The Rainman is placed in a location where the level of rainfall is considered to be representative of an area

The “official” rain gauge specified by the United States Weather Bureau.

The Rainman—manufactured by built by Lambrecht GmBH with software from Schlumberger Van Essen—is a commercial rain meter that conforms to World Meteorological Organization standards. It measures the amount of precipitation by counting how often a small bucket fills and topples. The Rainman not only counts the number of topples; it also records the time of each event. The combination of this data enables accurate measurement of the rainfall pattern over time.

The Rainman is placed in a location where the level of rainfall is considered to be representative of an area. The rain from the collecting surface falls into a tipping bucket inside the instrument. Once the Rainman has collected 0.1 mm of rainfall, the bucket reaches its critical point and tips over. The movement of the bucket sends a signal to the data logger in the Rainman’s memory, where up to 32,000 measurements can be stored.

The system is completely self-supporting with internal batteries that can last up to 10 years. In areas liable to freezing, a heating element melts snow and ice in temperatures down to -20°C. The heating element requires a separate power source.

This data includes both the quantity of rainfall and the times at which it was recorded. It can be presented in graphical or chart form. It can also be loaded into a spreadsheet program for further processing.

		The Rainman, a commercial rain meter manufactured by Lambrecht GmbH.
The Rainman can be connected to a portable computer on site, either for programming or to download measurement data.	The laser-engineered tipping bucket is made of stainless steel. It is balanced to tip after 0.1 mm of rainfall.