1. ABOUT THE DATASET -------------------- Title: Rainfall and runoff dataset for a sedum green roof and a neighbouring conventional roof at the University of Leeds campus. Creator(s): Rizwan Nawaz [1] Organisation(s): [1. University of Leeds.] Rights-holder(s): Copyright 2025 University of Leeds Publication Year: 2025 Description: Runoff was measured from a sedum green roof on campus (stage@leeds building) and a nearby conventional roof (students union building) over a two-year period (from June 2012 until February 2014) comprising 30 storms. Rainfall data were gathered using a tipping-bucket rain-gauge, a nearby UK Met Office Automatic Weather Station as well as the National Centre for Atmospheric Science weather station. Cite as: Nawaz, R (2025). Dataset for rainfall and runoff for a sedum green roof and a neighbouring conventional roof at the University of Leeds campus. University of Leeds. https://doi.org/10.5518/1681 Related publication: Nawaz, R, McDonald, A and Postoyko, S (2015) Hydrological performance of a full-scale extensive green roof located in a temperate climate. Ecological Engineering, 82. 66-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2014.11.061. 2. TERMS OF USE --------------- Copyright (2025) University of Leeds. Unless otherwise stated, this dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. 3. PROJECT AND FUNDING INFORMATION ---------------------------------- This dataset was not created in the course of a funded project. 4. CONTENTS ----------- Green Roofs Data.xlsx The Microsoft Excel file comprises 13 worksheets: Worksheet 1: Metadata Worksheet 2: Rainfall data used to generate Figure 3 in the accompanying publication Worksheet 3: Storm data used to generate Figure 4 Worksheet 4: Rainfall data used to generate Figure 5a Worksheet 5: Rainfall data used to generate Figure 5b Worksheet 6: Rainfall data used to generate Figure 5c Worksheet 7: Rainfall data used to generate Figure 5d Worksheet 8: Rainfall data used to generate Figure 5a Worksheet 9: Rainfall data used to generate Figure 5e Worksheet 10: Rainfall and runoff data with lag times, retention depths and percentage retention used to generate Figure 6 Worksheet 11: Rainfall and runoff data (green roof and conventional roof) used to generate Figure 9. Worksheet 12: Rainfall and runoff data (green roof and conventional roof) used to generate Figure 10. Worksheet 13: Rainfall and runoff summaries (Table A1) 5. METHODS ---------- Rainfall data was measured using a tipping bucket rain gauge located on the sedum green roof. It had a tipping threshold of 35 ml which equates to 1.02 mm of rainfall per tip. A HOBOTM data logger and a laptop were used to download the data approximately once every two weeks. A nearby UK Meteorological Office (Met Office) Automatic Weather Station (AWS), located on the University campus, provided additional rainfall data whilst the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) weather station located in Leeds provided mean monthly climate data. Comparisons between the tipping bucket rainfall data and the hourly AWS data ensured that the data collected was reliable and accurate. Runoff was measured from the green roof and the conventional roof using tipping buckets. Runoff was measured using tipping buckets located at the base of one of the drainage pipes connected to each of the roofs and factored accordingly. It was assumed that the drainage pipes draining from each roof discharge equal volumes of runoff. Runoff is drained in equal proportions by each of the drain pipes, which is an over simplification. The green roof tipping bucket had a tipping threshold of 335 ml whilst the conventional roof tipping bucket had a tipping threshold of 290 ml. The monitoring took place over a period of three years (2012– 2014) with some notable gaps resulting from equipment failure, vandalism and delays in equipment orders. A total of ten months data were gathered over the three years which contained 30 storms according to the definition outlined in the associate publication. The first monitoring period lasted three months (June–August 2012) with some notable storms during what turned out to be the wettest summer for 100 years. This monitoring period was followed by a second, longer period of five months (April–August 2013). A further two months data were gathered from January to February 2013. Between June 2012 and December 2013, runoff data were collected using a HOBOTM data logger, which records the time of every ‘tip’. However, from January 2014 onwards, runoff from both the conventional roof and the green roof were measured at 5-min intervals using Tinytag data loggers. This ensured high-resolution runoff data was obtained. Angus McDonald and Sophia Postoyko, undergraduate and postgraduate students, respectively, at the time were both involved in the data gathering. Site locations were the stage@leeds (Performing Arts) building on the University of Leeds campus as well as the Students Union building.