Layers   Tools
Watershed
Digital Raster Graphic (DRG)
Lafayette
LULC
Historical(1970-1980's)
2001
Soil Type
SSURGO
STATSGO
Elevation Map
1 arc-second
1/3 arc-second
1/9 arc-second
Sensors
Rain Gauges
Streamflow Gauges
Soil Moisture Sensor
Sub-Watersheds
SG1
SG2
SG3
Measure distance: Select the line tool button, click on Google Earth at several points, click on Calculate Distance button. When done click Clear.
Measure Area: Select the line tool, click on several points in Google Earth to create a polygon, click the Calculate Area button. When done click Clear.
Result:
Line Tool  
 
Elevation
 

Analysis of Rainfall Measurements during Storm Matthew


Your Task
Work with the rain gauge data under field sensors layers (See Sensors in Layers section at the bottom left of this page) to answer the following questions. Download and open this WORD file and use it as a template to record your answers.
  1. Turn on the layer that shows the 13 rain gauges within the watershed.
  2. Click on each rain gauge and download the rainfall observations recorded by the gauge during the storm. Or
    download a spreadsheet with the full dataset for the 13 gauges.
  3. 3. Produce a plot showing date/time on the x-axis and the rainfall values on the y-axis during the heaviest period of the storm (10/10/2004 hour 0:00 to 10/10/2004 hour 9:00 am). Each gauge should be represented by a separate line. Embellish your plot using proper axes titles, units, legend, etc. Click here for a sample of what your plot should look like. Copy and paste your plot into your word document.
  4. Comment on the results that you see in the rainfall plot and table. How different/similar are the observations of the different gauges? What does that tell you about the rainfall variability during the storm?
  5. For each gauge calculate the total rainfall depth over the storm duration. You can do this by simply adding all the 15-minute rain values over the duration of the storm. Summarize you data in a table.
  6. Revisit the rainfall maps shown at the Hydro-meteorological Prediction Center. From these maps, try to find the watershed location and to the best of your ability estimate how much rainfall was observed over our watershed. Include these numbers in the same table.
  7. How different the total rainfall based on our gauges versus what you see on the Hydro-meteorological Prediction Center?


Once finished, click Next to continue.

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