Rainfall monitoring using acoustic sensors

• Main Authors: Trono, Edgar Marko, Guico, Maria Leonora, Libatique, Nathaniel Joseph C, Tangonan, Gregory L, Baluyot, D.N.B, Cordero, T.K.R, Geronimo, F.A.P, Parrenas, A.P.F
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2013
• Subjects: Rain; Acoustics; Acoustic sensors; Acoustic measurements; Power measurement; Software; Microphones; Electrical and Computer Engineering; Systems and Communications
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/ecce-faculty-pubs/48; https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6412284
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

This study is about the design, development, and field testing of acoustic sensors for rain measurements. An Android-based acoustic sensor is designed and tested. The sensor can upload data files to a web server, and can trigger an SMS alarm when rainfall data exceeds safety thresholds. An Arduino-based acoustic sensor is also designed and tested, which is an alternative, low-cost acoustic sensor for rainfall. Rainfall data from the sensors are graphed, analyzed, and compared vis-à-vis to data from tipping bucket rain gauges. We report, for the first time, the performance of an acoustic rain sensor and a tipping bucket in the same device integrated with an Android phone. This new configuration shows the difference between a real-time acoustic rain sensor and a tipping bucket, which is an accumulation sensor. The analysis features and performance of the acoustic sensors directs to the development of low-cost devices for gathering rain data, which can supplement standard rain measurement devices.