A rainfall-pH-meter and dry precipitation sampler

摘要

A microprocessor-based rainfall-pH-meter equipped with a dryprecipitation sampler is presented. The battery powered system includesa water-sensing sensor and containers for wet and dry deposition. Amechanical cover is used to cover the dry deposition container whenrainfall occurs and to cover the wet container when there is norainfall. A temperature compensated pH-meter is used to measure pH ofthe collected rainfall. An optoelectronic sensor that uses near infraredradiation is used to detect the occurrence of rainfall. The pH valuesare determined whenever 0.5 mm of rainfall are collected. Rainfalldepth, duration and intensity values can be determined from recordeddata. The advantages of this system are: (i) low cost, (ii) low energyconsumption, (iii) continuous data on rainfall depth, duration andintensity, (iv) continuous pH data trends during rainfall events and,therefore, (v) potential for use in networks for monitoring atmosphericdeposition