This parameter is the rate of precipitation at the Earth's surface. It is the sum of the rates due to large-scale precipitation and convective precipitation. Large-scale precipitation is generated by the cloud scheme in the ECMWF Integrated Forecasting System (IFS). The cloud scheme represents the formation and dissipation of clouds and large-scale precipitation due to changes in atmospheric quantities (such as pressure, temperature and moisture) predicted directly at spatial scales of the grid box or larger. Convective precipitation is generated by the convection scheme in the IFS, which represents convection at spatial scales smaller than the grid box. In the IFS, precipitation is comprised of rain and snow. This parameter is a mean over a particular time period (the processing period) which depends on the data extracted. For the reanalysis, the processing period is over the 1 hour ending at the validity date and time. For the ensemble members, ensemble mean and ensemble spread, the processing period is over the 3 hours ending at the validity date and time. It is the rate the precipitation would have if it were spread evenly over the grid box. 1 kg of water spread over 1 square metre of surface is 1 mm deep (neglecting the effects of temperature on the density of water), therefore the units are equivalent to mm (of liquid water) per second. Care should be taken when comparing model parameters with observations, because observations are often local to a particular point in space and time, rather than representing averages over a model grid box.
