Precipitation Data

UPDATE: Gamboa recieved 1600.0 mm of rainfall during 2005 which was well under the long term average. May appears to have been about normal at Gamboa, June/July appear well under normal, August slightly below normal, and September was slightly below. The traditionally wettest months of October and November were about half of the normal values. The largest daily rainfall fell the day after Christmas with approximately 120 mm of rainfall in a single day!

Perhaps the most distinguishing and well known feature of tropical rainforests is the increased amount of rainfall. In most instances this amounts to double the values typically found in temperate environments. Many areas receive between 2,000-3,000 mm of rain annually, at the extreme certain higher latitude regions prone to monsoon influence can expect over 8,000 mm on average.  Precipitation in any forest should be considered as the flux of water above the canopy and that, which actually reaches the ground surface.  Precipitation above the canopy, or that measured in a clearing, is accomplished with the use of a tipping bucket rain gage.  Throughfall, or the amount of rainfall that reaches the ground surface is considered separately in another section.

We have three potential sites of rainfall data in Gamboa, two of which were set up by UConn.  We installed dual rain gages at approximately 30 m above ground surface on our eddy covariance tower and a single gage located near the STRI greenhouses.  Additionally, data is available from ACP next to the water treatment plant and a STRI met station at the Greenhouse operated by Dr Klaus Winters group.  Any data from either of these stations is courtesy of Mike Hart and Milton Garcia respectively.  This data is available for download from the STRI's website link found at the bottom of this page.