Improving precipitation measurement

Although rainfall has been measured for centuries scientifically and in isolated brief episodes over millennia for agriculture, it is still not measured adequately even today for climatology, water resources, and other precise applications. This paper outlines the history of raingauges, their errors, and describes the field testing over 3 years of a 'first guess' design for an aerodynamic rain collector proposed by Folland in 1988. Although shown to have aerodynamic advantage over a standard 5 gauge, the new rain collector was found to suffer from outsplash in heavy rain. To study this problem, and to derive general basic design rules for aerodynamic gauges, its performance was investigated in turbulent, real-world conditions rather than in the controlled and simplified environment of a wind tunnel or mathematical model as in the past. To do this, video records were made using thread tracers to indicate the path of the wind, giving new insight into the complex flow of natural wind around and within raingauges. A new design resulted, and 2 years of field testing have shown that the new gauge has good aerodynamic and evaporative characteristics and minimal outsplash, offering the potential for improved precipitation measurement. Copyright (C) 2004 Royal Meteorological Society.