precipitation has a pH that can vary, and that snow is an input of water to the surface just like rain and each snowfall is equivalent to some amount of rainfall. Supporting background materials for both student and teacher are included.

A comparison of daily precipitation observed by TRMM for September, 1999, with rainfall from a new forecast technique

Hurricane Isabel generated large amounts of rain over the Atlantic ocean as it approached East coast of the United States in September 2003. In fact, unlike many hurricanes, most of the Isabels rainfall did not occur over land; flooding on land was caused mainly by storm surge. This animation shows accumulation of rainfall from the hurricane--each frame shows the total amount of rain since the start of the measurement period. Rain from other sources has been masked out, so the hurricane track is clearly visible as the storm moves across the Atlantic.

The term rainfall anomalies means the differences in rainfall from a normal year.

The term rainfall anomalies means the differences in rainfall from a normal year.