2018•American Society of Civil Engineers eBooksRequires access
Radar Rainfall Data Processing
Surface Water Hydrology Technical Committee, Edited by Chandra S. Pathak, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, Ramesh S. V. Teegavarapu
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Abstract
This chapter summarizes principles of radar quantitative precipitation estimates (QPE), as used by the National Weather Service, and considerations in applying radar and gauge QPE to hydrologic modeling tasks. It describes the processing sequence for Weather Service Radar 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) and gauge-radar precipitation estimates and offers basic principles of radar data acquisition and processing. The chapter provides radar QPE errors’ statistical characteristics and briefly describes basic approaches to statistical blending of radar and rain gauge estimates. The chapter considers the relative value of radar and gauge QPE in situations in which gauge data are readily available, or where radar coverage is compromised. It also summarizes possibilities for using daily rain gauge input to adjust subdaily estimates and lists current sources for WSR-88D, gauge-radar multisensor, and rain gauge data.