Is it possible to measure the correct amount of rain fall by using a 5 gal. bucket sit out in the rain?

Question

This is the way my brother does it, and I say he must use a 1 inch tube or beeker ..........please help with factual answers please

Answer 1

If the bucket has straight sides, that is, it doesn't get narrower at the bottom, then you could measure rainfall accurately. The top of the container should have the same width as the bottom.

Rain is measured by how much of it falls over a certain area over a certain time. If you had a container which had a very wide top, like the way a funnel is shaped, and you measured how much fell into it for one day, the measurement might read a couple of inches. If you left the rain in the container and the following day there was much the same amount of rainfall, the reading would be less. This is because the higher the rain gets, there is a greater area of the container to fill because it is getting wider towards the top.

Try it out if you have a container which is funnel shaped, a champagne glass would do. Fill an egg cup with water and tip it into the glass. Bring your eye level with the top of the water and use an erasable marker to mark it on the glass. Refill the egg cup again and tip it in on top of the water and get a ruler and measure both. The second lot of water measures less than the first even though the same amount of water went in both times.

Now try the same experiment with a glass with straight sides.

Answer 2

5 Gallon Bucket Measurements

Answer 3

I have a rain gauge that always measures considerably less than the 5-gallon bucket, probably because the winds that accompany the rains here prevent the rain from entering the gauge. So a bucket would appear to give a more accurate reading.

Answer 4

So if my 5-gallon bucket has 12 inches of water in it I got 12' of rain?

Answer 5

Yes you can use a 5 gallon bucket to do this. It is what most people can use to measure rainfall, because most people have a 5 gallon bucket in their garage. And you caqn also use the beeker sized tube as well. I actually use both and they come up with the same results for rainfall accumulations.

Answer 6

Yes, it is possible. First you measure the area of the mouth of the bucket in sq.m. (hint - pi*r*r). You collect the rain water in this bucket during rain, then you measure the volume (in litre) of the rainwater collected in this bucket with the help of a measuring cylinder. Then you work out Volume (in litre)/area of the mouth of the bucket (in sq.m). This will give the rain fall in mm.

Answer 7

I might want to locate a tremendous baked potato, down the MD 20/20, don the scuba equipment, tow the potato and bitter cream out to sea by the six yards of purple lace and dine until eventually i'm thoroughly sated. Ah, what a existence!

Answer 8

It doesn't matter what the diameter of the container is as long as the sides are straight. An inch of rain is an inch of rain.

Answer 9

sure you can