| IIHR
uses dual tipping-bucket rain gauge platforms for measurement of
rainfall with rain gauges. Adding a second tipping-bucket to an existing
rain gauge/datalogger setup is relatively inexpensive and easy. The main
benefit is that of increased reliability-if a rain gauge does not record
rain, was there no rain, or did the gauge fail? Tipping-bucket gauges
may fail (and quite often do) to record rain because the tipping
mechanism is jammed, birds make nests in the orifice, insects jam the
funnel, and so on. However, with two essentially collocated gauges, they
should be in very close agreement if there are no problems.
Platforms are made of
treated plywood and and buried in the ground. The dirt from the hole is
put inside the box for added stability. Each gauge is mounted on three
bolts that make it easy to level the gauges. The above design of dual
gauge platform with a shared data logger has been implemented in the
high density rain gauge clusters we operate at the Iowa
City Municipal Airport and the Pacific Island of Rota near Guam.
 |
| A
dual tipping-bucket rain gauge platform in Melbourne, Florida
during NASA's TRMM/TEFLUN-B
field campaign. |
|
 |
| A
dual tipping-bucket rain gauge platform in Kansas during CASES-99. |
More Information
For more information
about the IIHR dual tipping-bucket rain gauge platforms contact Dr.
Anton Kruger or Prof.
Witold Krajewski .
See Also
IIHR's Tipping-Bucket Rain Gauge
Calibrator |
