Have you heard about rain gauges? Alternatively, perhaps you might have used it already and just do not know its history and the principles that serve as its foundation for being invented.
The rain gauge is a term that also applies for udometer, pluviometer or cup. Hydrologists and meteorologists usually utilize this instrument, as you may very well know already. They use it in order to gather liquid precipitation, manifested by the rain, and measure its total amount over a certain timeframe.
It was during 500 B.C. when rainfalls where known to be first recorded and kept. This was done by Ancient Greeks and was followed by the early inhabitants of India, after 100 years. According to studies, the people in India use bowls in order to catch the rain and record it. The rainfall readings where used to link with data or expected growth and even utilized as the basis for the computation of land taxes.
The state storehouses at Magadha were already equipped with the standard type of rain gauge in order that they can set precise standards as to grain production and classification of land for purposes of taxation.
Sources have also been known to state that Korea’s Cheugugi is the first ever rain gauge and still other sources declare that an existing gauge has already been developed or refined by Jang Yeong Sil of Korea.
Meanwhile, Christopher Wren in Britain first created the tipping bucket rain gauge type in 1662 AD
Most types of rain gauges records the amount of rain in millimeters. On the other hand, the rainfall level is sometimes reported in centimeters or inches. The data generated from a rain gauge can be read either manually or through an Automatic Weather station or AWS. Reading frequency depends on the demands of the specific agency that collects the readings. In some cases, precipitation data of a country’s area with sparse population would be obtained from a group of volunteers to supplement a weather observer who needs to be paid.
In order to get records on the pollutant levels that abound during a certain rainfall, some weather stations submit rainfall and even snowfall for specific testing.
A rain gauge has limitations and the data that can be read from it may be affected by several factors. Collecting data from a rain gauge during hurricanes, for example, is quite impossible to achieve. If ever the equipment survived the strong winds brought about by the storm and was able to collect a certain data, it could be rendered unreliable. Furthermore, rainfall data collected by a rain gauge is only applicable on a local area.
When the temperature is below freezing point already or even just close to it, the rain that fall into the rain gauge’s funnel could freeze, or the snow collected would not allow subsequent rain to go past it anymore.
Like many other instruments for meteorology, rain gauges must be placed far away from trees and buildings – factors that could affect the data it will be able to collect. As much as possible, it must be placed on a higher surface and not staked onto the ground, where its data might be compromised by water from other sources that could drip into it.
Are you interested to put up a rain gauge in order to know your lawns requirements in terms of moisture every week? Would you be interested to know the amount of water your lawn is getting from your sprinkler system? Well, you need not buy a rain gauge, especially if you lack the budget.
A simple rain gauge can be made out of several empty cans of tuna or similarly sized cans marked with one-inch level. Place this around the area where your sprinkler system will be applied and determine how long an interval it would take for the sprinklers to fill up 1 inch of the cans. This will help you determine how long you need to set your sprinklers on until the soil gets the ideal amount of moisture you require.