The range of raingauges at Chilbolton Observatory includes:
- RAL Rapid Response Drop Counting rain gauges
- a Distromet RD-80 Impact Disdrometer
- a RW Munro 0.2mm Tipping Bucket rain gauge
To see daily results from the raingauges and to find out more about the meteorological suite at Chilbolton, visit the Chilbolton weather web.
The rapid response drop counting rain gauges used have been designed and built at RAL. The technique they use of counting accurately formed drops provides a much higher resolution than the tipping-bucket type gauge, particularly in light rain.
Distromet Joss Waldvogel RD-80 Impact
Disdrometers are installed at Chilbolton and Sparsholt and work by
converting the vertical momentum of a falling drop into signals whose
amplitude depends on the diameter of the impacting drop. A conical
styrofoam body is used to transmit the mechanical impulse of an
impacting drop to a set of two moving coil systems in magnetic fields.
They measure drop sizes in 127 size bins from 0.3 to 5.0 mm.
The
Chilbolton disdrometers provide an essential link between actual size
measurements of rain drops and the drop size information derived from
the 3 GHz CAMRa radar.
Data from the raingauges can be accessed at the British Atmospheric Data Centre.
Technical specifications of the raingauges
Technical specifications of the disdrometers
