The rain gauge network was designed for monitoring the city of
Palermo and its realization was in progress during this study. The
first version of the rain gauge network was made up of nine
tipping-bucket rain gauges, each one coupled with a data logger
to store data. Rainfall, collected with a resolution of 0.1 mm, is first
transferred, via GSM, to a database, and then via FTP (File Transfer
Protocol), to a central server. The network was then updated,
within the already mentioned project SESAMO, with nine more
tipping-bucket rain gauges. Also the new instruments collect rainfall with a resolution of 0.1 mm but transfer data via GPRS to the
central server. Even though the complete network include a set
of 18 rain gauges distributed within the radar observed area, for
the analysis period considered in this study a reduced number of
rain gauges were continuously operative because of some maintenance operations; for this reason only data retrieved from five
working stations have been considered in the modules where rain
gauge data are involved