Climate Station

ClimateStation
Temperature(wet
p
(
anddrybulb)
y
)
thermometer
Humidity Hygromoter
Evaporationpan
Anemometer
Radiometer

NonRecordingRaingauges
Nonrecordingandrecordingraingauges
Anonrecordingraingaugeistypicallyacatchmentdevicecalibratedto
providevisualobservationofrainfallamounts.
id i l b
i
f i f ll
Recordinggaugesareequippedwithpaperchartsand/ordatalogger
equipment.

Measurewithcalibratedflaskordipstick
M
i h lib
d fl k di i k
Flaskusuallytaperedtoallowaccuracyiflittlerain

DigitalRecordingRaingauges
TippingBucketRainGauge
Twocontainersonbalancebeamformatipping
bucket
Rainfillsonecontaineruntilitthresholdweight
reached
Bucketthentipsover,emptyingcollectedwater
intototalcontainerandcontinuestocollect
rainfallinothercontainer
Magnetgenerateselectricpulsewhichisrecorded

DigitalRecordingRaingauges
OpticalRainGauge(ORG)
TheORGismountedonasmall
pole
TheORGsendsabeamoflight
(whichyoucannotsee)fromone
ofitsendstoadetectoratthe
otherend.
Whenraindropsfall,theybreak
thebeam.Therainrateis
measuredbytheORGby
d b h ORG b
measuringhowoftenthebeamis
broken.
Therainratecanbeusedto
The rain rate can be used to
calculatethetotalamountofrain
thathasfalleninanygivenperiod
ORGmeasurestherateofrainfall
inmillimetersperhour(mm/hr).

RADAR Measurements
RADARMeasurements
Raindropsintheatmosphereandthecharacteristicsof
thereflectedsignal(Z)canberelatedtorainfallrates(R).
h
fl
d i l(Z)
b
l d
i f ll
(R)
MostcommonisMarshallPalmerrelationship
Radarisfarfromanabsolutelyaccuratemeasurement
Radar is far from an absolutely accurate measurement
method
Providesdetailedinformationonthe time andspace
distributionofrainandcanbeparticularlyvaluablefor
heavyrainfall.

Snow Gauges
SnowGauges
SnowPillows

RecordingofData

DataLoggers
Adataloggerisacomputerthat
records and stores data from
recordsandstoresdatafrom
sensorsbothanalog(voltage)and
digital(counts).
Thedataloggercanalsobeusedas
The data logger can also be used as
acontrollertoturnonandoff
electrical
Thedataloggerrequiresaprogram
The data logger requires a program
totellitwhattodo.
Preloadedcomputerchipthat
y
p g
alreadyhastheprograminit
orcreatetheprogram

Datacanthenbeaccessedbya
computer to monitor current
computertomonitorcurrent
conditionsordownloadstoreddata.

Streamflow

Theflowofwaterinanopenchannel(or
The
flow of water in an open channel (or
discharge)isdefinedasthevolumeofwater
passingaspecifiedpointinagiveninterval
oftime
expressedinunitsofvolumepertime

Commonunits
litres persecond(l.s
per second (l s11),
)
cubicmeterspersecond(m3.s1).

Variousmethodsofdetermination
flowisoftenestimatedbydeterminingthe
velocityatwhichwaterflowsthroughagiven
crosssectionalarea.
fl
flowmayberoutedthroughameasurement
b
t d th
h
t
deviceandmeasureddirectly
maybedeterminedindirectlythroughuseof
appropriate measurements and
appropriatemeasurementsand
mathematicalmodels

Streamflow
VelocityArea Method
VelocityAreaMethod
Estimateflowvolumebydeterminingthevelocityatwhich
waterflowsthroughagivencrosssectionalarea.
Flow=velocityXcrosssectionalareaor
Q=VA

Needestimatesofchannel:
crosssectionalarea
"average"
average currentvelocity
current velocity

Finalflowestimateaccomplishedbysubdividingthecross
sectionofthechannel,determiningthe"average"flowfor
eachsubdivision,andsummingthesubdivisionflowsinto
h bd
d
h
bd
fl
atotalflowforthechannel.

STREAM GAUGING
STREAMGAUGING

Notice average velocity is at

approximately 0.6 of the total
depth or 0.4 from the bottom.

Streamflow Measurement
Current
Currentmetersusedto
meters used to
measurevelocity
Currentmeters
shaftrotatingvertically
orhorizontally
tailvanes
tail vanes keepitin
keep it in
stream
weight keepcable
vertical

Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler

AcousticDopplerCurrentProfiler

Streamflow
Determinationof:

Depthorheightofthewater
surface(knownasstage)
20

Derivationofarelationship
betweenstageandvolumeof
dischargeallows
determination of a rating
determinationofarating
curve
specifictothesectionofriver
i.e.ratedsection

18
16
14
Stage (fft)

12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Ratingcurvesestablisha
relationship between depth
relationshipbetweendepth
(stage)andtheamountof
flowinachannel.

5000

10000

15000
Discharge (cfs)

20000

25000

30000

Streamflow

MeasurementofStage
Graduatedstaff
gauge
sideofbridgeetc.

A
Automaticwater
i
levelrecorders
logged
automaticallyby
logger,or
chartproduced
anddigitised
d di iti d

WeirsandFlumes

Commonlyusedonsmallstreams
Commonly
used on small streams
andrivers
Rigid,stablestructureswithclosely
definedcrosssectionalarea.

Stage Height
StageHeight

Mostcommonmethodofmeasuring
thestageofariveristhroughtheuse
ofastillingwell.
f tilli
ll

Stillingwellsarelocatedonthebank
ofastreamoronabridgepierand
are topped by a shelter that holds
aretoppedbyashelterthatholds
recordersandotherinstruments
associatedwiththestation.

Thewellisconnectedtothestream
The
well is connected to the stream
byseveralintakessuchthatwhenthe
waterlevelchangesinthestream,the
levelsimultaneouslychangesinthe
well

Thus,thewatersurfaceinthewellis
maintainedatthesamelevel(stage)
asthewatersurfaceinthestream.
h
f
i h