Monitoring precipitation using underwater acoustic remote sensing

Multi-frequency measurements of underwater noise offer the possibility of estimating environmental parameters to useful accuracy and, specifically, of separately providing wind speed and rainfall data. The technique and the experimental set-up are described and results presented for several locations under different conditions. Comparisons of rainfall are made with in situ measurements and with rain radar data. The acoustic technique appears to be sensitive to relatively low precipitation rates but there are significant quantitative differences which we relate to the particular characteristics of each system. Ways in which the buoy systems might be deployed to complement satellite measurements are also discussed.