Version 2 of the Rainfall Intensity software is now available! It corrects many of the "bugs" reported in the previous version.

Rainfall Intensity Home
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USER'S MANUAL

REQUIRED DATABASES

Create a "rainfall" database

Create a "rainfall_stats" database

Set each database as a System DSN to allow connection to the RAIN software

RAINSTART

Open the RAIN software

Log On to RAIN software programs

RAINDIGITIZER

Getting Started - Things to Do Before You Begin Digitizing

Log On

Link to your "rainfall" database

Digitize a strip chart and save as an x,y ascii file on your hard drive

QC the digitized strip charts

Load digitized ascii file(s) to your "rainfall" database

Convert digitized ascii file(s) to meaningful rainfall data (time-depth series) and store in your "rainfall" database

RAINPLOT

Select a dataset (select data to analyze)

Quality control the selected data (view raw rainfall data)

Analyze the selected data using predictive statistical curve fits (includes IDF analysis)

Create a report (automated reports showing various results)

Show monthly and seasonal summaries

Display data on map using RAINMAP

Edit hydrologic default settings (customize program settings such as "months that comprise a water year" and others)

RAINSHARE

Log On

Edit, add, or delete data in your "rainfall" database

Export or import your "rainfall" database

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Rainplot Instructions - Quality Control the Dataset

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Topics

- Select a dataset (choose station and date range and retrieve from your "rainfall" database)

- Quality control the dataset

- Analyze the dataset (fit data to probability distributions and generate IDF curves)

- Create reports (generate automated reports of your analyses)

- Show summaries (show mean monthly, mean annual, and other summaries statistics)

- Display data on map

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1. Click the 'Quality Control Data' button on the main menu.

The following screen will open.

The 'View Quality Control Report' button is not yet activated.

2. Click the 'View Raw Data as Storm Events' button to display a spreadsheet that contains time-depth data for each increment of rainfall in the dataset. As shown below, each increment of rain is listed as a separate record in the spreadsheet, with a start time, end time, and depth, along with the intensity, duration, and cumulative depth and duration (since beginning of storm). Storm events are separated in the spreadsheet by alternating color blocks and horizontal lines. Note: The definition of a storm event (that is, the length of inter-event dry period) is set in the 'Edit Hydrologic Default Settings' on the main menu of RAINPLOT.

Note: Data records with potential quality control issues are highlighted in red.

The storm number and segment appear in the far left column in grey. For example, 1:5 represents the first storm in the dataset and the fifth interval (intensity change) within the storm.

3. Data in this spreadsheet may be viewed and arranged in a number of ways.

'Go to Storm': Use the drop down list just below the spreadsheet to view rainfall data for a specific storm (date). The list will include the date and start time of all storms in your retrieved dataset. Selecting a date will automatically move the spreadsheet to the selected storm.

'Show Storm Plots': Click the 'Show Storm Plots' button to display 1) a graph of cumulative depth vs storm duration, 2) maximum intensity values for various durations, and 3) data for increments of the storm, including end time, duration, depth, cumulative depth, intensity, and storm erosivity (EK, as J/m^2). An example of this display is shown below.

To add or edit durations in the list of 'Maxima for displayed storm' (the display of maximum intensities for the storm) shown in the upper right part of the window, click the 'Add Durations' button and enter your changes.

To display a bar graph of incremental rainfall depth vs time, click the 'Plot Incremental' button. To display a printable report, click the 'Display Report' button. To move the spreadsheet to the previous or the next storm, click the 'Previous' or 'Next' button.

'Plot Date Range': A subset of data may be plotted by highlighting a number of rows in the spreadsheet and then clicking 'Plot Date Range'. Cumulative depth vs time is shown on the graph.

'Sort on Current Column': The spreadsheet may be sorted by a particular column by clicking on the column and then clicking 'Sort on Current Column'.

'Show 24 Hr Volumes': Daily rainfall values may be displayed by clicking on the 'Show 24 Hr Volumes' button. The following spreadsheet window will appear, showing the date, depth as computed from the digitized chart (8 am to 8 am), depth as measured by the manual gage, and % difference between the digitized depth and the manual gage depth. To display the manual gage depth values, you must select the manual gage using the pull down list at the bottom of the window, and then click 'Display Gage Depth'. You may also adjust the offset from Greenich Mean Time using the text box.

Click 'Done' to return to the main quality control window, then click 'Return to Main Menu' to return to the main RAINPLOT menu.

After the dataset has been quality controlled, you are ready to analyze the data.

Proceed to the next section titled 'Analyze dataset' or return to the main RAINPLOT instructions page.