Radar subpixel-scale rainfall variability and uncertainty: Lessons learned from observations of a dense rain-gauge network

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences

Volumn 17, Issue 6, 2013, Pages 2195-2208

  Peleg, N ^a   Ben Asher, M ^b   Morin, E ^a  

^a HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM   (Israel)

^b BEN GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV   (Israel)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ERROR DISTRIBUTIONS; RAIN GAUGE NETWORKS; RAINFALL MEASUREMENTS; RAINFALL VARIABILITY; REMOTE SENSING SYSTEM; SPARSE DISTRIBUTION; SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY; SPATIAL CORRELATIONS;

CATCHMENTS; ERRORS; GAGES; METEOROLOGICAL RADAR; PIXELS; RADAR STATIONS; RAIN GAGES; UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS;

RAIN;

CATCHMENT; ERROR ANALYSIS; FLASH FLOOD; PIXEL; RADAR; RAINFALL; RAINGAUGE; REMOTE SENSING; RUNOFF; SATELLITE DATA; SPATIAL VARIATION; TEMPORAL VARIATION; TIMESCALE; UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS; WEATHER STATION;

ISRAEL;

EID: 84884996734     PISSN: 10275606     EISSN: 16077938     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5194/hess-17-2195-2013     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Amitai, E., Unkrich, C. L., Goodrich, D. C., Habib, E., and Thill, B.: Assessing satellite-based rainfall estimates in semi-arid watersheds using the USDA-ARS walnut gulch gauge network and TRMM PR, J. Hydrometeorol., 13, 1579-1588, doi:10.1175/jhm-d-12-016.1, 2012.
2. Arnaud, P., Lavabre, J., Fouchier, C., Diss, S., and Javelle, P.: Sensitivity of hydrological models to uncertainty in rainfall input, Hydrol. Sci. J.-J. Sci. Hydrol., 56, 397-410, doi:10.1080/02626667.2011.563742, 2011.
3. Atencia, A., Mediero, L., Llasat, M. C., and Garrote, L.: Effect of radar rainfall time resolution on the predictive capability of a distributed hydrologic model, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 3809-3827, doi:10.5194/hess-15- 3809-2011, 2011.
4. Bahat, Y., Grodek, T., Lekach, J., and Morin, E.: Rainfall-runoff modeling in a small hyper-arid catchment, J. Hydrol., 373, 204-217, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.04.026, 2009.
5. Berne, A. and Krajewski, W. F.: Radar for hydrology: Unfulfilled promise or unrecognized potential?, Adv. Water Resour., 51, 357-366, doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2012.05.005, 2013.
6. Berne, A., Delrieu, G., Creutin, J. D., and Obled, C.: Temporal and spatial resolution of rainfall measurements required for urban hydrology, J. Hydrol., 299, 166-179, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2004.08.002, 2004. (Pubitemid 39379475)
7. Bras, R. L. and Rodríguez-Iturbe, I.: Evaluation of mean square error involved in approximating the areal average of a rainfall event by a discrete summation, Water Resour. Res., 12, 181-184, doi:10.1029/ WR012i002p00181, 1976.
8. Ciach, G. J.: Local random errors in tipping-bucket rain gauge measurements, J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol., 20, 752-759, doi:10.1175/1520- 0426(2003)20〈752:lreitb〉2.0.co;2, 2003.
9. Ciach, G. J. and Krajewski, W. F.: On the estimation of radar rainfall error variance, Adv. Water Resour., 22, 585-595, doi:10.1016/s0309-1708(98) 00043-8, 1999. (Pubitemid 29253166)
10. Ciach, G. J. and Krajewski, W. F.: Analysis and modeling of spatial correlation structure in small-scale rainfall in Central Oklahoma, Adv. Water Resour., 29, 1450-1463, doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2005.11.003, 2006. (Pubitemid 44502023)
11. Dixon, M. and Wiener, G.: TITAN - thunderstorm identification, tracking, analysis, and nowcasting - a radar-based methodology, J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol., 10, 785-797, doi:10.1175/1520-0426(1993)010〈0785:ttitaa〉2.0.co;2, 1993. (Pubitemid 24400055)
12. Faures, J. M., Goodrich, D. C., Woolhiser, D. A., and Sorooshian, S.: Impact of small-scale spatial rainfall variability on runoff modeling, J. Hydrol., 173, 309-326, doi:10.1016/0022-1694(95)02704-s, 1995. (Pubitemid 26472232)
13. Fiener, P. and Auerswald, K.: Spatial variability of rainfall on a sub-kilometre scale, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 34, 848-859, doi:10.1002/esp.1779, 2009.
14. Gebremichael, M. and Krajewski, W. F.: Assessment of the statistical characterization of small-scale rainfall variability from radar: Analysis of TRMM ground validation datasets, J. Appl. Meteorol., 43, 1180-1199, doi:10.1175/1520-0450(2004)043〈1180:aotsco〉2.0.co;2, 2004. (Pubitemid 39196797)
15. Germann, U., Galli, G., Boscacci, M., and Bolliger, M.: Radar precipitation measurement in a mountainous region, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 132, 1669-1692, doi:10.1256/qj.05.190, 2006. (Pubitemid 44405280)
16. Habib, E., Krajewski, W. F., and Ciach, G. J.: Estimation of rainfall interstation correlation, J. Hydrometeorol., 2, 621-629, doi:10.1175/1525- 7541(2001)002〈0621:eoric〉2.0.co;2, 2001a.
17. Habib, E., Krajewski, W. F., and Kruger, A.: Sampling errors of tipping-bucket rain gauge measurements, J. Hydrol. Eng., 6, 159-166, doi:10.1061/(asce)1084-0699(2001)6:2(159), 2001b. (Pubitemid 32206123)
18. Jaffrain, J., Studzinski, A., and Berne, A.: A network of disdrometers to quantify the small-scale variability of the raindrop size distribution, Water Resour. Res., 47, W00h06, doi:10.1029/2010wr009872, 2011.
19. Jensen, N. E. and Pedersen, L.: Spatial variability of rainfall: Variations within a single radar pixel, Atmos. Res., 77, 269-277, doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2004.10.029, 2005. (Pubitemid 41487418)
20. Karklinsky, M. and Morin, E.: Spatial characteristics of radar-derived convective rain cells over southern Israel, Meteorol. Z., 15, 513-520, doi:10.1127/0941-2948/2006/0153, 2006. (Pubitemid 44823639)
21. Krajewski, W. F. and Smith, J. A.: Radar hydrology: rainfall estimation, Adv. Water Resour., 25, 1387-1394, doi:10.1016/s0309-1708(02)00062-3, 2002. (Pubitemid 36000084)
22. Krajewski, W. F., Kruger, A., and Nespor, V.: Experimental and numerical studies of small-scale rainfall measurements and variability, Water Sci. Technol., 37, 131-138, doi:10.1016/s0273-1223(98)00325-4, 1998.
23. Krajewski, W. F., Ciach, G. J., McCollum, J. R., and Bacotiu, C.: Initial validation of the global precipitation climatology project monthly rainfall over the United States, J. Appl. Meteorol., 39, 1071-1086, doi:10.1175/1520- 0450(2000)039〈1071:ivotgp〉2.0.co;2, 2000.
24. Krajewski, W. F., Ciach, G. J., and Habib, E.: An analysis of smallscale rainfall variability in different climatic regimes, Hydrol. Sci. J., 48, 151-162, doi:10.1623/hysj.48.2.151.44694, 2003. (Pubitemid 36435068)
25. Krajewski, W. F., Villarini, G., and Smith, J. A.: Radar-rainfall uncertainties - where are we after thirty years of effort?, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 91, 87-94, doi:10.1175/2009bams2747.1, 2010.
26. Kyznarova, H. and Novak, P.: CELLTRACK - Convective cell tracking algorithm and its use for deriving life cycle characteristics, Atmos. Res., 93, 317-327, doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2008.09.019, 2009.
27. Mandapaka, P. V., Villarini, G., Seo, B. C., and Krajewski, W. F.: Effect of radar-rainfall uncertainties on the spatial characterization of rainfall events, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 115, D17110, doi:10.1029/2009jd013366, 2010.
28. Moore, R. J., Jones, D. A., Cox, D. R., and Isham, V. S.: Design of the HYREX raingauge network, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 4, 521-530, doi:10.5194/hess-4-521-2000, 2000.
29. Morin, E. and Gabella, M.: Radar-based quantitative precipitation estimation over Mediterranean and dry climate regimes, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 112, D20108, doi:10.1029/2006jd008206, 2007.
30. Morin, E., Enzel, Y., Shamir, U., and Garti, R.: The characteristic time scale for basin hydrological response using radar data, J. Hydrol., 252, 85-99, doi:10.1016/s0022-1694(01)00451-6, 2001. (Pubitemid 32812216)
31. Morin, E., Goodrich, D. C., Maddox, R. A., Gao, X. G., Gupta, H. V., and Sorooshian, S.: Spatial patterns in thunderstorm rainfall events and their coupling with watershed hydrological response, Adv. Water Resour., 29, 843-860, doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2005.07.014, 2006.
32. Morin, E., Jacoby, Y., Navon, S., and Bet-Halachmi, E.: Towards flash-flood prediction in the dry Dead Sea region utilizing radar rainfall information, Adv. Water Resour., 32, 1066-1076, doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2008.11. 011, 2009.
33. Morrissey, M. L., Maliekal, J. A., Greene, J. S., and Wang, J. M.: THe uncertainty of simple spatial averages using rain-gauge networks, Water Resour. Res., 31, 2011-2017, doi:10.1029/95wr01232, 1995. (Pubitemid 26445727)
34. Nikolopoulos, E. I., Anagnostou, E. N., Hossain, F., Gebremichael, M., and Borga, M.: Understanding the scale relationships of uncertainty propagation of satellite rainfall through a distributed hydrologic model, J. Hydrometeorol., 11, 520-532, doi:10.1175/2009jhm1169.1, 2010.
35. Osborn, H. B., Renard, K. G., and Simanton, J. R.: Dense networks to measure convective rainfall in the southwestern United States, Water Resour. Res., 15, 1701-1711, doi:10.1029/WR015i006p01701, 1979. (Pubitemid 10256351)
36. Pedersen, L., Jensen, N. E., Christensen, L. E., and Madsen, H.: Quantification of the spatial variability of rainfall based on a dense network of rain gauges, Atmos. Res., 95, 441-454, doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2009.11.007, 2010.
37. Peleg, N. and Morin, E.: Convective rain cells: Radar-derived spatiotemporal characteristics and synoptic patterns over the eastern Mediterranean, J. Geophys. Res., 117, D15116, doi:10.1029/2011jd017353, 2012.
38. Rodríguez-Iturbe, I. and Mejía, J. M.: The design of rainfall networks in time and space, Water Resour. Res., 10, 713-728, doi:10.1029/WR010i004p00713, 1974.
39. Rozalis, S., Morin, E., Yair, Y., and Price, C.: Flash flood prediction using an uncalibrated hydrological model and radar rainfall data in a Mediterranean watershed under changing hydrological conditions, J. Hydrol., 394, 245-255, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.03.021, 2010.
40. Seo, B. C. and Krajewski, W. F.: Investigation of the scale-dependent variability of radar-rainfall and rain gauge error covariance, Adv. Water Resour., 34, 152-163, doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2010.10.006, 2011.
41. Sharon, D.: The spatial pattern of convective rainfall in Sukumaland, Tanzani - A statistical analysis, Arch. Met. Geoph. Biokl. B., 22, 201-218, doi:10.1007/bf02243468, 1974.
42. Singh, V. P.: Effect of spatial and temporal variability in rainfall and watershed characteristics on stream flow hydrograph, Hydrol. Process., 11, 1649-1669, doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(19971015)11:12〈1649::aid- hyp495〉3.0.co;2-1, 1997.
43. Tapiador, F. J., Checa, R., and de Castro, M.: An experiment to measure the spatial variability of rain drop size distribution using sixteen laser disdrometers, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L16803, doi:10.1029/2010gl044120, 2010.
44. Tokay, A. and Ozturk, K.: An Experimental Study of the Small-Scale Variability of Rainfall, J. Hydrometeorol., 13, 351-365, doi:10.1175/jhm-d-11- 014.1, 2012.
45. Tokay, A. and Bashor, P. G.: An Experimental Study of Small-Scale Variability of Raindrop Size Distribution, J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 49, 2348-2365, doi:10.1175/2010jamc2269.1, 2010.
46. Villarini, G., Mandapaka, P. V., Krajewski, W. F., and Moore, R. J.: Rainfall and sampling uncertainties: A rain gauge perspective, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 113, D11102, doi:10.1029/2007jd009214, 2008.
47. Wang, J. X., Fisher, B. L., and Wolff, D. B.: Estimating rain rates from tipping-bucket rain gauge measurements, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 25, 43-56, doi:10.1175/2007jtecha895.1, 2008. (Pubitemid 351223345)
48. Wood, S. J., Jones, D. A., and Moore, R. J.: Accuracy of rainfall measurement for scales of hydrological interest, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 4, 531-543, doi:10.5194/hess-4-531-2000, 2000. (Pubitemid 32468087)
49. Yakir, H. and Morin, E.: Hydrologic response of a semi-arid watershed to spatial and temporal characteristics of convective rain cells, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 393-404, doi:10.5194/hess-15-393-2011, 2011.
50. Zoccatelli, D., Borga, M., Viglione, A., Chirico, G. B., and Blöschl, G.: Spatial moments of catchment rainfall: rainfall spatial organisation, basin morphology, and flood response, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 3767-3783, doi:10.5194/hess-15-3767-2011, 2011.