It is very likely that you have already noticed that rain is variable over time. When you stay in the same place, it does not rain there all the time. Even during a rainfall event, the strength of the rainfall can constantly change from very light to very strong. The stronger periods of rainfall are usually quite short. This kind of variability in rainfall is also visible on a larger scale, because as you know, there are wetter months or years and dryer ones. There is also variability in where rainfall occurs. It can rain a lot in one location and not at all, or with a very different strength, a few kilometers away or even a few hundred meters away.
Variability is a basic feature of rainfall that makes it complex to measure. Meteorologists (people who study weather) and researchers have developed numerous measurement devices that enable them to study the extreme variability of rainfall. We will explain the functioning of the three most commonly used devices. The data we present were collected on the campus of Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, where I work.

License information: CC BY 4.0
MPAA: G
Go to source: https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2018.00038