Transition to electronic precipitation gauges began in 2011 and
continued through 2017 at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. The
historic precipitation network of 7 weighing recording rain gauges and
24 standard rain gauges (Bailey et al. 2003) was downsized due to
redundancy (Green et al. 2018). Ten NOAH IV Total Precipitation Gauges
(ETI Instrument Systems, Inc.) remain as core precipitation collection
points and serve to extend the long-term precipitation record at
Hubbard Brook (1956 - ongoing). The electronic ETI gauges were
installed in original precipitation clearings maintained to uniform
standards with all trees beyond a 40-degree angle measured from the
base of the rain gauge removed. Altar wind shields were installed
around the ETIs to minimize precipitation loss from wind and follow
protocol originally established for manual precipitation instruments.
The ETI buckets were emptied as needed after accumulating rain events
and ethylene glycol (antifreeze) added in winter months to prevent the
collection cylinder from cracking with frozen precipitate. The sensor
data were monitored daily for electronic issues. Rain gages were
mounted on stands at least 4 feet above the ground to avoid being
buried by snow in the winter. The gauges collect data at 15-minute
intervals and missing values are gap-filled with the median
precipitation sum of all other stations during the same interval.
PUBLICATIONS RELATED TO THIS DATASET:
Bailey, Amey Schenck; Hornbeck, James W.; Campbell, John L.; Eagar,
Christopher. 2003. Hydrometeorological database for Hubbard Brook
Experimental Forest: 1955-2000. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-305. Newtown
Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Northeastern Research Station. 36 p.
Green, M.B., Campbell, J.L., Yanai, R.D., Bailey, S.W., Bailey, A.S.,
Grant, N., Halm, I., Kelsey, E.P. and Rustad, L.E., 2018. Downsizing a
long-term precipitation network: Using a quantitative approach to
inform difficult decisions. PLoS one, 13(5), p.e0195966.
