High resolution rainfall – runoff measurement setup for green roof experiments in a tropical environment

Abstract. This article describes the measurement setup that is used for green roof experiments in a tropical environment, the required data treatment to obtain reliable values of rainfall, runoff and evapotranspiration, and how to deal with external disturbances that can influence the experiment results. High resolution rainfall runoff measurements to identify, understand and properly model the relevant runoff processes in a green roof require both tailored equipment and data treatment. A tipping bucket rain gauge is calibrated for and installed to measure minute based rain intensities. A runoff measuring setup is developed that can accurately quantify the runoff up to 6 l/min, and has a high resolution in both time and volume. Two different measuring setups are used to verify the evapotranspiration that is derived from the rainfall and runoff measurements.