{"id":493,"date":"2013-03-30T16:44:31","date_gmt":"2013-03-30T22:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/?p=493"},"modified":"2022-10-15T16:07:14","modified_gmt":"2022-10-15T22:07:14","slug":"using-an-ethermeter-to-connect-a-rain-gauge-to-a-scada-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/?p=493","title":{"rendered":"Using An EtherMeter and a Global Water RG600 Rain Gauge to Transmit Rain Data to a SCADA System"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div id=\"attachment_3732\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3732\" src=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_0987-1-150x150.jpeg\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG_0987-1.jpeg 2x\" alt=\"James Mimlitz &#039;Slim&#039;\" class=\"avatar avatar-150 wp-user-avatar wp-user-avatar-150 photo\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3732\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jim &#8216;Slim&#8217; Mimlitz, SCADAmetrics<\/p><\/div>This article describes how to use an EtherMeter to connect a Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge to a SCADA System, yielding a realtime rainfall measurement system that communicates using Modbus, DF1, and EtherNet\/IP.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_607\" style=\"width: 181px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/rg6001.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-607\" class=\"size-full wp-image-607\" src=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/rg6001.gif\" alt=\"RG600 Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge.\" width=\"171\" height=\"251\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-607\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">RG600 Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This rain measuring instrumentation was a\u00a0component of the new SCADA System at the DesMoines &amp; Mississippi Levee District (Alexandria, MO).\u00a0 The electronics were installed\u00a0at the Levee District&#8217;s\u00a0new\u00a0Pumping Station, where\u00a0accumulated water within\u00a0a network of ditches is pumped\u00a0over the levee and into the Mississippi River.\u00a0 The station has a pumping capacity in excess of 100,000 GPM.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_496\" style=\"width: 234px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1200.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-496\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-496\" src=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1200-224x300.jpg\" alt=\"Rain Gauge at DesMoines &amp; Mississippi Levee District Pumping Station\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1200-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1200-764x1024.jpg 764w, https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1200.jpg 1936w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-496\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rain Gauge at DesMoines &amp; Mississippi Levee District Pumping Station<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In this application, the Rain Gauge was an 8 Inch Tipping Bucket, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.globalw.com\/products\/rg600.html\">Model RG600<\/a>, manufactured by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.globalw.com\">Global Water (Gold River, CA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_495\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1193.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-495\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-495\" src=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1193-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"Internal View Of the RG600 8 Inch Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge.\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1193-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1193-1024x764.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-495\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Internal View Of the RG600 8 Inch Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The RG600 provides a contact closure for every 1\/100 inch of rainfall; and the contact output was interfaced to one of the EtherMeter&#8217;s pulse input channels.<\/p>\n<p>The EtherMeter was configured to measure total accumulated rainfall (1\/100 inch increments), as well as the realtime rainfall rate (inches\/hour).\u00a0 The data was transmitted to a master RTU using Modbus\/RTU over RS-485.<\/p>\n<p>Additional Modbus Devices Within the Pumping Station:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Two Toshiba VFD&#8217;s (Variable Frequency Drives)<\/li>\n<li>Two Keller America &#8220;AccuLevel&#8221; submersible pressure transducers for measuring water levels within the ditch and the river.<\/li>\n<li>Two Shark-100\u00a0energy meters.<\/li>\n<li>Three ADAM-4000 multichannel analog and digital I\/O modules.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_498\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1202.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-498\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-498\" src=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1202-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"Rain Rate (Inches\/Hour) was measured and transmitted to the SCADA System.\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1202-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1202-1024x764.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-498\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rain Rate (Inches\/Hour) was measured and transmitted to the SCADA System.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_499\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1203.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-499\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-499\" src=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1203-300x224.jpg\" alt=\"Rain Total (Inches) was measured and transmitted to the SCADA System.\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1203-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/IMG_1203-1024x764.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-499\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rain Total (Inches) was measured and transmitted to the SCADA System.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_512\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/SCADA_Rain_Data.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-512\" class=\"size-full wp-image-512\" src=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/SCADA_Rain_Data.jpg\" alt=\"Screen Snapshots Of SCADA Rain Data That Was Collected By The EtherMeter.\" width=\"500\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/SCADA_Rain_Data.jpg 500w, https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/SCADA_Rain_Data-300x195.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-512\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screen Snapshots Of SCADA Rain Data That Was Collected By The EtherMeter.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article describes how to use an EtherMeter to connect a Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge to a SCADA System, yielding a realtime rainfall measurement system that communicates using Modbus, DF1, and EtherNet\/IP. This rain measuring instrumentation was a\u00a0component of the new SCADA System at the DesMoines &amp; Mississippi Levee District (Alexandria, MO).\u00a0 The electronics were <span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span> <span class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/?p=493\" class=\"more-link\"><span>Read More &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,6],"tags":[42,43,95,105,41,90,92,91,93,94,18,17],"class_list":["post-493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-applications","category-modbusprotocol","category-rockwell-protocols","tag-df1","tag-ethernetip","tag-global-water","tag-levee-district-controls","tag-modbus","tag-rain-gauge","tag-rain-rate","tag-rain-totalization","tag-rainfall-rate","tag-rg600","tag-scada","tag-telemetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=493"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2435,"href":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions\/2435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scadametrics.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}