A comparative study of rain‐gages

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Abstract
The rain‐gage may be termed the basic instrument of the hydrologist because it should provide the means of answering his first question: How much water is there to deal with? This quantity must be known before subsequent questions relating to infiltration, stream‐flow, ground‐water, may be answered. It is recognized, of course, that snow forms an important source of water, but this paper will deal only with precipitation in the form of rain. The conventional rain‐gage consists of a sharp‐edged collecting‐ring—the receiver—made to an accurate diameter of eight inches a collector‐can, and a support, the assembly having a total height of about 40 inches. When it is set up, the gage is plumbed carefully so that the rim of the receiver is horizontal. Exposed in this manner a rain‐gage should sample rainfall perfectly if it is set on level ground and the rain is falling straight down. These ideal conditions are practically never realized, especially when the sampling is being carried out in mountainous regions where wind‐movement is violent and changeable.

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