Development of a Portable Rainfall Simulation System for Hydrologic Studies under Field Conditions

In hydrologic studies rainfall and soil system are two important considerations. It is always desirable to conduct these studies under field conditions in order to represent actual conditions. Rainfall simulation offers a viable alternative to conduct hydrologic studies under controlled conditions. Various types of rainfall simulators are already available for this purpose, but most of them are fixed type and can be used in a laboratory. In such studies a tilting flume filled with soil is used as the test plot. In this study, a portable rainfall has been developed and tested in order to conduct hydrologic studies under actual field conditions. This light weight simulation system and its various components are mounted on wheels to take them to field easily. The portable rainfall simulator is capable of producing rainfall similar to natural rainfall with its intensity in the range of 3.77cm/h to 12.73 cm/h, uniformity coefficient ranging from 82.81% to 93.52%, drop size in the range of 2.96 mm to 4.81mm with terminal velocity of rain drops ranging from 8.39 m/s to 10.69 m/s.