Preliminary study on mechanics-based rainfall kinetic energy

A raindrop impact power observation system was employed to observe the real-time raindrop impact power during a rainfall event and to analyze the corresponding rainfall characteristics. The experiments were conducted at different simulated rainfall intensities. As rainfall intensity increased, the observed impact power increased linearly indicating the power observation system would be satisfactory for characterizing rainfall erosivity. Momentum is the product of mass and velocity (Momentum=MV), which is related to the observed impact power value. Since there is no significant difference between momentum and impact power, observed impact power can represent momentum for different rainfall intensities. The relationship between momentum and the observed impact power provides a convenient way to calculate rainfall kinetic energy. The value of rainfall kinetic energy based on the observed impact power was higher than the classic rainfall kinetic energy. The rainfall impact power based kinetic energy and the classic rainfall kinetic energy showed linear correlation, which indicates that the raindrop impact power observation system can characterize rainfall kinetic energy. The article establishes a preliminary way to calculate rainfall kinetic energy by using the real-time observed momentum, providing a foundation for replacing the traditional methods for estimating kinetic energy of rainstorms.