Comparative study of rainfall measurement by optical disdrometer, tipping-bucket rain gauge, and weighing precipitation gauge

Abstract

In this study, the rainfall measurement characteristics of an optical Particle Size Velocity (Parsivel) disdrometer, tipping-bucket rain gauge (TBG), and Pluvio weighing precipitation gauge (WPG) were analyzed and compared. Correlation analysis was performed between the 10-min and 1-h rainfall data observed with the Parsivel, TBG, and Pluvio from 2010 to 2019 at the Cloud Physics Observation Site which is located in north-east area of South Korea (N37.6869, E128.7586). At higher rainfall intensities, the Parsivel observed more rainfall; however, the TBG lost more rainfall during observation. The correlation between the Pluvio and Parsivel data was higher than that between the TBG and Parsivel data. Additionally, the Pluvio showed reduced loss in the rainfall observation than that by the TBG. The correlation between the Pluvio and TBG data was the highest, and the coefficient of determination increased by a maximum of 42.08% for 1-h rainfall compared to that for 10-min rainfall. Therefore, the Pluvio can generate relatively accurate rainfall data for water resource utilization.