Here you see the inner workings of the pluviometer (the inset shows the device with the collection chamber reinstalled). Rain drips through a hole in the collector until it fills one of the two identical cups at the ends of the rocker arm, triggering a sensor and dumping the water into a drain hole on either end. There is a gap beneath the base plate and the mounting board to allow the water to run off unobstructed, and each cup hold precisely 0.01" of rain. The data accumulated by the pluviometer is transmitted to the station's readout in the house, so there is no need for me to go out in the rain. Occasionally, I have to take leaves and/or fir needles out of the collection basin to allow the rainwater to run freely through the drip hole, but otherwise, there is no maintenance to be performed on this device.
365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Inner Workings
Here you see the inner workings of the pluviometer (the inset shows the device with the collection chamber reinstalled). Rain drips through a hole in the collector until it fills one of the two identical cups at the ends of the rocker arm, triggering a sensor and dumping the water into a drain hole on either end. There is a gap beneath the base plate and the mounting board to allow the water to run off unobstructed, and each cup hold precisely 0.01" of rain. The data accumulated by the pluviometer is transmitted to the station's readout in the house, so there is no need for me to go out in the rain. Occasionally, I have to take leaves and/or fir needles out of the collection basin to allow the rainwater to run freely through the drip hole, but otherwise, there is no maintenance to be performed on this device.
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