Rain Gauges

Rain Gauges:

Are They Really Ground Truth?

The rain gauge is an instrument that is used to measure the amount of rainfall or precipitation over a particular period of time at a specific place. Ever since the year 500 B.C., people have been recording rainfall. It is said to have started in Ancient Greece and moved on to India 100 years later, where bowls were used to collect rain. Collecting and measuring rainfall in various areas, they were able to use the information to better plan farming and also to help figure out land taxes. Today, scientists use rain gauges to measure rainfall, record levels of rainfall and use the data in a number of different ways.

The idea behind the rain gauge has always been to measure the amount of rainfall over a certain period. Rain gauges are measured in one of two ways. They are either manually checked by a meteorologist or scientist. Other styles of rain gauges may have an internal sensor monitored by an Automatic Weather System (AWS). There are a various types of rain gauges out there for both for hobbyist and professionals. The typical one consists of a measured cylinder and a funnel that is set in a larger container. The tipping bucket has a sensor that marks off every 0.2 mm or precipitation and the weighting rain gauge has an added sensor to detect pollutants in the atmosphere. Rain gauges are by no means perfect instruments. Rain will often collect at the sides of them, which creates an estimate of rain fall, and strong storms can damage the instrument or severely alter collections.

When placing your rain gauge, put it in an area that is protected in all directions from the wind and obvious forms of obstacles. The gauge should be placed close to the ground, but not so close that rain falling next to it splashes into it. This can give you a false reading. Keep the gauge around 1-2 feet above ground but don’t place the gauge too high. For example, if you put a gauge on your...