Understanding and identifying the specific type of rainbow that is appearing in front of an observer depends on the perspective of the observer. His or her perspective is determined by the things he/she was taught by their family, the island and district they reside, and the stories that were told to them. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to identifying types of rainbows. That said, the author has brought together the information gathered for this project from the various sources as a way to understand the rainbow types and as a way to identify a rainbow that is appearing in front of an observer. The figure shown below includes the most commonly seen rainbow types, the strata that they typically appear, their predominate colors, and their other various traits. This is a guide for the observer to identify the rainbow that is appearing. This is the authors opinion based on the research completed for this project.

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The strata, colors, and the traits of the rainbow types

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How is this guide used to identify the type of rainbow that is appearing in front of the observer? Here is the sequence of steps to be performed:

1.    First identify the primary trait / rainbow group.
2.    Then identify the predominate color and other secondary trait(s).
3.    Estimate the strata / altitude (see the explanation below).
4.    Identify the rainbow type.

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How to determine the altitude of the rainbow that is appearing? The fist can be used to estimate. The width of the fist is approximately 10 degrees or 3000 feet when held at arms length. This technique can be used to estimate the strata that the top of the rainbow appears. Refer to the pictures below.

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Example:

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The following is an example of using the guide to identify the type of rainbow the observer is seeing.​ Refer to the photograph below, what type of rainbow is this?

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Following the steps described above:

 

1.    Identify the rainbow group / primary trait.

 

Answer: This is not an arching rainbow, it is a rainbow fragment or a low-lying rainbow. Refer to the guide below, the result of step 1 (this step) is shown in bold red number 1 on the top, on the left, and the two bold red rectangles on the same row.

2.    Identify the predominate color and other secondary trait(s).

 

Answer: The majority of the colors are seen. The result of step 2 (this step) are shown with the bold red number 2 and the two long bold red rectangles. There are only 2 types of rainbows with the majority of the colors, and are either a rainbow fragment or a low-lying rainbow, specifically the pūnohu or the pūnohu uakoko. Note where the bold red boxes of step 1 and step 2 intersect.

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3.    Estimate the strata / altitude.

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Answer: The height of the top of the rainbow was measured using the outstretched fist method described above, the result, approximately 6000 feet. This puts the top of the rainbow in the lewa lani lewa. The results of step 3 (this step) are shown with the bold red number 3 and the two bold red rectangles. There are still just 2 rainbow type candidates for this rainbow that meet the results of steps 1-3, namely the pūnohu or the pūnohu uakoko.

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4.    Identify the rainbow type.

 

Answer: This is a pūnohu. The result of step 4 (this step) is shown with the bold red number 4 and the bold red rectangle. Why is this a pūnohu? If it were a pūnohu uakoko, itʻs other secondary trait would be present, namely the predominate red color below the rainbow shaft (see page on the pūnohu uakoko).