Rainfall Nework History
Background
The first raingage of the current network was installed in 1989. By 1992, three gages were recording rainfall in Mecklenburg County. At that time, an effort was started to provide greater areal coverage of the county, and now the network consists of 72 raingages. Landline telemetry was used in early gages for data retrieval. Currently, all 72 sites are equipped with ultrahigh frequency (UHF) radios. All sites currently use tipping-bucket raingages to measure precipitation.
Objectives
- Develop and maintain a real-time network of raingages in and around the Mecklenburg County area
- Develop automated methods for interpreting data (rainfall totals, recurrence intervals, intensity duration frequency (IDF) analysis)
- Evaluate methods and develop and apply software to improve retrieval and dissemination of data to interested users
Approach
Locate, install, operate, and maintain raingages throughout the county to provide areal coverage of rainfall data retrieved in real-time and disseminated quickly.
Research existing technologies and develop and implement new software and hardware to improve speed and efficiency of data collection and transmission.
Define data needs and develop computer programs to automatically retrieve and analyze data and elucidate presentation.
Standard Pipe Mounted Raingage
