Rainfall Simulator Featured at New UCF Stormwater Lab (With Video)

By Chad Binette Dec. 7, 2007

Faculty, students and industry partners donned ponchos and got soaked Wednesday to demonstrate a large, outdoor rainfall simulator that is part of a new UCF Stormwater Management Academy lab.

The colorful simulator dumped the equivalent of 10 inches of rain an hour during the open house, where the Stormwater Management Academy also showed off green roof experiments, pervious pavements and other research designed to fulfill its mission of protecting the state’s valuable natural resources.

The simulator consists of an 8-foot-wide by 30-foot-long arrangement of pipes that is connected to a 1,500-gallon water tank. The water runs onto a bed of soil that can be set at different slopes to study runoff. The simulator can release up to the equivalent of 20 inches of rain an hour.

“In Florida, we can get up to 20 inches an hour in short bursts,” said academy director Marty Wanielista, who called the simulator the “centerpiece” of the new lab located near the Robinson Observatory on Neptune Drive.

Wanielista said the simulator is the largest in the world and that it allows researchers to study how water falls on different surfaces, how it runs off and how it dislodges particles that can become sediment, clog up drains and pollute surface and ground waters.

“This is the only simulator we know of that can reproduce the drop size and intensity of rainfall common to semi-tropical areas and also northern rainfall,” he added.

The lab also includes 16 chambers in which researchers are experimenting with different plants and other materials that can be used on green roofs. Green roofs feature vegetation on roof tops that help to reduce storm-water runoff and energy costs while also beautifying buildings.

UCF’s first green roof was installed on the Student Union expansion in 2004. The Stormwater Management Academy continues to monitor the success of the roof, which was established as part of a pilot study conducted with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Another outdoor feature of the storm-water lab involves different types of pervious materials, such as recycled rubber and paver blocks. Researchers want to monitor materials that are strong enough to handle truck traffic while allowing water to go straight through them instead of becoming run off.

The open house coincided with the fifth anniversary of the UCF Stormwater Management Academy, which strives to advance knowledge of stormwater issues, train professionals and protect valuable water resources. The lab has received research grants totaling $14 million during its five-year history. Sixteen faculty members and about 40 students work with the academy.

Support for the stormwater labs comes primarily from the state Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection.

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