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# Rain gauge (WAD)

```{admonition} Here be Dragons!
:class: warning

Compared to other precipitation measurements, the data from the rain gauge shows significant discrepancies.

After initial investigations we estimate the bucket was reliable for about 3 months after its installation, after which the
data became not suitable for scientific use, up until it was removed on 2025-09-25. It was reinstalled 2026-01-29 and is currently in operation.
The data taken since then should be reevaluated for scientific usability.

When investigating the bucket's data, please also note that on September 1 2025 at 16:23, $100 \, \mathrm{ml}$ of
water was poured into the bucket as a test for instrument functionality.
```

## Instrumentation

Since 2023-05-09, the BCO has operated a [WAD200](https://www.ott.com/download/leaflet-ott-wad-200/) rain measurement system at the site.

The instrument collects falling hydrometeors in a $200 \mathrm{cm}^2$ aperture and funnels
to a vessel ("bucket") which is self-emptying and calibrated yearly. The data output includes
rain intensity ($\mathrm{mm} \mathrm{h}^{-1}$) and total collected rain ($\mathrm{mm}$) as well
as temperature and system status.

## Data Availability

The data is available in `.zarr` format as `BCO.bucket_WAD_c1_v1` in the catalog.

## Sample Plot

Let's plot cumulative rain and hourly average temperature for a few weeks in September 2024, the period of the [ORCESTRA Campaign](https://orcestra-campaign.org).

```{code-cell} python
import intake
import matplotlib.pylab as plt

cat = intake.open_catalog("https://tcodata.mpimet.mpg.de/catalog.yaml")
ds_bucket = cat.BCO.bucket_WAD_c1_v1.to_dask()

# period of ORCESTRA
orcestra = slice("2024-09-09", "2024-09-30")

subset = ds_bucket.sel(time=orcestra)

fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(12, 4))
subset.R.plot(ax=ax1)
subset.T.compute().resample(time="1h").mean().plot(ax=ax2)
```

The full dataset:

```{code-cell} python
ds_bucket
```