WMO questionnaire on recording precipitation gauges: state-of-the-art

To receive information on recording precipitation gauges used operationally by national meteorological services the World Meteorological Organization started a worldwide inquiry. This included the type of recording precipitation gauge (RPG), their manufacturer, measuring system applied, number of RPGs used, methods of recording and data transmission, orifice area size and installation heights, heating and windshield application as well as the question on the need to organising global intercomparisons of RPG measurements. The results of the 118 responses received (out of 180 countries) are presented and discussed. They show that there is a great variety in instruments and methods of observation of precipitation intensity used not only worldwide but also in the same country. This variety exceeds by far the variety in manual standard precipitation gauges.