rain

Iain Lawrence · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 419

From what I can tell, we can sense rain because the plants around us prepare themselves chemically and release chemicals into the air. Im not sure about the ion thing, I can't imagine being able to smell negative ions, although they may have an effect upon our electrical system. But its an interesting subject. Ill look it up...

Iain Lawrence · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 419

The fresh scent you get when rain hits dry ground is called petrichor. Many plants have volatile oils that evaporate from the plants and are absorbed by the earth and rocks. Rain falling on the rocks, earth releases these absorbed oils and you can smell them.
? its a start ?

bitterbuck1 · Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 7:47 pm Post subject:

flossy · Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 3:40 am Post subject:

i can smell it before it actually starts to rain though, must be those ions? Confused

Iain Lawrence · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 419

Maybe the reason we smell them before the rain arrives is that high or low air presure arrives first, dependant as to wether its a warm or cold front. It could well be the wind that blows the violet oils into a new area before the rain arrives. As we all know ions are positive or negativly charged atoms. The fresh ones are negative, which would explain why the air would smell fresher. Maybe the violet oils would be carried upon the wind too? Im not entirly happy with the violet oil thing actualy, but nature produces many reations within the plant world to deal with the onset of rain, So it could be an accumilation of many things which produce the smell of rain. Even particles of rain its self been blown on in advance of the on set of rain. Interesting subject.