The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) is to update the hand-held rain gauges of all voluntary precipitation observers in 2026.
New hand rain gauges
According to the organization, the hand rain gauges that the volunteers have been using up until this year are at the end of their lifespan and are being replaced to guarantee the quality of the measurements. The new hand rain gauges meet all the requirements of the World Meteorological Organization and are more ergonomically sound. Overall, the update will enable observers to contribute even better to the collection of valuable data on rain in the Netherlands.
KNMI highlighted that volunteer precipitation observers play an important role in measuring precipitation. They do this every day from their own garden or environment. The data they collect is used by KNMI to map the amount of precipitation in various places in the Netherlands. This helps in making weather forecasts and conducting climate research.
KNMI has tested the old and new hand rain gauges extensively. In addition, over the next two years measurements will be taken at eight locations with both the old hand rain gauge and the new hand rain gauge, to enable comparison of the observations. This will allow KNMI to understand possible differences between the rain gauges.
Accurately measure precipitation
A hand-held rain gauge accurately measures how much rain falls. Every morning just before 9am (an hour later in the summer), more than 300 volunteers manually tap the rain gauge and, if necessary, measure the height of the snow with a ruler. They also report whether hail has been observed. The volunteers digitally transmit the measurement to the KNMI every day.
In related news, KNMI recently installed a new automatic weather station in the village of Horst in Limburg province, to measure temperature, solar radiation and wind speed and direction. Click here to read the full story.