WTKR NEWS 3 — You might have one sitting in your yard, but have you ever wondered where the rain gauge came from?
Records of rainfall measurements begin in 500 B.C. with the ancient Greeks. In 400 B.C., people in India were using bowls to measure rain.
The invention of the rain gauge is most widely credited to King Sejong of Korea in 1441. His version was primarily used to determine agricultural tax rates. Roughly two centuries later, English scientists Robert Hooke and Christopher Wren developed the tipping bucket rain gauge, a design that inspired modern instruments.
There are many types of rain gauges, but the standard gauge is the most common. Its design is precise: 24 inches tall with an 8-inch funnel leading into a 2.5-inch cylinder.
Even with today’s advanced technology, the humble rain gauge still stands the test of time as a reliable way to measure what falls from the sky one drop at a time.
