Design of Turbine-Based Rain Measurement System

Abstract

Rain measurement systems have significantly developed. In this work, a novel modification to commonly used rain measurement systems is developed. It comprises a turbine with an infrared sensor to detect its rotation. The design of the rainfall collecting funnel refers to that of general use. The prototype of the design has been characterized with an artificial rainfall, namely continuously flowing water kept at a certain debit. For characterization purpose, the water debit is gradually changed to simulate variations in rainfalls. Important results based on the characterization are threshold value of 0.01 mm/min and average deviation of 1.36%, suggesting that this tool is able to detect even a weak rainfall.