What this tool does
A growing logger total is not an interval depth. Inspect each pair before moving rainfall into event or network analysis.
When to use it
After retaining original observations and confirming the record basis. Run this decision independently; the other rainfall tools answer different questions and are not required merely to obtain a number.
Calculation or decision method
For adjacent known counter readings, raw delta = current − previous. Accept it as an interval depth only when the time step matches and the delta is nonnegative. The first row is a baseline, not rainfall. A zero delta is an observed dry interval.
A decrease remains an unresolved reset/decrease. A positive delta across skipped steps remains an unallocated gap delta. Missing either endpoint makes the pair unknown. This deliberately conservative review does not infer counter wraps, reset times, maintenance rainfall or a distribution within a gap.
Worked example
Hourly counters 0,1,3,0,2 give accepted increments1,2,NA,2:5 mm across three valid intervals and one unknown hour. The reset is not automatically replaced by0 or by its new counter value. The next pair can again be valid from the new observed baseline.
Assumptions
Every counter is an accumulated depth in the selected unit and one consistent counter regime. Convert tip counts with a separately established instrument calibration before use. Expected timestamps must lie on one regular minute grid; missing records can be absent or explicitly NA.
Input and precision rules
Plain decimal, nonnegative depths; blank or NA means missing. Supported nonzero numbers run from 1e-12 to 1e9 in the entered basis. Inputs use ordinary browser floating-point precision, not arbitrary-precision metrology. Reconcile unsupported missing codes, tip counts, timezones, intensity values and changing clocks before entry. A malformed row stops the run rather than disappearing.
Limitations
This is not gauge calibration, a correction algorithm or a reconstruction of a complete rainfall record. Tiny increments relative to large accumulated totals need adequate original precision. Counter rollovers and known maintenance resets require instrument-specific reconciliation outside this tool. The accepted sum is partial whenever any interval remains unresolved.
Keep the review packet
Download interval input CSV for the event tool; its exact time,rainfall header retains NA and skipped timestamps. An initial skipped-step gap gets one explicit unknown first-interval anchor so the transferred observation window is not silently shortened. This anchor is not an observed reading or a reconstructed depth. The separate audit CSV keeps raw delta/status evidence. Neither export authorizes filling unknown rainfall. The screen/print preview is limited to 100 rows; audit CSV downloads retain every computed row. Copy result includes the full entered CSV and configuration. Keep sensitive project data within your own handling procedures; the site does not upload it.