Small digital scales are used in a wide variety of industries, ranging from food to meteorology. Two basic considerations must be made in selecting a scale for use in a particular industry: weight capacity and resolution. “Resolution” refers to the precision, or the smallest unit measurable by the scale. Generally, higher-capacity scales have lower resolutions than scales with lower capacities.

A much more accurate method of determining how much precipitation has fallen in any area is with a rain gauge scale. A bucket is placed on the electronic scale, and the rain gauge scale measures the total amount of water in the bucket. Since electronic rain gauge scales must be kept outdoors, they must be able to survive extreme temperature and precipitation.