Accuracy of NWS 8 Standard Nonrecording Precipitation Gauge
54 JOURNAL OF ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC TECHNOLOGY VOLUME 15 Accuracy of NWS 80 Standard Nonrecording Precipitation Gauge: Results and Application of WMO Intercomparison DAQING YANG,* BARRY E. GOODISON, AND JOHN R. METCALFE Atmospheric Environment Service, Downsview, Ontario, Canada VALENTIN S. GOLUBEV State Hydrological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia ROY BATES AND TIMOTHY PANGBURN U.S. Army CRREL, Hanover, New Hampshire CLAYTON L. HANSON U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Northwest Watershed Research Center, Boise, Idaho (Manuscript received 21 December 1995, in ®nal form 1 August 1996) ABSTRACT The standard 80 nonrecording precipitation gauge has been used historically by the National Weather Service (NWS) as the of®cial precipitation measurement instrument of the U.S. climate station network. From 1986 to 1992, the accuracy and performance of this gauge (unshielded or with an Alter shield) were evaluated during the WMO Solid Precipitation Measurement Intercomparison at three stations in the United States and Russia, representing a variety of climate, terrain, and exposure. The double-fence intercomparison reference (DFIR) was the reference standard used at all the intercomparison stations in the Intercomparison project. The Intercomparison data collected at different sites are compatible with respect to the catch ratio (gauge measured/DFIR) for the same gauges, when compared using wind speed at the height of gauge ori®ce during the observation period. The effects of environmental factors, such as wind speed and temperature, on the gauge catch were investigated. Wind speed was found to be the most important factor determining gauge catch when precipitation was classi®ed into snow, mixed, and rain. The regression functions of the catch ratio versus wind speed at the gauge height on a daily time step were derived for various types of precipitation.
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