Why Does Rain Smell Good?

[n2doc]

Elizabeth Palermo,

Do you love the good smell of rain? If so, you're not alone.

In fact, some scientists believe that people inherited their affection for the scent of rain from ancestors who relied on rainy weather for their survival.

But what makes rain smell so nice? There are several scents associated with rainfall that people find pleasing.

One of these odors, called "petrichor," lingers when rain falls after a prolonged dry spell. Petrichor — the term was coined in 1964 by two Australian scientists studying the smells of wet weather — is derived from a pair of chemical reactions.

Some plants secrete oils during dry periods, and when it rains, these oils are released into the air. The second reaction that creates petrichor occurs when chemicals produced by soil-dwelling bacteria known as actinomycetes are released. These aromatic compounds combine to create the pleasant petrichor scent when rain hits the ground.

more
http://www.livescience.com/37648-good-smells-rain-petrichor.html

[Warpy]

1. Rain smells completely different in the southwest

It's a relatively rare occurrence here so desert plants secrete a lot of aromatic oils when it occurs. It's a resinous, clean smell that can be incredibly strong when it hasn't rained for a few months.

[Callmecrazy]

2. Las Vegas has a distinct smell after a rain storm...

I found out later that is was due to the creosote bushes aromatic oils.

[Wilms]

3. Petrichor. I did not know that.

Thanks!

[tridim]

4. My favorite smell on Earth. Someone should bottle it.

[DhhD]

5. Before the rain, the air has a special smell also:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=storm-scents-smell-rain

[Javaman]

6. Probably one of my favorite smells of all time...

that ozone smell will always remind me of when I was a kid and a big "electrical" storm was on it's way.

The way I would describe it to my friends was that it smelled like you ran your electric train set too long. LOL

I haven't smelled that smell in years.