TIPPING BUCKET AUTOMATED PRECIPITATION GAUGE

The tipping bucket automated precipitation gauge is one of the earliest forms of automated gauge as
the output could be recorded by an electric counter to give the accumulated precipitation from each
precipitation event. This type of automated gauge is classified as an event measurement gauge as any
failure in the counting mechanism will introduce a non-recoverable error in the accumulative
measurement. However, its simplicity of operation makes it a low cost option for automatic
precipitation measurement and it has been used as a national standard precipitation gauge in several
countries, most notably, Japan.

INLET ORIFICE

FUNNEL

OUTLET ORIFICE

TYPICAL TIPPING BUCKET MECHANISM

How a tipping bucket precipitation gauge works: A typical tipping bucket mechanism is shown in the
above diagram. Precipitation enters the inlet orifice and exits the outlet orifice that directs the liquid
precipitation into the pivoting bucket as shown. When the bucket (on right) fills it tips to the right and
empties through the right drain hole, resting on the calibrated screw and exposing the empty left side
bucket to additional liquid precipitation until it fills and tips back to the left exposing the right side
bucket to additional liquid precipitation. In a typical embodiment of this design each tip of the bucket
represents 0.01 inches of precipitation, based on the orifice size and the bucket design. With each
bucket tip a magnet passes in front of a magnetically activated reed switch that activates a contact
closure that can be used to electrically record the event.
BELFORT MODEL 5-405 TIPPING BUCKET PRECIPITATION GAUGE

Inlet

Funnel

Tipping Bucket

Outlet

The above Belfort Model 5-405 heated tipping bucket precipitation gauge is a high end version of this
type of precipitation gauge modified to meet current NOAA and NWS requirements. Both the collector
and the tipping mechanism are heated independently to permit limited measurement of freezing
precipitation. The upper heater melts snow and ice in order to prevent clogging the inlet and the lower
heater heats the tipping mechanism and the exit orifice to prevent it from freezing and changing the
bucket capacity or blocking the exit orifice. Even with these heaters it is possible at low temperatures
and high rates of freezing precipitation for the unit to stop operating properly. As NOAA described in a
1995 article on this vastly improved gauge, they were able to reduce errors caused by water splashing or
missing the tipper and missing or false tips by changing to a reed switch as described herein and by
placing the funnel spout closer to the tipper however it still did not perform to their expectations in
frozen precipitation measurement especially snow. Their tests showed that as much as 40 or 50% of
the liquid equivalent snowfall was missed with this well-designed heated tipping, bucket gauge. The
improved gauge described by NOAA in the 1995 report was a high end gauge upgrade to the Belfort
Model 5-405 manufactured to NOAA specifications. Smaller, less expensive gauges are more likely to
exacerbate the problems described in the NOAA 1995 report. This relegates the effective use of tipping
bucket rain gauges to those applications where there is little or no freezing precipitation and/or where
regular maintenance is available to remove any blockage of the outlet orifice and remove blocking snow
or debris.
Advantages:

1. Low Cost automated gauge $400-$2000, especially if only contact closure rate and quantity
is recorded
2. Does not require daily or more frequent maintenance
3. Can be reduced in size to fit many locations where size restrictions are critical, such as on
buildings or dams.
4. Is able to measure rate of precipitation (limited accuracy at high rates of precipitation)
5. Properly heated gauge Is able to measure accumulated precipitation as long as it is well
maintained and snow fall is limited to rate that can be melted by heaters
6. With inlet screens it will operate unattended in the presence of blowing debris
7. It has few moving parts and is reliable enough to withstand several operating seasons
without parts replacement (usually tipping mechanism)
8. No capacity limit or requirement for Oil/antifreeze

Disadvantages:

1. Funnel and tipping mechanism are easily contaminated creating measurement errors and
loss of event data.
2. Will not accurately measure frozen precipitation unless heated and then only at moderate
rates (Belfort 5-405 limited to 3/hour max. snowfall rate)
3. Accuracy deteriorates rapidly with high rate of rainfall. (Belfort 5-405 accuracy is 1% with
precipitation rate of less than 1 in./hr, 4% at 3 in./hr. and 6% at 6 in./hr.) This is primarily
due to splashing of liquid from tipping buckets,
4. Wind induced false tips may occur in some designs.
5. Unit must be installed and maintained level to balance tipping mechanism
6. Melting snow/ice in funnel well after an event can cause false time/date record
7. Event only measurement, i.e. if a single event is not recorded due to contamination or
mechanism error, record of accumulated precipitation is permanently lost.
8. Requires regular maintenance for blockage of inlet and contamination of tipping
mechanism.