Abstract
The errors in radar quantitative precipitation estimations consist not only of systematic biases caused by random noises but also spatially nonuniform biases in radar rainfall at individual rain-gauge stations. In this study, a real-time adjustment to the radar reflectivity-rainfall rates (Z-R) relationship scheme and the gauge-corrected, radar-based, estimation scheme with inverse distance weighting interpolation was developed. Based on the characteristics of the two schemes, the two-step correction technique of radar quantitative precipitation estimation is proposed. To minimize the errors between radar quantitative precipitation estimations and rain gauge observations, a real-time adjustment to the Z-R relationship scheme is used to remove systematic bias on the time-domain. The gauge-corrected, radar-based, estimation scheme is then used to eliminate non-uniform errors in space. Based on radar data and rain gauge observations near the Huaihe River, the two-step correction technique was evaluated using two heavy-precipitation events. The results show that the proposed scheme improved not only in the underestimation of rainfall but also reduced the root-mean-square error and the mean relative error of radar-rain gauge pairs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahnert, P. R., W. F. Krajewski, and E. R. Johnson, 1986: Kalman filter estimation of radar-rainfall field bias. Preprints, 23rd Conf. of Radar Meteorology and the Conference on Cloud Physics, Boston, Mass, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 33–37.
Anagnostou, E. N., and W. F. Krajewski, 1999: Realtime radar rainfall estimation. Part II: Case study. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 16, 198–205.
Austin, P., 1987: Relation between measured radar reflectivity and surface rainfall. Mon. Wea. Rev., 115, 1053–1070.
Baeck, M., and J. Smith, 1998: Rainfall estimation by the WSR-88D for heavy rainfall events. Wea. Forecasting, 13, 416–436.
Bhargava, M., and M. Danard, 1994: Application of optimum interpolation to the analysis of precipitation in complex terrain. J. Appl. Meteor., 33, 508–518.
Li, J. T., W. S. Yang, L. Guo, and Z. M. Chen, 2000a: A study of improving precision of measuring regional precipitation in optimum interpolation method. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 24(2), 263–270. (in Chinese)
Li, J. T., S. T. Gao, L. Guo, X. Y. Liu, H. P. Yang, and Y. Y. Cai, 2009: The two-step calibration technique of Eestimating areal rainfall. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 33(3), 501–512. (in Chinese)
Li, P. W., W. K. Wong, K. Y. Chan, and S. T. Lai, 2000b: SWIRLS—An evolving nowcasting system. Technical Note No. 100, 33pp.
Seo, D. J., 1998: Real-time estimation of rainfall fields using rain gauge data under f ractional coverage conditions. J. Hydrol., 208, 25–36.
Seo, D. J., J. P. Breidenbach, and E. R. Johnson, 1999: Real-time estimation of mean field bias in radar rainfall data. J. Hydrol., 23, 131–147.
Smith, J. A., and W. F. Krajewski, 1991: Estimation of the mean field bias of radar rainfall estimates. J. Appl. Meteor., 30, 397–412.
Steiner, M., R. A. Houze Jr., and S. E. Yuter, 1995: Climatological characterization of three-dimensional storm structure from operational radar and rain gauge data. J. Appl. Meteor., 34, 1978–2007.
Tokay, A., and D. A. Short, 1996: Evidence from tropical raindrop spectra of the origin of rain from stratiform versus convective clouds. J. Appl. Meteor., 35, 355–371.
Uijlenhoet, R., M. Steiner, and J. A. Smith, 2003: Variability of raindrop size distribution in a squall line and implications for radar rainfall estimation. J. Hydormeteor., 44, 43–61.
Wan, Y. F., C. H. Wu, and H. X. Jin, 2010: Real-time synchronously integrated technique for radar and rain gauge based on concept of quasi same rain volume sample. Acta Meteorologica Sinica, 24 (3), 340–353.
Wang, H. Y., L. P. Liu, G. L. Wang, W. Zhang, Z. Q. Zhang, and X. L. Chen, 2009: Development and application of the Doppler Weather Radar 3-D Digital Mosaic System. Journal of Applied Meteorological Science, 20 (2), 241–224. (in Chinese)
Ware, E. C., 2005: Corrections to radar-estimated precipitation using observed rain gauge data. M. S. thesis, Cornell University, 87pp.
Wilson, J. W., and E. A. Brandes, 1979: Radar measurement of rainfall—A summary. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 60(9), 1048–1058.
Xiao, Y. J., L. P. Liu, and H. P. Yang, 2008a: Technique for generating hybrid reflectivity field based on 3-D mosaicked reflectivity of weather radar network. Acta Meteorologica Sinica, 66(3), 470–473. (in Chinese)
Xiao, Y. J., L. P. Liu, and Y. Shi, 2008b: Study of methods for three-dimensional multiple-radar reflectivity mosaics. Acta Meteorologica Sinica, 22(3), 370–380.
Xu, X. Y., K. Howard, and J. Zhang, 2008: An automated radar technique for the identification of tropical precipitation. J. Hydrol., 9, 885–902.
Yin, Z. H., and P. Y. Zhang, 2005: Radar rainfall calibration by using the Kalman filter method. Journal of Applied Meteorological Science, 16(2), 213–270. (in Chinese)
Zawadzki, I., 1984: Factors affecting the precision of radar measurements of rain. Preprints, 22nd Int. Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Zurich, Switzerland, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 251–256.
Zhang, J., K. Howard, S. Vasiloff, C. Langston, B. Kaney, A. Arthur, S. V. Cooten, and K. Kellereher, 2009: National Mosaic and QPE (NMQ) System—Description, results and future plans. Extended Abstract for the 34th Conf. on Radar Meteorology, Williamsburg, VA. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 1–15.
Zhang, P. C., T. P. Dai, D. S. Fu, and Z. F. Wu, 1992: Principle and accuracy of adjusting the area precipitation from digital weather radar through variational method. Chinese J. Atmos. Sci., 16(2), 248–256. (in Chinese)
Zhang, P. C., B. Y. Du, and T. P. Dai, 2001: Radar Meteorology. China Meteorological Press, 511pp. (in Chinese)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, G., Liu, L. & Ding, Y. Improvement of radar quantitative precipitation estimation based on real-time adjustments to Z-R relationships and inverse distance weighting correction schemes. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 29, 575–584 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-011-1139-8
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-011-1139-8