Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge | Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge Work

Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge

 A 300 mm diameter funnel collects rain water and conducts it to one of the two small buckets (Fig.1.) which are so designed that when 0.25 mm of rainfall is collected in a bucket, it tilts and empties its water into a bigger storage tank and, simultaneously, moves the other bucket below the funnel. When any of the two buckets tilts, it actuates an electric circuit causing a pen to make a mark on a revolving drum. The recording equipment can be remotely located in a building away from the rain gauge. At a scheduled time, the rain water collected in the storage tank can be measured to yield total rainfall in the measuring duration. The rainfall intensity (and also the total rainfall) can be estimated by studying the record sheet on which each mark indicates 0.25 mm of rain in the duration elapse between the two adjacent marks.

Fig.1. Tipping bucket rain gauge