Taylor; amounts Table 1. recorded at locations in the Marshall Islands shown in Average annual rainfall in these islands ranges from 411 cm at 6°N latitude to 147 cm at latitude. The estimate mean data 11.5°N latitude, in Table amounts of 1 are rainfall indicating a strong correlation with used to develop on atolis where a no predictive records Eq. (1), L is the degrees north latitude of an atoll with seconds are expressed as a fraction of a degree. For model are to kept. In the minutes and example, 11°21'N, the latitude of Enewetak Atoll, is expressed as 11.35. Annual mean rainfall (cm) = 696° - 48.92L . Using Eq. (1), the predicted mean rainfall compared to the measured annual mean of 147 cm. used, however, to estimate mean can be extremely variable and, year. amounts of for Enewetak is 135 cm This equation should only be rain. The annual amount of rain for the most part, unpredictable from year to At Enewetak the annual rainfall in 1974 was years recorded. (1) 215 cm, one of the wettest The next year there was only 102 cm of rain, which was one of the driest years of the last two decades. Because stored rainwater and especially visited, used in the is preferred sparingly Northern in to groundwater anticipation Marshall for drinking, of Islands. At it must unpredictable the inhabited be droughts, atolls we there were a variety of cisterns that were used for the storage of water drained through a series of troughs from residence or municipal catchments. roof Ailinginae was the only uninhabited atoll with a cistern and it collected only water that fell directly into it. Cistern water sampled at Rongelap in 1956, 2 y after the Bravo event at 90... . 8 Bikini, was found to contain over 500 pCi/1 of This concentration present was, until the atoll. reduced water the would associated now, were the Usage be U.S. guidelines and dilution with expected so that to correlate lower today 90 Sr in drinking water for 905, activity the global rainwater of expected fallout levels fallout recent wet deposition. However, as 239+ 1 . of 39 24054, 3705, and 906, in cistern excess but in drinking water radionuclide with with . in for only reported measurement concentration concentrations Island recommended should in at have cistern concentrations late as water at 1975, ty Bikini . 3.4. . concentrations, indicating that at some atolls there may be an additional source of radionuclide contamination. em ee oe exceeds