New Precipitation Sensor

OTT HYDROMETRY (UK) is launching a new sensor, known as OTT Pluvio², for the accurate measurement of rain, snow and hail.
Commenting on the new technology, OTT Managing Director Simon Wills
says, "The initial version of the Pluvio instrument was launched a few years ago.
It offered users much greater resolution and accuracy across a broader range of weather conditions in comparison with older techniques, but the new version provides even better performance at a significantly lower cost. Importantly, the Pluvio² is able to record the precise moment at which precipitation takes place."
The instrument`s accuracy is not diminished by the intensity of precipitation - the measurement range extends from 0.1 to an impressive 30 mm/min.
This technology is also well suited to freezing conditions offering an accurate measurement range of minus 40 to +60 °C.
A sophisticated software filter eliminates the potential effects of wind and each OTT Pluvio² is individually temperature calibrated. In contrast with traditional raingauges, this is a life-time calibration
so users can expect long-term accurate data throughout all weather conditions.
OTT Pluvio² complies with WMO guideline 306 No.8 and is built to high engineering standards to provide a long working life. Cost of ownership is minimised because there are no tipping buckets to clean and no filters to unblock; an annual maintenance check is all that is required. A calibration check can be performed with a calibration weight set according to ISO standards.
OTT Pluvio² can be supplied with one of the company`s own low-power dataloggers or with an impulse, SDI -12, or RS 485 output.
Many OTT customers purchase the OTT Pluvio² as part of an environmental monitoring system.
The enhanced real-time data collection capabilities of the OTT Pluvio², providing both intensity and precipitation accumulation information, make the instrument an ideal tool in risk management for flood warnings and other weather related emergencies, particularly those involving extreme precipitation events.
It was Sir Christopher Wren who invented the first tipping bucket raingauge because he could see a need for automatic measurements and with the benefit of many decades of instrument design, OTT believes that if Sir Christopher was alive today he would be rather surprised to learn that it has taken so long for a better technology emerge!