MEASUREMENT AND PROCESSING

OF PRECIPITATION DATA
Module III
PRECIPITATION DATA?
(Rain, Snow, Hail and etc) one of the key components of the
hydrological cycle. For climate research, it is one of the key terms for
balancing the energy budget, and one of the most challenging aspects
of climate modeling.
MEASUREMENT OF PRECIPITATION DATA

The amount, intensity and spatial distribution of precipitation

are important inputs in most hydrological studies. The total amount
of precipitation which reaches the ground in a stated period is
expressed as the depth to which it would cover a horizontal projection
of the earth’s surface.
MEASUREMENT OF PRECIPITATION

I. Rain Gauges
II. Automatic Rain Gauges
III. Tipping Bucket Rain Gauges
IV. Weather Radar
PRECIPITATION GAUGES
Precipitation (which includes solid and liquid part) is
measured using a gauge which consist of a collector to delineate the
area of the sample and collect it and a funnel which leads to a sample
storage device.
I. RAIN GAUGES
Is a simple device that consist of a collector and a funnel, that
measures rainfall data.

Three types of Rain Gauges

• Standard or Ordinary Gauges (ORG)
•Self Recording Rain Gauges
•Automatic Rain Gauges with Data logger
 Standard or Ordinary Gauges (ORG) Self Recording Rain Gauge – record
– are manually read and it is the rainfall depth in the form of a
commonly once a day. continuous plot.
Automatic Rain Gauges with Data Logger
– data are stored in digital form either
as rainfall at fixed interval or as timings
for each event of rainfall of fixed depth.
II. AUTOGRAPHIC RAIN GAUGE
Natural syphon rain gauge is frequently used to measure short
period rainfall. It consist of a circular collector funnel and rainfall
recording mechanism.
III. TIPPING BUCKET RAIN GAUGE
Consist of a circular collector funnel
with a brass or gunmetal rim that
directs the rain into a pair of tipping
buckets which sit on a knife edge. An
electrical pulse is generated on each
tilt and is recorded to provide data of
rain fallen with time
 IV. PRECIPITATION MEASUREMENT BY
WEATHER RADAR
Weather radar sends electromagnetic
waves in all directions. When these
Z = 200 R^ 1.6
waves collide with raindrops, an echo
of the waves is produced which is
caught back by the radar.
 ADVANTAGE OF WEATHER RADAR
1. It can give the estimates of rainfall over wide areas along with
location and movement of the storms.
2. It can also measure localized storms which may be missed by
rain gauges.