RAIN-GAUGE NETWORKS

DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN WITH

SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE UNITED KINGDOM

A. B L E A S D A L E ,
Meteorological Office, Bracknell, Berkshire, England

SUMMARY
A discussion of:
1. The factors which have determined the irregular development of rain-gauge
networks in the past.
2. The need for more carefully planned development henceforth, against the back-
ground of the implementation of the Water Resources Act 1963 and other current
activities.
3. The means and methods by which rain-gauge network design may be attempted.

1. In most parts of the World, if not all, rain-gauge networks have in the past
developed in a rather haphazard manner. In the United Kingdom the years 1860-61
saw the beginning of the systematic rainfall work of G.J. Symons, with about 500
stations distributed over about 120,000 square miles, or somewhat more than 300,000
square kilometers. What is now the Republic of Ireland, with more than a fifth of
this area, was then included. Largely through the unflagging personal efforts of Symons,
until his death in 1900, the number of stations increased to about 3,500, and since
that time the number has further increased to more than 6,000 for the present area of
the United Kingdom. Supervision, guidance and development of rainfall work have
in the meantime passed from private control, and since 1919 have rested with the
Meteorological Office.

2. In terms of average rainfall station densities the progress achieved in just over
a century has been very satisfactory. But throughout the period there have always
been unwanted spatial variations and irregularities in station densities, and to this
day there are locally, or even regionally, some instances of gross deficiencies. Broadly
speaking the distribution of rainfall stations is related to the distribution of population,
whilst this in turn is in large measure correlated inversely with the distribution of
average annual rainfall. In the simplified average annual rainfall map on p. 148, the
high rainfall areas are in fact to a great extent only sparsely provided with rain-gauges
of any kind. If this general rule had uniform validity over the whole country, it would
follow that knowledge of rainfall would be poorest for those areas where most of the
rain actually falls. Though this disturbing suggestion must be true in some degree,
there are fortunately important departures from the simple rule. In particular there
are many thinly populated upland areas with reservoirs for water supply or hydro-
electric power which are surrounded by dense rain-gauge networks. Such networks
extend over gathering grounds which vary in size, but which almost always cover a
good range of altitude. It has thus been possible over a number of areas to examine
in some detail and become familiar with the main effects of topography on rainfall
distribution and to extrapolate fairly confidently to other areas not equaly well pro-
vided with data. It is beyond doubt that this virtually accidental result, arising from
the haphazard development of rain-gauge networks in the past, will continue to have
an application. Even when it becomes possible to consider the establishment of country-
wide networks based overwhelmingly on sound design principles rather than fortuity,
it is unlikely that it will ever be possible to treat all areas uniformly in accordance
with ideal requirements. So much so that it should perhaps be a first principle of
network design that special attention should be given to the means of compiling

146
detailed knowledge in forms which can be transposed, with observance of appropriate
rules, from favoured places to those others for which there is less abundant informa-
tion.

3. The typically erratic development of rain-gauge networks in the past was very
largely determined by two factors, namely the need to find conventionally satisfactory
rain-gauge sites, and the need to obtain the services of good observers.
3.1. In the United Kingdom the objective of standardizing rain-gauge sites was
vigorously pursued from an early date, and a working definition of what should be
considered an acceptable site was promulgated by 1864 (*). Within a short time the
definition was generally accepted in a form which has continued with only minor
modification to the present day. It reflects the need to find sites where rainfall mea-
surements will not be subject to systematic errors due, for instance, to over-exposure
of the rain-gauge in its usual form to strong winds, to over-shelter by nearby obstruc-
tions, or to locally peculiar rainfall distributions caused by persistent eddies in the
immediate neighbourhood. The conventionally good rain-gauge site is usually supposed
to be representative for a fairly large area, and is not intended to provide information
about local peculiarities. But in certain types of terrain strict observance of the con-
ventions imposes a bias on rainfall sampling, and can lead to substantial gaps in the
network and in knowledge of rainfall distributions.

3.2. The second requirement of obtaining the services of good observers living
or working within easy reach of their rain-gauge sites had particularly forceful dis-
advantages when the great majority of observers were voluntary private individuals.
Even now with a growing proportion making observations as part of their official
duties the observer requirement imposes a limitation on network design. The existence
of recording rain-gauges, in a great variety of forms, has not so far provided any
widely practicable alternative to the need for local observers, though many investiga-
tors in the field, approaching rainfall work for the first time, assume that a suitable
automatic recorder must have been devised long ago. Actually nearly all recording
rain-gauges which have so far been produced require much more attention than the
simple standard gauge used for daily readings. Recording rain-gauges at present
available are not, in general, robust and fully automatic instruments which can be
left unattended for days, weeks or months at a time, to function satisfactorily without
frequent servicing, and record all the detailed information which may be needed.

4. In contrast to the largely uncoordinated developments of earlier periods atten-

tion has been directed increasingly in recent years towards the need for planned
development and improvement of meteorological and hydrological networks in
general and of rain-gauge networks in particular. Internationally in this connection
the activities of the World Meteorological Organization Commission for Hydrome-
teorology (2, 3) and the preparations by UNESCO for the International Hydrological
Decade (4) are outstanding. The present Symposium provides an opportunity to
review all the factors which are in effect enforcing a fresh appraisal of the problems
of network design, and of the requirements which must be met before general princi-
ples of design can in fact be put widely into practice. By offering the occasion for
comparison of actual experience in different parts of the world, in amplification of
what has hitherto been frequently expressed in international documents only in very
general terms, it could produce the most substantial contribution to date in the
world wide treatment of the subject.

5. In the United Kingdom the most important recent developments which have
helped to focus attention on networks, in particular rain-gauge networks, have been
as follows:

147
AVERAGE ANNUAL
RAINFALL
1916-1950

Fig. 1
 5.1. Basic data; Countrywide networks
5.1.1. For England and Wales, the Water Resources Act of 1963 ( 5 ), with some of
the preparatory reports and other material leading up to it. Before the Act came into
force, many aspects of drainage and river management, but not so much water con-
servation, had been the responsibility of river boards, covering virtually the whole of
England and Wales, which had been set up by the River Boards Act of 1948. From
1st April, 1965, the river boards were replaced by river authorities. The functions of
the new authorities relate fully to water conservation as well as river management,
and are not simply a transfer and continuation of the functions of the river boards,
but a significant extension and reinforcement of previous responsibilities. A central
authority has also been established, in the form of the Water Resources Board, "char-
ged with the duty of advising river authorities with respect to the performance of
their new functions" ( 6 ). In the present context, it is of particular interest to note the
strengthening of the statutory obligations, taken over by the river authorities, to
prepare and put into operation hydrometric schemes for the collection of basic data,
including rainfall and now even evaporation among other elements ( 7 ).
5.1.2. For Scotland, special consideration, started by the Advisory Committee
for Meteorology in Scotland, of the problem of improving rain-gauge networks in the
more difficult parts of the country, particularly among the mountains.
5.1.3. For Northern Ireland, general improvement of climatological and rain-
gauge networks, initiated several years ago, but furthered especially by the opening
of Meteorological Office, Belfast in 1960, and by the activities of the Committee on
Water Resources in Northern Ireland, since it was set up in 1961 ( 8 ).
5.2. Experimental Areas.
The establishment in 1961 of the Committee on Hydrological Research, and under
this Committee, in 1962, of the Hydrological Research Unit, has stimulated experi-
mental work, by the Unit and by other organizations, and has thereby provoked
increased attention to the planning of networks for experimental areas. A particular
aspect of very special interest is the problem of providing dense networks in difficult
terrain, within which, because of topography, afforestation or other causes, there are
few, if any, conventionally satisfactory observational sites. The Water Resources Act
is important for this item too. Under the heading "Financial Provisions", specific
mention is made of contributions by the Water Resources Board towards the cost
of experimental work carried out by river authorities ( 9 ). To a limited extent some of
the former river boards had already established experimental areas, even without
this form of central support.

5.3. Networks for special purposes, notably flood warning systems

In line with the generally increased interest in hydrological forecasting on the
international scale, there has been an increase of activity in the United Kingdom with
regard to flood warning systems, especially since the very wet autumn and winter of
1960-61. These schemes were developed for many areas in England and Wales by the
engineers of the former river boards, and will be continued and further developed
under the new river authorities.
5.4. The British Committee for the International Hydrological Decade, set up in 1963,
had prepared, by the end of 1964, a British programme for the Decade which to a
large extent overlaps with, and is intended to stimulate, activities under Items 5.1.
and 5.2.

6. The demands for improved rain-gauge networks which should be based on

sound principles of network design and should no longer be so directly influenced
by accidental circumstances, are becoming ever more insistent as a result of these

149
recent developments. In order that the demands may be met, in any full sense, there
is a need to solve the two major problems already implied in the above disccussion of
the dominance hitherto by site and observer requirements:
6.1. Techniques of rainfall measurement and instruments will need to be developed,
to the point where it will become possible to measure rainfall fairly accurately over
a wide variety of sites other than conventionally acceptable sites, such as now pre-
dominate with relatively slight variations and departures from orthodox standards.
In particular, there are investigations of undoubted importance requiring the measure-
ment of rainfall in wind-swept localities, on steep slopes, including those which face
the prevailing rain-bearing winds, and at points well removed from the immediate
neighbourhood of the ground, especially above canopy level in forests.
6.2. Fully automatic rain-gauges will need to be developed, primarily with the
object of obtaining instruments which can be left alone on remote sites for long periods,
storing rainfall data with any degree of detail which may be required. Once such an
instrument has been successfully produced it is likely to be used in fairly large numbers
in sparsely populated areas. But it may also have an application in other areas as an
alternative to earlier types of rain recorder. These have usually recorded in ink on
paper charts, producing a form of trace which is very tedious to analyse and tabulate
with all the detail which may be of interest. The new instrument would therefore be
doubly satisfactory if it could take the form of a fully automatic recorder, which would
operate with the minimum of servicing and attention, and record the data, probably
most conveniently on magnetic tape, in such a way that the information could be
either directly dealt with by a computer, or readily converted for computer input.

7. The use of rainfall data in connection with flood warning schemes raises pro-
blems of a rather different kind which merit special mention. Ideally the information
about precipitation for use with such a scheme should take the form of reliable quan-
titative forecasts, so that the effects of meteorological conditions on river flows could
always be foreseen well in advance. Partly to this end research on the quantitative
forecasting of rainfall is being intensified. In the meantime, confining attention to
rainfall and omitting, at present, the case of melting snow, the next best method of
providing information is to arrange for the very rapid transmission of actual rainfall
observations to a suitable centre established for flood-warning purposes. Various
arrangements have been made to achieve this object and even now the services of
voluntary observers are by no means negligible. But as with rain-gauge networks
in grerai it is often difficult to find observers suitably situated, and therefore for
this purpose also some form of automatic instrument is required. In this case, how-
ever, the instrument should be designed primarily with the object, not of storing the
information in considerable detail for all periods of rainfall, light moderate or heavy,
but of transmitting in some way, as soon as possible, the significant recent infor-
mation during periods of heavy rain.

8. Underlying current discussion of rain-gauge networks, there are therefore at

least three contributory topics concerned with fields of investigation in which satis-
factory results must be obtained before general principles of network design can be
widely applied in any realistic sense :
8.1. Development of methods of measuring rainfall within acceptable limits of
accuracy on a wide variety of sites which at present are usually regarded as unsuitable
for conventional rain-gauges.
8.2. Development of a fully automatic rain-gauge which unattended will store
rainfall data over long periods in a form which can later be analysed with any re-
qiured degree of detail by computer.

150
 8.3. Development of an automatic rain-gauge which will be capable of transmitting
recent information, especially about heavy rain, to an appropriate centre established
for the operation of a flood-warning scheme.

9. All three items are currently receiving attention in the United Kingdom, and,
in particular, promising stages have already been reached with automatic instruments.
Doubtless the situation is very similar in several other parts of the world. It is therefore
appropriate to consider how it will be possible to approach the design of ideal net-
works when once the basic problems have been solved. Until now in United Kingdom
practice, virtually all network design has been tackled by highly subjective methods
based on the selection of some optimum number of conventionally satisfactory rain-
gauge sites. There have been only two widely followed attempts to define and stan-
dardize such optimum numbers, or station densities, according to area.

9.1. The first these ( 10 ) produced by a joint committee of meteorologists and water
engineers bore particular reference to the assessment of average annual rainfall in
relation to yield over areas reservoired for water supply. For some of the areas, the
sequence of individual monthly and annual values would also need to be assessed,
in connection with operational procedures, but the examination of more detailed
time distributions of rainfall within periods less than a month was not taken into
account, and in normal circumstances would not be necessary. In general areas were
not of very great size and were specified in acres. The equivalents in square miles
and square kilometers are also given in the following version of the table of re-
commended rain-gauge requirements :

Minimum numbers of rain-gauges required in reservoired moorland areas

Area Rain-gauges

Acres Square Square Daily Monthly Total

Miles Kilometres

500 0.8 2 1 2 3
1,000 1.6 4 2 4 6
5,000 7.8 20 3 7 10
10,000 15.6 41 4 11 15
20,000 31.3 81 5 15 20
30,000 46.9 122 6 19 25
40,000 62.5 162 8 22 30

9.2. The second attempt is incorporated in a table which has not yet been published
but has been used internally in the Meteorological Office for several years, and has
become increasingly the basis of advice given externally as a guide for a very large
range of areas with, eventually, countrywide networks in mind. It suggests the very
minimum numbers of gauges which can be used for estimating monthly areal values
of rainfall, by a percentage of average method, assuming that a good knowledge of
the distribution of average rainfall over the area already exists. A brief extract from
this table to indicate the scale of station densities suggested is given below (p. 152)

10. The disparity between the two tables is not so great as might appear at first
sight. The first indicates station densities which are reached in important reservoired

151
areas and which may well be exceeded in small experimental areas. The second indicates
densities which are more appropriate for countrywide networks. In the application
of the general guidance embodied in this table it must be appreciated that any large
river basin will almost invariably have within it a number of sub-basins for which the
relatively dense networks would be recommended. Moreover, the minimum densities

Minimum numbers of rain-gauges for monthly percentage of average rainfall estimates

Square kilometres Number of

Square miles (Approx.) rain-gauges

10 26 2
100 260 6
500 1,300 12
1,000 2,600 15
2,000 5,200 20
3,000 7,800 24

suggested would often be substantially increased in mountainous areas, and would

be closely followed only in areas of low or moderate elevation without complex
topography. A good example of the working out in detail of generalized suggestions
of this kind is given by E. M. Shaw ( u ) in another contribution to this Symposium.
The work reported for the area of the Devon River Board (since 1st April, 1965 the
Devon River Authority) shows how an existing unplanned and very irregular rain-
gauge network was augmented in a planned manner to fulfil minimum requirements
in all parts of the area. It illustrates very effectively how much can be attempted under
the restrictions imposed by conventional site and observer requirements. There is no
doubt that for the implementation of the Water Resources Act, Section 15, which
requires the preparation of hydrometric schemes for all the river authority areas of
England and Wales, rain-gauge network planning substantially on these lines will
continue for a good many years. It may be remarked, however, that in a number of
countries attempts have been made to develop far more objective methods than those
so far used in the United Kingdom for determining the optimum number of rain-
gauges for an area. In particular the work of Panchang and Narayanan ( 12 ) is worthy
of mention in connection with the estimation of annual and monthly areal rainfall
amounts within specified limits of accuracy. This type of work could profitably be
extended to cover spatial rainfall distributions during time intervals shorter than one
month, thus investigating to what extent, in a given area and with given limits of
accuracy of estimation, the optimum rain-gauge density needs to be increased as the
time interval of interest decreases; or conversely how the accuracy of areal estimation
falls off, for any given network density, as the time interval decreases.

11. A tentative approach to the further development of objective methods of

network design has been made recently in considering networks for experimental
areas under the control of the Hydrological Research Unit. To simplify a rather
involved discussion of what should be attempted, it will be useful to take a pair of
methods which in one respect at least are diametrically opposed. The first of these
has been worked out in some detail, by J.C. Rodda of the Hydrological Research
Unit, for an area of about seven square miles covering the headwaters of the Severn
and the Wye on the eastern slopes of Plynlimon in Central Wales ( 13 ).

152
 11.1. A given area may be broken down into zones on the basis of altitude, steepness
of slope, aspect, and any other factors which could affect t h e distribution of rainfall.
In most areas it will be necessary also to include surface co-ordinates or some other
method of specifying plan position with respect to the major geographical features
in the surrounding region which are of significance for precipitation. Each zone should
cover a suitably narrow range of the factor concerned. T h e intersection of zones
divides the area into domains such that within each domain there is only a narrow
range of altitude, slope, aspect, plan position or any other factor included. In order
to sample the area fully in all its variety at least one rain-gauge should be placed in
each domain. Unfortunately this method leads to impracticably large numbers of
rain-gauges even for very small areas if the topography is at all complex, and some
rather arbitrary, subjective or random method must be found for grouping or selecting
domains in order to reduce the number of sampling points to manageable proportions.

11.2. Since it may be impossible to eliminate such arbitrary selection entirely,

even if the number of points eventually selected is arrived at by an objective method
of determining the optimum, the second method reverses t h e procedure. The number
of rain-gauges appropriate for the area is settled in advance, purely subjectively on
past experience of rainfall work, from economic and operational practicability, or
preferably on an objective method to attain a specified degree of accuracy. The area
is then divided into the required number of domains, all domains being fairly compact,
rather than elongated or peculiarly shaped, as some of them are with method 11.1, and
very nearly equal in area. Within each domain a rain-gauge is placed, possibly by a
random method, and the distribution of gauges with respect to altitude, slope, aspect,
and other factors is then examined. If there are any striking anomalies, adjustments of
individual gauges within their domains should be capable of removing them without
upsetting the more or less even distribution with regard to plan position.

12. The method of paragraph 11.2 appears to be much simpler than that of para-
graph 11.1 and it may be equally satisfactory. Investigations are under consideration
to test this suggestion by assessing the merits of these and perhaps other methods.
A fairly simple elaboration of the method of paragraph 11.2 may offer very definite
advantages at the cost of only a moderate increase in t h e numbers of rain-gauges
required. Instead of merely allocating one rain-gauge to each domain to obtain a
a fairly uniform spatial distribution, a very limited number of domains would also
be selected by random methods or otherwise, in each of which more than one gauge
would be sited, up to any practicable limit in a few special cases, for more intensive
and probably short-term investigation of the variability of rainfall within domains.
This could be regarded as an extension of the principle of providing primary and
secondary hydrological networks, which has sometimes been proposed as an econo-
mical method of achieving both widespread areal coverage and the means of pursuing
more intensive local studies ( 14 , 1 5 , 1 6 ) . It is by no means certain as yet how far, and
through what modifications, these methods at present under discussion for relatively
small experimental areas will be practicable for designing countrywide networks.
If it is shown that the methods can be so applied, the principles just discussed lead
again to the suggestion at the end of paragraph 2, that provided certain minimum
standards are attained everywhere, it will never become a desirable aim to treat all
areas in a strictly uniform manner. In addition to some diversity of network design
to suit different individual projects, there is probably sound reasoning in favour of
a more general planned diversity which would be economical and efficient, even
though superficially it may appear to resemble the accidental diversity resulting from
an unplanned historical development, which is almost certainly in nearly all cases
uneconomic and inefficient.

153
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This paper is published by permission of the Director-General, Meteorological

Office, Bracknell, Berkshire, England.

REFERENCES
x
( ) G.J. SYMONS, "Rain Gauges and Hints on Observing Them". British Rainfall 1864,
London, 1865, p. 8.
(2) World Meteorological Organization, "Commission for Hydrological Meteorology,
Abridged Final Report of the First Session, Washington, 12th 25th April, 1961 "
World Meteorological Organization, No. 105. RP. 45, Geneva, 1961.
(3) World Meteorological Organization, "Commission for Hydrometeorology,
Abridged Final Report of the Second Session, Warsaw, 29th September 15th
October, 1964". World Meteorological Organization, No. 161. RP. 59, Geneva,
1965.
4
( ) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization /'International
Hydrological Decade, Inter-Governmental Meeting of Experts, Unesco House,
Paris, 7th-17th April, 1964, Final Report Unesco/NS/188, Paris, 1964.
() Houses ot Parliament, Water Resources Act 1963, Her Majesty's Stationery
Office, London.
( 6 ) Reference 5, Section 12.
(7) Reference 5, Section 15.
( 8 ) Committee on Water Resources in Northern Ireland: Report submitted 1964.
( 9 ) Refeience 5, Section 90.
( 10 ) Joint Committee of the Meteorological Office, the Royal Meteorological Society,
and the Institution of Water Engineers, Report on, "The Determination of the
General Rainfall over any Area". Transactions of the Institution of Water Engineers
London, 42, 1937, p. 231.
( n ) E.M. SHAW, " ARain-Gauge Network prepared for the Devon River Board Area
of the United Kingdom". Paper presented at this Symposium, Quebec, 1965,
pp. 63-70.
( 12 ) G.M. PANCHANG and R. NARAYANAN, "Adequate Numbers of Rain-Gauges for
Accurate Estimation of Mean Depths". Irrigation and Power, Journal of the
13
Central Board of Irrigation and Power, New Delhi, 19, No. 2. February, 1962, p. 94.
( ) J.C. RODDA, Work on Rain-Gauge Networks for the Plynlimon Experimental
Areas, not yet published.
( 14 ) M .A. KOHLER, "Design of Hydrological Networks". World Meteorological
Organization, Technical Note No. 25, World Meteorological Organization, No. 82,
lo
TP. 32, Geneva, 1958.
( ) W.B. LANGBEIN, "Hydrological Data Networks and Methods of Extrapolating
or Extending available Hydrological Data". Hydrologie Networks and Methods,
Seminar held at Bangkok, July, 1959; U.N.E.C.A.F.E. World Meteorological
Organization, Flood Control Series, No. 15; U.N. Publication, Sales No. 60.11.F.2,
lfi
Bangkok, 1960.
( ) A.G. BOULTON, "Surface Water Run-Off; Basic Principles of Network Design,
Paper presented at this Symposium, Quebec, 1965, pp. 234-244.

154
 DISCUSSION

SUBMITTED PAPER: "DEVELOPMENT AND DESIGN OF RAIN GAUGE

NETWORKS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE U.K.", by A. BLEASDALE.

M.J. GREEN, Water Research Association (U.K.) A brief description is given of

a method used to estimate the number of gauges required in a reservoired moorland
area, as referred to in the table in the previous paper.
The Water Research Association, Medmenham, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England
is conducting a water balance study over the Brenig catchment in North Wales. This
is an upland catchment 5,000 acres (20 sq km), ranging from 1,100 feet to 1,750 feet
(335-534 m) above sea level, with a mean annual rainfall of 50 inches (1250 mm) and
river flow records which date back to 1922. The adjacent Alwen catchment has river
gaugings dating back to 1912 in anticipation of the reservoir completed in 1921.
The problem of obtaining precise rainfall data is shown in figure 1 where the Brenig
until recently had only 3 rain gauges. Taking the period 1956-64 there were six well-
dispersed gauges in operation throughout the Alwen and Brenig as well as some others
at closer spacing in the Alwen valley only. Making the assumption of random location
of the six gauges, their records were grouped into half a dozen rainfall groups of
1.5 inch increments per month. The coefficient of variation (C) within each group
then establishes the estimated number of gauges required using the equation:

I 2CV I2
Number of gauges
(Required precisionj

Key

Gauges I95fc-i9fo*
Gauges )9>4- "

y
^ ^'' Scale' iinch to I

Fig. 1 Alwen and Brenig catchments rain gauges.

This gives the 95% chance of attaining the required precision which may be either
a percentage of the mean occurring on any occasion or an absolute value of precipi-
tation.

155
 With 5 % precision, figure 2 shows a histogram of the number of gauges required
in each precipitation group. The full lines correspond to the number of gauges obtained
by summing the observations for each gauge and substituting the variance between the
totals in the equation. The broken lines are the 9 5 % confidence limits obtained by
assuming the variance between gauges, for each observation, to have a X2 (chisquared)
distribution with the appropriate degrees of freedom, (t is seen that the mean estimate
results in 4 gauges only being required, the 9 5 % confidence limits ranging from 46 to 12
gauges with a weighted average of 21.

so
4

4o

3o
Nun,
of 9yao,r
ra.Ua 22 Maft
9 3cs
a u
2o
i& _

]5
13
12

IO
,
9yar
b Mean
3
+ 3
3 3

Ail groups
oroups i il m E n m
Precipitation O -i^ins Ij - 3ins 3 - 4lins 4 a - <oins <o - 7? ms 7 ? ins
% of months |3 P5 5 |6 , 9
in each group

Fig. 2 Raingauge requirements in Alwen and Brenig catchments (area 46 km 2 ).

Key
Based on f Estimate of gauges required to measure monthly precipitation to 5%
1956-1964 | accuracy 3
data ! Upper 9 5 % confidence limit of the estimate 15

Figure 3 deals with 0.1 inch precision and here the higher precipitation groups requi-
re most gauges. The mean requirement has gone up to 19 gauges and the 95% confidence
limit is beyond the scale of the figure at 88. It is therefore unlikely, with our present
20 gauges, seen in figure 1, that one can obtain 0.1 inch precision at this degree of
confidence except for the very lowest precipitation.

S. SOLOMON (Canada) In the final part of his paper, Mr. Bleasdale suggests two
possible ways of designing a network: one which takes into account the results of the
experimental, intensively gauged areas, correlated to the geographical characteristics,
and another one which has no empirical character. Mr. Bleasdale seems to be inclined
to recommend the second procedure.

156
 However, one of the main purposes of an experimental intensively gauged area
study should be to find some design criteria which will help the hydrometeorologist to
obtain a higher accuracy with a smaller number of gauges, since there is an economic
limit to this number. In spite of this, several of the presented papers are experimental,
intensively gauged areas, failed to analyse this aspect of the problem. While it is
obvious that an increased number of stations on a given area increases the accuracy, in

5o
48

40

Number
3 -
of
rain
So - ,.,.'?,,,

\A

10

At l groups
Groups I IL IE BZ S. TO.
Precipitation o - Ij-ins le - 3 ins 3-4jins 4i-fcn 6 - 7 ^ ins TT ins
% of months ., ie 9
25 5 Ifo
in each aroup

Fig. 3 Raingauge requirements in Alwen and Brenig catchments (area 46 km 2 ).

Key
Based on [ Estimate of gauges required to measure monthly precipitation to
1956-1964.
data \Q.\ m s accuracy

my opinion these studies would largely increase their efficiency if they would try to
find relationships between precipitation, other climatic factors, (e.g. temperature,
radiation, humidity, wind direction and velocity, air pressure) and geographic factors
(relief pattern, including steepness and orientation of slopes, proximity to sources of
humidity, vegetation and in some cases geology). Such relationships could be used
to obtain a higher degree of accuracy from a reduced number of gauges and serve as a
basis for a rational network design. At the same time these relationships could be
powerful tool in the utilization of past data. It seems therefore recommendable that
future experimental studies on intensively gauged areas should enlarge their scope in
this direction.

157