An Autonomous Real-Time Data Logging Rain Gauge System.

It is known that rain has a detrimental effect on radar signals however, radar signal degradation as a function of rain intensity is difficult to quantify. This report describes a means of electronically instrumenting off-the-shelf tipping bucket rain gauges such that each rain gauge is an autonomous real-time data recording entity. From information obtained from these devices, rain intensity can be derivated. The heart of this system is a real-time clock integrated circuit chip. This device coupled with supporting logic and 4K Random Access Memory RAM provide recording and retention capabilities. Each time a rain gauge bucket tips, the time occurrence of this event is recorded and retained in RAM. This sequence continues until testing is terminated at which time data contained in RAM is read out. This mode is designated as Data Retrieval. Data retrieval consists of attaching a Motorola 6800 microprocessor system to the memory board sequentially reading each memory location. The software is written such that as the data is extracted from memory, it is formatted and sent through an RS-232 port. This port is capable of driving a terminal or printer or any RS-232 compatible device. Author