Specifications

TEAM Climate Monitoring Protocol 3.1
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6.4 Checking rainfall measurements against the manual rain gauge
Automatic tipping buckets, like the one used in this protocol (TB4) can misread the amount of rainfall
during extreme rainfall events (> 50 mm/hour) (e.g. Nystuen 1999). Thus, it is a good idea to check
rainfall measurements with a manual precipitation bucket (e.g. a US weather type). We suggest the
following guidelines to ensure this information can be captured in a standardized way. The manual rain
gauge should be c
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during maintenance checks or, if the
station is easily reachable, check rainfall values every day.
6.4.1 Measure and record the event
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 Pen/Pencil
 Blank
Sensor Installation/Calibration Form
Every time the station is visited (at least once a month), measure the rainfall using the enclosed dipstick
and write it down together with the current date in the Manual Rainfall
Form (Appendix A.6. Manual
Rainfall Form). If there is an extremely heavy rainfall event, the inner section of the rain bucket may
overflow into the outer section. When this happens measure the rainfall that accumulated in the inner
bucket and then empty it. Refill the inner bucket with the water that overflowed into the outer section
and measure this amount using the dipstick. If there is any more water remaining in the outer section,
repeat this procedure again. When you record this event, add all of the measurements together to get
the final volume of rain that fell.
6.4.2 Submit the data
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 Completed Sensor Installation/Calibration Form
Upon returning from the field, transcribe the recorded data to the M
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tab in the
Climate Metadata section of the Data Management Tool, which can be found in the “myTEAM” area
on the TEAM website, as part of the regular data submission process. Instructions for uploading data
from the manual rain gauge can be found in S
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of the Climate Data Management Tool Help
(Appendix A.8) or follow the basic instructions below:
a) Navigate to www.teamnetwork.org.
b) Open the Data Management Tool by clicking on the “myTEAM” link at the top of the page and
then, on the page that appears, clicking on the “data management tool” link.
c) Using the arrows on the right side of the screen find and click on the “Climate Metadata” tab.
d) Choose your site and click “Go.”
e) Click on the M
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tab at the bottom of the screen.
f) Enter the required information from the completed
Sensor Installation/Calibration Form and
click the “Save” button. If the bucket was emptied on a date other than the date of the last
recorded measurement, then record the date and time for when it was emptied in the
“Comments” box.