Het "Rainstation" programma heeft als doelstelling te bepalen in hoeverre het gebruik van fijnmazige neerslagregistratie kan bijdrage aan verhogen van de voedselzekerheid in ontwikkelingslanden. Hiervoor is door de universiteit van Delft in samenwerking met het Nederlandse bedrijfsleven het Rainstation ontwikkeld: een standalone low-cost weerstation (werkt overal mits er zon is en GSMdekking) dat regen multidimensionaal meet: mechanisch, optisch en akoestisch.

Rain gauges are thought to be the most ancient weather instruments, and they're believed to have been used in India more than 2,000 years ago. A rain gauge is really just a cylinder that catches rain. If an inch collects in the cylinder, it means an inch of rain has fallen. It's that simple. Most standard rain gauges have a wide funnel leading into the cylinder and are calibrated so that one-tenth of an inch of rain measures one inch when it collects inside.
In the more modern era, a common rain gauge is called the tipping bucket type. A bucket doesn't really tip—a pair of small receiving funnels alternate in the collection of the rain. When one fills up with water, it tips and spills out, and the other comes into place to do the collecting. These little funnels tip each time rainfall amounts to .01 inches. The tip triggers a signal that is transmitted and recorded.
Most recently, Doppler radar has been used to estimate rainfall.
But now new low cost technology has been developed: optical and acoustical raingauges.