<p>As the previous answer made clear, tipping bucket raingauges incur errors related to tip increments, rainfall amount, intensity and duration - all for obvious reasons. Many raingauges, TB and otherwise, have funnel filters to stop clogging from leaves, dead lizards, etc. In the case of small rainfall events the wetting and clogging of the filter can cause huge errors. It's important to note that these errors are separate from, and subordinate to, the errors of wetting, splash, and micro-aeodynamic turbulence. These further errors typically amount to an undercatch of about 7%, or very much greater errors in the case of strong horizontal components of wind velocity. Also, the collection area of the TB raingauge is significant. TB rim diameters range from 10 cm to 50 cm with the former being highly inaccurate. Whatever the design of raingauge / pluviometer, it is best to calibrate it with a ground-level rim set in an anti-splash grid. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-26T00:44:35.680Z
2015-09-26T00:44:35.680Z
Gordon Stanger
<p>My question is simple - how accurate is a tipping-bucket rain gauge?</p>

<p>I have read about what causes the errors (wind, bucket mechanics for extreme events, ...) and I know the accuracy is strictly related to the rain rate, in the sense that, e.g., TB gauges tend to highly underestimate in extreme conditions.</p>

<p>However, I'd like to have a number, say, <em>errors around +-25%</em>. I know the number itself won't be accurate, it's just to have the order of magnitude. References appreciated, since I myself looked around with no success :-)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-15T22:54:16.347Z
You ask about accuracy but error statistics won't always include all sources of inaccuracy. You need to have the gauge located properly and we have learned the hard way that maintenance is a critical issue for remote locations because bird droppings and spider webs can foul the mechanism.
haresfur
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-16T09:31:09.310Z
You are right. I have found good informations in [this survey](http://www.emltd.net/pdf/Evaluation%20of%20Tipping%20Bucket%20Rain%20Gauge%20Performance%20and%20Data%20Quality.pdf), section 3.3, where different sources are reviewed separately. Hard to give a single value, then.
natario
<meteorology><measurements><rainfall><rain>
How accurate is a tipping-bucket rain gauge?
natario
# How accurate is a tipping-bucket rain gauge?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-09-13)

My question is simple - how accurate is a tipping-bucket rain gauge?

I have read about what causes the errors (wind, bucket mechanics for extreme events, ...) and I know the accuracy is strictly related to the rain rate, in the sense that, e.g., TB gauges tend to highly underestimate in extreme conditions.

However, I'd like to have a number, say, *errors around +-25%*. I know the number itself won't be accurate, it's just to have the order of magnitude. References appreciated, since I myself looked around with no success :-)

**Tags:** meteorology, measurements, rainfall, rain

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You ask about accuracy but error statistics won't always include all sources of inaccuracy. You need to have the gauge located properly and we have learned the hard way that maintenance is a critical issue for remote locations because bird droppings and spider webs can foul the mechanism.  
> **username_0**: You are right. I have found good informations in [this survey](http://www.emltd.net/pdf/Evaluation%20of%20Tipping%20Bucket%20Rain%20Gauge%20Performance%20and%20Data%20Quality.pdf), section 3.3, where different sources are reviewed separately. Hard to give a single value, then.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-09-26. Score: 4

As the previous answer made clear, tipping bucket raingauges incur errors related to tip increments, rainfall amount, intensity and duration - all for obvious reasons. Many raingauges, TB and otherwise, have funnel filters to stop clogging from leaves, dead lizards, etc. In the case of small rainfall events the wetting and clogging of the filter can cause huge errors. It's important to note that these errors are separate from, and subordinate to, the errors of wetting, splash, and micro-aeodynamic turbulence. These further errors typically amount to an undercatch of about 7%, or very much greater errors in the case of strong horizontal components of wind velocity. Also, the collection area of the TB raingauge is significant. TB rim diameters range from 10 cm to 50 cm with the former being highly inaccurate. Whatever the design of raingauge / pluviometer, it is best to calibrate it with a ground-level rim set in an anti-splash grid.


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