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AssigneesUniversity Corporation for Atmospheric Research, The Board of Regents of the University & College System of Nevada
InventorsJohn Hallett, Roy Martin Rasmussen
Estimating the term…
A precipitation measuring system comprising a top thermal plate positioned to maximize exposure to falling precipitation and includes at least one ridge circumscribing the top surface for capturing precipitation. A second thermal plate is positioned under the top thermal plate to protect it from falling precipitation while still exposing it to the same atmospheric temperature and wind conditions. At least one solar radiation sensor is connected to the precipitation measuring system to measure solar radiation contacting at least one of the top and bottom thermal plates. During a precipitation event, the top and bottom thermal plates are maintained at a constant temperature and a power consumption curve for each thermal plate is quantified. The precipitation rate is measured by the difference in the power consumption curve for the top thermal plate and the power consumption curve for the bottom thermal plate.
A precipitation measuring system comprising:
A method of operating a precipitation measuring system that includes a plurality of sensors that each include a first plate exposed to precipitation and a second plate not exposed to the precipitation, the method comprising:
A product for a precipitation measuring system comprising a remote processor and a plurality of sensors that each include a first plate exposed to precipitation and a second plate not exposed to the precipitation and that are each configured to maintain the first plate and the second plate at a substantially constant temperature and transfer data to the remote processor that indicates a difference in power consumption between the first plate and the second plate, the product comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.